Should I be worried if cashiers throw away my zero balance cards after they process my payment?

We recommend keeping your zero balance gift cards until you’ve checked them a few weeks after last use. Merchants make refunds and returns back to the payment method used. Restaurants place holds and make multiple charges as meal costs, bar drinks, and tips are processed in the first few days after dining out. Sometimes, it doesn’t always add up today to what the waitress saw yesterday. If a few dollars end up on the card and it’s now in the local landfill, then it’s your money down the drain. When multiple cards are used to pay for a transaction, that complicates things even more. But, you’ll never know it if the cards were thrown out. I had a card tossed at a restaurant. Fortunately, I had the number written down at home from a bill I had paid. When I ran it the next day, it had a $3.56 balance.