Sears Don't Buy Sears Gift Cards; Sears Does Not Accept Sears Gift Cards as Payment Hoffman Estates Illinois

I purchased a microwave on at www.sears.com on 11/12/2007. I planned to use $10 Sears gift cards for pay for purchase. The total price with tax was $212; however, upon entering the 16th gift card, the web site flashed an error message indicating that I could not use more than 15 gift cards for a single transaction, and thus, I had to use my credit card for the remaining $62 balance. Each gift card clearly says the following: "This card is issued by Sears Promotions, LLC, and is redeemable for all merchandise and services purchased in conjunction with merchandise at participating Sears, Roebuck and Co. store locations in the United States and Puerto Rico." Particular emphasis should be given to the word all in the above sentence, as nowhere on the card is there any mention of a limit as to the number of gift cards which can be used for any single transaction. There is also no mention of the 15-gift card limit when the gift cards are purchased, and there are no written policies on the Sears web site advising of this policy. Immediately after the purchase, I wrote to Sears customer service to advise them of these facts and to request that they take my additional gift cards in lieu of the credit card payment I was forced to submit in order to complete my purchase. In response, I was told that Sears understands my frustrations, but they cannot help me. Since the gift cards have already been paid for, and because I did not anticipate spending any additional monies, I feel very strongly that this practice is deceptive, at best, and likely fraudulent.

Glen
Deerfield, Illinois
U.S.A.