Now, this is a fairly poor grumble in as much as I'm looking a gift horse in the mouth and all,
but it's a grumble that's been going round our work recently.
Our USAsian BigCo hand out Long Service Awards. These have taken various forms over the years.
I have just done a 25-yr stretch without parole.
The current program is a pre-loaded 'Declining Balance' credit card, which you can use for anything you like.
That's a great idea for me, as Golf Clubs are no use to me, I don't need an Ornamental Clock, and we already have a Fondue Set.
This card has 'Bike' ( or at least 'Frame' ) written all over it.
Thing is, it's denominated in $USD.
There's a currency conversion fee of 2% ( hmph, but OK ).
But here's the thing: There's no way to tell the Currency Conversion rate which will be applied when your transaction is posted.
So you don't know the actual value of the card in £GBP, at the time you are handing the card over.
So you can't 'max it out': you have to 'guess' what will go through, and by some recursive process of declines eventually get it accepted, and then have some un-useable residue on the card.
The company in question can issue cards denominated in £GBP, but the decree from our BigCo is that all cards will be in $USD.
Bah.