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Original poster

WWYD - tell friend about problem with gift or not?

33 replies

NotSoLongGoodbye · 16/08/2021 15:43

OK so I received a John Lewis gift card from a friend for my birthday a few months ago. I've just gone online to spend it and there is no money to spend.

The gift voucher was purchased via a third party (supermarket or other retailer) who took the payment but didn't upload the card. So John Lewis didn't receive the money and say there is nothing they can do. My friend would need to find a receipt for the transaction and take it up with the supermarket.

The gift card was quite a lot of money for my friend to spend and I think she would be upset about it all. I doubt she will still have the receipt. But I don't want this to happen again - we live a distance apart so often by gift cards. Which I won't be doing again through third parties.

I'm wondering if I should just say let's not bother with gifts any more and just indicate I had an issue with the gift card, that was not her fault.

OP posts:

Palavah · 16/08/2021 15:44

I would want to know. You can reassure her and help to get the money back

StarDrawers · 16/08/2021 15:45

I would leave it and maybe say after her next birthday that you're sorry, money is a bit tight so can you agree not to do gifts?

ImAddictedToMyPhone · 16/08/2021 15:46

Did she not gift you a receipt with it? Usually when you send a gift card you put a receipt in with it.

How long is a few months ago? If its more than 4, I wouldn't bother telling her.

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Leavesofautumn · 16/08/2021 15:47

Even if she doesn't have the receipt, if she paid for it with a credit or debit card then she can find it in her bank statements as proof.

StarDrawers · 16/08/2021 15:47

@ImAddictedToMyPhone

Did she not gift you a receipt with it? Usually when you send a gift card you put a receipt in with it.

How long is a few months ago? If its more than 4, I wouldn't bother telling her.

That's a point. Usually the receipt goes with it. It may be she's regifted you one she's already used by accident?

LagneyandCasey · 16/08/2021 16:16

This is why I avoid giving gift cards and hate getting them. Much easier all round to just give cash/paypal/bank transfer.

If I was your friend I'd want to know so I could try and sort it out. The bank or cc company could provide details of the transaction if she's lost the receipt.

Original poster

NotSoLongGoodbye · 16/08/2021 16:19

The receipt was not with it. I assume because she bought it with shopping at the supermarket and didn't want to send me her entire receipt. I have only ever received separate receipts for a gift card when buying directly from the shop the gift card was for. When I bought a gift card from Asda - I got nothing to send. There was just something on my receipt alongside the eggs etc.

The card has definitely not been used / regifted. John Lewis were able to track it all for me and confirm that the issue was that the third party retailer had not uploaded the card correctly with the amount of money. They were even able to tell me how much should've been credited to the account.

My birthday was 4 months ago.

OP posts:

Original poster

NotSoLongGoodbye · 16/08/2021 16:21

I thought about the bank statement but this will probably only show £xxx amount to Asda/Tesco/ wherever rather than the purchase of a gift card. I won't be sending gift cards again.

OP posts:

Notaroadrunner · 16/08/2021 16:22

I'd definitely tell her. Maybe she can check back on her bank account to see if the money was taken.

Lindtnotlint · 16/08/2021 16:25

Don’t say anything. She will end up not being able to get a refund and feeling she has to pay you again. Just let this one lie - it’s v unlikely to happen again. Separately decide what you want to do about gifts going forward.

StarDrawers · 16/08/2021 16:27

@NotSoLongGoodbye in that case I would have said something in case she had the receipt but it's been 4 months so I'd just leave it. A month and she might still have it tucked away in her purse.

HungryHippo11 · 16/08/2021 16:27

@Leavesofautumn

Even if she doesn't have the receipt, if she paid for it with a credit or debit card then she can find it in her bank statements as proof.

Not really as the bank statement wouldn't be itemised. That £50 purchase in Waitrose could be anything

Annonymiss123 · 16/08/2021 16:30

Just a thought - I wonder if she bought it at a supermarket, would they be able to trace the purchase via her shop loyalty card? She'd have an idea of when she bought it if it was around the time of your birthday.

Hadalifeonce · 16/08/2021 16:30

If I had sent it, I would want to know that it hadn't been dealt with properly. Even more so if JL are able to tell you how much should have been on it. Tell her.

Igmum · 16/08/2021 16:34

I would want to know. It also sounds like John Lewis can see the problem so the other party will probably be able to as well. Don't add to Tesco's profits - let her know and fix it

Original poster

NotSoLongGoodbye · 16/08/2021 16:35

I don't want friend to reimburse me. It wasn't her fault. But I am really cross that a third party retailer can do this without there being any comeback. I expect it was just human error but I didn't know this could even happen. I thought once a card was rung through the tills there was a prompt to upload the card.

John Lewis told me this does happen more than you would imagine and they hate telling people. Think of all the gift cards sold in Tesco etc not just John Lewis

OP posts:

NuffSaidSam · 16/08/2021 16:40

This happened to me with a giftcard I bought in Morrisons.

I emailed Morrisons customer service who were able to trace the card (it was for a garden centre) and they refunded me fully.

It was an IT error, not a human error. The woman scanned it just fine, but the IT systems hadn't connected or something like that.

It was quite straightforward to rectify. I would tell your friend and find out where she bought it.

Egghead68 · 16/08/2021 16:43

That happened to me. I didn’t say anything until the person who gave it to me told me a gift card she had given someone else had been blank and asked had mine been ok. At that point I confessed and she sent me the cash, which I felt bad about.

I probably wouldn’t say anything if it happened again.

Egghead68 · 16/08/2021 16:45

It was also a John Lewis card, btw.

BunnytheFriendlyDragon · 16/08/2021 16:47

Tell her OP as she could be buying more gift cards in blissful ignorance

Andylion · 16/08/2021 17:07

@BunnytheFriendlyDragon

Tell her OP as she could be buying more gift cards in blissful ignorance

This is the reason I told a friend when this happened to me. She always gives me a gift card for a specific store. I thought she should be aware that this one hadn't gone through so she could be sure next time that it had.

TedGlenn · 16/08/2021 17:32

I think you should tell her making clear (a) John Lewis have confirmed she did everything right at her end and (b) you absolutely do not want her to fret about rectifying this (which is a roundabout way of saying you don't want her to pay you the missing money (which you can't say directly, as she might have had no intention of doing so anyway!)).

thevassal · 16/08/2021 17:49

I think it's worth trying - if she knows roughly when she bought it, and it's a significant amount (so more than she usually spends on a weekly shop), she should be able to look at her bank statement and work out the exact date she bought it.
If you've got a lot of detailed info from John Lewis, and she can say she paid £91.42 on 1st May at x store that should be enough for the supermarket to find the transaction.

thevassal · 16/08/2021 17:50

Also it could be a scam by a cashier (unlikely but you don't know) so definitely work alerting the supermarket.

Original poster

NotSoLongGoodbye · 16/08/2021 18:38

@TedGlenn
That's a really nice way of putting it. Thanks.

OP posts:

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