Beware the SDM BEAUTY BOUTIQUE gift card

[mcminsen]

Add this to your list of things to beware of at SDM.

I bought three of these gift cards (see pics below) yesterday at SDM. Later, when I was trying to use them to pay for my groceries, the cashier pointed out that the card was for Beauty Boutique purchases only and I could only use it to buy cosmetics or beauty items.

I told her I picked these up from the rack with all the other cards presuming they would be good for anything in the store. She said "Sorry".

I said that I'd like to exchange them then for gift cards I can use to pay for anything and she said that it's not possible to refund or exchange a SDM gift card. I said I'm not going to be buying $300 worth of cosmetics any time soon (I'm a middle aged man). She held up the card and pointed to the front of the card and said "It says right there... Beauty Boutique!" and also pointed out the fine print on the back.

I asked her if she would try it anyway and see if it would work. She consulted another cashier and they discussed it and decided to page the store manager to ask him. When he finally came and was filled in on the problem he excused himself and went off (I presume to make a phone call). After a while he comes back and tells the cashier to try it, it should work.

So, she tried the card and it worked. They told me there should be no problem using the others then.

Anyhoo.... be aware that if you buy this particular kind of SDM gift card, you may end up with a cashier who says you can't use it to buy groceries.

[rhiannon1891]

I didn't even know they had special cards for the beauty boutique. Thanks for the heads up! Glad to know you ended up with the regular ones.

[sweetmomma]

I didn't know they sold these either but I can see myself buying them as gifts. What denominations do these cards come in? Glad it worked out in the end for you.

[thien_nga]

I paid for grocery with beautiboutique GCs before, and I used the baby gift card to pay at BeautiBoutique 5 days ago, SDM Gcs are good for anything in SDM for sure, no matter what is the picture or title! Maybe the cashier just made up her own rule!

[mcminsen]

I didn't even know they had special cards for the beauty boutique. Thanks for the heads up! Glad to know you ended up with the regular ones.

I didn't end up with the regular ones. They finally figured out that the Beauty Boutique gift card CAN be used for anything but because of the wording on it (see fine print enlargement) the cashier had initially refused it for payment for groceries.

The problem here was the staff not knowing what works or not. So, if you are buying SDM gift cards, have a close look at them and maybe just buy the regular ones and avoid some potential hassle.

[mcminsen]

I didn't know they sold these either but I can see myself buying them as gifts. What denominations do these cards come in? Glad it worked out in the end for you.

All I know of are the $100 denominations, like what I bought. I just grabbed them quickly because there was a mile long lineup at the cash registers.

The first issue was the cashier not knowing that the Beauty Boutique gift card can be accepted for buying anything and the other issue was she just said no and didn't offer a solution. I had to ask her to try to make it work.

On a side note, when I was in another SDM on Thursday night I was buying three International Delights with three coupons. The cashier took the time to thoroughly read both the front and the back of the coupon and then handed it back to me and said "It doesn't say what size!". So, I handed it back to him again and said "So, it should be good for any size.".

Now, all three coupons were identical but he took them one by one and read every word of all three coupons, front and back. He then rings it through and the total was wrong, the sale price hadn't come up. So, I handed him the flyer and pointed out the sale price. He takes the flyer and analyses it, flipping it over several times to see everything and then says to me "Where did you get this?!".

I said they were in a rack by the front door. He's obviously getting very irritated and he runs off to check the price on the shelf and comes back and hands the flyer back to me and says "That's not the price on the shelf!".

I point to the flyer and say "I'd like to buy this at the advertised price please." So, then again comes a consultation with another cashier, the paging of the manager, and investigation of the situation by him and then finally instructions to the cashier to just do an override and give me the sale price.

Of course, it was only after I escaped to the fresh air outside that I realized I could have asked for a SCOP (Scanning Code Of Practice) but I thought no, it really would not have been worth the hassle to wait again for them to figure that one out. I tell ya, sometimes it's so hard to shop at SDM!

[haprd]

Thanks for pointing out those GCs. I would've never known. I'm glad that the girls at my SDM are very with it and helpful.

[maddie2008]

OMG i never knew there were GCs for the beauty boutique.
BUT due to the wording on those one, I can understand how the cashier would assume it would only be for the Boutique, even though can be used as regular ones are.

[FallenPixels]

Thanks for the heads up

[jojos_n_kelowna]

Oh wow....Why would they have a card only for the beauty counter? and what does it all include? STOOOOPID! If I remember correctly, when SDM has their '20x on beauty and fragrance`it includes more than just those, like I think Jewelry, hair colour, and facial care products from the regular skin care isle (ie like Olay and Nivea et all). Anyway as long as you aren`t trying to purchase cigarrettes, bus tickets, lottery etc then the GC should be valid for all their regular items.

Personally, I wouldn't have noticed that small print 'Beauty Boutique' on the front of the card either...It looks so similar to the regular GCs...I just look at the $100 and go to the cashier.

Thanks McMinsen for the heads up!

[annedougherty]

The cashier took the time to thoroughly read both the front and the back of the coupon and then handed it back to me and said "It doesn't say what size!". So, I handed it back to him again and said "So, it should be good for any size.".

That's a riot.

I had an interesting time at SDM earlier today. The cashier scanned my items, and then I handed her my coupons, as I always do, at the same location I always go to. She says "oh no, I wish I'd seen those before!" So then she voided EVERYTHING and rang it all back through again, doing each coupon after each item. The people in line were super crazy mad as they were short staffed at SDM today and the line up was huge!

I really wanted to ask why she had to do that, but at the same time I was almost afraid to ask and decided I didn't even want to know.

[mhk]

Oh mcminsen!!! And you would have looked EVER so GLAMOROUS after having used the $300 at the beauty boutique too . Just kidding. Well done for hanging in there and getting what is rightfully yours! Sheesh!

I have a funny story about a cashier at LD. I was stacking at LD and using 4 "lots" of the Covergirl buy 2 get $3 off and buy one get $1 off. So the cashier reads one lot, puts it through, then reads another, puts it through etc. She did it for all 4 lots. Then I had the Tide, Bounce, Downy stacks. 4 of those - same thing. I had about 10 things I was stacking and it took this lovely lady about an hour to get through. I politely did ask her if she wanted me to go to someone who was "more familiar" with reading coupons and she said it was ok. She was only verifying the dates. So I pointed out that they were identical stacks, so after she saw one, the others did not have to be read. She gave me this incredulous look - like are you from another planet type look - and said she had to read every stack anyway. Wow! If it took her so long to locate and read the date, I wonder how she landed the job already!!!!

Then yesterday I was at SDM. Got 4 Gillette gift packs - used the coupons - $4 off each giftpack. I also had the buy 3 gillette get $5 off from Smartsource, and the girl just ignored it. I asked her why she had not used it, and she said - what? this one - which she had slid under the counter (to presumably throw out later?). I said yes this one. So she started to argue with me that the $5 was for individual items and not for giftpacks. I tried to explain to her in ENGLISH what my interpretation of the coupon language was. Then I saw a supervisor slinking away, and called out to her and asked if she was a supervisor to which she answered in the affirmative. I asked her to read the coupon, and she read it until she was almost cross eyed. Then she asked the cashier how many items I had purchased and I showed her the 4 boxes. She told the cashier to "give" it to me "this time" Arghhhhh - to say that the lineup behind me was about 20 people (not very happy New Years eve shoppers) did not seem to deter these people in nickel-ing and dime-ing me and acting foolish (in my humble opinion).

Oh my reciept has the survey thing to do - and boy am I going to fill it out this time!!! I wonder if ANYONE has ever collected a prize for answering that survey! I have done at least 100 but nada!

OK I said my piece - Happy New Year everyone - and Heri ya Mwaka mpya mcminsen, ol' buddy! (Happiness in Year new - direct Kiswahili translation).

[Vov76]

Another example of a cashier making up new rules. Why they keep doing that? On many occasions I used this beauty boutique card to pay for milk, eggs, lottery etc.

I was at SDM a few months ago and wanted to buy some gift cards. They did not have any regular cards left and they offered me this beauty boutique card. I immediately asked if it would be ok to use for regular items. They said yes, no problem.

[cheaptorontogirl]

I've used a beauty boutique gift card to pay for stuff in other areas of the store, if they really didn't want to allow it, I would just buy one makeup product and all the rest from the rest of the store and pay for it in the beauty boutique.

[Butt3rCooki3]

thanks for the heads up! happy new year!