Hello to everybody who has emailed about gift cards. [If you haven’t, see my email address below.] First, I’m sorry that we closed, and so abruptly. I can’t share the intimate details, but I can assure you that nobody anticipated this. We seemed to be turning a corner, with a new chef developing new menus, staff doing deep cleaning on their own time, plans to re-paint and generally face-lift, and now… it’s just over. Awful. Unbelievable. End of subject.
Gift cards: The business is not able to refund them and finding another solution is complicated. We used Worldpay to process credit and gift cards via our POS (point of sale) system. According to my tech support, our gift cards can be read by other Worldpay users, but only if they use a separate terminal – that little black box, not swiping through a POS monitor. If you can tell me how to identify these very specific businesses, please do! And when I do find them, how will they treat your gift cards? Apply a percentage or dollar amount to your bill and return the card to you with a balance? Give you the discount and throw the rest away? Merchants will want to know how much value is out there in unredeemed cards, and Worldpay’s “live chat” wasn’t exactly “live.” (They have yet to reply to me.)
What if you mailed your card to me, I swiped it to get the current balance and mailed you a paper certificate (with the Time Out stamp of legitimacy) that any participating business can read? That seems like a one-use solution requiring more effort and trust from you and would need to be done very soon, while we maintain the Worldpay service. (Excuse me while my head explodes.)
Durham First Selectman Laura Frances is a pal; I asked for her help, and she almost immediately replied that the owner of Artie’s is willing to participate (I don’t know about card-reading there). Bravo to him (!) but I want to cast a wider net, and first I need to figure out how it will work.
I’ve been at Time Out since September of 1989, and although I have no claim to ownership I feel a personal responsibility to do something about this. You’ve helped to keep me employed for all these years! I welcome any expertise or resources you can bring! Or just your feedback. Forgive me if I don’t respond to you personally; I will certainly read your reply and let you know when I have something to report… Very long email! Thanks for your patience!!
Suzy, (former) bar manager at Time Out Taverne

100 New Haven Road (Route 17)
Durham, CT. 06422

Phone 860.349.1721
Fax 860.349.2577