Target Says Some Of Its Gift Cards 'Not Properly Activated'

By Scott Neuman

Published December 31, 2013 at 7:49 PM EST

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Target says a small percentage of the gift cards it sold won't work properly — more bad news following on the heels of a security breach affecting some 40 million credit and debit cards.

Justin Sullivan

It's not been a very good holiday season for Target.

First, it was the pre-Christmas announcement that 40 million credit and debit card accounts used for purchases at the retail chain had been hacked, even though the company later said the "strongly encrypted PIN data" that were breached shouldn't be at risk.

Now, Target, the third-largest retailer in the U.S., says an undisclosed number of gift cards it sold over the holidays were not properly activated.

"We are aware that some Target gift cards were not fully activated and apologize for the inconvenience," Target spokeswoman Molly Snyder said in an email.

The company promised to honor all gift cards and said that fewer than one-tenth of 1 percent had been affected by the problem.

Snyder said customers can bring the cards to the guest service desk at their local Target stores or call 800-544-2943 for assistance.