Issue No. 1 - Oct 19, 2007
"Dream" Dinners... "Nightmare" Gift Card Program
Telephone Balance Inquiry Fees of $0.49 per call. Telephone Live Customer Service Fees of $0.95 per call. Expiration or "Valid Thru" dates. Fee to reissue a Lost, Stolen or Expired Gift Card: $5.00. Almost sounds like a shopping mall gift card!
Maybe that's because Snohomish, Washington-based DREAM DINNERS, INC., a pioneer in the "meal assembly" retail concept, has selected NBO SYSTEMS, INC., (a mainstay in the mall gift card business) to administer their corporate gift card program.
Personally, I like the "meal assembly" concept DREAM DINNERS --- and its major competitors in the market (LET'S DISH!... SUPPER THYME USA... SUPER SUPPERS... LET'S EAT!... PASS YOUR PLATE) --- are offering: gather at their storefront location, and in about a 2-hour block of time, "assemble" (then take home and freeze or refrigerate) the ingredients for a week's or a month's family dinners, based on menus tested in each chain's corporate kitchens. In our time-crunched society of working couples (some holding down more than one job each just to make ends meet), the ability and "ease-ability" to plan and serve nutritious meals that will bring the family back together all in one room, at the same time, is fantastic!
The founders of DREAM DINNERS have a stated commitment, taken from their web-site, "...to make people's lives easier..." With this in mind, I find their selection of a gift card program that makes life harder for the user, to be a curious one. For the gift card recipient that doesn't have a need to check their card balance, never loses anything, and may use the entire card value all at one time, these nuisance fees are not any reason to stay away from a DREAM DINNERS gift card. You can check out DREAM DINNERS, and their competitors in the "Retail Meal Preparation" category, in our Gift Card Report Card.
The consumer holds all of the cards...
Ken Hawkins
The Card Shark
Feel free to submit your thoughts and ideas to: Khawkins@GiftCardTRACKER.com
DREAM DINNERS Gift Card purchased online on 06/12/07. The Standard U.S. Mail option of $3.25 was selected, as opposed to FedEx 2nd Day for $12.95 and Standard Overnight for $16.95. Postage noted on the envelope was $00.37 Presorted First Class Mail rate, shipped from Salt Lake City, UT. The gift card was received in Virginia on 06/14/07, two days following the purchase.