My sister tried to use a Target gift card that I had given her many years ago. It was still attached to the cardboard backing so I know she had not used it. When she got to the register, the card didn't work. She went to customer service and they told her the card wasn't activated. She knows that I paid for it so we are wondering what happened. When I looked at the giftcard, I looked at the year printed at the bottom. It said 2002. I assume the card was issued that year. Unfortunately, we do not have the receipt that shows the card was activated. There is probably nothing we can do now. I'm glad it was just a $10 GC. Lesson learned: Always keep the receipt that shows the GC was activated and use your GC in a timely manner.

Has anyone experienced a similiar situation using an old GC? If so, what did you do?

In most states, if you do not use a GC within a year of purchasing it, the company starts deducting $2 or so a month every month you don't use it. Once the GC is gone (ie: a $10 GC would be gone if not used in 1 year plus 5 months), it would show a $0 balance or it might show not activated. I have had it happen to me which is why I am sure to use GC's right away now

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Proud to say I haven't shopped at a Wal-Mart since Sept 2003

Are you sure they ever activated it? I wonder if the original cashier screwed up. I could be wrong, but I think when they activate it, they remove it from the cardboard backing.

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If this is going to be a Christian nation that doesn't help the poor, either we have to pretend that Jesus was just as selfish as we are, or we've got to acknowledge that He commanded us to love the poor and serve the needy without condition, and then admit that we just don't want to do it.

- Stephen Colbert.

Target advertises that their GCs never expire, but it's been so long there might not be anything they can do

Whenever I buy a giftcard, I always worry that will happen...because when you leave and then give it to someone, there's no way to know! I usually keep the receipt for a while and I use GCs quickly, but that doesn't mean whoever you give it to will...

Lisa

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"It's not having what you want,
It's wanting what you've got"

Stores are making a killing on gift card purchases that go unused. I know I have tons of unused or partially used gift cards lying around here.

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Jackie

Music is what feelings sound like._ ~Author Unknown

most of the time the gift cards are not track-able for when it was purchased etc. I am sorry for her loss

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-Kristi

If you don't use a GC for six months they start deducting money from it every month. It should be illegal but it's not I'm reading a book
Gotcha Capitalism, Bob Sullivan
that explains how companies screw us and it's worse than even I suspected. There's a whole chapter on GCs.
We are getting screwed as consumers all the way around. I didn't buy anyone a GC this Christmas because of all the fees and because I was afraid the stores might go broke and close up and keep my money in their pockets.
It's a very gracious gift to allow someone to pick something they want however if they are not like us mycouponers they might not be savvy enough to realize to use it right away.

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The political system is broke and it's a joke.

In CA I don't think they can deduct any amount from gift cards or have them expire. If I have a bunch of gift cards that I have used I always call the number on the back to see my balance. I then write the amount on the card. I never want the store to get any free money from me because I didn't spend the whole amount. Once I bought a bunch of gift cards for gifts. They were in two different amounts and I wanted to make sure of the amounts so I called in and checked each card. One the cashier missed. She had not charged me but I would have felt terrible if I had given it as a gift.

yes, in CA it can't expire or have fees taken out. I always keep my receipts from purchase with the card (usually they come with a little envelope or something). Then if they start to fee us to death or expire, I take them with me on vacation to CA (we go once a year) or send them to my family in CA to use because they are exempt from the penalties.

I don't like buying GC's to small stores for the fear they will go out of business. A big story in our paper a little more than a year ago about it because a coffeehouse sold GC's for Christmas. A week after Christmas, they closed. I think that is morally wrong (although not illegal). You KNOW you are closing a week after Christmas (I mean, how could you not know you are closing?) and you sell GC's....just wrong. A lot of people were steamed (and rightly so).

So I stick to cash it may be old fashioned but it still works

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Proud to say I haven't shopped at a Wal-Mart since Sept 2003