‘Tis the season for buying gift cards, but is it a good gift?

The Department of Consumer Protection says there's no state law that requires businesses to "make good" on gift cards.

"If a company goes out of business, it's gift cards may be worthless," advises Randy Niederkorn from the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection.

And these days, going out of business is a reality for several stores.

So instead of buying a gift card from a single store, you could try a bank gift card, but there are strings attached.

"They can range from activation fees, transaction fees, monthly maintenance fees or inactivity fees," says Niederkorn.

And even though that all sounds like a pain, Niederkorn says you shouldn't be afraid to buy a gift card, you just need to be careful.

"I don't think it should scare people, but I think it's, in an environment like this, I think it's really important that the consumer is very judicious in purchasing anything,” he says.

So what do shoppers suggest? Why, the old-fashion method of buying an actual gift.

"It seems more personal. And sometimes you can get a really good deal on a gift and that way people don't necessarily know how much you're spending," says Shopper Tanya Malaney.

Niederkorn says if you have an issue with a gift card, you should try and work it out with the company first, then contact the Department of Consumer Protection.

And he says you have to be careful what you buy when you cash in those gift cards.

There's also no law regulating return policies, so you need to double check those before you buy anything.