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The contractor that ran the gift certificate program for the Defense Commissary Agency has shut its doors, leaving an unknown number of customers holding commissary gift certificates they can’t use.

CertifiChecks, Inc., abruptly announced that effective Feb. 26 they will no longer administer gift certificate programs. The company’s commercial phone number in Dayton, Ohio has been disconnected. A toll-free number provided on the Web site is a recording that does not allow a caller to leave a message. The Web site states that the company is in the process of filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy.

Commissary officials advise customers holding CertifiCheck certificates who wish to submit their certificates for “potential reimbursement” to send them to:

CertifiChecks, Inc.

Attn: Redemption Dept.

P.O. Box 13603

Dayton, OH 45413

It was uncertain at this time whether customers should send copies of the gift certificates and retain the originals in order to protect their money. The company warns merchants not to deposit gift certificates in the bank, because they will be returned.

Information was not available from the Defense Commissary Agency about the estimated value of outstanding commissary gift certificates. The agency is located at Fort Lee, Va., which was closed Monday because of snow.

But in a press release issued earlier, officials said more than $17.5 million in gift certificates have been purchased for authorized customers since the program was established in September 2002. In fiscal 2008, more than $3.9 million worth of certificates were purchased, redeemable in commissaries in denominations ranging from $5 to $100.

Philip Sakowitz Jr., the commissary agency’s director, said in the press release that as an appropriated fund agency, DeCA no longer can accept the certificates. He said DeCA is looking for an alternative solution to fulfill customers’ requests for commissary gift certificates.

Anyone could buy the certificates, but only authorized customers could use them. A number were bought as donations for military families in need through installation chaplains, the Air Force Aid Society, the USO, Operation Homefront, Operation Interdependence, and the Fisher House Foundation.

Those who bought the certificates paid a fee of $4.95 that went to CertifiChecks, for the cost of printing, mailing and handling of up to 20 certificates per order. The commissary agency received no revenue from its agreement with CertifiChecks, DeCA officials said.

CertifiChecks, Inc., which was established in 1999, processed gift certificates for about 450 merchants and associations across the country, DeCA said.

One of those merchants has been the Army and Air Force Exchange Service, which used CertifiChecks, Inc., to administer its Gifts From the Homefront program. As of Monday, AAFES stores were still accepting the gift certificates, pending a final decision on a policy for handling the defunct certificates, said spokesman Judd Anstey.

About one-third of the gift certificates bought through the Gifts From the Homefront program have not yet been redeemed. Between March 2003 and Dec. 31, 2008, the latest month for which data is available, 112,307 gift certificates valued at $2.4 million were purchased. As of March 2, some 37,602 gift certificates valued at $731,395 had not been redeemed.

Donors in the general public also could buy those gift certificates. But in October 2008, AAFES officials began scaling back the CertifiChecks program and promoting their own gift cards, which do not have a fee.

Gifts From the Homefront certificates also could be used in Navy exchanges, but Navy Exchange Service Command officials could not immediately be reached for information about whether the certificates will continue to be accepted.

Exchange gift certificates sold through the exchange catalog were not affiliated with CertifiChecks, and are not affected.


Article: http://www.militarytimes.com/news/20...cates_030209w/

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Commissary customers can now redeem those worthless CertifiChecks, thanks to a plan approved Friday by Defense Department officials.

Defense Commissary Agency officials announced late Friday that defense officials will allow the commissaries to continue to accept customers’ gift certificates, known as CertifiChecks, for groceries. Customers must redeem them by July 31.

The company that ran the program ceased operations Feb. 26, rendering the gift certificates worthless.

“I am happy to report that DeCA and DoD have found a way that we can honor our customers’ unredeemed CertifiChecks,” DeCA Director Philip E. Sakowitz Jr. said in the announcement. “We have been deeply concerned about how this situation has impacted our customers worldwide, and we’re happy that we’ve been able to find a solution.”

Commissary store managers have been notified of the policy change.

CertifiChecks Inc., of Dayton, Ohio, posted a notice on its Web site Feb. 26 that it had ceased operations, citing a difficult economic environment. The notice said the company is in the process of filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. It warned merchants not to present any CertifiChecks to a bank, because they would be returned.

Initially, commissaries could not accept the worthless gift certificates, for legal reasons, because they are funded by taxpayer dollars.

CertifiChecks officials could not be reached for comment, and commissary officials also have been unable to reach CertifiChecks officials.

Since Feb. 26, DeCA officials have been working “non-stop” with defense officials to settle on a legal recourse to help customers left holding the worthless CertifiChecks, according to the announcement. DeCA will be allowed to absorb losses incurred honoring the certificates from its retail stocks account in the Defense Working Capital Fund.

Customers or donors have bought more than $20 million of these gift certificates since 2002, including more than $3.9 million in fiscal 2008, officials said. It has not yet been determined how many are unredeemed. A number of the CertifiChecks were given to non-profit organizations like Operation Homefront and Fisher House Foundation to give to military families in need.

The military exchange systems also used a CertifiChecks program, as did hundreds of other retailers and entities across the country. The Army and Air Force Exchange System, Navy Exchange Service Command and Coast Guard Exchange Service said earlier this week that they will continue to accept the CertifiChecks.

Information was not available from Marine Corps Exchange officials about whether they will accept the CertifiChecks.


Article: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/0...hecks_030709w/