My sister gave me a $50 American Express gift card for Christmas. It’s a nice gift and I was excited about it.
Then I went to the shoe store today. When I went to pay for my purchases, the cashier informed me that the card doesn’t work. I had her try repeatedly, but to no avail. I finally whipped out my own American Express card and it worked. Fortunately it wasn’t a big deal.
But now I’m wondering what I should do. Should I tell my sister that the card doesn’t work? Wouldn’t that be akin to telling her the gift sucks? And what could she do about it?
Or should I just forget about it? Fifty dollars is a nice chunk of change but it’s not that much. It’s the thought that counts, right?
If there is a number on the back, call, you might have to activate it. You are right, $50 is alot so I would look into it (shoot, with me, if it was $10 I would look into it). Don’t tell your sister until you know there is something that she could do.
Have fun with the certificate!
Gift cards are notorious for being problematic – and I should know, as my company offers several to clients. There should be a number to call on the card itself, or, if your sister left it tucked into a little folder/envelope thingy, it should be there, as well. These work just like credit cards (except for the positive balance), so you’ll need to activate it and you may also need to get a PIN or security code for it.
It’s also possible that this particualr kind of card is only accepted by certain merchants, and that shoe store isn’t one of them.
Here’s the American Express Gift Card website. If you click on “See Available Funds and History”, you can find out more about your card.
I didn’t know that I had to activate it, since I rarely read the fine print on stuff. Thanks for enlightening me!