WWYD - tell friend about problem with gift or not?

[NotSoLongGoodbye]

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.

I’m sure when I’ve bought a gift card at a supermarket I’ve had a separate receipt with the gift amount that I’ve put with the card . I’d definitely tell her .

If it shows on JL systems as not paid it will show on supermarket systems. I would try contacting them yourself if you know which one.

Did she not send the receipt? If there wasn't one I'd assume the card hadn't been loaded.

If she paid by credit card, I think they can demand that the shop traces the payment and process it was legitimate (which would include the gift card being loaded). She would then get a refund.

Please don’t tell her. Huge hassle and stress that will really NOT improve her life and will just make her feel guilty and like she owes you one. Just leave it.

Was it from sainsburys? If so there was a major problem with John Lewis cards not activating at the checkouts and they have had to be removed from sale and destroyed because they were faulty cards sent from John Lewis. If it was sainsburys pm me

As above. You get a separate receipt with the gift card. I wouldn’t tell her. And id definitely stop buying in the future.

If she has a loyalty card with the supermarket, there should be a list of her purchases on it.

I have given up buying gift cards. We had a stack of One4All ones from relatives, all £10 or £20 for birthdays and Christmas. We thought we'd save them up and spend on something bigger, only to find they started deducting a fee every month, so even though it was before the expiry they'd been mostly used up in payments - never again!