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Citi Drops Extended Warranty Benefit on Costco Credit Cards

One of the best perks of using certain credit cards is the extended warranty benefit that doubles the manufacturer’s warranty up to an extra year or two for free.

That was the case with the popular Costco Citi Visa card, but cardholders who read the fine print notice on their recent credit card statement or checked the Citi website were stunned to learn that that benefit is about to be discontinued.

*MOUSE PRINT:

Citi Costco Visa notice

That’s right, after January 22, 2023, the two-year extended warranty that the Costco Anywhere Visa by Citi card provided will be gone. This benefit has been worth its weight in gold for many a consumer who learned that their major appliance, computer, or big screen TV needed repairs after the manufacturer’s one-year warranty expired.

Costco, however, still appears to be offering its Costco Concierge Service whereby it provides a free second year warranty on major appliances, computers and television sets.

Citi continues the trend of removing most of the valuable consumer benefits that used to be standard on its credit cards, as we reported back in 2019 and also in 2018. The extended warranty benefit has also been dropped on many American Express cards and those of other banks.

You can still find the extended warranty benefit on some Chase credit cards, from some other banks, and on a very few Citi and AMEX cards. Particularly as we start the holiday shopping season, before you make that major appliance, TV, computer, or electronics purchase, check with your credit card issuers to see which of your cards still doubles the manufacturer’s warranty for free.

And while you’re at it, ask for or review your card’s current benefit brochure because you can no longer assume that other traditional benefits are still included like free collision damage waiver on rental cars.

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MrConsumer For 27 years, Consumer World has served readers with the latest consumer news, money-saving tips, and independent investigations. It is your generosity (and not advertising alone nor corporate support) that keeps this site and Mouse Print* available as free consumer resources. So MrConsumer turns to you and humbly asks for your support again this year. Your gift will be most appreciated.

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Advocates to Grocers: Stop Digital Discrimination of Unplugged Seniors

A coalition of national consumer organizations is urging leading supermarket chains to stop discriminating against senior citizens and low income shoppers who cannot take advantage of a new wave of advertised in-store digital-only discounts because millions of them do not have internet access or smartphones.

Read about the issue in our original story.

In a letter to the presidents of a dozen large supermarket chains, the consumer groups (Consumer Action, Consumer Reports, Consumer World, National Consumers League, and PIRG) are urging them to help bridge the digital divide by adopting a workaround so unplugged shoppers are charged the same lower sale prices as connected customers are.

“It’s digital discrimination, and the most vulnerable people are being shut-out of these online discounts at the worst possible time given record high inflation,” explained Edgar Dworsky, founder of Consumer World. “Big supermarkets need to provide an offline alternative to the digitally-disconnected so they can reap the same savings that connected shoppers enjoy.”

In the past couple of years, more and more weekly specials advertised by some supermarkets for meat, fish, poultry, produce, and store brand items are so-called “digital-only deals” (see sample ads). They require shoppers to first go online to electronically “clip” the offers to add them to their loyalty card account to be charged the sale price in the store.

*MOUSE PRINT:

Sample supermarket FAQ about digital-only offers:

Q. Can I still take advantage of these coupons if I don’t have a smart phone or a computer?

A. These coupons are only available electronically. Manufacturers continue to offer paper coupons through local newspapers.

But, since 25-percent of seniors don’t use the internet and 39-percent don’t have smartphones according to a 2021 study by the Pew Research Center, they are effectively shut-out of these deals. Similarly, 43-percent of low income households lack broadband internet access.

Digital-only discounts can provide significant savings for connected shoppers. But an unplugged shopper, for example, could pay $9 more for this package of steak, or $15 more for a 15-pound Thanksgiving turkey because he or she cannot clip the required digital coupon.

Digital only items

Even on smaller purchases, the amount a digitally-disconnected shopper overpays can be significant. In the following examples, he or she is paying twice the price for this tub of store brand ice cream and 75-percent more for this carton of eggs.

ice cream and eggs

This week, stores across the country are offering digital-only sale items like these.

Not only are people without internet access shut-out of digital discounts, so are the one-in-four shoppers who despite having online access say they may lack the technical ability to use a supermarket’s website or app, according to a recent survey by Consumer World.

The consumer groups have suggested five ways that supermarkets can offer an in-store offline alternative to digital-only deals to accommodate both the digitally-disconnected and the digitally-challenged shopper:

1. Utilize barcoded clip or click store coupons in circulars so the customer can choose their preferred redemption method (e.g., Vons and The Giant Company).

2. Empower cashiers to charge the digital price upon request.

3. Empower customer service personnel to provide refunds for unredeemed digital discounts.

4. Offer physical store coupons next to digital-only deals for those who did not/could not electronically “clip” the offer (e.g., H-E-B).

5. Install coupon kiosks where digital coupons can be added to one’s account in-store (e.g., ShopRite and Food Lion).

The letter to supermarket executives was sent on November 15 to the following chains: Kroger, Albertsons, Stop & Shop, Star Market/Shaw’s, Ralphs, QFC, Jewel Osco, Randalls, Fred Meyer, King Soopers, Smart & Final, and Safeway.

Feel free to offer your opinion of whether supermarkets should make accommodations for seniors and others who don’t have internet access or smartphones to be able to pay the digital price for advertised sale items in stores.

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Is Starbucks Pocketing Millions in Small Gift Card Balances Illegally?

Starbucks gift cardA new class action lawsuit claims that Starbucks is pocketing millions of dollars from small balances on used gift cards rather than making refunds of those amounts readily available to customers.

Under the law of some states, consumers can request cash back when a gift card’s balance falls below a certain amount. In this case, since the consumer lives in Massachusetts, that law governs requiring a refund at the customer’s option when the gift card balance falls to five dollars or less.

*MOUSE PRINT:

The complaint in this case alleges:

5. Defendant’s Gift Cards state that they “Cannot be redeemed for cash unless required by law.”

6. However, Defendant does not reveal that despite this affirmation, Defendant’s policy is that the Gift Cards are completely non-refundable and in fact have no mechanism in Massachusetts to refund the value of the Gift Cards even in situations where state law requires it.

The filing says the consumer’s lawyer was not able to get a refund of the $4.94 remaining on his client’s gift card by using the online form on the Starbucks website because that is limited to just residents of California and Oregon. A Boston Starbucks location was also called inquiring about a refund but it was denied there too. What the lawyer apparently didn’t do, however, is call the customer service number listed on the website for those in other states seeking refund assistance.

For its part, the company gave Axios the following statement:

“Starbucks is well aware of state gift card redemption requirements and has proper policies and procedures in place to honor valid gift card cash redemption requests.”

This case is similar to one we reported on in May when Dunkin’ was allegedly found not refunding small balances on its gift cards.

We’ll let you know what happens as these cases move forward.

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