The Gift Card

I am loathe to admit it, but I think I am turning into my parents.  It’s kind of like the Progressive commercials with Dr. Rick. Only instead of Millenials turning into their parents, it’s Boomers.

The signs are subtle at first.  You catch yourself saying to your family and friends, “What’s that you said? Speak up, you are mumbling!”  You find yourself turning up the volume on the TV.  Worse, you put the subtitles on now because you find that even if you can hear, you can’t understand what they are saying and you struggle to keep up with the dialog.  And any interaction with technology is sure to pose at least one challenge.

Case in point.  My friend gave me an Amazon Gift Card for my birthday the other day.  I went to use it and followed the directions precisely as written on the card.  I went to the Redeem Gift Card site on the Amazon app.  It then prompted me to use the camera to take a picture of the code.  I centered the card within the frame.  Nothing happened.  I kept trying.  Maybe I need to zoom in more. Nope. Maybe I need to zoom out more.  Nope.  I kept getting a message that says it failed to read it and suggested I type in the code.

Ok, I’ll just type in the code that has 20,000 numerals. No problem.  I did that.  Nothing.  Still says it can’t read it and to double check I input the numerals correctly.  I did that oh, maybe 3 or 4 times before I gave up.

I was completely frustrated.  

I called the customer service number.

Customer Service:  “Ma’am, what kind of gift card do you have?”

Me:  “What do you mean what kind of gift card? It’s a gift card.  There are kinds of gift cards? It’s gray, it says Amazon gift card.  There’s a box with a window that has the code on it.”

CS: “Is it a scratch off?”

Me: “No, I don’t see anything that’s a scratch off”

CS: “Please read me the numbers.”

I read the numbers.

CS: “Ok, are there any letters in the code?”

Me (in my head): “Well, I just read you the code and it was all numbers.  I didn’t say any letters.”

Me (out loud): “No, only numbers.”

CS:  “I am going to have to transfer you to a specialist. Please hold.”

Customer Service Specialist:  “Hello, how may I help you?”

I retell everything all over again.

CSS: “Well, this is not making much sense.  Did you open the gift card?”

Me: “Open the gift card?”

CSS:  “Yes, ma’am.  Open the gift card.  Those numbers you are reading are not our claim codes.  Our claim codes are alpha/numeric. You said your friend bought this card at Giant? That is the code for the supermarket to ring it up and activate it.”

Me: “Oh.”

Suddenly I noticed a perforation along the top.  I tore it. Lo and behold there was the card with the scratch off clearly labeled as the Amazon claim code.

Me: “I am terribly sorry.  I am an idiot.”

CSS: “That’s ok, ma’am.  Do you want me to stay on the line while you try it to make sure there are no issues?”

Me: “Nope.  I am pretty sure I can handle it from here on out.”

CSS:  “Ok, ma’am, have a nice rest of your day.”

Me: “Thank you.  You as well. My apologies for bothering you all.”

Honestly, I can’t even attribute this to technology challenges.  This is cognitive brain failure, plain and simple.  At what point did I go from being a relatively bright individual to one who can’t figure out you need to open the gift card?

Paging Dr. Rick. Do you help Boomers too?