Gift Cards for the Holidays

Good afternoon! As you are preparing for the holidays and are out shopping for gifts, please remember to be careful when buying gift cards. Make sure that you read the fine print about the fees and restrictions. Some gift cards incur a fee after a certain period of inactivity, so the value of the card can shrink while it sits in your wallet or in your drawer.

There has been an e-mail recently received in in-boxes that relates to gift cards and stores closing or declaring bankruptcy. While the spirit of the e-mail is true, not all of the information is accurate. You do need to be careful when buying gift cards for stores that are closing. That gift card will be useless if the recipient can't use it because the store near them is closed or the company no longer exists. If you do give gift cards this season, remind the recipient to use it soon. For the e-mail specifics, please check out this link: http://www.snopes.com/politics/business/bankruptcies.asp

I hope that you and your family have a very Happy Holiday season!