i have a 50 dollar gc and want to buy a camera that is 'backordered' and they won't let me put it in my cart. the gc expires tonight (at midnight Pacific time I assume??) and i want more time. I called the 800# and the csr said to buy something cheap and the remaining gc balance will remain in a 'fund account' for another year or so. The gc fine print doesn't say anythin about this - it says the gc expires when it expires. Can someone please verify this for me quick, before midnight!! Thanks.

Please no jokes about 'uhhh, ya can give the gc ta me!" ok?

You don't actually have to buy anything at all, but you will have to go through the process.

Add a cheap item to your shopping cart and make the purchase, then go back and cancel the order after it has been confirmed. The balance should be returned to your account. Good luck ^_^

You don't even have to go through the whole process. Just goto 'Account', in the account maintenance page, click on Add/View Gift Certificate balance and punch in your code.

By the way, I heard a contradicting statement that when a GC expires, it expires regardless of whether it has been entered into your account or not.

Try to redeem it into your account anyway. Do let us know if it remains there tomorrow http://talk.dvdtalk.com/ubb/smile.gif

If it doesn't, call Amazon and complain about it since you were told to so. They should be able to give you another code since they gave you the wrong instruction.

i preordered Cecil B Demented (which doesn't come out until Jan) so that gives me tons of time to cancel it. I will report back tomorrow if the remaining balance is still there. Thanks for the help!

I hope the redeeming balance isn't more than a few dollars...I wouldn't expect it to be there in the morning.

two days later the balance is still there - looks like you guys were right (and their csr on the phone was actually right, wow!)

thanks for helping me get around another convoluted website.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Pasolini:
two days later the balance is still there<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Pasolini, thanks for the update. Was it a single GC that you put into your account?

One warning. When you are ready to cancel the pre-order later, the GC might disappear since it would have expired. At least that's what has happened to many dvdtalkers. If your GC is non-promotional, the CSR would be able to reinstate it for you.

Do not cancel that order. Instead, create an order with what you want to buy instead. Then combine the orders. Then cancel the first item from the new, combined order.

Somebody else posted this method previously and I have verified that it works.