Had a gas station gift card that never lost its balance

So many years ago I got a $50 gas station gift card for a local station. When I went to use it at the pump, it said something along the lines of it not being activated. So I went inside to check with the clerk. They could tell it was loaded with $50. They must have been new, or simply unaware of how their system worked, because when they verified the $50 was on there, they told me to swipe it in the card reader in order to “activate it”.

Once swiped, the card reader screen read “card opened”, or something like that, I can’t remember exactly. Well, unbeknownst to me, this process actually “opened up” the card so that the $50 balance was never deducted for any purchases used at the pump outside. I never tried inside, in fear of them finding out.

This went on for many months, possibly even years, until it eventually stopped working and the balance depleted as it should have. Not sure what changed but I was massively disappointed, ngl.

I even had friends hit me up to use that card and they would pay me half the price it would have cost to fill up the tank.