Very true that people should realize that they will not use up all of a gift card or points. I think companies use gift cards with no cash refund for the very reason. There are shitloads of people that won't use 100% of the value of the card. Thus the complany making money for basically nothing.
I can't really fault the owner of gift cards. As I would assume the majority of the gift cards are exactly that, a gift from someone else. It's free money for the company, smart move on their part to make some extra cash for doing jack shit.