Is your favorite restaurant on this list? Be careful buying gift cards for mystery shops

Some of these have recently had a mystery shop program.

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That article title is very misleading. Some of those listed are not on the “brink of disappearing entirely”. For instance Starbucks and Subway will not be disappearing anytime soon and are not in the brink of doing so. However I agree to be wary of gift cards from some of the others listed.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/20/2020 04:49PM by kenasch.

Still burnt over the Souplantation gift cards?

I have less than $25 in cards for any of those restaurants. Pretty sure I'll be OK if I get stuck with a Subway card.

I am not as certain about the $150 in Regal Theater gift cards that I have. Those may be going in the trash at some point.

Rally's? NOOOOO! Some of the others should have closed long ago, though.

@kenasch wrote:

That article title is very misleading. Some of those listed are not on the “brink of disappearing entirely”. For instance Starbucks and Subway will not be disappearing anytime soon and are not in the brink of doing so. However I agree to be wary of gift cards from some of the others listed.

I agree. When I looked at the list I expected a list of places definitely going away. But this is a warning. Even if the chain does not go away the locations near you might which would mean for you essentially they are gone unless you travel.

This is a good reminder not to buy gift cards unless you visit the place frequently. Even then don't buy in large amounts at once buy as you use. Many on this list will not go away completely for a while. Some will go soon. Some could go in ones local area in which case if you have that gift card I'd try to sell online quick. Just my thought is Subway may very well be gone to under 500 stores within 5 years. They had over 25000 at one time. Starbucks ain't going nowhere. In these times try to support local non chain restaurants and businesses. They are struggling to survive.

Shopping Western NY, Northeast and Central PA, and parts of Ohio and West Virginia. Have car will travel anywhere if the monies right.

It's very sensationalistic, like the million calorie "Eat This, Not That" blogs.

@kenasch wrote:

That article title is very misleading. Some of those listed are not on the “brink of disappearing entirely”. For instance Starbucks and Subway will not be disappearing anytime soon and are not in the brink of doing so. However I agree to be wary of gift cards from some of the others listed.

"I told myself to quit you; but I don't listen to drunks." -Chris Stapleton

Any of you remember Blaze Pizza? It was shopped up until about a year ago, I think? There was only one somewhat near me (13 miles or so), and another maybe 25 miles away. When Covid hit, they shut down but had signs that said "Temporarily closed. We will be back!" It remained this way for the longest time, but recently I swung by the restaurant 13 miles away when I was in the area and it appears they have permanently closed. A bit sad, as I had their Rewards App and had some points/rewards that I was never able to use.

Anyways, this thread just reminded me of them because I think there were discussions on this board about shoppers buying gift cards for the chain before the shops were stopped.

There are two Blaze locations near me and they have been open and thriving during covid. I ate there just last week. If you come to California you can use your points up. You might check their website to see where else they are still open as you may be travelling to somewhere near an open location.

@sstsau wrote:

Any of you remember Blaze Pizza? It was shopped up until about a year ago, I think? There was only one somewhat near me (13 miles or so), and another maybe 25 miles away. When Covid hit, they shut down but had signs that said "Temporarily closed. We will be back!" It remained this way for the longest time, but recently I swung by the restaurant 13 miles away when I was in the area and it appears they have permanently closed. A bit sad, as I had their Rewards App and had some points/rewards that I was never able to use.

Anyways, this thread just reminded me of them because I think there were discussions on this board about shoppers buying gift cards for the chain before the shops were stopped.

@sandyf I lived in CA a few years ago and that's actually when I started shopping. I did some Blaze shops during that time, and then I moved back to the midwest. I was surprised when Blaze opened in my metro area, and it seemed to do well for a couple years. I used to periodically take the online-order mystery shops for the location closest to me while they were still shopped, and I earned many of my rewards points that way. I haven't really been there since they stopped being mystery shopped, except to redeem some points or other earned rewards (like the birthday coupons).

I'm kind of surprised to hear you say that they are thriving during Covid in CA, given that your restrictions are much stricter than in my area. I think the couple Blaze locations here were starting to struggle recently before the pandemic, and the chain never really "grew" in this area. But other "build-your-own" pizza chains in my area like Pie Five have also recently shuttered locations, so I think covid has hit the business "type" a bit. I know in CA there are other pizza chains like Pieology that haven't made their way to my area yet, although I think there is one Mod Pizza about 20 miles away.

@sstsau wrote:

@sandyf I lived in CA a few years ago and that's actually when I started shopping. I did some Blaze shops during that time, and then I moved back to the midwest. I was surprised when Blaze opened in my metro area, and it seemed to do well for a couple years. I used to periodically take the online-order mystery shops for the location closest to me while they were still shopped, and I earned many of my rewards points that way. I haven't really been there since they stopped being mystery shopped, except to redeem some points or other earned rewards (like the birthday coupons).

I'm kind of surprised to hear you say that they are thriving during Covid in CA, given that your restrictions are much stricter than in my area. I think the couple Blaze locations here were starting to struggle recently before the pandemic, and the chain never really "grew" in this area. But other "build-your-own" pizza chains in my area like Pie Five have also recently shuttered locations, so I think covid has hit the business "type" a bit. I know in CA there are other pizza chains like Pieology that haven't made their way to my area yet, although I think there is one Mod Pizza about 20 miles away.

Plenty of Blaze Pizzas around here too. Because people were used to using their app, I think that they have stayed busy.

Most people order online and then just run in and pick up. You can build your own pizza online and even ask for extras of whatever you like just like when you are on the line inside the store. Most of the types of restaurants that had a lot of take out orders before seem to be doing well. Every time I go over to Blaze there are a pile of orders waiting for pick up. No restaurants are open either indoors or outdoors here...only takeout and delivery.
Not sure what the expiration date is on your points but if gets close and you are going to lose them I can give the name of the local place I go and you can order a pizza for me to pick up!!! When I start doing post office jobs again I can send you something in return. I am sure other Californians will be happy to have a pizza too.
These are franchises so it is prob up to the local franchisee to decide how to handle covid. My local place is owned by LeBron James. He can probably afford to keep it open.
I do not remember ever getting a birthday coupon so things must be different there.
Sandy

@SoCalMama wrote:

@sstsau wrote:

@sandyf I lived in CA a few years ago and that's actually when I started shopping. I did some Blaze shops during that time, and then I moved back to the midwest. I was surprised when Blaze opened in my metro area, and it seemed to do well for a couple years. I used to periodically take the online-order mystery shops for the location closest to me while they were still shopped, and I earned many of my rewards points that way. I haven't really been there since they stopped being mystery shopped, except to redeem some points or other earned rewards (like the birthday coupons).

I'm kind of surprised to hear you say that they are thriving during Covid in CA, given that your restrictions are much stricter than in my area. I think the couple Blaze locations here were starting to struggle recently before the pandemic, and the chain never really "grew" in this area. But other "build-your-own" pizza chains in my area like Pie Five have also recently shuttered locations, so I think covid has hit the business "type" a bit. I know in CA there are other pizza chains like Pieology that haven't made their way to my area yet, although I think there is one Mod Pizza about 20 miles away.
Plenty of Blaze Pizzas around here too. Because people were used to using their app, I think that they have stayed busy.

@sandyf Unfortunately, I only have 94 flames, so not enough for a pizza. I think flames expire in a year, so mine will probably expire soon given that we went into "lockdown" in March and I haven't been able to earn/use any flames since then. I have my Pi day reward still ($3.14 for a 11 inch pizza) that I was never able to use. It expires on 01/01/21.

94 points is enough for a drink/dessert (30 flames) or a 4 count dough knots (60 flames). If you are interested in those, I'd be happy to try to order them for you sometime. Not sure how it would really work...you'd definitely have to give me the location and I guess I could try to redeem the reward and send to that store? It might be easier if I can do "order ahead" for a specific time that you know you'd be there. But we'd need to do some coordinating!

I always got a "birthday treat" and "half-birthday treat", which is usually a free dessert. I even got my "half birthday treat" this year in September when all locations around me were closed, so of course I couldn't redeem it. I would periodically get other offers like "BOGO free" or other discounts or "free with purchase" coupons. I thought everyone got these?

No, i eat at two locations. Occasionally when I went in to the one owned by LeBron James they would have a pile of bogo offers that were redeemed. I think they sent them to houses nearby. I live less than 2 miles from the store but never got one. We got the Pi day and also double points days. Every Monday this month they said would be double points. But I have lots of points too that I should use up. A pizza is 120 points. Occasionally they would send out a free drink or something new that they were featuring. A few months ago they introduced a new pizza. They had a deal where if you ordered three pizzas in a month you got a free of whatever the new thing was. They kept the secret for a week or so and it turned out to be a bbq chicken pizza. I do not eat that so i did not try for it
I am pretty sure they are extending the points expiration dates..most companies are. So perhaps you will come across a Blaze in your travels when we can start travelling again. . Seems like too much issue to try just for dough nuts. But thanks.

@sstsau wrote:

@sandyf Unfortunately, I only have 94 flames, so not enough for a pizza. I think flames expire in a year, so mine will probably expire soon given that we went into "lockdown" in March and I haven't been able to earn/use any flames since then. I have my Pi day reward still ($3.14 for a 11 inch pizza) that I was never able to use. It expires on 01/01/21.

94 points is enough for a drink/dessert (30 flames) or a 4 count dough knots (60 flames). If you are interested in those, I'd be happy to try to order them for you sometime. Not sure how it would really work...you'd definitely have to give me the location and I guess I could try to redeem the reward and send to that store? It might be easier if I can do "order ahead" for a specific time that you know you'd be there. But we'd need to do some coordinating!

I always got a "birthday treat" and "half-birthday treat", which is usually a free dessert. I even got my "half birthday treat" this year in September when all locations around me were closed, so of course I couldn't redeem it. I would periodically get other offers like "BOGO free" or other discounts or "free with purchase" coupons. I thought everyone got these?

Definitely. Some of those aren't going anywhere. I do agree with them about Ruby Tuesday and Houlihan's though, they are shrinking at a frightening rate in my area. One of the RT's in my range was fallow for a few years before a BWW took over the building about 4 years ago. Another sat fallow for about 2 years before a Texas Roadhouse recently took the building and opened. Another is still sitting there closed. Sure seems to be fading away if my range area is any clue.

Part of me wouldn't mind seeing Papa John's go under, and not just for their cardboard pizza. But then I hold no ill will against the rank-and-file workers who would be hurt by that. Torn.

@HonnyBrown wrote:

It's very sensationalistic, like the million calorie "Eat This, Not That" blogs.

Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 12/25/2020 01:46AM by KokoBWare.

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