To think a £10 gift card is pointless

[AcornConker]

I’ve been given a £10 gift card for my birthday by my sibling. It’s a bit upsetting as I took her on a day out to York for her birthday and spent quite a bit treating her but she’s not got much money so I can’t expect much.

But I’m finding it impossible to use. It’s a One4All gift card and none of the online retailers that accept it interest me. I live rurally and to go into a city or town centre where I could use it would cost me a lot in public transport costs. If it was £20+ it may have been worth it but £10 seems a comical amount and I almost wish she hadn’t bothered. It’s become a chore and a bit of an eyesore sat on my coffee table.

I’ve also recently come into financial difficulty myself and the pressure to use the gift card before it expires is putting pressure on me as to buy anything these days for £10 is impossible and I’ll have to put in my own money as well which I can’t do. I can’t even buy a bloody book with it.

AIBU to think that voucher gifts for an adult should be £20 minimum. If giving less then just give cash! Also for the value of £10 I’d have much rather have had a nice bath bomb or something like that, I feel I’ve been given a chore instead

I've just spent a £5 gift voucher and am very happy about it!
We obviously live in different worlds...

"He sat down opposite the treasury and observed how the crowd put money into the treasury. Many rich people put in large sums. A poor widow also came and put in two small coins worth a few cents. Calling his disciples to himself, he said to them, 'Amen, I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all the other contributors to the treasury. For they have all contributed from their surplus wealth, but she, from her poverty, has contributed all she had, her whole livelihood.'

I’m not a fan of gift cards at all and I agree that if it’s an amount less than most things cost then you end up using your own money to top up what you would spend. Most people are near-ish to a range or Argos or an M&S so I would probably get something like knickers or batteries or something I’d use eventually. I’d rather have a bar of chocolate or a pack of coffee which costs less but it’s right there in your hands. I don’t know why people buy them.

£10 isn't pointless but it depends on the voucher. If it were for M&S you could treat yourself to some wine or food. £10 at boots is useful.

Those all4onengift cards are best used when you don't know the person well, or from an employer. And I agree they need to be for more than £10 to make the effort worthwhile.

It’s an eye sore sat on my coffee table.

That’s got to be the most ludicrous thing I’ve read on Mumsnet ever!!!

This cannot be real?

Well, to be honest I can see how somebody who can’t think to move the gift card that “is an eyesore on the coffee table” to another place may struggle with the capacity to think about how to spend it.

The eyesore part made me laugh.

you are not being unreasonable to prefer cash for that amount especially in your circumstances which you’ve explained in your op.
Id be looking to sell on to someone who will be able to use it easily (may be on fb as suggested) but also hopefully it has a long time of validity so it will not expire by the time you do need to go into a city/ town centre near you.

Waterstones accept them. So I'd get myself a nice book and a new bookmark.

Look, do you not understand that it’s an eye sore sat on OPs coffee table? It’s a real life issue, it’s not like she can pick it up and put it in her purse….

I don’t think you understand the trauma this is causing OP!

Also you might be able to go on the one4all website and exchange it for a gift card for a shop you do use like Amazon.

p.s Theres not many good books on Waterstones you can buy for ten pounds but on Amazon you can still get them for half price so it’s more likely.

You’re being very ungrateful. You said yourself she’s struggling for cash.

I find OP's entitlement hard to believe, be thankful she has thought to give you some of her much needed money.
I wouldn't give someone FA if I knew /found out they were bitching about it behind my back.

But how does that help OP, when card is an eyesore sitting on her coffee table, keeping it for a long time may cause more stress!

Some might think OP was being difficult!

Those vouchers are pretty widespread. At some point in your life you will want to buy something that one of those shops can sell you, so just use your voucher towards that.

What an ungrateful cow. "Eyesore", honestly.

Just reread the OP 'eyesore on the coffee table' now that is a piss take, it's got to be. Noone is going to say that with a straight face without sounding like a .......😄

Agreed!

I mean just where else could OP put it instead, can’t think of anywhere of the top of my head, but I’ll give it some serious thought!

If you order from Argos/Habitat/Tu you could do click and collect to a Sainsbury Local, for example.

If someone has gone to the trouble of getting anything for you you're lucky. Particularly if that person is struggling financially.

Accept it with good grace and consider yourself lucky that people care enough to choose anything for you. Then stop whinging and get on with it.

This is one time I really hopes the sibling reads MN or a time that a journo picks it up.
"COL crisis for many in the UK and a poster on MN complains because she is given a £10 gift card as a birthday gift".

YABVU and ungrateful! Also, in what world is a voucher an ‘eyesore’?!

The amount is fine, it's a gesture given money is tight and she clearly still wanted to give something.
However, my kids have been gifted one4all cards in the past and I've found them an utter pain to actually use at the retailers that are supposed to accept them. I'd personally prefer a small gift or just a card to one of those.

I always find vouchers hard to spend.
But I'd always be hugely grateful to whoever gave the gift.

Your gift to her was something you also got to enjoy too. Maybe she'd have preferred a voucher.

I always put gift cards in the bin! They are thoughtless gifts.

Would a donation to a charity or person less well off not be a less belligerent way to deal with them?