# How do I zero out Visa/MC gift cards? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 27, 2023, 11:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-zero-out-visa-mc-gift-cards/990771 "2023-09-27T11:03:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2023, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-zero-out-visa-mc-gift-cards/990771/21 "2023-09-27T15:59:07Z")
Yeah. My local drycleaner has a $10 minimum for CCs. At least it does when Mama-san is running the register. Kid-san & Papa-san are much more forgiving. One pair of pants doesn’t meet the $10 minimum; that’s only $9. But particularly now that I’m retired, one pair of dry cleanable slacks every couple of weeks is all I have for them. I’ll be dropping one pair some later today. Next time I pick up it’ll either be CC or my last use of their store. Yes, the CC monopolies are rapacious bastards. Just like the retail real estate landlord cartels. And the laundry equipment suppliers. It sucks being small business since you have so little, often zero, leverage over your suppliers. It sucks more to take that out on your customers who have even less leverage. Except the leverage of their willingness to go down the street. ---
**Author:** ![FinsToTheLeft](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finstotheleft/32/2930_2.png) [@FinsToTheLeft](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinsToTheLeft)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2023, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-zero-out-visa-mc-gift-cards/990771/22 "2023-09-27T16:40:47Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > I immediately went to Amazon and purchased gift cards in the amount on the card. Then I could just use the amount any time I purchased anything from Amazon. I do this for the remaining dregs on the gift cards. We received about CAD$6000 in MasterCard gift cards after being bumped from a Delta flight in March, each for $250. Amazon allows you to buy gift cards in any amount, so I just added each card to my Amazon account and added the $12.18 or whatever balance was left on the card to my Amazon balance. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2023, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-zero-out-visa-mc-gift-cards/990771/23 "2023-09-27T16:44:50Z")
> [@Dr.Drake](#): > > We don’t accept dollar coins If a cashier told me that, I walk out leaving them to reshelve everything and say, “In that case I will shop at a store that does.” Of course here in Canada we’ve been using $1 and $2 coins for a couple decades. But a store might legally refuse pennies although the government will still redeem them. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2023, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-zero-out-visa-mc-gift-cards/990771/24 "2023-09-27T17:00:02Z")
> [@FinsToTheLeft](#): > > We received about CAD$6000 in MasterCard gift cards after being bumped from a Delta flight in March, each for $250. That’s outrageous! If an airline pulled that on me, I would start yelling the name Gabor Lukacs which would put the fear of god into them. See [Gábor Lukács | Air Passenger Rights](https://airpassengerrights.ca/en/about/team/gabor-lukacs). ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2023, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-zero-out-visa-mc-gift-cards/990771/25 "2023-09-27T17:07:19Z")
The dollar coin thing happened in the US, but a few years ago, I took a couple of pennies into RBC. I’d found a couple over the years, and I couldn’t bring myself to just throw them away. The _bank_ tried to tell me they wouldn’t accept them. Just not trained properly: Canadian money is always valid, if only for exchange for current coins / notes / electronic pennies. They did take them once a manager explained that to the teller. ---
**Author:** ![FinsToTheLeft](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finstotheleft/32/2930_2.png) [@FinsToTheLeft](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinsToTheLeft)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2023, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-zero-out-visa-mc-gift-cards/990771/26 "2023-09-27T17:23:26Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > That’s outrageous! If an airline pulled that on me, I would start yelling the name Gabor Lukacs which would put the fear of god into them. This was actually voluntary on a flight from Rome to Toronto via JFK. For a 24 hour wait, we received USD$6000 in vouchers, hotel rooms, meals, and an upgrade to business class all the way home so no bad blood with Delta at all. They have a gift card portal where you can chose prepaid MC/Visa, Amazon, Uber, Home Hardware, a bunch of others. We chose mostly MC for their flexibility, but then you are left with the small amounts. While I appreciate Gabor’s advocacy, he sometimes appears that we should demand compensation because WestJet ran out of Diet Coke. ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Mouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mighty_mouse/32/7776_2.png) [@Mighty\_Mouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Mouse)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2023, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-zero-out-visa-mc-gift-cards/990771/27 "2023-09-27T19:28:06Z")
I would think a lot of those small business are cheating the tax man, not trying to avoid transaction fees. They aren’t reporting the cash sales. I don’t know which countries you’re talking about but in France, Benelux, Czechia and Germany I have made literally thousands of purchases on cards and have yet to encounter a “sorry, card reader is broken” event. There are vendors (fewer every year) who are cash only. But they don’t say the machine is broken. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2023, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-zero-out-visa-mc-gift-cards/990771/28 "2023-09-27T19:36:48Z")
Do you actually know Gabor? He is nothing if not unreasonable. I met him when he was 14 and attending a math conference that he was utterly unprepared for and was asking totally idiotic questions. But I have gotten to know him a bit and on a personal level he is very friendly. I had thought from your posting that they had refused a refund for a cancelled flight and given you credits instead. But it seems they delated a flight for a day and then indemnified you that way. In that case, I would conjecture that you have already benefitted from Gabor’s activism. Michael ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2023, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-zero-out-visa-mc-gift-cards/990771/29 "2023-09-27T19:44:41Z")
> [@jacobsta811](#): > > Virtually all stores allow you to use up the balance - they just don’t know what the balance is. You just have to ask to “split tender” and tell them the _exact_ amount on the card to run it for and it will run through just fine. Worked for me at all the big box stores when I used to have a lot of rebate cards - I 100% know walmart will do it. Our Safeway seems to know the balance just fine. When we have a small amount left on a gift card we split the payment, and there has never been a problem. I’ve never tried on self checkout though, that would probably be a problem. But our checkers are pretty with it. ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2023, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-zero-out-visa-mc-gift-cards/990771/30 "2023-09-27T19:52:37Z")
> [@gnoitall](#): > > If so, maybe the word “can’t” really means “won’t”. Given the responses, I suspect OP didn’t try many ways of using up the card balances. ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Mouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mighty_mouse/32/7776_2.png) [@Mighty\_Mouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Mouse)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2023, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-zero-out-visa-mc-gift-cards/990771/31 "2023-09-27T20:16:32Z")
If it’s a Safeway gift card they do. If it’s a Visa/MC/Amex branded gift card, I don’t think they could possibly know. The information flow is just request/authorize. It only returns accept or decline (and retain card, though many retailers don’t do that anyway). ---
**Author:** ![FinsToTheLeft](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finstotheleft/32/2930_2.png) [@FinsToTheLeft](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinsToTheLeft)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2023, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-zero-out-visa-mc-gift-cards/990771/32 "2023-09-27T20:19:16Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > Do you actually know Gabor? He is nothing if not unreasonable. I met him when he was 14 and attending a math conference that he was utterly unprepared for and was asking totally idiotic questions. But I have gotten to know him a bit and on a personal level he is very friendly. > > I had thought from your posting that they had refused a refund for a cancelled flight and given you credits instead. But it seems they delated a flight for a day and then indemnified you that way. In that case, I would conjecture that you have already benefitted from Gabor’s activism As a travel geek, I know him only from his reputation and press coverage. He has had a significant impact on the new Air Passenger Rights in Canada, I am light heartedly joking about his positions. Canada was far behind the EU before the new regulations, the US still lags both. My flight wasn’t delayed, it was overbooked and they wanted our seats. If the whole flight was delayed by a day we would have received 600 Euros each, so we did significantly better than that. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2023, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-zero-out-visa-mc-gift-cards/990771/33 "2023-09-27T20:31:39Z")
I rarely receive generic gift cards, but it’s nice to know Amazon is a comprehensive bank to take them as deposits at full face value. So for me at least this thread has been worthwhile. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2023, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-zero-out-visa-mc-gift-cards/990771/34 "2023-09-27T22:16:51Z")
> [@Dr.Drake](#): > > For the stores saying you can’t: is that policy, or the word of a cashier? I’ve been told loads of untrue things by cashiers who just don’t know how to, or want to, do something unusual. (“We don’t accept dollar coins”—yes, you do.) 🤦‍♀️ Drives me batty when we get a new cashier doing something like that. Yes, we take dollar coins. We take half dollars. We take $2 bills. If you’re not sure of a bill ask for help because we also take really old bills that “look funny”. (We do not, of course, take “funny money” but you’re supposed to ask for a manager if anything seems off). ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2023, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-zero-out-visa-mc-gift-cards/990771/35 "2023-09-27T22:22:22Z")
> [@doreen](#): > > The amount remaining on the Visa/MC gift card is treated like the amount available on a credit card. If you try to charge a $25 purchase to a credit card with $2.13 available credit , it won’t charge $2.13 to that credit card and show a remaining balance of $22.87. It just declines the purchase if you don’t have $25 available. The store system can’t see how much is left on a Visa/MC gift card, but they can see what’s left on their own gift card. Um… no. It used to be that way, but for quite a few years now our registers can, in fact, see the unused amounts on the MC/Visa cards and apply them to purchases. This may not be universally available. > [@gnoitall](#): > > Is the merchant incurring a merchant fee on each card being run? If I pay a $20 register total with 20 cards, is the merchant eating 20 1.5% fees rather than the typical one or two? > > If so, maybe the word “can’t” really means “won’t”. It’s possible. The store I work for is part of a larger corporation that is willing to take a small loss to keep customers happy (up to a point) so we’ll do it. Smaller operations may not. ---
**Author:** ![glowacks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/glowacks/32/5548_2.png) [@glowacks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glowacks)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2023, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-zero-out-visa-mc-gift-cards/990771/36 "2023-09-27T22:40:40Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Yeah. My local drycleaner has a $10 minimum for CCs. At least it does when Mama-san is running the register. Kid-san & Papa-san are much more forgiving. My local cleaners is the same way now, but I luckily pretty much always work at least 4 days a week and shirt cleanings are now $2.50, so I don’t have a problem. And I wouldn’t have a problem paying cash either, and did for a long time before the shirt price got that high just because I’d rather not hear them complain about me paying cash (back before it became an apparent rule according to the sign that went up a few months ago) compared to the few cents of rewards. You could always report such companies to Visa/MC and see what happens if you’re happy potentially never shopping there again. ---
**Author:** ![glowacks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/glowacks/32/5548_2.png) [@glowacks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glowacks)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2023, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-zero-out-visa-mc-gift-cards/990771/37 "2023-09-27T22:44:58Z")
> [@Mighty\_Mouse](#): > > I would think a lot of those small business are cheating the tax man, not trying to avoid transaction fees. They aren’t reporting the cash sales. For cleaners though, they have to have some system of keeping track of your order, and that’s going to keep some sort of trail. If they keep it only on paper, then OK, but I suspect most places have switched to electronic systems that would leave an obvious trace if things were deleted. That’s why I never had a problem paying cash to them. Even the place that I went to a few weeks and wrote tickets by hand still used electronic tracking of things, because the last time I went in there they claimed I hadn’t prepaid because that’s what the computer said. Easy decision to never go there again, especially since it wasn’t the first time that I felt they were doing something sleazy. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2023, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-zero-out-visa-mc-gift-cards/990771/38 "2023-09-28T01:12:08Z")
> [@glowacks](#): > > And I wouldn’t have a problem paying cash either, and did for a long time before the shirt price got that high just because I’d rather not hear them complain about me paying cash (back before it became an apparent rule according to the sign that went up a few months ago) compared to the few cents of rewards. When I buy a pack of gum at 7-11 for 85 cents I charge it to my CC with no fuss. I do not use cash, period, except for emergencies. When some rando retailer insists on that antiquated crap it’s a direct annoyance to me. Even more so when their prices seem set up so the standard purchase is _just_ below the threshold of what they’re willing to charge to a CC. Yes I get rewards points, but it’s not the nickel-and-dime purchases that run up my monthly total. I don’t care about the points foregone on a $8 purchase. I care about fiddling with stupid cash and stupider coins. YMMV of course. ---
**Author:** ![FinsToTheLeft](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finstotheleft/32/2930_2.png) [@FinsToTheLeft](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinsToTheLeft)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2023, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-zero-out-visa-mc-gift-cards/990771/39 "2023-09-28T01:23:27Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Yes I get rewards points, but it’s not the nickel-and-dime purchases that run up my monthly total. I don’t care about the points foregone on a $8 purchase. I care about fiddling with stupid cash and stupider coins. I have $200 sitting on my desk for probably the last 2 years. I think one of my kids received cash in birthday cards and traded it with me so they could buy something online with my credit card. My current wallet does not even hold cash, cards only. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2023, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-zero-out-visa-mc-gift-cards/990771/40 "2023-09-28T01:33:48Z")
Interesting article about gift cards, both unused and only partially used: [The economics of unused gift cards - The Hustle](https://thehustle.co/what-happens-to-unused-gift-cards/#:~:text=At%20the%20one%20year%20mark,cards%20are%20never%20even%20used). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-zero-out-visa-mc-gift-cards/990771.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-zero-out-visa-mc-gift-cards/990771.md?page=3)