FWIW - what has happened to you is not a good case for measuring dispute quality.
Under the law, i.e. Fair Credit Billing Act, both of your disputes are beyond the statutory deadline. So in theory, both disputes should be denied.
The problem is Citi's system is unique in term of small amount purchases:
Citi Disputes Automatic Under $30
In that case, Citi, instead of processing the dispute, issued you a permanent credit instead.
I would consider this lucky. Beside - I don't believe that gift card purchases are disputable anyway (unless fraudulent or the card balance does not match with the purchase).