Not Sure What to Think

Yesterday, I took Samm into Blockbuster so she could use her Blockbuster gift card to rent a movie.  She was told that as of that day, they are no longer accepting the gift cards.  Of course, we chose not to pay for the movie, because if they won't honor their gift cars, I am certainly not going to give them anymore of my money.

So this morning, I decide to send them a letter asking what is up and requesting that they do the right thing and honor their gift cards, or reimburse their customers.

Their response?

And auto-response (meaning that probably no one will be reading my email), as follows:

 "Hi Shari,
NOTICE EFFECTIVE 3/23/11: On 8/23/10, Blockbuster Inc. ("Blockbuster") filed for bankruptcy in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York (the "Bankruptcy Court"). On 2/21/11, Blockbuster filed a motion with the Bankruptcy Court requesting authority to sell its assets (the "Sale Motion"). A copy of the Sale Motion is available at http://www.kccllc.net/blockbuster. On 3/11/11, the Bankruptcy Court entered an order authorizing Blockbuster to proceed with certain procedures related to the Sale Motion. In connection with this sale process, effective as of 4/7/11, BLOCKBUSTER GiftCards® ("GiftCards") WILL NO LONGER BE HONORED.
Thank you
Blockbuster Customer Care"

I'm not sure how I feel about this.  Okay, they are in the process of bankruptcy.  But their doors are open.  They are still accepting people's money, are they not?  They have received payment for these cards, have they not?  Is it the fault of the customers that they can't keep their company afloat and have to attempt to sell it?

Or, should I cut them some slack?  Are their hands tied? 

Not being a lawyer, I have no idea of the implications.  But, it in the opinion of this simple small town girl, if you are keeping your doors open for business, then you should do business.  Including honoring the "gift cards".  After all, you have already received the money for them, so therefore, it doesn't cost you a thing to honor them.  Let's face it, no one is beating down your door to rent your movies, so honoring the cards is not going to interfere with business. 

Furthermore, the negative lash back is sure to be far more damaging than honoring these in the first place.

Perhaps Blockbuster just misunderstood and thought the gift of these cards was to them. 

signed,

Miffed in Small-town WA