The media has been cautioning us regarding the popular use of retail gift cards for holiday presents. If the retail store should happen to close, the gift card can be worthless and the money wasted.
I had something similar happen two years ago when I purchased my Sony Vaio laptop at CompUSA. While I’m one who never purchases a store warranty, I decided to make an exception since the warranty would not only cover the hard drive but also any repair done by the store. Two months after my purchase, CompUSA closed its doors, and took several hundred of MY dollars with it.
In a CBR Board meeting yesterday, we were discussing using online data storage sites where we can back-up hard drives or store other important documents. I’ve read other blogs where real estate agents have touted the benefits of doing this. It doesn’t sound like a good idea to me, but then I like to keep my “stuff” close at hand. What if those dot.com web sites go bankrupt? What will happen to all those private files? I think I’ll continue to keep my back-up files in a securer place and not store them online.
Today I read The Phoenix Real Estate Guy’s post about a bankrupt builder leaving behind, in the model home, the private papers of previous buyers in the development. These papers included Social Security numbers in addition to other private data that is typically provided when purchasing a home. Think what could have happened to those unsuspecting buyers, had thieves broken into the model home!
With the increased frequency of companies going under, we obviously need to be much more careful about our purchases that yield a future benefit or have our private data in their files. Once the doors close, it’s too late!
I sure hope that all those City Barbeque gift cards I just purchased will at least be good through the holidays. Naw … I’m not worried … the food is just too good … I’m not worried about THEM closing!
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