I'll dump all funds from my Visa gift Card into my Paypal account then use the paypal debit card to buy. that's different than using paypal directly. Should work. But, even being a Nook supporter, I shouldn't have to do that...although I do understand the evolutionary process of any new device and will give it time to adapt to things that need to be done, such as this.
So it appears that marketing/product development is letting IT call the shots ( hence, IT architecture decisions have bubbled up to a poor user experience ). Too bad, nice product idea - poor execution.
I absolutely cannot BELIEVE how B & N are SO missing the boat on this one!!!!!! Do they even READthese boards????? There are some significant issues here that I am seeing NO significant answers to!!!! Even though I am anxiously awaiting my new Nook mostly because I believe it's newer and that much ahead of the Kindle 2 (which I DO NOT OWN but have handled the DX), I think B & N had no idea there were so many consumers out there who were knowledgeable enough to ask and expect knowledgeable answers!!!
IF they read these boards, do they NOT SEE the amount of sales they will be losing in Gift Cards by not allowing them to be used for eBooks??????? Even AFTER the Holidays?????
Some one of these Board Monitors needs to stack up every one of these posts in front of the panel that meets to handle this "HELP BOARD" and doesn't field the questions posted here!!! And Occasionally, reconsider an answer they've come up with that seems to us to make NO SOUND LOGICAL BUSINESS SENSE WHATEVER!!!!!!
From what I understand, the problem lies in the way the DRM is encoded using a credit card number to do so. By using that number as their hash, you can't use the gift cards which act as a different form of payment. So....
(If this has been stated previously, I apologize...) Why not establish a two tier B&N membership program - one that is paid like the current and enjoys all the discounts associated and a second that is free and used strictly for ebook purchases. That would provide a common account number with which to encode the books and avoid the whole Credit Card number fiasco.
As it stands, I have to agree with other posters who find the gift card situation frustrating. If I get a Nook, I know that family and friends would give gift cards as presents. By not allowing gift cards, B&N is also encouraging those gift givers who might be inclined to throw some coin B&N's way to look elsewhere for a different type of gift.
This area was not well thought out. How many people like myself are uncomfortable with the idea of a credit card number being used as a decryption element in the first place?? Using a common B&N number makes a lot more sense from where I am sitting. Thoughts?
I really believe merchants use Gift Cards in much the same way they use Rebates as a vehicle to cheat customers out of their money legally.
There are statistics that demonstrate that up to 1/3 of Gift Card monies are never redeemed, and I've seen unauthorized insider leaks alleging that Rebate Companies *guarantee* as much as 15%-20% of their rebates will never be paid (they increase the percentage using nefarious tactics, such as sending out rejection cards saying the UPC# was invalid or that they never received your mail, etc., with the expectation that you don't have any copies to back up what you sent in).
Consumer Reports revealed a couple years ago that $8 Billion dollars worth of Gift Cards had not redeemed for various reasons, and that's out of a total of $24 Billion dollars purchased.
I'm not saying all people are negatively affected by gift cards or rebates, only that merchants can rely on a certain percentage of those monies never being paid back, and although legal - it's a pretty shady way to earn revenue because that money rightfully belongs to the customers.
yup - just pulled a stack out last night for a nephew that was looking for a Red Lobster card. Had one from 2006... and still good for $50 - no monthly fee deducted as per the back of the card, as it must start after you actually use it.
Also - still have a Circuit City card in the stack - again, leftovers from several holiday & birthday gatherings..
11-05-200907:10 PM- last edited on11-05-200907:11 PM
Hi Slammer, regarding the gift card that you bought for your wife to use for ebooks. Do you still have your receipts for this? If yes, I would think there should be no issue in returning the gift card. Especially since the sales associate gave you completely wrong information. I've actually taken a gift card back where I purchased it, since I had the receipt, there was no issue. But if they tell you no, I would for sure speak to the manager and insist that they refund you immediatley.
OK, so you can't use a gift card to buy ebooks because the key to the book is tied to your CC number. Does this mean that you have to always use this one credit card number for your ebook purchases? For example, you might have more than one CC you use or you might cancel your CC because the number is stolen or because you decide to switch CC companies.
I'll be the first to admit that my DRM knowledge is not the most up-to-date, but heres my two cents on why they won't accept a gift card.
As previously stated you can not purchase a ebooks while out of the country which I assume part of the way to control this is to limit the (in this case limiting it to just the US)origin of the bank who you have your card through. Using a gift card, people could potentially by-pass this feature as suggested by someone else on a thread here about thats how they do it for iTunes. So while it causes an inconvinence to customers, it seems to be consistent with the way they are dealing with the larger international issue (which I don't agree with but thats another story).
I understand that you can not use gift cards to purchase eBooks but is that only to purchase wirelessly or can you buy eBooks with a gift card and load it to an SD for your Nook or download to computers ?
You can not use a gift card to purchase ebooks on BN period. I think this is a huge mistake by BN, I was really looking forward to purchasing and receiving gift cards for my and my dad's nook. Wake up BN you just lost a huge portion of sales for this!!!
I agree I really hope this policy changes, the eBooks need gift cards more than anything else on their site!! If I have a Dan Brown eBook fro Christmas, my mom can't go buy it for me since books aren't transferable, so since she can't buy a GC for me, she'd ahve to give me cash and BN would have to hope I use said cash to buy the eBook. pretty big risk on BN's part IMO. I truly hope this changes soon!!!
My wife pre-ordered a nook at our local store for my birthday yesterday and they actively sold her a $100 Gift Card to get my nook started with some ebooks.... Supprise...!!! I am a bit ticked off about this.
11-05-200908:16 PM- last edited on11-05-200908:32 PM
To be frank, learning this as I did (I'm SO thankful I decided to browse these forums, I was actually JUST about to pre-order a Nook when I saw the discussions sidebar) completely killed the idea of a Nook for me. I don't like using my credit card more than necessary, and I'm accustomed to using gift cards for downloads, such as on iTunes (I use a card so I don't get carried away with downloading, which is easy to do with music, and for me would also be easy to do with books. I love books.)
I've been looking at eBook readers for some time, because I really don't have the space or disposable income to consistently buy large numbers of paper books, but I wasn't very much impressed by the Kindle. I heard about the Nook and it looked like the reader for me, until I learned that gift cards can't be used. I'd planned to ask for gift cards for holidays, etc. and to also purchase them myself to prevent me from going too crazy on spending, but not being able to use them is a total deal-breaker. Like I said, I had been just about to pre-order, and then I learned this. I definitely won't be purchasing a Nook now. I suppose I'll just have to reconcile myself to the Kindle.
This needs to be addresses immediately. I can't see how gift cards could not be used for purchases of eBooks since you can pre-add them to your B&N account. This could be a deal breaker for me as well.
"My wife pre-ordered a nook at our local store for my birthday yesterday and they actively sold her a $100 Gift Card to get my nook started with some ebooks.... Supprise...!!! I am a bit ticked off about this."
Update. I went into the local BN and spoke to the store manager about this sale of a gift card for my Nook. She was Shocked, and had no idea you could not use the cards for ebooks.
The reader is not even out yet and there is already room for class action if this sale of giftcards with a nook continue.
wow, the manager never even knew? i'm starting to think B&N should of held off with the release of the Nook to get things in order instead of trying to cash in on it's release for the holiday season. seems like everyday B&N falls behind with lack of knowledge of their own product which is scary to a consumer.
Sadly, B&N are not the only ones pulling this kind of stunt right now. I think that so many retailers are really trying to get their products out for this holiday season because it has been predicted that ereaders are going to be a big market this season. The Sony Daily edition which will be out shortly after the nook doesn't have much more information available than the nook. The irex reater was supposed to be in Best Buy stores by the end of October and I called up Best Buy to find out why they weren't there yet. The 2 people I spoke to had never even heard of the irex reader. It seems They are all scrambling this year.
I would certainly think that B&N will add the gift card feature to the ebooks soon, (but that is just my opinion)
