I agree with PP. I originally discovered this when my Dad died and I found that he had not redeemed several amazon gift cards I'd given. Knowing he was deceased, I claimed the gift cards myself. Since then, if it has been over 2 years AND I have no way of contacting the recipient, I claim the old gift cards myself. Otherwise, I resend the email or enter an updated email for those who don't claim them.

We have also noticed unused gift cards, some for people who have left their job and we have no contact. Honestly, in those cases, when it has been 2+ years since we sent the gift, we resend it to ourselves and use it. When we have been unable to figure out the credit card number we initially used (Amazon asks for it to be re entered if you are resending to a different email), we have contacted customer service and had it credited to our account.

I'm sure some will disagree, but it seems like a waste to just let it remain unused.

Anonymous wrote:I would resend them, and I would just shoot a quick email to the teachers saying something like:

I just got notice from amazon that several gift cards I purchased over the years weren't redeemed. Amazon is sending out a new link so you can redeem them. If you don't receive the email from amazon, please let me know!

Perfect.

I would resend them, and I would just shoot a quick email to the teachers saying something like:

I just got notice from amazon that several gift cards I purchased over the years weren't redeemed. Amazon is sending out a new link so you can redeem them. If you don't receive the email from amazon, please let me know!

I would resend the email. Why not? You can contact Amazon customer service (I like via chat) to ask what the new email will say.

Stuff like this bugs me too, but I guess I would say it is out of your hands. You have given a gift - now it is their choice what to do with it. It is similar to giving a book that never gets read or giving a kitchen appliance (requested on a wedding registry) which never gets taken out of the box. You have to let it go (advice to me as well!!).

In researching something else, I found that a number of the Amazon e-gift cards I've send DC's teachers over the years have not been redeemed. In some cases, the teacher redeemed one sent in the spring but not the one sent in December which makes me think it might be an over sight.

If it is just an oversight, I'd like them to get some reminder so they can click on the link and get the gift. At this point though, I feel a bit awkward as in some cases it is 2 plus years later.

There is a "resend" button on the Amazon "order detail" page for the ones that were never redeemed. I looked at the Amazon web site but couldn't find out what a "resend" email would look like and it would be weird to re-send it with the same message from us when DC is long since out of that teacher's class.

I guess I had just assumed Amazon took care of sending reminders if the gift card was never redeemed and at a certain point would notify me if it looked undeliverable.

Any suggestions on what I should do to minimize the awkwardness of this?

TIA