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Delta You Wanna DO WHAT With My Gift Cards?!

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Gift Cards Being Sent To Unclaimed Property

Gift Cards Being Sent To Unclaimed Property Letter

I have to say I was pretty anxious to get my mail yesterday.  I have the USPS informed delivery email (get it if you haven’t already) and yesterday’s email piqued my interest. There was a photo of an unclaimed property letter and all I could make out was gift card.  I got excited thinking I was about to discover some lost gift cards and make some easy money (my money really). But that was not the case.  It was instead a letter about my gift cards being sent to unclaimed property.

Background On The Gift Cards

I had purchased some Delta gift cards almost 4 years ago.  They were from the Amex airline incidental credits and one from an Amex Offer.  I turned around and sold them to a friend at a discounted rate thinking he would use them for work flights and get reimbursed for them at the full rate.  It appears he sat on them for years now to use for personal use, must be nice right 😂?

After reading the letter I texted him to see if he still had them.  He confirmed he did and had not used them.  He said I thought Delta gift cards never expire, which is what it says on their website. That is true but I think this is a Michigan specific law that they have to turn it over after so many years of inactivity. That is if I don’t respond to the letter at least. I tried to find out more information on the Michigan laws but didn’t have much luck.  I also reached out to the abandoned property department at Delta and will update you when/if I hear back from them.

It appears the the cards would not be voided if I didn’t respond I would just need to contact the state to claim them once they are turned over.  Since it isn’t a physical item I am not sure if that means the amount on the card would be blocked until I contacted them or not. If anyone knows let us know in the comments section.

Details Of The Letter

The letter essentially says I need to answer their one question and mail the letters back to them.  They gave me one month to do so. My options as a response are as follows (these are me paraphrasing):

  • I no longer own the gift card
  • The gift card is mine, keep it active and in your possession
  • I used it so update your information
  • I have no interest of using it and Delta can line their pockets with my money
  • The gift card is mine but I lost it so Delta can now line their pockets

I love that last one since they only give the gift card number and not the pin.  They could be helpful but they really want to make 100% profit off of it so if you lost it that is on you.  Which I get it is on the person that lost it but it still doesn’t sit well with me.

Here is a copy of the letter:

Gift Cards Being Sent To Unclaimed Property

Final Thoughts

This was not what I was expecting when opening my mail.  The main reason being that I thought my buddy had already used these gift cards :). It was interesting to me nonetheless and I wanted to share the letter to see if anyone has ever come across something similar.  I know that it is state specific but I am sure other states have similar laws.

I plan on responding to the letter about my gift cards being sent to unclaimed property. That way Delta should keep them active and in their possession.  I also told my buddy to use the dang things already!

Disclosure: Miles to Memories has partnered with CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. Miles to Memories and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers.

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Mark Ostermann
Mark Ostermann
Mark Ostermann is a father, husband and miles/points fanatic. He left the corporate world after starting a family in order to be a stay at home dad. Mark is constantly looking at ways to save money and stay within budget while also taking awesome vacations with his family. When he isn't caring for his family or taking a weekend trip, Mark is working towards his goal of visiting every Major League Baseball ballpark.

Responses are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.

41 COMMENTS

  1. I have printed E-Certificates and actual gift cards. I never paid a thing for them since they were acquired when you could redeem Amex travel fees for gift cards. I had 7 cards with $50.00 face values that I received the notification for. I never turned the info in but about a year later I noticed them on my states unclaimed money website with my name listed for a total of $350.00. I claimed the money, filled out the form and about 6 weeks later received a check for the $350.00. The crazy thing is, when I go to the Delta website, all my cards still show a value of $50.00. I called the toll free number on my cards and they still have a $50.00 value for all 7 cards. It’s about 9 months since I received my cash and all are still valid today.
    I also have $600.00 worth of paper E-certain that I never received any notification that they were going to be turned over to my state. So it looks like the plastic cards are being viewed differently than the E-certs.

  2. Not sure if this is a scam, but sure “feels” suspicious to me. I say just go ahead and use them cards up!!!!
    Find it hard to believe so many states have this unclaimed law (mine is Minnesota).

  3. I ignored my letter and let Delta send the gift card to my state. I then jumped through some hoops and got a check for the face value of the card.

    This is one way to make a little bit of money, buying discounted GC and holding for 3-5 years. But you might make more with a high-interest checking account, so YMMV.

  4. I just received one dated 4/23/2021. Said the last transaction was 6/26/2015. Problem is I don’t know where the gift card is (even if it exists). Letter doesn’t give an option to reissue. Hmmm?! Why wouldn’t that be an option?!

  5. I am here to investigate the mailing address after googling it. It’s July, 2020 and I received a similarly worded and designed letter for a pharmacy medication refund from a rebate date of 2014. I am concerned that it is a scam since I called the pharmacy “rebate dept” and the rep on the phone said my father does not appear to have an account. Let me tell you that was not an easy dept to get to. They are internal and had to be transferred to it after five other depts helped me. That could be because it’s from 2014? I don’t know. What I was hoping to discover from my reply is, did any of you who posted actually mail back the letter to the PO box listed on the letter you received (the same one on my letter- PO Box 802889 at the 13770 Noel Road post office)? If yes, did you receive a positive response or attempts to conduct fraudulent activity with your information that you provided? Thanks so much. I just want to double check that this is a third party unclaimed property processing company being used by corporations to do their due diligence and then clear out the books of unclaimed property before they send the check to each state that the customer resided in. In my case, Nevada. I may do what was suggested. I may let the due date pass and then go to the state processing center for unclaimed property to see what is there. This company may reduce the amount with a kickback similar to how debt collectors do it? Does it effect the consumer’s rebate / refund amount? Why has it not already been sent to Nevada if the rebate is from 2014. Anyone else who received a McKesson letter similar to mine, provide details if you know why the delay. Maybe it’s a class action lawsuit that has been processed? Thanks so much!

  6. I got this letter recently. Looked up the numbers and verified it was for an eGift card christmas gift.
    What is the correct response? Should I say I own it and maintain the balance or that I am not the owner of the card. I’m affraid if I say I don’t own it, it will go to the state when my family member has it and intends to use it once this pandemic is over.

  7. Hi,
    I have been reading these posts with interest. I just got one a few days ago, and I live in Ohio. I gifted the gift card to my son in 2016 ($500) which he has yet to use. I found it interesting that the return address envelope is to Ryan LLC. The letter return address is C/O Delta Air Lines, Inc. different address, but same road. I did some checking on my state unclaimed property website. According to Ohio Code ORC 169.01 (B)(2)(d) as of June 6, 2001, “EXEMPT from unclaimed property claims are Credit due a retail customer that is represented by a gift certificate, gift card, merchandise credit or merchandise credit card redeemable for merchandise is exempt in unclaimed funds reporting.” So, according to Ohio law, the gift card cannot be ‘transferred to Delta Air Lines’ because it is exempt from unclaimed funds reporting. Therefore, I DO think this is a scam.. I think this guy is sending out letters nationwide and seeing which ones stick. I think if you check #4 or #5.. he can make up a gift card with that original amount. Instead, I am calling my state attorney general and reporting this as a fraud/scam.

  8. Can anyone provide a mailing address send this letter back to Delta? My mail was lost by USPS and I did not kept a copy. Thanks.

    • The envelope address is: RYAN LLC; 13155 Noel Rd; Suite 100; Dallas, TX 74240-9762
      The address in the letter is: Unclaimed Property Processing; C/O: Delta Air Lines, Inc; 13770 Noel Rd; PO Box 802889; Dallas TX 75380-0192

  9. it’s state law that companies are required to turn over the gift cards. It’s called unclaimed property, so they don’t expire as the value remains the same

  10. My wife (3 certs.) and I (4 certs.) each got a letter from the same company. Interestingly, these were all paper certificates. I also hold gift cards that are a year older but never received any notification in the past on these. I recently checked my name on the state unclaimed property page and I, nor my wife were on the list. I kind of like the idea of just ignoring the letter and claiming the money in a few months if this is actually legit.

  11. I love in MI, got seven letters today on Delta gift cards from Amex, I moved 2.5 years ago, thank goodness the people who bought our house texted my wife and we live a mile away so picked them up. Mail only gets forwarded for 12 months so some people may not even know they should of got these letters today.

  12. California resident here, got a couple for gift cards from 2016. The gift card numbers match my records, and I indeed never used them.

    Sending all three back to have them maintain the balance.

  13. Got the same letter in PA. What’s interesting is that a while ago I had four $250 HP gift cards that I forgot about (and didn’t get any letter about from HP). Then they went to the state as unclaimed property and when I went to claim them, Pennsylvania sent me four $250 CHECKS. I think I’ll do the same this time around and collect $100 in cash in about 6 months.

  14. I received the same thing for Pennsylvania. Called Delta and they knew nothing. Seems illegal to do this since they say they never expire. Mine is exactly 3 years old.

  15. I live in Michigan and my wife and I got a bunch of these letters yesterday in the mail. I called Delta today and no one there had any idea what I was talking about. It was a very frustrating series of calls. They suspect that it is fraud (though I can’t understand what the fraud-perps are phishing for…) and strongly suggested that I do not respond. They are sending the case over their fraud department at Delta for additional investigation, because I do not know how an illegitimate group would get the gift card numbers, original balances, and date of purchase without hacking me or Delta. I also do not want my gift cards to be turned over to the state to have to go through the state reclamation process, but I’d rather do that than expose myself to fraud. Tread lightly.

    • I don’t see what info they gain. All you do is check a box and send it back. Worst fraud attempt ever? 🙂

  16. Legally this is called “escheat.” Each state has a version involving different periods of time after which inactive financial instruments/property must be sent to the state.

    Everyone should find the applicable state agency where he or she lives and perform a search to see if any property is being held. The property could be cash, refunds, contents of safe deposit boxes, shares of stock, etc. For instance, California currently holds almost 6 billion dollars of residents’ property, while New York is almost 12 billion (ostensibly because of Wall Street).

  17. Just received 4 of these myself (MI resident). 4 $50 GCs purchased 3 years ago. Thought it was kind of scammy based on the fact that it’s on laser paper with a weird Delta watermark, but glad to see I’m not the only one getting these notes.

  18. Do you think this is triggered solely by the time since purchase? Since you said 4 years ago, is this 4 years exactly? And is this for all the cards you bought that didn’t use or just this one? Appreciate any data points, I hoarded quite some Delta gc over the years.

  19. i got the same letter. bought a delta gc for delta amex statement credit 3 years ago. its a good reminder to get me to use it

  20. This is interesting because I still have a bunch of AA gift cards from this same reason that are probably 5-8 years old. (I seem to just always pay with points :). I knew they never expire so I wasn’t worried about them but maybe I should pull them out & look them up?

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