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

You can spend it M&S, Boots, Odeon, Waterstones to mame but a few. Surely you will be tbe vicinity of one of these shops at some point?

I have to say in defence of One4All, though not the general concept of gift cards, I got given one last year and had no issues spending it, including as a part-payment when there was an odd amount left on it at the end.

Gift vouchers are a really weird concept. They are fundamentally a way of taking money and making it harder to spend. A £10 note is like a gift voucher, but one you can take to almost any shop and doesn't expire.

One4All cards are terrible.

They are hard to use online - things like being unable to part pay with them, meaning you can only buy something for under £10 including postage, but even then, if you are left with anything on the card, it is even harder to spend.

They are hard to use in person. There are stupid restrictions - like my DD wanted to use one at M&S, but apparently the M&S food shop at the station doesn't accept them. They are hard to make a part payment with in person.

If you don't live in a town then you will probably spend more than £10 going to a town to spend the thing.

I think the OP has been given a pretty hard time on this thread. Most One4All threads on Mumsnet acknowledge that they are, at best, a pain in the arse and, at worst, a deliberate scam to ensure that they can keep a signficant proportion of the money paid for them.

I work with several groups which like to give me a small present at Christmas, end of term etc. I have managed to convince them that I would NOT consider cash in an envelope rude!

Stop being ungrateful, either give it to someone else if it’s bothering you that much or buy a shower gel or something you use regularly.

Was just going to say this exact thing!

Not bothered about your poor sister coming across this very easily identifiable thread are you @AcornConker ?

Take it to a food bank where someone will be much more appreciative than you will take it.

As a general rule a £10 voucher is fine but One4all vouchers are horrible to try and spend because they work as a debit card online so you have to spend the exact amount or less because there’s never means to use your own debit card to pay the remainder. With the expiry dates I also think they are a massive con. I think the money on them starts reducing if they’re unused too, they charge fees. They should be banned quite frankly.

Do you really live somewhere with no access to usual high street shops? I struggle to believe you can’t spend it anywhere.

I hate receiving gift cards (not keen on gifts either!) - it’s such a lazy non thinking gift - my friend does it and I have asked her not to - I don’t want anything but she insists.

Yea One4All are awful.

Genuine question

Do you have many people in your life who actually want to buy you a present @dreaminglife ?

£10 Tuesdays at boots- on Tuesdays they have loads of good things on sale online for £10. Click and collect is free usually so no extra for delivery and they can deliver to a boots pharmacy if one is closer than a boots shop to pick up. Im sure there would be lots of things you could pick to make use of.
I'd be grateful you have family who cared enough to go to the effort to get you something. If you really can't be bothered to use it- gift it to someone else as a special random act of kindness.

Generally, I agree with you, OP, a £10 gift card is pretty pointless - way less convenient than cash and if not for a store you are physically near, worth far less due to postage.

And from your sister, after you went out of your way for her birthday, it's a pretty thoughtless, low effort gift too (ditto £10 cash).

But you can't really do anything about it. If you want to be pointed, give it back to her for her birthday, but you're probably better off just forgetting about the whole thing and lowering your expectations around your sister.

Ungrateful

Why say ‘sibling’ and then go on to say ‘she’? Why not just say sister.

I use them for food shopping as then I know it's been spent and not a waste.

It’s become a chore and a bit of an eyesore sat on my coffee table.

Perhaps spend it on a vase and place it on the coffee table where the offending voucher once sat? Then the eyesore becomes a thing of beauty and, over time, the trauma of being given a low value gift card may fade. Every time you replace the flowers in the vase, you’ll be reminded of how strong you’ve been.

Thoughts and prayers.

Another post that I think is just to get people annoyed🤷‍♀️

As well as being good at giving gifts, there is a grace in being a good accepter too. Give it away if it annoys you that much.

As some others have already said, you can't add to them, so I find it really hard to spend the exact amount on the card - spend less and you're left with a couple of quid that's wasted. It's because they don't work like other gift cards; you have to use them as if they are a debit card and you can't use two cards in a transaction.

You can use it on Waterstones. Stock up on gift wrap or get some stationary or a classic book (£4.99 for Wuthering Heights; £3.99 for 1984, £4 for The Vampyre, £3.99 for Animal Farm).

Why? I don’t see the point in spending a gift card in a shop on a gift card for that shop to then spend the new gift card in that shop? Why not just use the original gift card in the shop on an item? Or am I missing something?

Buy something nice for you sister. She sounds very kind.

Are you always such an ungrateful arsehole?