Gift Card already redeemed Issue

I have bought 5x$100 iTunes gift card from target and when I tried to redeem them the message “already redeemed” appeared on all 5 cards. when I took it back to target they said it’s not their responsibility and I should take it up with Apple. I did speak with three different technicians at apple and they said there is nothing they can do for me. I just can’t believe big companies like apple and target would sell something like this to their customers. I would warn all consumers (or anybody who is reading this) not to purchase apple gift cards. It is truly a gamble to buy them.

Hello Nicolas Rizo1,

Thank you for using Apple Support Communities!

Based on what you mentioned, you have a gift card that is not usable. Take a moment to review: If you can't redeem your Apple Gift Card or App Store & iTunes Gift Card.

If you still have trouble, you may be able to get help where you are for this concern when you Contact Apple for support and service.

Best wishes!

OK everyone! Here is the answer and it’s not something criminal! It’s an error in scanning at Target. Most likely you all went through the self check out. The Apple gift cards that are sold through Target are specific. You must scan the top barcode to activate the card and then scan the lower barcode to buy the card. Your gift card is still valid it was just never activated. You can compare my photo below with an Apple gift card from someplace else. You’ll notice that there are TWO barcodes on the target gift card and only one on say a card purchased at Walmart. I hope this comes as a relief to everyone that this was not something criminal and that somebody stole your code it was just never activated by the person that gave it to you or the store

Was the card purchased at Target? Self checkout? The top barcode must be scanned first to activate it. Lower barcode second to purchase. If not activated, you will get the message that it has already been redeemed. Only Target purchased cards have this issue.

Was the card purchased at Target? Self checkout? The top barcode must be scanned first to activate it. Lower barcode second to purchase. If not activated, you will get the message that it has already been redeemed. Only Target purchased cards have this issue.

Just finished a chat with support about this very same issue.

Bought a gift card on Saturday morning from Albertsons. Husband tried to redeem the code today but was given the message that the code was already used. We're going to try to go back to the store to see if anything can be done, but we both have the feeling that we're just going to waste our time with this, and that i'm out $50 on a gift that was supposed to be for my Husband.

This has happened to me twice now, both were gifts to me from family members, each were $50, and both purchased at a Target store. First time was this past Christmas, my family member called Apple and wasted several days of calling back and forth for them to say, call Target because nothing they could do, Target would not do anything about it. Second time was this morning, my wife bought me one for v-day, I checked it see if it was not tampered with, unsealed it, scanned it, and it was already redeemed. I called Apple and they said it was redeemed within 10 minutes of the purchase! They said to contact Target, but I already know it’s a list cause. Don’t buy Apple physical Apple gift cards. They are all compromised and worthless.

Same thing happened to me yesterday when I bought an Apple Card worth $50 dollars.Called apple support system and they said they are not held liable for it.Went back to the store where I bought the card( I did not get a refund) to complain, and they said I am a seven person to complain about it within a week, I told them they need to pull out all those apple gift card from the store to prevent it from happening again.I am tired of these big corporations not standing behind their product and getting away with it.

[Edited by Moderator]

The same thing happened to me yesterday. I purchased a $50 gift card for my father from Target. When we got home and tried to add it to his account, there was a message that the card had already been redeemed. I spent an hour and a half on the phone with Apple just to be told there was nothing they could do. I was told the card was redeemed 10-15 minutes after I purchased it and there was no value on it. They were able to see which Apple account used it and they were supposedly shutting that account down, which did nothing to help me as they were unwilling to transfer those stolen funds to my dad's account. I was speechless and frustrated with the lack of support from Apple that I did not have the energy to contact Target and possibly go through the same thing. However, I completed an online survey about my experience and I received a call from a manager at Target the next morning. He told me I could bring the iTunes gift card along with my receipt to the store and they would replace the gift card. I took my dad with me and we opened the new gift card and redeemed it at the counter. I read that some folks are not getting a positive response from the retailers that sold the gift card; however, I was happy to get such a quick and helpful response from Target.

I thought I was the only one. I also went to target Today and bought a $50 dollar apple gift card and I scanned it when I got back home , telling me it’s already been redeemed and I can’t figure out what to do. All I want is a refund or the $50 I rightfully deserve to my apple store account

That’s right. Apple kept me on the phone for an hour and a half knowing what the result would be. They do nothing. Do the survey at the end of your Target receipt and talk about your experience. Hopefully you will have the same response I did and they will offer you a replacement card. This time redeem it in the store prior to leaving the register.

Original post is from November 2020, it’s not April 2021. Nothing has been done to fix this problem as I now have 5 of the $50 gcs and they all say they have already been redeemed. Apple says maybe I already redeemed them. If I take the strip off the back of the packaging an hour after I purchase it to redeem it, how could I have possible already redeemed it. I have been an apple user for many years. My husband has always stuck to Samsung. I will no longer be supporting apple, I won’t be upgrading my iPad, iPod, iPhones or ianything. Life is hard enough especially now to be robbed by a supposedly reputable company. That they won’t do anything, just makes me so angry. But then again, they got there money from all of us, why should they care.

That's exactly what I went through earlier today. It was a back-and-forth freak show with Apple and Target. Saying that the other is reliable for the refund that neither of them can give me my $50 that I spent on the card. I looked up online that lawsuits were filed against Apple for not being able to help people in situations like this.

Such a disappointment to see so many people with the same complaint/frustration. It is clearly a problem that apple is fully aware of, yet intentionally chooses not to address. Meanwhile...Apple and Target intentionally continue to sell gift cards and bury their heads in the sand. Is this a legal way to steal from the very people who have made these two corporations successful? Such a disgraceful way to to business.

@AraceliMadrigal Your only chance is to go to the store where you got it, and see if they will refund your money. Apple doesn’t care. They just took your $25 and gave it to someone else.

Don’t buy physical Apple gift cards.