G I V E A W A Y   E N D E D
This was a Versatileer Exclusive Giveaway: See the WINNERS Page

We love to buy gift cards for various reasons. They:

• Make great gift giving stuffers adding style and finesse
• Help assist businesses in the wrath of the COVID-19 crisis co-exist
• Can be bought on various discount programs, third party brokers, including holiday specials
• New special conglomerate cards are offering merchandise credit at different merchants
• I love to buy gift cards to give them away to special people like you, my followers!

When you buy a gift card, you need to protect it like you would cash. Without the original sequence, if lost, you cannot replace them. No merchant will ever verify with you without an original. Also buying a gift card without using for a really long time makes it turn into a “dormant” account. Merchants who have accounts go dormant too long are audited, and turn the funds over to the proper government departments as “lost money” as instituted in my post: Are You Due an Overlooked Refund? Unclaimed Property. Then if you use it after it is reported to that agency, the merchant has to refile the claim to get the money back from the government agency and close the file on it. The longer you possess a gift card, the more chances that it could be hacked into. You are better off using them as soon as you possibly can. Make sure that you only buy gift cards from reputable persons, as if you are caught with one on a list for forgery, stolen merchandise credits, or other less than reasonable means, you can be subject to the funds on a card being “shut down”. I one time had a Great Clips card that I won from a radio station stolen from my mail, so I filed a police report of the incidence, turned the report over to the radio station, who forwarded me instructions on getting in touch with Great Clips’ account services, who after verifying the police report cancelled the original card, and re-issued the new card. How would you feel if a person on the street sold you a $100 card for $50 and then when you went to use it, it was invalid? Make sure that you NEVER buy a card from any suspicious persons. If it looks too good to be true, it probably is.

On the other hand, I had in my possession a Fandango gift card where I was going to do a $25 giveaway for you, my followers, and when I went to check the balance, it stated that there was only $5.60 instead of the $25.00 meaning someone hacked into the account between my purchase and when I went to give it away. I had it over 6 months and it was a few months after I purchased it whereby the transaction occurred in Virginia. I am from Illinois, so the means and method where the transaction transpired are unclear. I did contact the company, and had the proper paper trail to state my case, and the company that produced the gift card at their discretion, as a courtesy offered me another one in it’s place because I proved my case beyond a shadow of a doubt that I did not endorse the transaction in anyway. If you have a gift card hacked into, chances are that it is going to be hard to prove your case, so make sure:

• You store gift cards in a safe place
• Do not show gift cards in public places, especially with the PIN numbers exposed
• Treat gift cards just like you would cash
• Only buy gift cards from reputable merchants or persons. NEVER buy gift cards with the PIN number scratched off. Once it is exposed, if you buy it today, someone may use it before you go to use it.
• If it looks too good to be true, it probably is!

We all work hard for our money, so even though it may look enticing to buy a gift card for a percentage on the dollar, it just really isn’t worth the chance to be holding stolen and/or otherwise less-than-legal gift cards.

So now I am holding a giveaway of a gift card to teach us to treat them just like cash:

#Giveaway

A $5.60 Fandango eGift card

WIN a $5.60 Fandango eGift card. Open Worldwide, eGift card in USD.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

This is an ongoing giveaway going on much of 2020. I am giving this away on the night of Christmas. Versatileer is responsible for this featured giveaway, and I will be fulfilling the prize.

TREAT YOUR GIFT CARDS LIKE CASH! + 2020 YEAR’S CHRISTMAS GIVEAWAY!