Gift card policy

[lovingit74]

With dept stores, when you get a gift card with purchase but end up returning some items, do they ask for the gift card back? My friends say at Saks and Neiman, they never do. You'd think that once you return items, they would inactivate the gift card so you can't use it. What's been everyone's experience?

 

[Minty Tea]

From my experience, the cards are always deactivated. Sometimes the SAs asked for the cards, other times they don't.

 

[lovingit74]

What happens if you spend it first?

 

[Minty Tea]

This happened to me once. They subtract the amount from my refund. I used about $150 on the gift card (value $300), so the SA deduct the $150 from my refund total. I'm told that each gift card is linked to the original transaction. So if the gift has been used/redeemed then it will show up in the system. I think it's fair. Also, some merchants can deactivate a gift card if you lost it and still have the receipt.