The dumbest people in the world...
By coffeebreak
@coffeebreak (17798)
United States
November 13, 2007 10:09pm CST
I have been hearing this all year, and it just is so maddening. Gift Cards. They keep saying that they are huge "seller" but millions of dollars in purchased gift cards remain uncashed - that means that people buy gift cards for someone and that someone - that dumb someone - never uses the gift card!! Can you believ it! How dumb can someone be to have FREE MONEY in their hands and not use it! Good Grief! If anyone has a gift card that they don't want to use, send it to me! I just want to scream when I hear about the unused cards. Dumb, dumb, dumb!
4 people like this
11 responses
@reinydawn (11643)
• United States
14 Nov 07
Yeah, it's like throwing money in the trash. I have gotten gift cards before that I want to make sure I spend on the "right" thing, so it will take me a while to spend it. I like to give the cash gift cards, they're taken everywhere so it's a bit easier for people. Specific stores are hard for me because sometimes I get a card for a place I don't normally shop.
2 people like this
@reinydawn (11643)
• United States
14 Nov 07
We usually give all the kids $50 gift cards to the gas station. My oldest will get gift card for the grocery store (he likes it!) and sometimes we'll do the cash debit ones. It does seem kinda impersonal, but I'd rather they picked out something they like instead of me getting them something that will be hidden in the back of a drawer.
2 people like this
@coffeebreak (17798)
• United States
15 Nov 07
Gas card! That'd be great - especially this year when it is projected to be $4 a gallon by the end of the year! Think I'll do that for my son.
@coffeebreak (17798)
• United States
14 Nov 07
I never liked gift cards for gifts as i just thought they were to impersonal - "didn't that person care enough about me to put a bit of effort and thought into a gift?" thing. But I started looking at it differently. Now i like to give them - I choose places for the people that htey really like but maybe can't afford and with what i give they can add to it and get something they've alwasy wanted. Or speciality shops - I givemy daughter a $50 GC to Starbucks for Christmas and she tells me that is the best thing she gets! Then everytime she gets a cup of coffee she thinks of me! My son was desperate for a Stetson so I gave him a GC to the place he was planning on buying it - he saved up the rest and got his Stetson!
2 people like this
@thrwbckjay67 (2870)
• United States
14 Nov 07
That's always puzzled my mind as well. Whenever someone gives me a gift card, the first thing I think about is spending it. I mean, what I would use it for, what could I possibly get, etc. I know that I have never forgotten whenever I have a gift card for anywhere no matter the value. I have forgotten values before, but I will always make a point to use it. I saw the stat on CNN the other day where over $6 billion of gift cards were unclaimed in 2006 or something like that. It's amazing.
2 people like this
@coffeebreak (17798)
• United States
14 Nov 07
I know! The amount was staggering! All that money - just thrown to the wind! WHY??????!!! Sorry, lost it a bit there. I just can't comprehend it. FOr someone to get free money and then not use it. What's this world coming to!!!!!
1 person likes this
@coffeebreak (17798)
• United States
14 Nov 07
Do you remember when stores gave "gift certificates"? Looked like a check for an amount - thing was, best I remember anyway, that if you didn't use the whole amount of the cert - you could get the balance in cash
1 person likes this
@lingli_78 (12822)
• Australia
14 Nov 07
yes, i heard about this as well and it annoys me as well... who doesn't want free money??? it is weird... if i get a gift card from anybody, i will definitely make a point to spend it to buy something that i like... it is just a total waste... i think may be the reason there are so many unclaimed gift card is because it is already expired before they have a chance to use it... that's all...
2 people like this
@coffeebreak (17798)
• United States
14 Nov 07
I think expiration dates is no long an issue - at least ones I have haven't been, and I have had mine for up to a year using them gradualy . I watch sales and only shop sales, so it might take me a few months to use $50 but it is in my purse all the time in case I happen to stop at that store. OR sometimes i hold it to use to buy a birthday gift in a few months incase I don't have the extra cash for that. I've not had any problems with expy dates. But maybe some do,and still - you can't spend that in a year? I mean target you can buy practically anything! Or recycle it and give it to someone else as a gift.
1 person likes this
@ctrymuziklvr (11057)
• United States
14 Nov 07
I haven't heard anything about this but I am surprised. I know when I give my kids gift cards they use them. I on the other hand got two from one of my reward sites (at different times)both were for $25 and for a store that's not very close to me but I can take a bus to. I have some money left on both cards and I'm saving that for an "emergency"!
@coffeebreak (17798)
• United States
14 Nov 07
Good idea! Emergency! I care mine in my purse if I am out doing lot of things as sometimes i'll stop at a store not intending to - got caught in that a few times. i had 3 from Kohls' and left them at home intending to take them when i went to the store and 2 times I stopped at the store on a whim and bought stuff with cash! So i learned and got one of those metal business card holders and keep all my gift cards in that in my purse.
It is just hard for me to grasp that people forget money - I work to hard for mine - not a penny is forgotten!
1 person likes this
@wiccania (3360)
• United States
14 Nov 07
Well, some of them get lost. Think about it, if someone opens a bunch of presents on Christmas and there's a bunch of wrapping paper around then it's gathered up and thrown away... you might have accidentally pickedup a gift card in that and you'll probably never find it again. I've also seen people buy gift cards and then forget to give/send them. Then they say "well I'll save this for..." and forget about it. So it's not just the recipients who are occasionally stupid about it.
2 people like this
@coffeebreak (17798)
• United States
14 Nov 07
You're right there - forgetting to give the GC. Good grief, do they forget to put on underwear to!!! (lol!) To me, as hard as I have to work for my money, not to mention the nice part of receiving a GC, I will not forget that card!
1 person likes this
@shooting_star (384)
• Philippines
14 Nov 07
Well... maybe they lost the gift card or they only remembered they had it after the card expired! Same here, if anyone has a gift card they don't want to use -- ANY gift card, you can send it to me and I'll happily use it for you. I love getting gift cards as gifts because at least I'll be able to get something I really want or need for free.
2 people like this
@coffeebreak (17798)
• United States
14 Nov 07
They used to have expriation dates on them or good for 1 year and then start deducting after that, but skuttlebut I have heard, is that they stopped that, hoping to get more people to buy them.What do they care if the card is used or not? If not, that money sits in a account somewhere, as it always has to be availabe, but they collect a nice chunk of interest on it while it sits there for however long - so the cards companys are not exactly complaining - at least i wouldn't think they would be. If that interest is more than they care to deal with, they could send it my way!!!!
1 person likes this
@coffeebreak (17798)
• United States
14 Nov 07
Well, taht's a good idea! If you get a card to a place you dont like, give it as a "re-gift"! But with all stores having gift cards, hard to believe that someone would be given a card by someone they know nad not want to go to that store! I remember VISA being one last year "mentioning" this issue - that is what caught my attention - who can't use a VISA!!!!!!!!!!
1 person likes this
@sid556 (30960)
• United States
15 Nov 07
funny you should bring this up. I just used my jc penny card to buy my brother a pair of jeans for a gift. My mom upon learning that I was taking my brother to shop was reminded that she had a gift card she got last xmas but has no idea where it is and wanted me to see if It could be traced...hmmm she doesnt even remember who gave it to her. It is impossible....JC penny just made out on that deal. after reading your post, i guess she is not the only one that does that.
1 person likes this
@crazy_ol_lady (1014)
• United States
14 Nov 07
Well, I guess I'm one of those dumb people that forget to cash in their gift cards. I forget that I have them, or misplace them quite regularly. When I find one I go down and cash it in. I know I have lost a few already. Now I try to make a habit of putting them in my wallet right away so I don't lose them.
Happy posting..
1 person likes this
@coffeebreak (17798)
• United States
15 Nov 07
But see - you learned from your mistakes! That's a good thing! Now you have them when you go to that store!
@Monkeyrose (2840)
• Canada
15 Nov 07
This is funny that you mention it because safeway has a promotion for its managers whichever store sells the most gift cards in each district gets a bonus. Normally I would agree with you. Its just silly! There are reasons though.
1. Someone buys you a gift card to a place you don't shop at at all. (i usually regift)
2. Someone buys you a gift card in a denomination that isn't big enough to buy anything at the store its for.
I once didn't use a gift card because it was for a acting bookstore. I got it from my teachers upon graduation. I didn't go to school for a year after that so I did not use it. I went back to school a year later and went to use the card. Unfortunately it had expired and I hadn't noticed!
@crooklynbanger (1)
• United States
14 Nov 07
yea that is real dumb,but i think it's beacuse some people really don't have any use for the gift card, they need to pass that here if that's the case
2 people like this
