Gift Card Balance: Trust but Verify!

I use gift cards and reloadable gift cards often and I have noticed a couple of places where they do not have good practices with how they handle them. I was told by one place that I had zero balance, and it was only after I insisted that they read the card properly and "discovered" that everything was okay (convenience store). In other instances the employees were cutting corners and charging random people's reloadable cards instead of looking into whatever issue they had (this was at a regional coffee shop chain).

So these two recent instances prompted me to issue this warning! Just like you check your credit card statements at the end of the month to make sure everything is okay, be sure to check your gift card balances as well. Especially if you are dealing with larger than pocket change amounts! Most places are doing a good job at handling them, but not all of them. So as Reagan said, trust but verify!