NWR: Gift Card with no balance

tigersgirlgv · May 2014

I am a teacher and was generously given a variety of gift cards during teacher appreciation week. I tried to use one of the gift cards at a local grocery store yesterday and it didn't work. The store said they would look into it and call me back after their "investigation." I just heard from them and there is no balance on the card. I'm not sure if there was a problem with activation or something else went wrong, but there is nothing on the gift card.

I am totally fine with just letting it go. If it was a close friend or family, I might mention something, but I would definitely not say anything to this child's family as we have a more professional relationship. However, I would hate for them to have been charged and now somehow the card is worthless. I'm not even exactly sure who the gift card is from (our school told us that the gifts were a thank you and we weren't allowed to write thank yous for their thank you...). I know that my room parents were organizing the whole affair and would probably know who the card came from.

Would you mention something to the room parent so they could check in with the family or just let it go? I do not want to come off as greedy or ungrateful, as they were extremely generous and I was blown away by the gifts I received, so I'm leaning towards doing nothing.

Side note: I was sort of ticked off at the store as well. The first person I talked with was going to give me a replacement card, when another worker walked past and said, "No, you don't know that she actually has any money on that card." I understand that this probably looks like some kind of scam, but you don't have to imply that I'm lying in front of me. "We'll have to check on the card and get back to her about a replacement," would have made me feel like you didn't think I was a con-woman.

JennyColada · May 2014

I agree with you on all fronts: I don't think I'd say anything, and I find their reaction distasteful.

AddieCake · May 2014

I would not say anything.

monkeysip · May 2014

Normally I would tell the person only so that they would know in case they DID spend money and the card had no value.

But in this situation? I think it would lead to a lot of awkwardness. I wouldn't say anything.

And yeah, the employees could have handled it more politely.

KeptInStitches · May 2014

In this case, I wouldn't say anything. And I might not go back to that store for a while if I could avoid it because that was impolite.

KPBM89 · May 2014

I wouldn't say anything in this case. And also that was some terrible customer service at that store.

Actually once at an old daycare job, all the kids gave little gifts to the owner on the 5th anniversary of it opening. The kids gave candy, stuffed animals, hand drawn cards, and some gave more personalized gifts that their parents bought to give her. She received a few gift cards, too, and one didn't work. She mentioned it to the mom because, like you, she didn't want her to have wasted her money. The mom was really confused because she said she bought her a vase, but not a gift card. It turned out that the child had taken it from a store. So, the mom didn't waste her money, which was good, but the child had technically stolen a worthless item.

RebeccaB88 · May 2014

I would let the issue with the balance on the gift card go, but not the grocery store employee. Her/his store manager would be getting a very strongly worded email regarding customer service and employees accusing customers of fraud in front of them with no evidence. That part is inexcusable. Plus, I still run across people who don't know that you have to have a gift card rung up and activated before it's any good. Strange but it could have happened.

SammiNJonni · May 2014

I would forget about the gift card, but I would contact the store manager and complain about how you were treated.

tigersgirlgv · May 2014

Thanks for the advice ladies! I will not worry about the gift card and think twice about where I do my grocery shopping.

Blue_Bird · May 2014

our school told us that the gifts were a thank you and we weren't allowed to write thank yous for their thank you...

Huh?

I agree with you on all points. As an aside, my school has a policy that thank you notes must be written for all gifts given. When I first heard this (and signed a contract stating I would), I thought, this woman is a micro-manager and has absolutely no faith in her teachers. As if we were not responsible, grateful, well brought-up people.

HisGirlFriday13 · May 2014

Blue_Bird said:
our school told us that the gifts were a thank you and we weren't allowed to write thank yous for their thank you...

Huh?

I agree with you on all points. As an aside, my school has a policy that thank you notes must be written for all gifts given. When I first heard this (and signed a contract stating I would), I thought, this woman is a micro-manager and has absolutely no faith in her teachers. As if we were not responsible, grateful, well brought-up people.

There are enough stories on these boards of brides who don't write thank-you notes for her to be justified in her concerns.

tigersgirlgv · May 2014

Blue_Bird said:

our school told us that the gifts were a thank you and we weren't allowed to write thank yous for their thank you...
Huh?

I agree with you on all points. As an aside, my school has a policy that thank you notes must be written for all gifts given. When I first heard this (and signed a contract stating I would), I thought, this woman is a micro-manager and has absolutely no faith in her teachers. As if we were not responsible, grateful, well brought-up people.

The parent who organized the whole Teacher Appreciation Week told us that we were not to write thank you notes for the gifts we received that week. The gifts were to thank us for all we do for their children and according to her we shouldn't write thank you notes for gifts which were already thanking us. We all felt sort of weird and bad about not writing them, but that's what we were told to do!

That is a crazy thing to have in your contract!

MairePoppy · May 2014

That room mother was wrong to tell you not to write thank you notes. Did she collect gifts from the children for a gift basket? I'd write a generic thank you for the lovely party and gifts to each child, since you have no way of knowing what each student gave you.

I agree on not mentioning the gift card problem to anyone at school, but let the store manager know that you were treated rudely. Those employees need to be retrained.

mysticl · May 2014

HisGirlFriday13 said:

our school told us that the gifts were a thank you and we weren't allowed to write thank yous for their thank you...
Huh?

I agree with you on all points. As an aside, my school has a policy that thank you notes must be written for all gifts given. When I first heard this (and signed a contract stating I would), I thought, this woman is a micro-manager and has absolutely no faith in her teachers. As if we were not responsible, grateful, well brought-up people.

There are enough stories on these boards of brides who don't write thank-you notes for her to be justified in her concerns.

I have a friend who does not thank people for gifts unless you give it to her in person. In that case she says "thank you" but she does not send thank you notes, e-mails, text messages, etc. She also will not notify someone that she received a package they sent her.

sarals24 · May 2014

Why does anyone still give this friend of yours gifts?

HisGirlFriday13 · May 2014

mysticl said:

HisGirlFriday13 said:

Blue_Bird said:
our school told us that the gifts were a thank you and we weren't allowed to write thank yous for their thank you...
Huh?

I agree with you on all points. As an aside, my school has a policy that thank you notes must be written for all gifts given. When I first heard this (and signed a contract stating I would), I thought, this woman is a micro-manager and has absolutely no faith in her teachers. As if we were not responsible, grateful, well brought-up people.

There are enough stories on these boards of brides who don't write thank-you notes for her to be justified in her concerns.

I have a friend who does not thank people for gifts unless you give it to her in person. In that case she says "thank you" but she does not send thank you notes, e-mails, text messages, etc. She also will not notify someone that she received a package they sent her.

sarals24 said:
Why does anyone still give this friend of yours gifts?

Ditto. I wonder why you all tolerate this.

Gerbertmcway · May 2014

I wouldn't say anything. But, I would think the store would have a way to track if and when the gift card was activated along with each time it was used. I used to work at a retail store and we couldn't get much of this information at the store level but if we called corporate they could access it. If you still have the card you could give the corporate office a call and see if they can provide any more information.

huskypuppy14 · May 2014

mysticl said:

HisGirlFriday13 said:

our school told us that the gifts were a thank you and we weren't allowed to write thank yous for their thank you...
Huh?

I agree with you on all points. As an aside, my school has a policy that thank you notes must be written for all gifts given. When I first heard this (and signed a contract stating I would), I thought, this woman is a micro-manager and has absolutely no faith in her teachers. As if we were not responsible, grateful, well brought-up people.

There are enough stories on these boards of brides who don't write thank-you notes for her to be justified in her concerns.

I have a friend who does not thank people for gifts unless you give it to her in person. In that case she says "thank you" but she does not send thank you notes, e-mails, text messages, etc. She also will not notify someone that she received a package they sent her.

Is this something she has stated? How do you know that she doesn't send thank you notes (other than not receiving one from her, in which case I would never give her another gift.)

themuffinman16 · May 2014

This happened to me. When people give you a gift card from a grocery store, it is less protected than if you get it at the store you want the gift receiver to shop at. I received a Macy's card for my spinster registry, and it had a zero balance on it. Macy's was able to investigate it, and said it looked like a watch was bought with the gift card. I told them I have had the same watch for 12 years, now, so it couldn't have been me.

Upon further investigation, they had realized the numbers had been hacked and the user was fraudulently using their card. (It is very easy to hack gift card's "security" details from those large kiosks. I was given another card with the full amount on it. Ever since then, I shop at the stores intended for gift cards, just so my friends and family don't have to deal with the hassle I went through.

NYCMercedes · May 2014

themuffinman16 said:

This happened to me. When people give you a gift card from a grocery store, it is less protected than if you get it at the store you want the gift receiver to shop at. I received a Macy's card for my spinster registry, and it had a zero balance on it. Macy's was able to investigate it, and said it looked like a watch was bought with the gift card. I told them I have had the same watch for 12 years, now, so it couldn't have been me.
Upon further investigation, they had realized the numbers had been hacked and the user was fraudulently using their card. (It is very easy to hack gift card's "security" details from those large kiosks. I was given another card with the full amount on it. Ever since then, I shop at the stores intended for gift cards, just so my friends and family don't have to deal with the hassle I went through.

Spinster registry? Never heard of this.

kitsunegari89 · May 2014

You say nothing. I was given a $100 Target gift card as a wedding gift, and I wrote them a thank you note despite the card balance having been already stolen. I do not like gift cards because this has happened to me twice already, and I will usually give cash if I don't know what to get someone or they don't have anything in my price range on their registry. I should note that I called Target customer service a while after the wedding and told them what happened and they investigated it and had a new card in the mail within a few days. Not sure how they could be sure I wasn't a scam artist, but I guess they figured it was worth it to avoid a problem. If anyone ever gives you a gift card, immediately go online and use the entire balance. The longer you hang onto it, the more likely it will be that someone will steal the balance.

KatieinBkln · May 2014

Dear god, I had no idea gift cards were so hack-able! (These boards are so useful for life, not just weddings).

tigersgirlgv · May 2014

I had thought about somebody stealing the number from the card, but it is a small chain grocery store and I don't think that you can even buy anything from them online. Oh well.

kitsunegari89 · May 2014

tigersgirlgv said:

I had thought about somebody stealing the number from the card, but it is a small chain grocery store and I don't think that you can even buy anything from them online. Oh well.

Smaller chains are less likely to be hacked, but are still hack-able. Anytime you get a gift card, go and use it. If you can use it online, even better.

Dottie05 · May 2014

Question: I know it might be pretty awkward and uncomfortable to speak with the room moms or who ever it was that may have purchased the card, but what if they bought multiples (like for all of the teachers) from that store and none of them work? Everyone is too polite to say something, but people could potentially be out hundreds of dollars. Sorry you're in this situation, it is an awkward one!

mysticl · May 2014

huskypuppy14 said:

mysticl said:

HisGirlFriday13 said:

our school told us that the gifts were a thank you and we weren't allowed to write thank yous for their thank you...
Huh?

I agree with you on all points. As an aside, my school has a policy that thank you notes must be written for all gifts given. When I first heard this (and signed a contract stating I would), I thought, this woman is a micro-manager and has absolutely no faith in her teachers. As if we were not responsible, grateful, well brought-up people.

There are enough stories on these boards of brides who don't write thank-you notes for her to be justified in her concerns.

I have a friend who does not thank people for gifts unless you give it to her in person. In that case she says "thank you" but she does not send thank you notes, e-mails, text messages, etc. She also will not notify someone that she received a package they sent her.

Is this something she has stated? How do you know that she doesn't send thank you notes (other than not receiving one from her, in which case I would never give her another gift.)

I've never given her a gift. We aren't gift exchanging friends. I have given her child a gift because were invited to the child's birthday parties. We attended in person, presented the gift in person, and were thanked in person. There was no follow up note and I'm perfectly fine with that since I was thanked in person and know the gift was received (that's all I really care about, knowing they got it). She has told me that she doesn't send thank you notes of any type. She asked me if I let people know I've received packages because she doesn't and then she gets phone calls wanting to know if the item was received.

mysticl · May 2014

HisGirlFriday13 said:

HisGirlFriday13 said:

our school told us that the gifts were a thank you and we weren't allowed to write thank yous for their thank you...
Huh?

I agree with you on all points. As an aside, my school has a policy that thank you notes must be written for all gifts given. When I first heard this (and signed a contract stating I would), I thought, this woman is a micro-manager and has absolutely no faith in her teachers. As if we were not responsible, grateful, well brought-up people.

There are enough stories on these boards of brides who don't write thank-you notes for her to be justified in her concerns.

I have a friend who does not thank people for gifts unless you give it to her in person. In that case she says "thank you" but she does not send thank you notes, e-mails, text messages, etc. She also will not notify someone that she received a package they sent her.

Why does anyone still give this friend of yours gifts?
Ditto. I wonder why you all tolerate this.

You'd have to ask the people who give her gifts.

NWR: Gift Card with no balance

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