Have your eye on an Ionic Breeze air cleaner, a top-of-the-line massage chair, or an interactive droid? You may be out of luck if you were counting on using your Sharper Image gift card. The retailer of whimsical electronics and housewares recently filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, rendering these cards essentially useless.
Brian Riley -- senior analyst with research firm TowerGroup -- told MarketWatch that unused Sharper Image gift cards could amount to as much as $25 million. Sales clerks are telling customers the plastic cards are no longer valid for use in stores or online. A company hotline says that shoppers can inquire again in mid-March, as company officials are still trying to determine if the cards will ever be honored.
Additionally, Sharper Image rival Brookstone is offering a 25% discount for any shopper who turns in a (worthless) Sharper Image gift card when making an in-store purchase.
The truly disgruntled gift-card holders can investigate filing a petition in court, but the time and costs required would likely outweigh the gift card's value. Federal law indicates that the holder of the card may have a claim against the bankruptcy estate, but it's likely a worthless endeavor and Riley notes "There's a good chance the dollars will be lost."
Beth Gaston Moon is an analyst at Schaeffer's Investment Research.
Sharper Image gift cards null and void
Posted Mar 4th 2008 5:33PM by Beth Gaston Moon
Filed under: Bad News, Consumer Experience, Marketing and Advertising, Scandals
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
3-04-2008 @ 6:10PM
Bill said...
I'm afraid good old fashioned gift certificates work the same way. I've sworn off both for a long time and I dislike receiving them (though am grateful to the giver). I recently was unable to use the remaining balance on an AmEx Gift Card at one store because the cashier couldn't figure out how to use *it* plus cash to equal the balance. I assume this is pretty common and stores are regularly getting a bonus on unused gift card balances--hence the *massive* proliferation of gift card promotions virtually everywhere in stores. My advice--skip using gift cards. People lose them, forget to use them, or cannot use them thereby wasting *your* gift value. If you do want to use one the AmEx cards might make better gifts since they aren't limited to one store--yet they have a 12-month catch clause and a premium cost to boot. Better yet, give cash! Thankfully Congress is looking into the abuses, but in the meantime their Library is happy to sell you one (which expires in one year too) http://www.loc.gov/shop
3-05-2008 @ 6:03AM
al coholic said...
Nothing says "I didn't want to waste time getting you a thoughtful, personalized gift" like a gift card.
Mayb it's just me but I always feel a little like a welfare recipient when I have to use the ones given to me.
3-06-2008 @ 12:14PM
charlie said...
sharper image filed a motion to allow the use of gift cards the same day it filed for chapter 11. it awaits the judge's decision which should come at their March 14th hearing.
the motion filing is here http://www.kccllc.net/documents/9399000/9399000080219000000000009.pdf
3-10-2008 @ 1:49PM
ejs--Let them close the doors now, who give a crap about them now! said...
After being a 20 year customeromer of The Sharper Image. I will never step foot or key stroke on there door ever again!
they got me for $300.00 in gift cards.
They them all fry in the unemployement line in there over priced SF, California real estate market.
FU, holds up middle finger ---> The Sharper Image. I now use your catelogs to line the cat litter bin. Thats where you belong, treating customers this way.
4-08-2008 @ 1:05PM
jmaddmmmk said...
I had 400 bucks to sharper image. It sucked. I seriously went the day after the bankruptcy date to find out that they no longer accepted it. We need some type of protection against that. Turns out, there is a company, and I quote from marketwire: "Leverage Inc. today announced a new bankruptcy insurance policy that allows customers holding gift cards purchased via its LeverageCard.com destination from Sharper Image and other merchants filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection to transfer remaining, unredeemable balances to gift cards from other retailers available on the Leverage site."