Archived Gift Cards

[HardlinesFour]

I can't fall asleep right now, and have been wanting to ask a few of you about this.

Recently, I discovered that my store is routinely reusing gift cards. On one gift card I received for purchasing paper towels, changed hands 3 more times. This worries me, as if someone was smart enough they could write down the card information and go on a spending spree after a guest makes a return or reloads the card. Or they could come to our store, and make a fraudulent return from the previous purchases on the card.

I'm pretty sure were not supposed to be reusing cards, but are there any rules about doing this?

Additionally I'm writing this at 1am, so forgive me for my grammar....

 

[commiecorvus]

The person would have to know the card was going to be reused, might work might not.
Why would they reuse the cards in the first place?

 

[Hardlinesmaster]

Three ways it could happen that I know of:
1. Tm who didnt throw away the original card.
2. Tm who didn't give the card for a refund back to the guest(voided refund at gs).
3. a guest using stolen credit cards to buy them.
In order to reload a card, it has to be where the guest can't see the prompts on the screen(electronics, pharmacy, gs, etc).

Front end team, I need a little help here.

 

[SuzyTarget]

They should absolutely not be reusing giftcards--in part for the concerns you state. That card's transaction history could be exploited by someone who is aware that's a possibility. Maybe not easily, but the thieving mind can get quite creative as you know. It's also a bad idea just from a simple good guest service point of view. If a guest has a giftcard that has a transaction history on it that isn't connected to them and they have a problem related to that card that they need to resolve that other history could make it difficult to that figure out.
When I started as a cashier at my store, every checklane had a designated spot where used giftcards were placed and at the end of the night they were all collected and tossed out. This was prior to the SmartBanking setup and every register was closed and checked for media by hand every single night. A couple of years ago it was decided to stop having cashiers do this and just to have them either return the giftcards to the guest or throw them out directly after the transaction. We are still having a hard time getting them to do this and I think it's actually making the problem of mistakenly reusing giftcards worse than it was before since we no longer check every drawer every night.

 

[redeye58]

This^.
We throw them in the drawer (in case a guest comes back & demands their giftcard because of unused balance, etc) but at night's end they were tossed.

 

[redandkhaki]

we just throw the giftcards away after the transaction. I don't like the use giftcards simply for the fact of i don't know one guest from another and who the hell knows what someone does with them or their hands. I probably worry too much about germs but it really does gross me out!
Also, because of the reasons stated.

 

[Retail Girl]

Cash is probably the grossest thing in existence. That creeps me out way more than gift cards. I mean, really, I seriously doubt when people go to strip cards they are sticking gift cards in strippers' bodies.

 

[redandkhaki]

haha, i haaattteee touching cash! i probably wash my hands and use hand sanitizer 1239120937 times a day! There was once a lady who pulled out her cash from her boobs and it was SO wet. I about puked when i had to touch it and instantly ran to the bathroom to scrub my hands.
Best thing about being a GSTL is that i don't touch money nearly as often now!

 

[commiecorvus]

All money, it turns out, could stand to be laundered: the stuff is filthy.
Studies show that a solid majority of U.S. bills are contaminated by cocaine.
Drug traffickers often use coke-sullied hands to move cash, and many users roll bills into sniffing straws; the brushes and rollers in ATMs may distribute the nose candy through the rest of the money supply.
Also found on bills: fecal matter.
A 2002 report in the Southern Medical Journal showed found pathogens — including staphylococcus — on 94% of dollar bills tested.
Paper money can reportedly carry more germs than a household toilet.
And bills are a hospitable environment for gross microbes: viruses and bacteria can live on most surfaces for about 48 hours, but paper money can reportedly transport a live flu virus for up to 17 days. It's enough to make you switch to credit.

 

[targetismylife09]

So that's why I always feel like I need a shower after I come out of cash office!

 

[HardlinesFour]

This morning mentioned this during the morning huddle, and made sure all of the GSTL'S & GSA knew about the problem. I'm going to hope this solves it...

Edit-

I wanted to say thank you to all of you that posted. I definitely appreciate it.

 

[HardlinesFour]

See Post

I've always hated touching cash anyway, that just makes my hatred grow.

 

[Jwowwbudweiser29]

I agree with the point of throwing the giftcards away when their is no balance left on it

In my store the red generic giftcards are reused constantly esp at the frontend (they have their own slot where they are located) each register has at least 2 stacks of them that gets rubberbanded each night

Ill also mention this concern at my store or have it at least monitored to see if its a major issue in the store

 

[buliSBI]

I can't fall asleep right now, and have been wanting to ask a few of you about this.

Recently, I discovered that my store is routinely reusing gift cards. On one gift card I received for purchasing paper towels, changed hands 3 more times. This worries me, as if someone was smart enough they could write down the card information and go on a spending spree after a guest makes a return or reloads the card. Or they could come to our store, and make a fraudulent return from the previous purchases on the card.

I'm pretty sure were not supposed to be reusing cards, but are there any rules about doing this?

Additionally I'm writing this at 1am, so forgive me for my grammar....

TMs reusing giftcards is pretty common. Buying a new one, using it, and then reloading more money on it later. The only thing against policy that could be happening here is a TM constantly putting money on the gift card with a non-Target card, and then using their TM discount with the Giftcard.

For me, I would usually load money onto a reused giftcard by check or cash so I wouldn't carry money at work in order to use my discount.

I have seen some stores re-use giftcards for return transactions. But the cheap GS giftcards are preferred.

Usually around BTS, there are some giftcards that come in dual giftcards or have a key chain card. Parents load money using the one card, and college kids using the key chain card to make purchases.

The most underhanded thing a TM can possibly do is record the Giftcard # and verification#s during a return transaction, and loading it onto another giftcard or using it on an online purchase. But anytime a giftcard is handkeyed into the POS, it requires a verification# to be entered.

I heard of some scammers rubbing off the scratch off on a bunch of giftcards, recording the numbers, and placing them back with the giftcards. Then go online and testing the numbers everyday to see if one has funds on them. The Guest Service giftcards for returns don't even have the scratch-off material from what I remember.

Last I remember, at least at my store, if a guest finishes up the funds on a Giftcard and refuses to keep the giftcard, TMs are to keep them at the lanes and GSTLs/GSAs collect them, cut them in half, and send them off to be recycled.

If there is a concern, get the transaction history for on the cards and have the video pulled on from those times.

 

[GSTLalways]

Best Practice is to throw them away last time i looked.

 

[mrknownothing]

At my store, we are told to give used-up gift cards back to the guest so they can use it for receipt lookup. If they refuse, we throw them out. The only time a gift card should ever be re-used is when the original owner is reloading it.

 

[OvernightSunshine]

I was told to stop throwing them away yesterday :/

 

[HardlinesFour]

I was told to stop throwing them away yesterday :/

Ask to speak with AP, and tell them how the gift cards can be used fraudulently... See how they react

 

[Retail Girl]

Ask to speak with AP, and tell them how the gift cards can be used fraudulently... See how they react

They'd probably wonder why you had this all thought out....

 

[HardlinesFour]

They'd probably wonder why you had this all thought out....

Don't most cashiers know how gift cards can be used to make returns though?

 

[StaticSun]

Nope.

 

[commiecorvus]

They'd probably wonder why you had this all thought out....

Bosses hate employees who think.

 

[Retail Girl]

I doubt it. It isn't anything taught in training and most people who only cashier who haven't been there for 10 years seem a bit oblivious.

 

[tellmeaboutatime]

I always give the gift card back. I just let them know there is a zero balance but it is just like a receipt and we can use it for look-up. If they ask me to toss it, I toss it in their bag. I do the same thing with VISA gift cards too. If they have kids with them, they can use them to play store. People who received gift cards for a special event (wedding, baby etc) can use them for their scrapbook. We used to send them back with the media years back. We would have stacks to send back at Christmas! There is no reason to be reusing gift cards.

 

[SuzyTarget]

I was told to stop throwing them away yesterday :/

What are you doing with them? Where you given a reason?

Don't most cashiers know how gift cards can be used to make returns though?

Cashiers do not receive any kind of training regarding Guest Services issues.