Ungift a Gift Voucher

The one burning question in the mind of many people in this internet age simply boils down to this: Is there a socially acceptable time frame before which one can ungift a gift voucher? 

Most often, a gift is not directly between individuals and is more of a group gifting. So the gifter, in this case is actually the one who is procuring a gift voucher. (S)He has to discuss with so many stakeholders each with his/her own agenda of how much to contribute. (S)He then has to decide whether they should buy the voucher first and then ask the co-contributors to pay up or simply demand that the co-contributors pay upfront and then buy the voucher. And for taking up all this headache, one can be sure that the co-contributors would come up with brilliant alternatives, the exact instant after a voucher is procured. But i digress from the burning issue on hand. 

Simply approach this problem from the gifter’s viewpoint. I mean, the gifter goes through a lot of mental stress and agony over procuring a gift voucher from an e-commerce site. Where is the agony you ask? (S)He has to first determine what is the appropriate amount to be gifted in the first place. Once that is done, (s)he has to then decide which site to buy it from - should it be Amazon or should it be Flipkart or Snapdeal or Paytm or eBay or wherever. 

So the gifter has to understand which site the giftee uses more often and then buy the voucher there. How does one find that out when the gift is more of a social obligation, like when the gifter has to attend the wedding of his/her mother’s colleagues son? It is impossible to do that and so, the gifter takes a gamble and buys it from a site that (s)he prefers. 

Then comes the amount. Does one give Rs.101 or 201 or 701? Does the site where the gifter buy the voucher have the correct denomination? If one has to give 251 and the site offers only in multiples of 101, how can you gift 251 - you can only buy for 202 which is lower or 303 which is higher. And in both cases, the ending is not a “1” and so doesn't really qualify as the correct gift amount. 

Somehow the gifter uses all of his/her arithmetic and calculus skills and arrives at the appropriate amount for which the voucher can be bought. And then comes the next problem - the vouchers can be issued in someone’s name (email id) or to self. For social obligation gifting, the gifter rarely knows the giftee's email id. So (s)he gets the voucher to their own id. 

The transaction is then complete and some sites allow the gifter to print it out in some fancy template. Ok, the gifter is all set, attends the event and hands over the voucher. Oh wait, (s)he cannot, because the vouchers come with a password. 

Then starts the next confusion. Should the password for the voucher be written on the printed gift voucher itself? Or can (s)he send it to the giftee separately? If so, how can it be done when the gifter doesn't have the giftee’s number or even email? The gifter takes a risk at this juncture and decides to write it at the back of the printed voucher. 

Finally, the gift is handed over and the gifter heaves a sigh of relief. But some 10-11 months later, there is an email in his/her mailbox from the e-commerce site, alerting him/her that the gift voucher is about to expire in one month or so. Now imagine how frustrated this gifter must feel that all his efforts have just been blindly ignored by the giftee. 

Should the gifter then somehow reach out to the giftee and remind them to use it? Or is it a socially acceptable thing to conclude that since the voucher is about to expire, one can deem that the giftee is not interested or is not going to use the voucher and so, can the gifter use it for his/her own purchase? Can someone solve this burning issue plaguing today’s society?