Stupid teen son found a lost gift card and spent some of the money, what will happen?

[yunogin]

Could honestly slap him but have refrained so far!

He's 16, usually a good boy but told me he had a lapse of judgement when he did this and only panicked afterwards.

He didn't nick the card as in grabbed it off someone, he says he found it on a bench in the town centre. I believe him as he isn't a teen delinquent. He mostly stays in his bedroom playing games, he'd only gone into town to pick up something for me from the shop.

He idiotically brought it home and purchased something for £7 on Sports Direct. He used a Sports Direct account with his name and birthday etc linked. Then immediately after he did it he became overwhelmed with panic and regret and ran downstairs with the gift card white as a sheet and told me everything. I laid into him at first about the moral and legal implications of this but he's terrified the cops will be round any second. We tried to cancel the order but you have ring Sports Direct to do that and explain why which seemed a bad idea.

He found the gift card in its sleeve with a receipt, but I've gone on to the issuers website (it's one of those high street ones that can be spent at many stores) and used the number on the card to check the balance and the owner last used it weeks ago. They clearly bought it out to spend more of it today and lost it. It's still got £70 on it so the poor sod will be looking high and low for it. I'm very ashamed of my son but I don't want an idiotic mistake landing him in court.

Apparently the company won't do anything about a stolen card unless you provide them with the number or receipt. So unless they remember the number there is nothing the owner can do which I feel awful about but as I said, I don't want DS ending up in court. I wish there was some way to return it to its rightful owner without possibly getting DS in a world of shit. Though they may have written down the number in which it will be really easy for them to trace DS as he hardly covered his tracks!

I've considered contacting the gift card issuers and explaining everything and apologizing on my sons behalf, and also saying I will get the Sports Direct order refunded to the card but will they contact the police? Shit shit shit!

You’re right to try to find the owner OP.

Shame to hear about those on here who would just automatically pocket the gift card/cash etc. Some poor sod might need it more than you.

Her Royal Fattyness

Read my comment. I was supporting OP.

What is wrong with the people on this thread? The level of aggression is coming over as very nasty. Might as well be reading comments on the Daily Fail!!

You’re being ridiculous. It’s like finding cash. There’s no way to identify the owner so why not spend it?

I’m now feeling a bit guilty that I spent the money on a M and S gift card I found in a car park last December. I was so excited to be able to treat myself (and family!) to some Xmas food and didn’t even consider handing it in or sharing on fb or whatever.

Same. I found a John Lewis gift card on the bus just after Christmas. I love my new frying pan.

@Skysblue, in this day and age though with social media if you did find money or something somewhere no one could genuinely believe that there was zero chance of finding the owner.
There are so many different local facebook pages etc. to post on. Obviously I wouldn't expect anyone to keep posting around everywhere to reunite whatever it was with the owner, but they could certainly attempt it and couldn't possible believe that there zero chance of finding who owned it!

Then when they contact you say DS found the card, he was going to hand it in but then spent £7 by mistake.

Easily done

Some gift cards are also loyalty card and can be linked to a specific person and monitored via an app. Starbucks cards for eg, they are gift cards but can also be registered to my Starbucks account and used as a loyalty card. Each one of our family has one but they're all linked to my account and I can load the app and see move the balances from one card to another as well as see how much has been spent and on what in the purchase history.

Saying that, I doubt police will chase a teenager for spending £7, I wouldn't be spend the rest like your husband is suggesting, esp if you've told you son off for spending £7 and that's it's a bad thing to do. His Dad wouldn't be setting a could example in keeping and spending it.

I'd return the card to the company or at least try to find the owner, you have the receipt so could make anyone trying to say it's theirs confirm where it was bought, the time and date etc. It could have been bought for a child's bday gift, and I wouldn't feel right just keeping it for myself.

I once found £300 cash in the street and found the owner and handed that back. Keeping it was very tempting as at the time is was mega skint and everyone told me I was mad for not spending it but wrapped up on that money was a list of bills and their amounts so it was clearly someone's monthly bill money and if that person was as skint as I was at the time then I'd have felt like a right twat keeping their cash. I know I'm in the minority though. What I did was contact the local shops saying if found some cash and left my number with them to ring should someone go in asking for it. I didn't mention the bill list and wouldn't have handed the cash to just anyone, I only ever had one call about that money and it was the rightful owner, a struggling single mum. Some of dhs family still mention that money and say how stupid I was for not keeping it.

Shit shit shit

You and he sound lovely, if a little sheltered
Get him to buy some stuff for a shelter - in store not online. And add his £7 to it.
Job done

The police are not on their way, but if they were perhaps he used the wrong card by mistake?

Can anyone even prove it’s not his?

When the item comes return it then the £7 should go back on the gift card, then try and trace owner thru fb or hand in to police and lm not sure if its still the case but don't they let the finder keep something handed in if not claimed?

I'd be more concerned about him spending all his time in his room playing games.

Return the goods to Sports Direct and ask them to refund to the card. Then hand it to Police. If it goes unclaimed you'll get it back and can spend with clear conscience.

Sports Direct will not refund back to the card, they only give credit vouchers.

I wouldn't use Facebook to find someone as I would have to have an account with them, not everyone uses Facebook, if the money on the gift card isn't spent it will just fill the coffers of the company that issued it, fortunately in this case not Sports Direct as it is a High Street card.

I hope you find the owner, if you do just explain what happened, they'll probably just be grateful to get the rest back. I lost a £120 gift card once, it was so upsetting and the company will do nothing to help at all unless you know the numbers.

Read my comment. I was supporting OP.

Yes. I'm well aware of that.
But you were wrong.

I did read your comment and it came across as you knowing nothing about autism and now.it affects each individual.

Maybe you should do some reading up on autism.

As for what is wrong with me, I'm autistic. And I will not be you understand my condition more than me simply because you work with people with autism. (Just autism. Or just ASD. No and. It's the same thing)

And I also can't believe you are working with people with autism but seem to believe there is a difference between ASD and autism.
No wonder facilities and support for autistic people is so shit when the staff don't have a clue what they're on about.

Congratulate your son for being honest to you about it.
It could have been far worse, he realised his error.
That's good.