It was not a tough assignment: Turn a $100 American Express gift card into a $100 iTunes gift card.
Round 1 went to American Express: Because the gift card was not registered with an address, it could not be used successfully on-line. When presented to the Apple Store, Apple tried to validate it, did not find an address on file (it’s a gift card after all), put a $1 hold on the card anyway, and then dutifully reported Amex’s rejection. It takes until the 8th day for the $1 hold to clear. Amex gets to keep the money another week, interest-free. I call Amex, register the card, and wait a week. Fast-forward to 8 days later.
Round 2 went to American Express: Apple processes a $1 hold on the card, and then tries to charge it. Because Amex does not match up that the $1 hold is for the same merchant, the $100 authorization request finds a card with a $99 open balance, and, you guessed it, sends a rejection again. Call Amex twice, get hung up on both times after navigating their menu. Third time the call goes through, but absent heroic efforts Amex will get to keep the money another 8 days or more.
Round 3 went to American Express: The person explains that $100 is more than $99 and that I need to wait another week. However, there is no reason to expect it will work then. Off to a supervisor after running through the whole script a couple times. 15 minutes to get to a supervisor is like a set of body-blows.
Round 4 went to me in a knock out: The supervisor goes through the deal again in that the $1 auth comes, whacks the balance, makes the second auth fail, etc. Tries to blame Apple. I conclude with her that I can never redeem the card at Apple with this back and forth. She tries to tell me I can use it at any merchant I want, except that I cannot use it for the full balance. Hmmm… So, I suggest she add $2 to the card so the $1 pre-auth and the $100 auth will each clear. She does, I have her wait while I re-place the order, the order goes through, and, in 8 days when those auths clear, I will have $2 left over on the card.
What are the lessons here: Don’t buy Amex gift cards if you want them to be used on-line as they are just about unusable. Talk to a supervisor and don’t let them tell you “No.” Don’t buy Amex gift cards.
Four rounds was at least two too many since Amex could have resolved this situation last weekend when I talked to them the first time. However, all’s well that ends well, I guess.