The Sharper Image Refuses Your Gift Card
Posted by admin in Buying Stuff
Hope you didn't get a gift card from The sharper image this past holiday season. If you did, the person that bought it for you gave Sharper Image their money only to get nothing in return:
On Tuesday, February 19, 2008, The Sharper Image commenced a case under chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code in the United States Court for the District of Delaware.
The company intends to continue to conduct business as usual while it devotes renewed efforts to resolve its operational and liquidity problems and develops a reorganization plan.
However, The Sharper Image is suspending the acceptance of Gift Cards, Reward Cards, Gift Certificates or Merchandise Certificates as a form of payment.
We appreciate your understanding that according to Bankruptcy law, store employees, managers and the Company do not have the authority to override this directive.
The Company is urgently working with the Bankruptcy Court to quickly come to a solution for this issue. Please check back with us in mid-March for further updates.
Yeah, I'm sure they're working real hard to get that squared away. If the company intends to "continue to conduct business as usual," wouldn't business as usual include honoring the gift cards that their customers purchased? Does The Sharper Image think that it has a bright future climbing out of bankruptcy by completely alienating a large section of their customer base who gave them money only to be told, "thanks so much for your cash, here's nothing in return."
I understand bankruptcy law protects companies in trouble to a certain extent, but does it seem fair that The Sharper Image is allowed to conduct "business as usual" and selectively choose to not honor gift cards. If I gave The Sharper Image $39.95 out of my wallet for this nose hair trimmer, and the person at the counter ran in to the back room with my money and I got no nose hair trimmer, that would be illegal. I could call the police.
But try calling the police about those worthless gift cards.
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Thanks so much for sharing your ignorance of Chapter 11 as regards The Sharper Image. The decision to temporarily suspend the redemption of gift cards was NOT made by the company,it’s part of Chapter 11. If you had done your research you’d know that Sharper Image immediately filed a motion along with the initial Chapter 11 filing requesting that the company be allowed to honor gift cards while in Chapter 11. Here’s the filing : http://www.kccllc.net/documents/9399000/9399000080219000000000009.pdf
Irrelevant as far as I’m concerned. Do you think The Sharper Image had no idea they were going bankrupt until the day they filed? I’d say no, but I’ll bet they were more than happy to keep selling those gift cards all the way up to the point where they couldn’t anymore.
Even if I take your point, the larger issue goes beyond The Sharper Image, and that is the fact that consumers are powerless in a situation like this—the last in line when it comes to collecting in a bankruptcy. The Sharper Image, or whoever, gets to keep on retailing while the little guy is left with nothing. Buyer beware, not seller beware.
While they were asking to “honor” the gift cards, why didn’t they ask to “honor” the severance packages too?
Becky -
They did:
http://www.kccllc.net/documents/9399000/9399000080219000000000010.pdf
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