Sportsmen's Warehouse won't honor gift certificates!

[Trapak]

Got word today that the Sportsmen's Warehouse won't honor any of their gift certificates. All of the cash register counters have a sign stating such. Can anyone confirm this?
I live in Kenai and have a $100.00 certificate that I had planned on using on my next trip to Anchor town.

[danattherock]

Sell it to someone you don't like for fifty bucks

[Alaskacanoe]

Gift cards

If a gift card was purchased with real money, then they have the legal obligation to take the card.
Real money purchased the card... and there is no expiration date on these types of card purchases. this has been tested in court. .. A few outfits thought that they could put expiration dates on purchased gift cards or purchased certificates. They found out that they could not enforce the expiration date.....Even businesses that have been bought by anouther party have to honor a gift card or certificate that was purchased before they took over ownership.
but,,, if sportsman is going out of business then what you gonna get out of it when they are out of business..??. They won't show up to court at your small claims suit,( that you will win of course) but you won't be able to collect as you will be down the line from creditors way ahead of you....
The only certificate that they can legally refuse to honor leagally is a gift certificate given to you from the store its self, and no real money was used to purchase the certificate,, Some places offer a certificate to entice you to come in and buy more products, or to thank you for making several purchases or a large ticket item, but it has no cash redemption value unless used in the store.. ( these they can and usually do put expiration dates on)..
If the company decides not to accept these,,, then they can say,, NOPE..

Max

[Alaska Gray]

If a gift card was purchased with real money, then they have the legal obligation to take the card.
Real money purchased the card... and there is no expiration date on these types of card purchases. this has been tested in court. .. A few outfits thought that they could put expiration dates on purchased gift cards or purchased certificates. They found out that they could not enforce the expiration date.....Even businesses that have been bought by anouther party have to honor a gift card or certificate that was purchased before they took over ownership.
but,,, if sportsman is going out of business then what you gonna get out of it when they are out of business..??. They won't show up to court at your small claims suit,( that you will win of course) but you won't be able to collect as you will be down the line from creditors way ahead of you....
The only certificate that they can legally refuse to honor leagally is a gift certificate given to you from the store its self, and no real money was used to purchase the certificate,, Some places offer a certificate to entice you to come in and buy more products, or to thank you for making several purchases or a large ticket item, but it has no cash redemption value unless used in the store.. ( these they can and usually do put expiration dates on)..
If the company decides not to accept these,,, then they can say,, NOPE..

Max

100% dead on!!!

[colodan]

The company's Press Release states they will continue to honor gift cards. I'd print this out and take it to the store with you. I have over $60 left on mine. I'll be heading there straight after work. Thanks for the heads up.

[yaifw]

Unsecured Creditor...

is what anyone holding a Sportsmans gift card is called. At this point you are in a long line of people waiting to get paid. You want to get your 100.00 dollars back and Federal wants to get their 6.5 million back. You are probably (in the long run) going to get to use your card. Remember, Sportmans needs customers to stay in business and not honoring gift cards will definitely hurt their business (angry customers don't come back). The problem right now is that legally they cannot honor your card because that is they equivalent of them saying "we want to pay this group of creditors (card holders) but not this group (Federal)" which may sound great to you (and Sportmans) but Federal is entilted to its money too. I looked up a couple recent bankruptcies and here is how the courts decided. Sharper Image-- If you had a 100 dollar gift certificate you could use it only when you made a 200.00 dollar purchase. Bombay-- All gift certificates were valued at 25%. Tweeter -- The company initially refused to honor certificates but was sued by several states attorney's general and some resolution was achieved. (Not sure what it was). It is important to note that these businesses went completely under so this was viewed as the maximum benefit allowed to the consumer. Sportsmans isn't (at least not yet) going out of business so the amount authorized by the court should be much higher. I would say that soon enough Sportmans will be in court arguing that they need to be allowed to honor these gift certifciates at face value to prevent irreperable harm to their business. But for the time being they can (and most likely must) refuse to honor your gift cards. Keep your cards or sell them to me for .25 cents on the dollar

[yaifw]

Expects...

The company's Press Release states they will continue to honor gift cards. I'd print this out and take it to the store with you. I have over $60 left on mine. I'll be heading there straight after work. Thanks for the heads up.

The press release says the company "EXPECTS to: Honor its customer service policy". That means with court approval. I found the first day motions on the net. Once there is a ruling on these motions the signs will probably come down.

See item 9 on attachment.

[critrgitr]

If a gift card was purchased with real money, then they have the legal obligation to take the card.
Real money purchased the card... and there is no expiration date on these types of card purchases. this has been tested in court. .. A few outfits thought that they could put expiration dates on purchased gift cards or purchased certificates. They found out that they could not enforce the expiration date.....Even businesses that have been bought by anouther party have to honor a gift card or certificate that was purchased before they took over ownership.
but,,, if sportsman is going out of business then what you gonna get out of it when they are out of business..??. They won't show up to court at your small claims suit,( that you will win of course) but you won't be able to collect as you will be down the line from creditors way ahead of you....
The only certificate that they can legally refuse to honor leagally is a gift certificate given to you from the store its self, and no real money was used to purchase the certificate,, Some places offer a certificate to entice you to come in and buy more products, or to thank you for making several purchases or a large ticket item, but it has no cash redemption value unless used in the store.. ( these they can and usually do put expiration dates on)..
If the company decides not to accept these,,, then they can say,, NOPE..

Max

Max, According to one of the managers who works for UFA (the company that bought out SW's inventory) you may be incorrect on this. He said that they are not legally required to honor these gift cards. However, they have decided to honor the cards until March 31. So anyone in possession of one of these cards should use it ASAP. Here are a couple of links from ifish that discuss this issue.
http://www.ifish.net/board/showthrea...ght=gift+cards

http://www.ifish.net/board/showthrea...ght=gift+cards

[yaifw]

Maybe / Maybe Not

If a gift card was purchased with real money, then they have the legal obligation to take the card.
Real money purchased the card... and there is no expiration date on these types of card purchases. this has been tested in court. .. A few outfits thought that they could put expiration dates on purchased gift cards or purchased certificates. They found out that they could not enforce the expiration date.....Even businesses that have been bought by anouther party have to honor a gift card or certificate that was purchased before they took over ownership.
but,,, if sportsman is going out of business then what you gonna get out of it when they are out of business..??. They won't show up to court at your small claims suit,( that you will win of course) but you won't be able to collect as you will be down the line from creditors way ahead of you....
The only certificate that they can legally refuse to honor leagally is a gift certificate given to you from the store its self, and no real money was used to purchase the certificate,, Some places offer a certificate to entice you to come in and buy more products, or to thank you for making several purchases or a large ticket item, but it has no cash redemption value unless used in the store.. ( these they can and usually do put expiration dates on)..
If the company decides not to accept these,,, then they can say,, NOPE..

Max

True if you buy a gift certifcate you should expect full value for it but the problem is Sportmans has 436.3 million in assets versus 452.3 million in liabilities. They do not have enough money to pay everyone full value. This is why businesses claim bankruptcy, they cannot pay their bills. Legally, you gift card is just a another bill.

That said, I still think its only a matter of time until they get court approval to honor them in full.

[northriver21]

Could somebody report on whats going to happen at the Wasilla store?

I have saved over 500.00 in gift cards for my new rifle and scope, but I am stuck up on the north slope for another 8 days!

I don't really want to send my wife out to pick my new gun for me.

[dandeo2003]

I'll go pick it out for you, I might even be talked into testing to see if you will really like it

[Vance in AK]

So has anyone actually seen these signs or is this still a rumor?
Glad I used my card last trip....

[walk-in]

If true, this sucks. I had about $400 in gift cards that I used back in January. I'm glad I did it then instead of waiting. Even if this all gets worked out, it may be a PITA in the short term.

[jpomazi]

Sportsmens

Guy I know went in and they wouldn't honor it but they did tell him that the stores that are still American owned would. So according to them he could do a mail order with one of them and redeem his gift card. Sounds like most of the ones on the west coast are being bought by the Canadian Co. Just what he was told by the store manager nothing in writing.

[Huntress]

I just called Matsu SW and they said this is not true and only rumor. Bounce back Bucks are the only thing with an expiration date. (whatever those are)