This customer gives you their San Francisco billing address during the Internet sales transaction. A Guide to Creating Custom Easter Baskets. Click here to buy cards for your business. While such an argument could be made on the face of Civil Code section 1749.45(a), such fees could in fact use up the value of the card, violating the spirit of the law. However, prepaid telephone calling cards that allow the purchaser to use minutes from either a landline or a cell phone by calling an 800 number, or by PIN-less calling are not subject to the 911 surcharge and 988 surcharge of local charges. If you purchased prepaid MTS and overpaid the 911 surcharge, 988 surcharge, and/or local charges, you may file a claim for refund. You sell a SIM card loaded with prepaid airtime for a single price. These include cards with a value of $5 or less; when the fee is $1 or less per month; if the card has been inactive for 24 consecutive months; or a card can be re-charged by the owner with a value to over $5. It is not legal advice or regulatory guidance. Therefore, the local charges do not apply because there is only a minimal amount of prepaid wireless minutes/airtime included in the bundled transaction. The cell phone and 200 minutes of prepaid airtime are sold for a single price of $139.99 (bundled transaction), and the customer is required to purchase the minutes with the cell phone as part of a package deal. The following examples show how to compute local charges and/or sales tax on SIM cards sold with prepaid airtime. We're the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), a U.S. government agency that makes sure banks, lenders, and other financial companies treat you fairly. As a result, these types of gift cards may not be your best bet. There are multiple ways you can check your balance conveniently 24/7 for free, including through push notification, text, or email: Online: visit EIPCard.com and access your account information (account registration required); By Phone: call 1-800-240-8100 (TTY: 1.800.241.9100) and use the automated voice response system A. Check for expiration dates. In general, a kiosk owner that sells prepaid top-up airtime/minutes is required to register as a prepaid MTS seller and is responsible for collecting and paying the 911 surcharge, 988 surcharge, and any applicable local charges to CDTFA. Check your cardholder agreement to see if there are actions you need to take to prevent this loss. can prepaid services expire in california. The CARD Act provides a compelling case study into the need for every small business owner to hire a good business law attorney. Emergency Telephone Users Surcharge Regulations, Publication 39A, Emergency Telephone Users (911) Surcharge and Prepaid 911 Surcharge. A customer purchases prepaid wireless airtime from your website. Gift card funds must be good for at least five years under federal law, and some states laws give you more time. Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. Under this scenario, the receiver of the $80 gift card may use the gift card like cash and purchase anything she wants - candles, books, a sweater, whatever the store sells. . Prepaid wireless refill or top-off cards. To determine local charges properly for your online sales, you should charge the rate in effect based on the above known California location or address of your customer in the order listed. Cancelling a prepaid contract 10-day cooling-off period. Monthly subscriptions. The Visa Gift Card can be used everywhere Visa debit cards are accepted in the US. 11California Civil Code Section 1749.5(d). Cal. The customer's billing information shows they live in Sacramento, CA. The Virtual Visa Gift Card can be redeemed at internet merchants everywhere Visa debit cards are accepted in the US. Buyers should be aware when purchasing "unaffiliated, multiple seller" cards that not all questions about the terms of these cards have been answered by the Legislature or the courts. Gift Cards: California law protects those who give and receive gift cards from fees related to expiration dates and dormancy, but it's important to understand when such protections apply and when they don't. will expire . Can prepaid cards expire? California Business and Professions Code Section 17538.9 permits certain fees and practices with respect to prepaid calling cards. No, unless: Expiration of the underlying funds (as opposed to the expiration of the card itself) is the later of (1) 5 years after the certificate was initially issued or the date on which funds were last loaded to a store gift card or general use prepaid card or (2) the expiration date for the . This exception was modified effective January 1, 2005, to clarify that a redemption date was not another name for an expiration date. Ever wonder why credit cards expire? Each retail purchase of prepaid mobile telephony services in California. If gift : certificate' on a prepaid basis primarily for personal, family, or household purposes to a consumer in a specified amount." Federal law creates different categories of 'gift certificate,' 'store gift card,' Out-of-state sellers who make retail sales of prepaid MTS to customers with an address known to be in California (see Known address transaction section above) are required to register as a prepaid MTS seller and collect the 911 surcharge, 988 surcharge, and any applicable local charges, and pay the collected amounts to the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration (CDTFA). On the other, the law clearly would not apply to a $100 monthly gym membership (after all, how could it? The price of the cell phone component of the bundled charge is disclosed to the prepaid MTS consumer on a receipt, invoice, or other written documentation provided to the prepaid MTS consumer. Can a gift certificate or gift card contain a service fee? That said, expect a prepaid burial plan to cost $2,000-$10,000. Add it for $10/month. All our prepaid data plans include 5G Nationwide/4G LTE. How can I check the current balance in my EDD Prepaid Debit Card account? 24California Legislative Counsel, Opinion No. Prepaid Funeral Plan Costs & Expenses. The cell phone and 10 minutes of prepaid airtime are sold for a single price of $59.99, and the customer is required to purchase the minutes with the cell phone as part of a package deal (bundled transaction). Compare two recent cases of fitness companies who sold class packs to customers and faced lawsuits over alleged violations of the CARD Act: SoulCycle, a nationwide operation of indoor spin cycling studios, and CorePower Yoga, a yoga studio chain. can prepaid services expire in california. The amount of airtime in the bundled transaction is not considered minimal because it is more than 10 minutes. Ask the seller about its policies on returning merchandise. The CFPB updates this information periodically. Be aware of the retailer's financial status. 2California Civil Code Sections 1749.45-1749.6. Should You Give Someone a Gift for Saint Patricks Day? By giving a gift certificate or a gift card, you make it possible for your friend to purchase the particular item or product that he or she wants. North Carolina law also includes additional restrictions on gift certificates not covered here. The entire selling price is subject to any applicable local charges unless you can identify the price of the SIM card (from your books and records kept in the ordinary course of business) or the amount of prepaid wireless minutes/airtime is a minimal amount, that is, $5 or less, or 10 minutes or less. Offer terms at time of plan activation apply, regardless of purchase date. You sell a prepaid wireless refill card online that is loaded with 400 prepaid wireless minutes to your customer who downloads it directly to his cell phone. 27For example, a supermarket such as Safeway may sell Borders gift cards usable only for merchandise at Borders stores. Click here if you have questions about your card. If you want to change state in Restaurant Gift Certificate with no confusion, DocHub is a perfect instrument for this kind of tasks. They do, however, apply to any gift certificate that lawfully contains an expiration date.26. 4. In the case of a gift card, ask the seller if the recipient can add value or "reload" the card. View Our Legal Disclaimer View Our Privacy NoticeCopyright 2022 Spengler & Agans, PLLC, Learn About Our FirmLearn About Careers at SALearn How To Contact Us. In our opinion, any seller that accepts the card should be able to redeem the unspent portion. AT&T prepaid cellular Plans do not sell service by the minute. The same customer in Example 1 who lives in San Francisco, purchases a prepaid wireless e-card from your website and downloads the minutes to their phone. Q.4. The 911 and 988 surcharges apply to the transaction. If more than one service supplier utilizes the same access line in furnishing telephone communication services to the service user, only the service supplier that bills the service user shall collect the 911 and 988 surcharges from the user and remit them to CDTFA. There may be other resources that also serve your needs. You may also try to close out your account by requesting that your balance be mailed to you in the form of a check. For time period, a day is 12:00 a.m. to 11:59 p.m., Pacific . Data Terms: Customers who use more than 30GB of data during a billing cycle on a line will have speeds reduced. 13California Civil Code Section 1749.5(d)(1). In addition, many "multiple seller" cards are issued by banks, usable similar to pre-paid debit cards. In our opinion, the 2008 amendment to this section clarified and affirmed the Attorney General's position by limiting the exemption to "perishable food products," not just "food." Dispute the location of the retail transaction, Believe the transaction is exempt from the local charges, or. A prepaid consumer that did not have the surcharge collected by a seller. While the card allows the recipient to shop a variety of stores, the value of the gift card may be reduced or eliminated by expiration dates and dormancy fees. Consumer Cellular - Best Senior-Specific Prepaid Plans. You want to give a friend a gift, but your friend "has everything" or you don't know what to give. For families, Boost knocks $5 off the cost of lines for its 3GB plan. SIM and assigned number expire after 60 days of non-use. More resources for both sellers and service suppliers: We strive to provide a website that is easy to use and understand. Mall/multiple-store gift cards: California law allows merchants to impose service fees and expiration dates for cards that can be used at multiple, unaffiliated businesses. We reached out to the company. On the one hand, the CARD Act clearly would apply to a gift certificate for $100 to your local gym. For example, if the rate in the ordinance per month per access line is: Defending claims regarding the validity of their ordinance. Such large type should make it easier to spot. . Mastercard is a registered trademark, and the circles design is a trademark of Mastercard International Incorporated. A recently adopted California law is intended to help gift certificate and gift card holders when the seller declares bankruptcy. April 22, 2015 / 6:41 PM / CBS Sacramento NATOMAS (CBS13) Most Gift cards can't expire in California. The Visa Gift card is an ideal choice for birthdays, holidays, weddings, and suits all your gift-giving needs. Terms and conditions and fees apply. These gift certificates and gift cards are subject to the protections of the gift certificate law. While a SOUL30 pass could be used to reserve a bike for a spin class in San Francisco, it could not be used to reserve a bike in not New York. The invoice, receipt, or other similar document must show the amount of the prepaid smartphone (cell phone), the amount of the 911 surcharge ($0.30), the amount of the 988 surcharge ($0.08), the amount of local charges ($2.00), and the amount of sales tax ($9.00) at the time of the retail sale of prepaid MTS. The Gift Card Granny Visa Gift Card and the Virtual Visa Gift Card are issued by Sutton Bank, Member FDIC, pursuant to a license from Visa U.S.A. Inc. The 911 surcharge, 988 surcharge, and local charge rates may be viewed on our webpage (see 911 Surcharge, 988 Surcharge, and Local Charge Rates for Sellers of Prepaid Mobile Telephony Services (MTS)). Pricing and services apply to the 2023 service season. In California, most gift cards cannot have any expiration dates or service fees. Coverage includes lockout protection, flat tire changes, jump starts, emergency fuel delivery and towing. Funds on the cards don't expire, though. Several exceptions apply. The price of the cell phone component of the bundled charge is disclosed and provided to the prepaid MTS consumer on a receipt, invoice, or other written documentation. Responding to consumer claims for refunds. Buyers should beware when purchasing "unaffiliated, multiple seller" cards that not all questions about the terms of these cards have been answered and ask carefully about their terms before purchase. Although your customer intends to use the SIM card and minutes outside of the U.S., the 911 surcharge, 988 surcharge, and local charges (if applicable) apply because the sale was made at your California store. 3. Most of those locations can also take your passport photo. This means that your users immediately lose access to the Microsoft 365 assets, and only admins have access to the data for the next 90 days. Congress took action on a bi-partisan basis (almost hard to believe) to stop merchants from selling gift cards that quickly expired, viewable only in fine print. The sales price used to compute the local charges (if applicable) depends on whether the price of the prepaid wireless minutes can be identified from your books and records or if the amount of prepaid wireless minutes sold is minimal. The total selling price of the SIM card with prepaid airtime is subject to local charges because the price of the airtime is not minimal and cannot be identified since you didnt keep books and records indicating the standalone price of the airtime. Service may be suspended/terminated if used in violation of Acceptable Use Policy. However, the terms exclude a gift card that can be used with multiple unaffiliated sellers of goods or services (for example, a card that can be used at all or some of the stores at a particular mall)6 provided the expiration date, if any, is printed on the card.7 Also, the rules described in this Legal Guide do not apply to prepaid calling cards issued solely to provide an access number and authorization code for prepaid calling services.8. For an overview and comparison of federal and California gift card law, please see Tables A and B, attached. This argument has not been tested to our knowledge. Enforcing and auditing the collection and remittance of local charges on prepaid MTS by service suppliers (see. Stats 2004 ch 319 (AB656) closed a "loophole" by allowing an expiration date to be called a redemption date. It is the opinion of this office that, where the laws are inconsistent, the law that is most protective of consumers should be followed. Single-store cards: The traditional single-business gift card for merchandise or services has the best consumer protection. Below is a more detailed breakdown of the average cost of prepaid funerals depending on how you want to be remembered: A seller of these unaffiliated, multiple seller cards may take the position that such cards without an expiration date are exempt from the definition of "gift certificate" under Civil Code section 1749.45(a), and therefore service fees or dormancy fees can be imposed and do not have to be disclosed. Consumer protections vary depending on both the type of business from which the card was purchased and on the type of merchandise or service for which the card is used. The gift certificate law requires the issuer of a gift certificate or gift card to honor it, but also limits that obligation to either redeeming the certificate or card in cash or replacing it with a new one. The rash of bankruptcies and other difficulties facing the state have led to changes and reinforcements of laws applying to gift cards in California. The price of the cell phone component of the bundled charge is not disclosed to the prepaid MTS consumer. We offer 4 prepaid data plans for tablets and mobile hotspots. Purchase fee is $3.95 per Gift Card at the branch. The plaintiff in the case successfully argued that the certificates were issued in a specified amountthat is, the series certificates (the Plaintiffs term of art for the prepaid spin cards) could be used to purchase classes up to the amount specified on the certificate. Refunding taxes when ordered to under the local ordinance. If the sale is also subject to sales or use tax, the sales/use tax does not apply to the 911 surcharge, 988 surcharge, or local charge amounts. 4 Refills of 25 to $99 expire in 90 days. for qualified customers with the federal Affordable Connectivity Program Add to cart Unlimited High-speed data Access to the TMobile 5G network TMobile Tuesdays ScamShield 1-year subscription VIX+ ON US Get 4 lines for $100 when you switch In store only. This legal guide answers common questions about gift certificates and gift cards sold after January 1, 2004, with respect to California law. Lessons for selling with an expiration date The CARD Act provides a compelling case study into the need for every small business owner to hire a good business law attorney. A gift certificate or gift card without an expiration date is valid until it is redeemed or replaced.20, Notwithstanding any policy of the seller, effective January 1, 2008, a gift certificate with a cash value of less than ten dollars ($10) is redeemable in cash (not a new certificate or merchandise) for its cash value.21 Cash for purposes of this section includes currency or check.22 Where a seller accepts funds toward a gift certificate from one or more contributors as a gift for another person (the "recipient"), the seller must give each contributor a full refund of the amount paid toward the certificate if the time in which the recipient may redeem the funds by purchasing a gift certificate is clearly disclosed in writing to contributors and recipient and the recipient does not redeem the funds by the time disclosed.23. 10-digit Wireless Number. Since California's Legislative Counsel has concluded that the issuer (not the holder) may choose between these two methods,24 the likely answer is that the issuer may set its own policy. If a gift certificate or gift card has a low balance, make a purchase with it and pay the difference out-of-pocket. The U.S. Bank Visa Gift Card cannot be reloaded with additional funds, nor can it be used at an ATM. queensland figure skating. The store may redeem it for another card with the remaining value. Simple steps to get started 1. Check the expiration date. If the recipient can only redeem the gift certificate or gift card for merchandise, or for a particular kind or class of merchandise, does this affect your decision to purchase or give the certificate or card? Prepaid cell phones have widespread use in the United States. Gift certificates and gift cards are covered by statutes setting these basic rules:2, FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT GIFT CERTIFICATES AND GIFT CARDS, Q.1. Gift Card Granny examined these laws for California's shoppers. This depends on the policy of the seller. 12While the term "capital letters" is found in the statute, we deduce that this requirement would not apply if the expiration date listed consists of only numbers. If you purchased prepaid MTS from a retail seller and were charged the incorrect 911 surcharge, 988 surcharge, and/or local charge rate, you may file a Claim For Refund or Credit with CDTFA. Yes, it is perfectly legal. So don't assume a store will allow you to return an item if you change your mind. characters. 19California Legislative Counsel, Opinion No. An amended return(s) stating the specific reason(s) for the overpayment. California Civil Code 1749.45-1749.6 . The fatal flaw was that the passes for the spin classes too closely tracked a cash value. Such gift cards may have expiration dates if that fact is printed in 10-point type on the front of the card. The judge in the CorePower Yoga case, in rejecting plaintiffs claims, noted the absurd result that would follow from plaintiffs proposed interpretation of the law, as a violation of the CARD Act could result from any time limits on admission passes, codes, vouches, or tickets, including time restrictions on monthly passes to a parking garage, admission passes to theme parks, physical training packages, music lessons, and bus passes good for a certain number of rides. The court found, It would be absurd to determine that these prepaid, time-limited goods and services are unlawful because they contain expiration dates or temporal restrictions.. Not if it does not contain an expiration date. Access lines when imposition of the surcharge would be in violation of the Constitution of the United States, the United States Code, or the laws of the State of California. 18California Civil Code Section 1749.5(b)(1). The Gift Card Granny Mastercard Gift Card and Mastercard Virtual Gift Card are issued by Sutton Bank, Member FDIC, pursuant to a license by Mastercard International Incorporated. A gift card that can be used with multiple unaffiliated sellers of goods or services may contain an expiration date. Q.5. Can prepaid services expire in California? For postpaid accounts, check out T-Mobile eSIM. It's also perfect for people of all ages. Your customer also provided you with her mobile phone number that is associated with a location outside of California. Because you know your customer's address, you should determine if the 911 surcharge, 988 surcharge, and local charges apply based on the address, not on your customer's mobile number. NOTICE: We attempt to make our Legal Guides accurate as of the date of publication, but they are only guidelines and not definitive statements of the law. No international roaming allowed. In California, for example, it's against the law for store gift certificates and gift cards to have an expiration date or dormancy fees (except under certain circumstances), and if the balance on the card is less than $10, you can redeem it for cash.