Tuscaloosa, AL – With a week left until Christmas, many people are still rushing to finish up their holiday shopping. Always a popular gift idea is the gift card, but in rough economic times gift cards may not be such a surefire gambit. Alabama Public Radio's Ryan Vasquez talked with Alabama Attorney General Troy King about tips to help consumers make a smart purchase this holiday season.
Quick Steps To Avoid Gift Card Trouble:
1. Make sure the gift card recipient can redeem the gift card in their area. Not every town has a Best Buy or Macy's. If there isn't a physical store than make sure the gift card is redeemable at the store's online shop.
2. Do some research. Check the news and plug retailers into google searches to check the health of the store you're looking to purchase a gift card from. You wouldn't want to buy a card from a store that's shuttering up after the holidays.
3. Gift cards from credit card companies or banks may be safer, but as with stores you need to check the health of these companies as well before purchasing.
4. Keep your receipt. If the card gets lost, most retailers will not replace a card without a receipt. Gift cards are as good as money and harder to track, so most of the measures are put in place to discourage fraud.
5. Make sure you are fully aware of all the rules governing your gift card purchase. Rules for redeeming gift cards change store to store, so make sure the rules are acceptable to you and whom you may be purchasing the card for, before going through with the purchase.