A generous anniversary present turned into a headache for an Oshawa, Ont. couple after a brand new Visa gift card was abruptly declined at a local restaurant.

Joe and Patty James celebrated 49 years of marriage at a party last weekend. A $100 Vanilla Visa Prepaid Card was among the gifts from friends and family.

Joe said he handed the card, still in its original sealed package, to a cashier after enjoying a meal with his wife the following afternoon. The cashier opened it to find several of the numbers had been scratched off.

“They were trying to swipe it, and they said the numbers had been erased,” Joe told CTV Toronto. “We were shocked.”

He went to the Shoppers Drug Mart location where the receipt showed his friend purchased the card on July 23.

“They don’t give refunds. They don’t replace the card. It’s entirely up to the customer to go chasing for (the money),” Joe said.

He said Shoppers Drug Mart employees told him to contact Visa to claim the money. He is still waiting to be reimbursed.

CTV Toronto contacted Shoppers Drug Mart and Visa. Both companies said the situation is under review. A spokesperson for Visa said they have been in contact with the James family to resolve the matter.

Patty hopes the dispute won’t last as long her marriage to Joe.

“My poor husband is going back and forth, back and forth, and doing all this stuff,” she said. “It feels so rotten to see him do this for the sake of 100 bucks.”

With a report from CTV Toronto’s Pat Foran