TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) – Frankie Fernandez and his wife say they had no luck getting answers from Target after an employee admitted to “cutting up” hundreds of dollars in gift cards the couple had received for Christmas.

After calls from Investigator Shannon Behnken, Target offered an apology and gift cards. The couple was given $700 in Visa gift cards, plus $110 on six of their own cards they were told were found in a shredding bin.

“I feel definitely accomplished,” Frankie Fernandez said. “You were great at helping us get to the bottom of it.”

Here’s how this happened:

Frankie Fernandez tells Better Call Behnken that he and his wife made a last-minute Target run on Christmas Eve. They left behind a clutch and wallet full of Christmas gift cards to various stores and restaurants.

They say they were told the clutch and wallet were kept safe but those cards were destroyed, even though a Target log shows that the cards were turned into the store’s lost and found.

Fernandez says a manager told him they were “cut up” because Target’s policy is to destroy lost items after 24 hours. The problem is: That’s not Target’s policy.

Target’s policy is to hold on to items for 30 days and then donate to charity. Employees are not permitted to destroy items, a Target spokesman said.

A corporate spokeswoman sent this statement:

“At Target, we always try to provide an exceptional shopping experience. We never want to disappoint our guests, but if we do it is our goal to act quickly to remedy the problem. In this situation, we have apologized directly to the guest for mishandling an item in our lost and found and replaced the missing items.”

LATEST BETTER CALL BEHNKEN HEADLINES: