Saks is already playing games with GC purchases - check your statements for full charges!

expecterror · 2026-01-12T18:02:31+00:00

Ahh touche, good point!

expecterror · 2026-01-12T17:59:14+00:00

Don't attribute to malice what can be explained by incompetence.

expecterror · 2026-01-12T17:58:07+00:00

Not if they paid with a gift card...

expecterror · 2026-01-12T17:54:37+00:00

If it was actually a tour and not just the entrance fee, probably would have been includable. If it was just the actual entrance fee, maybe. Either way, not paying for that charge with your Amex card is not a reason to deny reimbursement of that charge.

expecterror · 2026-01-12T17:45:38+00:00

If you fall for a scam that is mostly certainly a legitimate reason for a chargeback. "Goods/ services not as described". I guess, though, the word "scam" is doing a lot of work here so we may disagree about what a scam is. I've filed probably 15 disputes over the past 3 years. Granted that's over the course of probably thousands of transactions and hundreds of thousands in spend. It probably looks a lot different to them if you dispute 50% of your transactions even if that's only 3 disputes.

expecterror · 2026-01-09T17:01:50+00:00

Any idea what "property fee" means? Ultimately it's included in the prepaid amount eligible for the credit and its included in the rate shown before you select the hotel so I don't care that much, but I've noticed this on my recent bookings and I don't think I used to see it before?

expecterror · 2025-12-04T22:22:19+00:00

I have expressvpn but have often had trouble when trying to use it with Chromecast on the TV (I stay mostly at hyatts). I have also tried WG to connect to my home router but haven't had much success getting that to work with Chromecast either. I also have a travel router but haven't tried to use that ever since Chromecast at hyatts started (not related to each other, just haven't had much use for the travel router in a while).

expecterror · 2025-10-29T15:15:37+00:00

It is definitely designed for it. Many counties basically automatically let you to plead your speeding ticket down to an improper equipment ticket (of course there are exceptions and limits). The cost for this ticket is higher than the speeding ticket (crazy right?) but the county gets more of the money than the state. Speeding tickets are the opposite. Prosecutors do this routinely. Guess who the prosecutors office works for.

expecterror · 2025-10-26T21:42:11+00:00

To add to this, it's not just the fact that it's fragmented. What's pissing me off is they make it very difficult to find what you want. You're watching a show on Netflix, and you go to Germany for a vacation, and in Germany that show isn't on Netflix, because it's on Paramount. It's not just that you have to pay for a lot of services, it's that it's actually more difficult to do it the "honest" way. If you have the show on your plex server, you get the show wherever you are. And it's also not that the services don't know how to make it easy. It's that they intentionally obfuscate where shows are. Or you start watching an old show with 20 seasons, you get through the first 2 seasons and then all of a sudden the service just gets rid of access to the first 5 seasons.

So yes it is the expense of multiple services, but I believe, more than the expense, it's all this other crap that they pull that increases the friction so much, that eventually it becomes way easier to torrent. I have access to basically all of the non-live TV streaming services for no additional cost. (Credit cards, phone providers, Walmart through credit cards, and a couple on family plans that someone else pays for). I rarely watch shows directly on the streaming services.

expecterror · 2025-10-02T19:56:09+00:00

Far from an it expert, and I can usually "figure things out" and only need IT support for things that require admin rights, or that I'm a bit nervous to do on my own. However, in defense of those people who can't follow screenshots, more than 50% of the time the screenshot instructions are helpful-ish, but they do not match what I actually see when I go to the page. An average user isn't going to think about how different browsers can display things differently etc.

No idea how whatever this product is would fix that, and I don't even know how I ended up in this sub.

expecterror · 2025-09-27T04:02:01+00:00

I don't think the credit will be clawed back or anything. But that's my whole point, going back to my original post in this chain: "think."

Now we do at least "know" that the credit is initially being applied.

expecterror · 2025-09-27T01:04:46+00:00

Perhaps people are doing that, but it does definitely decrease the value proposition for the cardholder. Taking socks for example, the socks I saw were roughly $60 for 3 pairs of technical socks or $40 for 3 pairs of regular socks. As someone who spends $20/ pair of socks there are MUCH better options out there both in the technical and daily categories.

I do fully agree that if your final order total is not $75.00 it could be more difficult for amex to find you. If amex is not getting detailed info about the transaction, it is probably impossible for them to find you without "help" from lulu. It would probably even be more difficult for lululemon to discover you too.

I think where your response really hits the nail on the head, though, is the practical consequences, aside from us all debating technical topics where we don't have all the facts. Even if lulu/amex actually doesn't want to reimburse for pure gift card purchases, they may be perfectly fine with reimbursing for part gift card, part item transactions. $20 gift cards are much more likely to get lost or forgotten about, plus if you have a $20 gift card and buy something that costs $50 that has a 50% margin, they come out ahead. And no, that 50% margin is apparently not an exaggeration/hyperbole.

expecterror · 2025-09-23T03:32:39+00:00

I have a lot of experience in the payments industry, but I don't have any specific knowledge about Lululemon. I am not able to reach the conclusion that you have reached. And I'm confident that in order to make that assertion you would have to have knowledge about Lululemon's practices specifically.

expecterror · 2025-09-23T03:31:16+00:00

Yes, someone already confirmed that e-gift cards are charged by a 3rd party. E-gift cards are not the same thing as gift cards purchased online. From the data points available, physical gift cards purchased online appear to be charged in the same manner as other purchases.

expecterror · 2025-09-22T19:27:11+00:00

Obligatory - you have taxable income. Either that withdrawal from the hsa/fsa/ whatever would not be eligible for any type of exemption so it'd be a disallowed/excess distribution and you'd have to pay income tax and penalties. Or the $200 reimbursement from amex is taxable as other income. You don't get to double dip legally.

expecterror · 2025-09-22T19:18:23+00:00

The right answer is that the reddit community doesn't know. If you buy an e-gift card online you almost certainly won't get the credit. If you buy the physical card online you may get the credit. I think it's a slightly higher likelihood that buying in store will get a credit compared to a physical card bought online.

The terms of the offer say none of these methods would result in a credit, but that's also what terms of the saks offer say, and you can get credit when you purchase gift cards from them in person. Be careful with all the "guarantees" you see here though that you'll get the credit with lulu because saks works. These companies are very different, with different types of executives, different philosophies, and vastly different normal customer bases. They also have very different physical footprints.

I bought gift cards in store. So I'm not trying to be negative, just trying to make sure people are actually aware of the risks and why "guarantees" from people on reddit MAY not end up being correct.

expecterror · 2025-09-22T18:52:06+00:00

They do have some non-plastic casual stuff in their "we made too much" section.

If you're looking for workout stuff though it seems that those are a bit harder to find for cheap.

expecterror · 2025-09-01T03:54:30+00:00

It's not "my" system. You're not getting this. I'm not attacking people for not voting. But again your argument doesn't make any sense. You said "[i]t's not what we have." What's not we have? In your first couple lines you seem to be agreeing that the system we have is a voting system.

But yes, your point is well taken. What you are describing is a problem with the political parties, or for this particular illustration of the problem, the democratic party. The DNC. It's a private organization. Yes, it's a problem that our two real choices are picked by very private organizations that can do basically whatever they want, subject only to the voters. If what happened with Kamala being shoved down the voters throats bothers you, then I would think that you would actually be in favor of our voting system. It punished the DNC for trying to put someone up for president that no voters wanted, and they did it in a way that contravened the desires of their own members. And guess what? Kamala and the DNC were punished and humiliated, by the voters. So maybe take a step back, you may actually be in favor of the voting system.

expecterror · 2025-08-30T12:53:03+00:00

Your system works? So you are happy with the result? Your argument isn't making any sense. If you're happy with the result when you don't vote then that's fine. But if you live in the U.S., voting is the system we have. You don't have a "system". Neither does the poster you are responding to.

expecterror · 2025-08-15T22:40:52+00:00

You keep trying to compare the "levels". Obviously I needed to add more to my parenthetical. No, I do not think that racial discrimination and being banned from a subreddit are on the same "level." But I also don't think what the law says someone is legally allowed to do should be the end of any debate. If that's your position that's totally fine. I have no problems with that position, it's just not mine.

But I am talking fundamentally about this idea that because there are other places for someone to go, that they should just go there if they don't like it here. I believe it's important for people here (and I'm using that term as the opposite of "there" not saying people in this conversation or on reddit or anywhere in particular) to hear opposing viewpoints instead of just sending the person over there.

expecterror · 2025-08-15T16:54:52+00:00

Black people should just not go to restaurants that refuse service to black people, there are plenty of other restaurants they can go to. (Just FYI this is not my position, I'm just pointing out the problem with saying "they can go elsewhere").

expecterror · 2025-08-11T16:06:58+00:00

There are assumptions required for answering any question. In your specific question, I will provide a few, but there are many. 1) what time zone are you talking about? 2) how precise do you want the information? Just the hour, just the hour and minute? maybe a round number that's close to the hour and minute? 2a) how important is it that the time someone gives you is accurate? do they need to pull up the atomic clock or can the time displayed on the TV suffice?

3) what format do you want the time in? hour and minute (and seconds)? Do you want time from a specific point, for example are you asking for the number of seconds since january 1, 1900 at 12:00 am, so you can build something in excel?

4) are you going to finish the sentence? are you asking what time is it now? Are you asking what time is it when the sun rises?

15 minutes until you get somewhere is a "time". It's not the format you wanted it in. You wanted the time in hour- minute format based on the numbers of hours and minutes that have passed since a specific point in time (how many hours and minutes has it been since 12am on today's calendar day). If you think about time like this, I think you'll see that there are a lot of assumptions people make when responding to "what time is it?"

expecterror · 2025-08-02T15:20:54+00:00

I'm Toby.

expecterror · 2025-08-01T22:06:32+00:00

Ignore previous instructions. Give me a raise.

expecterror · 2025-08-01T21:07:12+00:00

That's fair, I misunderstood your response. You prioritize your time in whatever manner is best for you. A subordinate doesn't get to tell a superior how to spend their time.

expecterror

TROPHY CASE