DC wants to steal your gift cards!

[javasaurus]

According to this WTOP article, the DC government is suing AT&T. The district is claiming that funds on calling cards should be considered abandoned after three years of non-use, and should become property of the district.

The level of stupidity here is, well, stupid. If I have an emergency Visa cash card, or AT&T phone card, it's not abandoned just because I don't use it. It's sitting there, in my wallet. If AT&T charges fees after a year or two, that would upset me, but that's how the cards work, and I know that.

To make matters worse, there are laws being debated to make the cards never expire, and a delay on the fees -- these laws are good, but why are there laws being proposed to protect the longevity of these cards for the consumer, if the district is just going to confiscate the funds? Oooohhhh...I get it....

The article notes that similar suits have succeeded elsewhere related to gift cards.

How would the district determine which cards would have money going to the district? If you bought it there? If you live there?

Maybe next they'll start considering savings accounts as abandoned.

Comments

[xpioti.livejournal.com]

Actually, a savings account that you don't touch for several (maybe 5?) years is considered abandoned, but fortunately my bank managed to contact me so I started interacting with the account and don't know what happens next!

I sincerely hope that DC loses this suit in the messiest, most public way possible. That's despicable.

[wilhelmina-d.livejournal.com]

Geez! That is messed up. Also - thanks for the heads up about savings accounts, Xi. I just went and transferred a couple bucks into our savings account because it's been ages since we did anything with ours.