Ihave to admit I've never been big on gift cards or gift certificates or gift-anythings except the gift itself. That's especially true of gift cards that charge a fee for me to give them my money.

So when it came to giving gifts, I'd do the hard work. I'd give it some thought, then I'd go out and buy whatever it was I wanted to give as a gift. I like giving books, CDs and tools for gifts, but I've been known to go the clothing route, too.

I gave peanut butter fudge one year, but that was a mistake. They liked it too much, and they expected it every year. Well, forget that.

When it comes to receiving gifts, I've always preferred getting those things I like giving -- books, CDs, tools and clothing. I like receiving pictures, too. In frames, if possible.

But I've never much liked getting money. And I don't like receiving gift cards or gift certificates to restaurants and retail stores.

Now that doesn't mean I've never resorted to giving gift cards in a pinch. And I've certainly received my share of them, too, over the years. But it's never been my preference.

And for good reason. They're just too easy. Not enough thought required. If you can't put more effort into it than that, why bother? Send a card and be done with it.

Plus, when I buy a gift card, in essence I'm giving a $50 or $100 loan to that place of business. On principle, I don't make loans to anyone I don't know.

Besides that, there are always elements of risk involved in the gift card

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transaction that make me feel uncomfortable. If you read the fine print on the backs of a lot of those gift cards you'll see what I mean. There are all sorts of conditions and deadlines, after which you start being charged a monthly fee -- on a gift card and on telephone cards -- for the privilege of letting the company hold onto your money.

And the worst -- if the business closes, you're just about out of luck trying to get your money back.

Consider, for example, my own dilemma six or seven years ago, when I purchased a $100 gift card for my son Matt, who happens to be a chef. The card was from a York-area uniform shop that specialized in work attire for people employed in the food industry.

I bought the gift card a couple of weeks before Christmas, and two months later, the shop was shut down and out of town. That was $100 lost. Money down a rat hole.

Hey, businesses -- especially small businesses and restaurants -- shut their doors with some frequency. And they rarely give any advance warning. Nor do they stop selling gift cards even when they know they might be going out of business.

Take, for example, the two restaurants formerly located along Route 30 west -- Cheeseburger in Paradise and the Lone Star Steakhouse and Saloon -- that recently announced their closings within a week of each other. They were open one day and closed 24 hours later.

But most of us didn't know a thing about it -- even those of us with $50 and $100 gift cards that we'd received as Christmas gifts -- until two days after the closings, when the official announcement was made.

Ouch. How to redeem those cards? Well, you can drive an hour in this direction or two hours in that direction to find another restaurant in the franchise that wasn't shut down. Or you can cross your fingers that you can locate an affiliated business that will accept the cards. Or, if you're lucky, maybe the company headquarters will give a refund, though they often won't.

No matter what, it's going to be a pain in the consumer's neck because the onus is on him or her to make something good happen. Either he or she takes the bull by the horns, or it won't get done.

It's a problem made worse by the fact that 90 percent of all holiday shoppers last year purchased two or more gift cards. Total nationwide value: $26.3 billion.

Which means, of course, that gift cards are here to stay. As long as people are willing to buy them, businesses will be willing to sell them.

But you're buying at your own risk -- caveat emptor. Let the buyer beware.

And the receiver, too.

Columns by Larry A. Hicks, Dispatch columnist, run Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. E-mail: lhicks@yorkdispatch.com.