Starbucks accused of rigging payments in app for nearly $900 million gain over 5 years by consumer watchdog group::Washington Consumer Protection Coalition complains to Washington state attorney general.
there’s more to that:
Any gift certificate sold after January 1, 1997, is redeemable in cash for its cash value, or subject to replacement with a new gift certificate at no cost to the purchaser or holder.4 Effective January 1, 2008, any gift certificate with a cash value of less than $10 is redeemable in cash, which includes currency or check, for its cash value.
In case anybody is wondering this part is important because the thing the other guy posted just says it can be replaced with cash OR a new gift card of equal value. That doesn’t mean it’s the customer’s choice which one they receive though so businesses would just choose to replace it with another gift card.