I was a christmas present, and the giftee wants a refund.

[Gentleman Jim]

Yeah, I'm kind of emotionally invested in making your 'new friend' realize the serious error of his ways. Maybe when you go over to help him, you could put sugar in his gas tank, or write a dirty word on his lawn using vinegar... at least a flaming bag of dog poop is called for, wouldn't you agree?

So very unsatisfying to see that the West Coast way works out better. I was hoping for a blood feud, is that too much to ask?

[Gentleman Jim]

austingreen wrote:

Gentleman Jim wrote:
First, most gift certificates expire after a year or so

Depending on the state that is not true, California has a law that Gift Certificates can not have an expiration date. And I think it can always be redeemed for cash, at least in CA.

I reread this just now, and I thought that surely this was based on misinterpretation, but in fact it's not only true, but at least in California part of what I said is 100% wrong.

I wrote:

It's a gift certificate, not a savings bond. You're not an attorney maintaining a trust account, nor a bank with an escrow. It is unreasonable and unrealistic to think that you took that money and set it aside, never to touch it until the completion of his recording project. How you manage your business' cash flow is your prerogative.

But California law has this to say, among other things:

1749.6. (a) A gift certificate constitutes value held in trust by the issuer of the gift certificate on behalf of the beneficiary of the gift certificate. The value represented by the gift certificate belongs to the beneficiary, or to the legal representative of the beneficiary to the extent provided by law, and not to the issuer.

If I was a California business owner I would think twice about whether or not to sell gift certificates, depending on the specifics of my business.

If anybody is interested, here's a link to the law:
http://law.justia.com/california/codes/ ... 49.51.html

[NewAndImprov]

You know, man, we've invested, like, 4 pages and a lot of angry sympathy with you and this thread. The least we could get out of it is a black eye, or a recount of one of you threatening the other with bodily harm or a lawsuit or something.

I know, I'm sorry to disappoint. Frankly, the guy was pretty cool when he called today, even agreed with me about his using my advice to decide what to buy, etc. Anyway, when we finally get together, I'll definitely let you all know if there's a fistfight.