Target Giving Free $20 Gift Cards to Select Customers

On Monday, Dec. 22, Target made good on a mishap that happened last week. On Friday, Dec. 19, as holiday shopping was as busy as ever, the Target app and part of the company’s website was down for consumers.

At the time, customers took to outage tracker Down Dectector to share their stories of not being able to connect to the app or get their orders.

Target shared on social media that they were working to resolve the issue, stating on one of their official accounts, “We’re currently experiencing a system issue that’s impacting some of our apps and services. Our teams are actively working to resolve it as quickly as possible.”

Free Gift Cards for Certain Target Customers

Now, Target is giving select customers electronic gift cards to make up for the technical mishaps that online shoppers experienced on Dec. 19. In an email to customers, Target executive vice president and chief guest experience officer Cara Sylvester said in an email to customers, "On Friday, we had a technical issue that may have disrupted your digital shopping experience."

The email continued, "Creating a reliable, easy and inspiring experience every time you shop with us is my top priority," added Sylvester. "And in this moment, we didn’t meet that standard. For that, on behalf of our entire team, I'm truly sorry."

Gift Cards Are for $20

So, Target is sending $20 store eGiftCards to shoppers via emails over the next 24 hours, and those are going to customers who were inconvenienced by the outage.

"Our team works hard to make every trip easy and welcoming, and we want you to feel confident choosing us," Sylvester said.

It's worth noting that the gift cards are only going out to Target customers who were impacted by what happened on Friday. This reporter's mom received one and thought it was a scam at first, but it was real. It makes sense, because she had a lost order due to the outage.

Target stores will be open from 7 a.m. to midnight local time on Dec. 24, from 7 a.m. until 8 p.m. local time on Christmas Eve and will be closed on Christmas Day so their employees can celebrate the holiday.