Posted by AFutureBride
this is ridiclous my mom has $800 on a gift card
This is completely F*ed up
The only reason I knew is because of LIW...that is a horrible way to treat customers
Hey gals,
I haven't been on this forum in years, but when I went to go use my card online yesterday morning, within an hour I realized all that had happened with this Fortunoff's situation. I'm completely stunned and upset, b/c I had over $350 left on my gift card from my wedding. I had even gone back to Fortunoff around Christmas to check that my card was still valid, and they told me it would never expire and be accepted. Had I known back then, I would've bought $350 worth of anything, even a useless item.
I'm not one to sit idle and wait. So after a little research, these are the things I know so far... all of this is public record, but to save you some time searching, here you go:
- The company will be put up for auction on Feb 23rd. This is a postponement of the original 2/19 date. If they cannot find a buyer, the stores will liquidate.
- Speaking with a cust srvc rep, she said that they were still selling GC's until two weeks ago, until they were told to stop. SO, theoretically speaking, you could have bought a gift card Jan 31st, and-- without warning or notice--- only had until Mon 2/16 to use it. By Tues 2/17 the stores were not accepting them. Some lucky enough to use their online store slipped in purchases as late as Weds 2/18 afternoon (that's what one of my friend's did...so far she received confirmation the orders went through, but hasn't received that actual items yet).
- They are in court this week to try to settle a few issues, primarily Fortunoff's owe this one Jewelery vendor money, since he gave them the products to sell, and they are now practically liquidating items at drastically reduced prices. Or so, that's what I gathered from the reports. Also in the list is the case of Fortunoff's items to be sold at Lord & Taylors. However, these are just the items themselve, the F-gift cards will likely not be accepted there.
http://www.nysb.uscourts.gov/calendars/rdd.html
-The stores are saying they might change the policy 'any day now', but I wouldn't hold your breath. Although they are not officially calling it 'liquidation' (they are not in that stage legally yet), they are aggressive seeking to liquidate their assets. Why? They can get the most money out of items sold now before the company is sold to someone else. Plus, you can easily tell...they don't have much left to buy on their website, and all sales are final. In summary, it's a possible-but-slim chance that gift card holders will be able to redeem their credit for actual merchandise anytime soon.
- Spokespeople for the parent company, an equity firm, are claiming they are working with creditors to see if they can accept GC's again.
-
Gift card holders: Hold on to the cards! I'm sure you've been told the GC might work later, but more importantly , this is also evidence for getting reimbursed should their be a class action suit or bankruptcy settlement later.
- The store claims they can't even check the balance on your cards, b/c it's a new system. No it's not, the actual cash registers and computers haven't changed, so that's highly unlikely. However, the employees are not allowed to even handle them, and most are understandably afraid for their jobs so they'll do as they're told, even to the extreme. Here's what you can do:
Go here to check and PRINT a copy of the current balance on your gift card. Make sure you headers have the date stamp on the bottom
http://www.fortunoff.com/catalog/gift_card_balance_main.jsp(I know, you can check your balance, but you can't use it...how dumb is that??)
-Since they owe us the money on the cards, we are considered 'unsecured creditors'.
Download and send this form to the US Bankruptcy court, southern NY district:
http://www.uscourts.gov/rules/BK_Forms_Pending_2008/B_010_1208v4.pdfIt is to file a claim and enter yourself in their court system so that when a decision is reached, you will be notified whether or not you will receive compensation.
I am absolutely fuming and just as angry as everyone else. It doesn't matter if you had only $5 or $5000 left on the cards, these were purchased with real money by our loved ones to help celebrate with us. Consumers should be compensated for it, not punished!
And this has been said I'm sure, but it won't help to go down there to the store only to yell at the clerks. They found out via memo and stand to lose their salaries, benefits, pensions, etc. They don't have the powers to change the policies. It's economy and poor management that are to blame. Just my 2 cents.
EDIT: Feel free to bump or repost this anywhere else on the forums.
