About 5 years ago I was given a $100 gift card from US Bank as a thank you for helping out a high school kid. I checked the expiration date and it was 2023. So I set it aside for a special tool in the future.

I tried to use it last weekend. It had $16 left on it. Apparently, the company started charging me $2 per month after the first year. Well, it turns out these charges are clearly spelled out on the gift card and on the unopened packaging. So I'm clearly at fault. They gave me another $24 back - charges over the last year. But the rest evaporated. I'm really down because this was a special gift from a kid.

The morale of the story is to read the dang packaging when someone gives you a gift card.

Sadly,
Fred