visa mastercard gift card tip

so we received a wells fargo giftcard for $60.  some was spent at food maxx and some was spent at pac n save.  i knew i had some money left on the card.  this weekend i went to the mall and tried to use the remainder of the money at hot dog on a stick.  huh.  declined.  ok.  a few minutes later i try using the card at auntie annie's and grain d'or.  declined and declined again.  wtf?  i KNOW there's money on the card!  i call the number on the back of the card and they tell me there's $1.25 remaining.  if you swipe the card for a purchase for more than the amount on the card ($1.25 in my case), it just declines the card.  later we went to trader joe's and i told them to charge $1.25 to the card and we would pay the rest on a different credit card. 

 

so the tip is:  know how much is on your gift card because it might just say "declined" and you might just throw the card away thinking you ran out of money, but in fact, you still have some amount on the card.