REFUND POLICY

Generally speaking, gift cards are considered non-refundable. When you purchase a card, you use it once and stick to what you bought. In practice, buyers are given a lot more leeway and they can refund most products under the right circumstances.

Gift card return policies vary from retailer to retailer. Amazon and Shopify let you refund the full amount once you’ve returned the products that you’ve purchased. You have to go through the regular channel for returning products, and the gift cards are treated as another form of payment.

Others, such as Walmart and Gamestop, use third-party gift card issuers, making it difficult to ask for a direct refund. In these cases, the company policy will usually state that gift cards are non-refundable.

Some businesses will refund the purchase and give you store credit. If seeking a full refund, this option is not a viable solution and you’ll have to contact the card issuer.

Once you get a gift card refund, the funds will be issued to the original payment method. This means that the money will end up in the original purchaser’s account. Consult them when you decide to ask for a gift card refund.

Getting Gift Card Refunds on Your Own

To get a complete gift card refund, you have to go through at least two steps:

1.  Returning the purchased product

2.  Requesting that the funds on the card are returned to the original form of payment

Most businesses have generous return policies for both steps, but using gift cards can complicate things.

You must have receipts for both transactions to be able to get a refund for the product and gift card involved.

How To Return Products and Get Refunds on Gift Card Balances

If you used a gift card to purchase a product, you will have to rely on the refund policy of the business you purchased from. If they allow refunds for items bought with a gift card, you only have to go through the standard process of requesting a refund. Regular issues with refunds still apply. Amazon might not return shipping, even if they grant you a refund to your gift card.

Here are the steps you should take to get a refund from most businesses:

1.  Contact the retailer or log onto your account on their website

2.  Go through the automatic refund options or call/email/text the customer support team

3.  Verify whether or not they allow returns to gift card balances and then request a refund

How To Transfer Credit From Your Gift Card to the Original Form of Payment

The card’s issuing party will usually have an outlined policy for gift card returns. It varies between card issuers, but nullifying the card is an option most of the time.

Small-scale retailers that issue gift cards through third parties won’t be able to refund the money on your card. Instead, they will direct you toward the original issuer. These businesses often have numbers printed on the back of the cards they produce. To request your refund, you must:

1.  Dial the number on the card

2.  Ask to speak to a representative

3.  Request a refund for the gift card

Going through these steps won’t always result in a complete refund. Many card issuers have a policy to only return a fixed percentage of the card’s worth. The value tends to be 90% or less of the gift card’s full value.