Today, I got an email below. It basically says there were errors in calculating taxes in purchases, so the store is issuing US$1 coupons for all the customers.
Dear Valued Customer:
It has come to our attention that GameStop Games mistakenly
over-collected sales tax on some purchases by our California customers at
EBGames.com. The error concerns California's rules on the taxation of shipping
costs. Many California customers did not pay too much tax, and for
those who did, the overpayment was usually in the range of $0.01 to $0.50.
All taxes collected by GameStop Games on shipping charges were paid to
the State Board of Equalization. That is, GameStop Games did not
retain any of the taxes it collected or otherwise benefit from the mistake.
To remedy any possible over-collection of taxes, GameStop Games is
giving each of its potentially affected California customers a $1.00 coupon
that is good towards a purchase at EBGames.com. For coupon code and
redemption instructions, please see below. Alternatively, if you would
rather have any overpayment of taxes that you may have made refunded to
you, GameStop Games will refund any amounts that you overpaid. To
obtain a refund (if an overpayment was made), it will be necessary to
provide GameStop Games with proof of the amount of sales tax collected on
the shipping portion of the purchase. Refund Requests should be sent to:
EBGames.com Customer Service, 625 Westport Parkway, Grapevine, Texas,
76051, Attention: Shipping Tax Refund Request. GameStop Games will
process the request, and if it over-collected sales tax on the purchase, it
will refund any amounts it over-collected. As stated, the amount of
the refund, if any, will likely be less than $0.50.
EBGames.com Customer Service
What can you do with the US$1 coupon? Well, basically nothing if you're using it by itself at the stores! To avoid being sued or being investigated by the government, they've to do this.
I do think people should have better things to do than redeeming a $1 coupon. sigh.
