For information on the company, click here.

"We didn't know this was coming,” says Eau Claire Area Chamber of Commerce President Bob McCoy. “We feel bad about it. I personally have some of these sitting at home. We have thousands of dollars sitting here at the chamber, so we're in the same boat.”

McCoy says his group is searching for a solution to replace the chamber gift certificates, now invalid, because the company backing them, Certifichecks, filed for bankruptcy.

"Five hundred chambers across the country were shocked and caught off guard that this company filed Chapter 7, which doesn't even mean a reconstruction, it means they're out of business,” says McCoy.

The chamber told more than 500 local retailers to stop accepting the gift certificates immediately. Retailers like Festival Foods, which says it sees at least one hundred gift certificates a week.

"It was just a shock to hear that something you see on an every day basis is just going to go away in an instant,” says Michael Siakpere of Festival Foods.

Festival Foods says most of its customers who have tried to use them have been understanding of the situation.

And the Chamber of Commerce hopes to bring back the gift certificates.

"The chamber will most likely implement a program that we own, we run, and it's banked locally, because the businesses like having that availability of money kept locally,” says McCoy.

The Eau Claire Chamber of Commerce will discuss future plans and possible legal action against Certifichecks, Inc. at their meeting Tuesday morning.

McCoy says people can send their unused gift certificates in to the Certifichecks company, but he says the best plan of action is to wait, because there is no guarantee you will get your money back.

If you’re looking to redeem your gift certificates, you can send them to the following address:

CertifiChecks, Inc.
Attn: Redemption Dept.
PO Box 13603
Dayton, Ohio 45413

For information on the company, click here.