No Giftcard for you

[DGoddessChardonnay]

Last night was sheer hell . . . worse than Thursday and I'm so glad I'm not there today.

Not only were we SLAMMED with customers and large orders (rarely did we see any small ones. It was mainly medium to overflowing carts) but we were selling giftcards out of our asses (we sell the bulk of our gift cards during the holidays) as well as had people using gift cards.

Not long after I arrived on shift (2:45 til close) the gift card system went down unexpectedly (I know, when is it expected, right?) Not only could customers redeem gift cards, but we could not sell any either, as they have to be scanned at the register and the amount entered into the register that the purchaser wants to put on it.

People were so understanding about the situation . . . and if you believe that I have some beachfront property in Nevada for sale.

One guy showed up in my line who had just come from my old store down the street, saying theirs was down as well and could he use his here?

How about NO? It's all on the same system companywide. Did you think I could slap the pinpad with the magic club and make the damn thing work? If I could, I wouldn't be working for the Kitty.

Second encounter was another guy later in the evening (system still wasn't back up at this time) who just threw a fit over it and just had to butt into my register while I was tending to my line.

SC: I just bought some gift cards the other day and I've got a family I've got to take some to tonight, yadda yadda yadda (Drama King candidate here.)

DG: I realize that it's frustrating for you, however we had no prior warning that the system was going to go down today, nor do we know when it will be back up and running.

SC: But I've got to get these groceries tonight . . . .I might as well just get my money back.

DG: If you want to see about a refund, you can go to the Customer Services desk and the CSR will be glad to help you.

It finally came back up a short time after that encounter. I wonder if it'll go down again today . . . on Christmas Eve at that?

[chainedbarista]

i'm betting yes; we have that problem as well-overloaded system that won't process the cards.

some people are ok with it and return later, while others pitch a stupid fit over it; what part of 'system' isn't clear?

[erik316wttn]

but we were selling giftcards out of our asses

Ew. I think I'd pass on those ass cards.

[pbmods]

but we were selling giftcards out of our asses

Gift cards, graft cards, whatever.

[Dave1982]

That's very interesting. Around the same time yesterday, the gift card system at Staples went down in flames as well, and yo-yoed up and down for hte next several hours. And during that time, a customer told me that themovie theater down the road was having the same problem.

Makes me wonder if there's some sort of national gift card service that multiple corporations contract out to that had some trouble.

[Becks]

but we were selling giftcards out of our asses

Ew. I think I'd pass on those ass cards.

Yeah, I think I'll pass, too. No offense, it's just a bit unsanitary.

[JustaCashier]

but we were selling giftcards out of our asses

Ew. I think I'd pass on those ass cards.

But just think of all the shit you could get with them!

Mike

[Cyanocobalamin]

Whew..... and I thought we had a batch of defective gift cards on our hands! I work for Office Depot but we sell gift cards for various other stores and restaurants.

K tried 3 Linens and Things cards for a customer. She went , I tried a 4th, and the same "destroy this card" prompt appeared for me. I set the rest of the batch aside and attached a note "Defective gc's!"

The Office Depot gift cards were the only ones somewhat working. I had to call a special 1-800 number for anything involving one, such as trying to activate it or a customer trying to redeem it.

[FredKlein]

That's very interesting. Around the same time yesterday, the gift card system at Staples went down in flames as well, and yo-yoed up and down for hte next several hours. And during that time, a customer told me that themovie theater down the road was having the same problem.

Makes me wonder if there's some sort of national gift card service that multiple corporations contract out to that had some trouble.

You're not far off.

At 'Stables and Lords', I know we send all card and check transactions to one company, which authorizes the Credit/debit cards and checks, and 'passes thru' the Electronic Gift Cards traffic to another company. Occasionally, they fail to pass thru the EGC traffic, and that causes a chain-wide issue with accepting EGCs. But at the same time, credit/debit cards go thru fine.

[Will-Mun]

Hm. Oddy enough, yeah... I just posted about this. last Saturday Gamestop gift cards crashed (credit cards also crashed.)


I had heard Best Buy also went down that day.