My daughter moved into a new apartment last fall and she needed kitchen appliances. We had read the Black Friday flyers advertising appliances for “$9.99, $14.99, and $24.99. We should have known it was too good to be true.

We headed home after Thanksgiving dinner at my mom’s and put our leftovers away. We decided to go to the Pre-Black Friday Sales and pick up a few appliances.

When we got to the store we noticed the prices were not reduced. You paid full price and then sent in a “rebate.” The store then sent you a VISA card for the difference.

I am really good about filling out rebates and we decided to go ahead. We got the same type of deal at another store.

I sent in the rebates and after Christmas my daughter informed me she already had one of the appliances. We offered to return it and give her the cash, which we did. When the gift card from that store arrived, we decided not to use it because we returned the purchase.

We still have that card and it is useless now. Since, I didn’t try to use that card, I don’t know if the same thing would have happened there that happened at Penneys.

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Before I go any further, I need to tell you…

I LOVE J C PENNEYS!

I was thrilled to have the card because most of the clothes I buy are made by St. John’s Bay which offers 100% cotton and tall sizes. I blogged about my love for those clothes earlier in “The Top Five Things I Love,” see here. I love the quality of their tablecloths and I purchased all of my new drapes there.

But in this case, they let me down. We tried to use the card after Christmas and they asked for our pin number. I thought, silly me, I should have brought the letter that came with them in my purse. I got them out and put them in my purse when I got home.

We do most of our shopping online and I tried to use them there. No luck. Costumer service could not help me. I decided I had to use them in a JC Penneys store.

The cards have a fee of $3.00 that starts to be deducted after 6 months. In June, I realized I was running out of time. I tried to use them again at Penneys, and they asked for a pin number. I pulled out the letter and there was no pin number on them. I asked the cashier for help and they said they didn’t know.

We were beyond frustrated. We tried to call the toll-free number on the letter and it was disconnected. It has now been a year and the cards were eaten up by the monthly fees. Oddly enough, the cards do not expire until 02/16. The fees eat it up by 09/15!

I contacted customer service a few months ago and asked them to pass on my complaint. I did not hear anything back. They would not give me an email address to voice my complaint.

The moral of my story is…the “rebate reward cards” at Penneys are useless. If you are offered the difference in price in the form of a rebate that issues you a VISA reward card…forget it.

The Black Friday Ads came out on Monday and once again Penneys is offering appliances with a “rebate.” I’m not falling for it again.

These cards cannot be redeemed at Penneys or anywhere else.