DVD Talk Forum - When does the Borders/Amazon partnership end?

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I just called the customer support number on the back of the card.

While the rep confirmed that Borders was indeed splitting from Amazon at some point in the future, she certainly did not believe that it was going into effect today.

I believe that this is an Amazon.com system glitch, although it does seem awfully fishy that it is occurring on May 1.

Thanks for the info, guys. I've been back and forth with Amazon today and they keep sending me the same canned response. I just wanted to alert them to the problem so that they could get to work on fixing it. Here is the last reply that I received from Amazon, FWIW-

Thank you writing to us with your concern.

We are not stopped accepting Borders gift card on our website.

To use Borders gift cards and to complete the purchase successfully:

1. Add the items from our co-branded store to your Shopping Cart.
2. Click "Proceed to Checkout." When filling out the online order form:
3. Enter the gift card number in the space marked "Do you have a gift card or promotional code?"

Be sure to click the "Apply" button after entering the number.

No deductions are made from your Borders Gift Card until your order is ready for shipment. If the cost of your order is greater than the value of your Borders Gift Card, we'll charge the balance of the order to your credit card at the time of shipment. For this reason, we'll ask for your credit card information when you place your order; this is a standard requirement, even if the current balance on your gift card is greater than the order total.

For more information about using Borders Gift Cards, including a list of restrictions, please visit our web site at:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/custom...?nodeId=602598

Thank you for your interest in Amazon.com.

Please let us know if this e-mail resolved your question:

If yes, click here:
http://www.amazon.com/rsvp-y?c=ccyaqwxd3264288572
If not, click here:
http://www.amazon.com/rsvp-n?c=ccyaqwxd3264288572

Please note: this e-mail was sent from an address that cannot accept incoming e-mail.

^Sweet Baby James, thanks for taking the time to try to get this resolved with Amazon and to keep us informed. FWIW, I tried to use a gift card online today too without success. If this is successfully resolved, I'll take it as a sign to stop procrastinating and find something to buy with that gift card.

The problems continue with the Borders gift cards.

Although neither Borders' nor Amazon's customer service has any information on these being "shut off", it's pretty clear that their information system was programmed not to accept them starting on 5/1, (the originally announced switch over day).

I just tried as well, and it won't let me use it. It did work yesterday though. So we'll see if this is the end or not.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kocheese99

I just tried as well, and it won't let me use it. It did work yesterday though. So we'll see if this is the end or not.

It hasn't worked since April 30 for me. I sent another email to Amazon telling them that if they have stopped accepting Borders gift cards, then admit it and take down the www.borders.com site so we can all get along with our lives.-wink- If they truly are still accepting them, then get some mofos to work on resolving the glitch. I'll post their response once I receive it.

Well, it would appear that Amazon doesn't wish to acknowledge the problem. I just received the exact same canned response that they dished out yesterday. Here is their response to my inquiry(I'll put it in spoilers for length)-

Spoiler:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sweet Baby James

Best regards,

Sujith
Amazon.com Customer Service

Say no more.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Peep

Say no more.

:lol:

I received a slightly more encouraging reply earlier:

I'm sorry for the trouble you had when placing an order with Borders gift cards.

We are aware of this issue, and our technical team is working on taking care of it right now.

Often these errors are corrected after only a short time, so please try again in a day or two.

Thanks for your patience while we fix this problem and thank you for shopping at Amazon.com.

well if it doesn't get fixed tonight we probably won't hear anything till monday. Hopefully we can still use them for a little while longer.

It's fixed! I just successfully placed an order using a Borders gift card on the Borders/Amazon site. This past problem was a good wake up call to me to use that card.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yakuza Bengoshi

It's fixed! I just successfully placed an order using a Borders gift card on the Borders/Amazon site. This past problem was a good wake up call to me to use that card.

Thanks for the heads-up!

time to finsh off all my giftcard.

Same here. No more procrastinating. BOGOs be damned.

OK, I've got an update from the Borders supervisor that I've been conversing with. Here are the highlights:

There will be a "soft" rollover of the Amazon->Borders website starting May 18th. This will be an unannounced rollover. It sounds like there may still be times during that week (18th-24th) where the Borders site would take you to Amazon, but it may be unpredictable.
The "hard" rollover will occur on May 25th. From this date on, everything will be under the control of Borders.
The weekly coupons that are currently used in the store will be able to be applied to online orders (40%-off DVDs, 40%-off best seller books, etc.). I expect these discounts will apply off MSRP and not off their current selling price (same way that is done now in the stores).
You will be able apply your "Borders Bucks" to your online order.
I didn't get a clear picture on what their "normal" selling price will be on items such as DVDs. He hinted that since items were being sold online and didn't have the overhead of their retail stores, that they would probably sell for less than MSRP. I think we'll have to wait and see.
They will still offer free shipping on orders > $25
I think the issue of pre-orders is still a concern. If you had pre-orders for May 20th, you're probably still OK. If it's a May 27th pre-order, it might still be honored since it is so close to the rollover. Any pre-order beyond the 27th, I'd be concerned that they would either cancel the order, or that it would be fulfilled by Borders at whatever their price would be.

So the bottom line in all this is that you may want to use up your Borders gift cards this week if:

You have Amazon items (MP3 players, cookware, etc.) that you want to add to your Borders order (although as tbwmp88 pointed out, we may be beyond that point now).
You think that you can get a better price on Borders items now instead of waiting for the switchover.

That's all I have. I'll pass on any other information that I hear.

Thanks for the info bhauge!

Quote:

Originally Posted by tbwmp88

Thanks for the info bhauge!

Ditto! BTW, I just did a return a few days ago and they are still giving full value. The 30% less policy hasn't taken effect as of this past Wednesday.

Thanks for the update!

Crap. Gotta use mine up then...

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sweet Baby James

Ditto! BTW, I just did a return a few days ago and they are still giving full value. The 30% less policy hasn't taken effect as of this past Wednesday.

What 30%?

Quote:

Originally Posted by GizmoDVD

What 30%?

http://forum.dvdtalk.com/showthread.php?t=530611

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sweet Baby James

http://forum.dvdtalk.com/showthread.php?t=530611

Just returned some DVDs...got full MSRP (minus a boxset that was on sale at 20% off)

Just a quick FYI. I was able to place an order for a Borders item (DVD) and a non-Borders item (NiMH Batteries) and saw that both of them were charged to my Borders GC. I might try for another combo order before the "soft" rollover on the 18th.