How are iTunes Giftcards activated?

[JuegaBonito]

Hey,

today I just bought an iTunes gift card and there was one thing that drives me crazy.
When the cashier scans the barcode of your gift card: How does Apple know that my card is activated?

Is every cash box connected to the internet? I mean this would be the only way the Apple server find out about the activation, or not?

Any ideas are welcome!

 

[RITZFit]

Probably the same way the bank knows when you use your debit card (most banks have instant online updates).

 

[imaketouchtheme]

Yes, every store that sells gift cards has POS Terminals that are connected to the Internet.

 

[maflynn]

When the cashier scans the barcode of your gift card: How does Apple know that my card is activated?

Because the POS terminal contacts the server and validates the card and the balance.

 

[wrinkster22]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3_5 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8L1 Safari/6533.18.5)

What is POS?

 

[0098386]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3_5 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8L1 Safari/6533.18.5)

What is POS?

Usually "Piece of ****"
Also "Point of Sale"

 

[BreakGuy]

Usually "Piece of ****"
Also "Point of Sale"

Or in Layman's terms, the cash register/computer.

 

[SpaceKitty]

Once in a while, you'll find someone who has no idea what to do to activate the card and will simply scan the card and charge you the purchase price without activating the card. Happens all the time on the Apple forums. Never throw away the receipt because Apple will need it to give you the credit for the gift card if this happens.

 

[ender land]

Usually "Piece of ****"
Also "Point of Sale"

The best part is, that for most stores, you could use either phrase equally well