Frugality

Three Uses For An Unwanted Gift Card

3 years ago • Comments

My wife and and I had a terrible dinning experience at a restaurant we visit frequently.  Her steak was overcooked. When the replacement steak was delivered, there was no apology, the server didn’t have her cut into it to ensure the second steak was done correctly, and he didn’t return for quite some time to see if everything was going well. Additionally, nothing was taken off our bill to compensate us for the mistake. It was just an overall bad experience.

My wife doesn’t have a bad restaurant experience without consequences.

On the way home, she called and described the situation to the manger, who tried to correct the situation by offering to send a gift card to have us come back and hopefully have a better experience.

Before the gift card arrived in the mail, we were invited by some friends to dine at the same restaurant. We had another issue with the service during that meal as well. We walked out of the restaurant with a bad taste in our mouth (pun intended). After two bad experiences in a row, there was no need for us to go back that restaurant any time soon, if ever.

A few days later, we received the promised gift card in the mail.

We now were the proud owners of a $50 gift card to a restaurant that we had no urge to return to. What could we do with it?

1. Go To A Different Location : We had enjoyed many great meals at this particular restaurant over the years, and while we may not have the desire to return to the nearby location, we may have the opportunity to visit a different location while traveling or visiting out of town family.
2. Sell The Gift Card : While we may not want to go back, we may have acquaintances that may continue to dine at the restaurant. We could sell them the gift card for less than face value so each party gets something out of the transaction. They get more gift card than they paid for, and we get some compensation for our bad experience.
3. Re-gift The Gift Card: Gift cards can be a much appreciated present. We could give the gift card to someone that we know dines at the restaurant, preferably at a different location.

We received an unwanted gift card from a restaurant that we have no desire to visit again. But instead of just throwing it away, or tossing it in the back of our junk drawer never to be seen again, we’re going to somehow make use of it.

Have you ever received a gift card for an unpleasant restaurant experience? What did you do with it?

Brought to you courtesy of Brock

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