My daughter was gifted 2 $50 gift cards for graduation, I gave her $100 and tried to scan the code

[Allison]

I purchase gift cards all the time at the Kroger self checkout. All you do is scan the cards. It is activated when scanned. Nothing else required for the gift cards with a predetermined dollar amount.

That is awesome it always works for you.

 

[2SLM]

Most likely scenario is they regift your dd $100 and then are out double. It is a hassle to recover the funds! I'd let it go.

 

[mjkacmom]

Most likely scenario is they regift your dd $100 and then are out double. It is a hassle to recover the funds! I'd let it go.

That is my thought, the chance of fixing this is so slim if not impossible, shes been dating her boyfriends for 3+ years, he’s stayed at our house a lot, she’s stayed at his (2 hours from each other, when not at college, now she’s in Boston, he’s in Florida), his parents love my daughter and I’m guessing his mom would just gift her again (which would make us feel terrible).

 

[disney4us2002]

That just stinks. I have been the recipient with 0 balances so now I always include the little verification strip that gets printed showing the card is activated. Soooo frustrating and rather embarrassing too.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

While not everyone does it to us we tend to either keep the receipt if it's a gift card for a close family member (in which case there's no embarrassment about asking because we all would want to know) or we tape the receipt to the gift card.

Gift cards don't always have to be purchased by a cashier, you can do them in self-check out depending on the store, gift card and amount so it's possible to be user error too at times. Also while not wise you can also purchase gift cards 3rd party sites. Some people also go through gift cards at the store, write down the numbers and then wait for it to be activated so they can steal the balance on it/use it. Any of these seem possible to me.

 

[Dakota731]

There is a lot of fraud with gift cards. My niece bought a $100 card at a local retailer and when she tried to use it there was a zero balance. When she called they told her between the time she bought the card and the time she tried to use it, online scammers had stolen the number for online purchases. The woman explained that these people have computer systems that just keep putting in numbers until they finally get a winner.