Expiration Date on Gift Certificates
By Jshean20
@Jshean20 (14349)
Canada
February 17, 2007 6:15pm CST
Don't you hate when you find a gift certificate that you were given last Christmas only to find out it has expired? Has this ever happened to you? Where was the gift certificate for? I feel a bit bad that the person spent money on a gift card for me that expired, as there is no way for them to get their money back for it (not that I'd ever tell the giver that the card has expired). I think they should have some kind of a system in stores where they can tell if the gift card has been spent within the timeframe and if it hasn't, the giftcard giver should get their money back. As far as I know though, such a system doesn't exist around here.
1 person likes this
6 responses
@babystar1 (4233)
• United States
18 Feb 07
It never happened to me.My husband and I both get gift certificates for Christmas or birthdays and we keep them in a place that we can see them so we no when they expire.
1 person likes this
@whiteheather39 (24403)
• United States
18 Feb 07
That would never happen to me. I can't wait to spend them. They are usual from someone who knows I want to buy something from a special store but cant't afford it,
1 person likes this
@msmamaof2 (367)
• United States
18 Feb 07
oh i know i did that a couple christmas's ago with a gift card for a free pedicure. i was so mad because when i found it i was in dire need of one...lol
1 person likes this
@enchantedemerald (454)
• United States
18 Feb 07
This has only happened to me once. I was given a gift certificate to a restaurant and I wanted to save it for a special occasion. Well, I misplaced the gift certificate and when I finally found it-it had already expired. I called the restaurant and explained what had happened and they refused to honor it. Now, I keep all gift cards and certificates in a special place so they won't get lost and I use them before they expire.
@shywolf (4514)
• United States
18 Feb 07
I don't think that I've ever had this happen yet, but I can imagine how bad I would feel if it did. I do think that my family has let some award point certificates from Best Buy expire, though, and then we felt pretty frustrated about it when we realized that we had forgotten. Anyway, I think that what you suggested about the gift giver getting their money back if the certificate wasn't used in time is awesome! You can bet that stores would never go for it, though. They're out for money, lol!!
@crazynurse (7482)
• United States
18 Feb 07
That really burns me up. The way I see it, the card is paid for. The store has made their money, so it should be no skin off their a$$. Yet, they put an expiration date on a card (and often don't even tell you bout it) so that the receiver doesn't get to spend it. So the store has made money and not put any goods forth! As long as its paid for, why should they care if I hold it for a year or longer? With inflation, they'd still make money, because if I wait a year to spend the gift card, things have gone up in price and I can't get as much goods for that amount! So, why on earth even HAVE an expiration date? Please if anyone knows, explain to me!
