Gift Vouchers

shazb01

Just found a gift voucher for a beauty salon in Waterford City which I thought I had lost. It had expired with a couple of months but I thought that the salon would offer a bit of flexibility with it. Just called up to enquire about it and they said they wouldn't accept it after its expiry date! Surely the way things are at the moment businesses would be trying to generate as much customer goodwill as they could!

I mean, what is the difference to them whether somebody redeems it in November or January??

Has anybody had a similar experience with local businesses?

It would have always been the first place I would have gone to but now I'm a customer they've definitely lost!

batm!ke

I would have thought the same as you, why not take the voucher and have a customer leave happy than the alternative! In my line of work I am constantly asked if it's illegal to put a time limit on Gift Vouchers and as far as I was told it is not entirely legal within Consumers Rights, but I could be wrong!

In any event, it's not like the voucher was 6 months to a year out of date! Bad form in this day and age.

abouttobebanned

It's like putting an expiry date on money. They're actually punishing you for spending money in their shop.

I think it's a disgraceful practise and should be made illegal immediately. I personally would not buy a voucher if they told me there was an expiry date on it.

The only clause they should be allowed is one that states that if after 1 year, the shop is no longer operational than you are not entitled to a refund.

You should fight this all the way OP.

cutefainne

Thats a bit harsh. Bad form by them.

MitchKoobski

Vouchers I can understand.

But they've given you a limit on money ffs.

decies

Its common enough practice, one which i really hate.Am sure it cant be illegal or else so many of them would not do it.

abouttobebanned

MitchKoobski wrote: »

Vouchers I can understand.

But they've given you a limit on money ffs.

To clarify what I think Mitch means here...is if the salon or restaurant or shop etc give away a voucher in a competition?

MitchKoobski

abouttobebanned wrote: »

To clarify what I think Mitch means here...is if the salon or restaurant or shop etc give away a voucher in a competition?

Sort of. 20% off or 2 for 1, those expiration dates are entirely understandable. They're promotional.

But with MONEY gift vouchers (€10, €20 etc) they've basically been given your money, and then told you that you have a certain amount of time to pick something from the shop or else your money is theirs. Its bollocks.

Professey Chin

Dont think we'll see it actually made illegal for a long time.
The NCA has as much power as a wet fish

abouttobebanned

MitchKoobski wrote: »

Sort of. 20% off or 2 for 1, those expiration dates are entirely understandable. They're promotional.

But with MONEY gift vouchers (€10, €20 etc) they've basically been given your money, and then told you that you have a certain amount of time to pick something from the shop or else your money is theirs. Its bollocks.

Gotcha. Exactly, this is one of those things that just seems unbelievable. You should be entitled to your money back if they're not going to honour it. They have no defence here!!

ziedth

I actually agree with Mitch, a special offer voucher I would happily take on the chin and not have an issue with it expiring but a monetary value voucher is lousy. Even if it was a year out of date let alone a few weeks.

Name and shame I say.

MitchKoobski

OP as far as I'm aware theres nothing stopping you from naming the salon either. It's pretty much how the consumer issues part of the site goes when you have a complaint about somewhere.

batm!ke

ziedth wrote: »

Name and shame I say.

If it's good enough for a Mod then it's good enough for me!! Let's hear it OP!

giles lynchwood

Name and shame,unless of course this is a ,Once upon a time story.

SillyMcCarthy

In fairness to them, how long do you want to hold on to it
before you do something with it. If you had realised you lost it
surely you should have gone to the shop & explained, prior to
the expiry date?

If that was me I would have made an appointment & given
the voucher after the work had been done & then come across
all apologetic. You played in to their hands by showing your cards first!

thomas01

The area doesn't appear to be regulated and provided a company clearly displays an expiry date, they can make it as short or long as they want.

The only exception is If a store were to refuse to honour a voucher that did not specify an expiry date, a consumer's recourse would be to the District Court, possibly via Small Claims.

I'm surpised that local companies who trade on their reputation would be so cut throat about it. Saying that, I've always been of the view that the best voucher is a €50 note in an envelope! My wife doesn't see it that way though.

calvin_zola

Something similar happened us recently. My gf got a Grabone Daily deal in November to get nails done. this had to be used before te 1st of Feb. So the voucher couldnt be redeembed for the month of december because of high work loads, this was in the terms and conditions which was fine.

So she decided that she would use it on either the 10th or the 11th of january. She rang up on the 7th to make a booking and said , "I have a grabone voucehr Id like to use on 10th jan" they immediatly said we're fully booked out... so she said ok how about the 11th of jan... again fully booked out, and they offered no flexibility whatsoever

Yesterday knowing that the voucher was about to expire in the next 2 weeks she rang to make a booking for either Friday or saturday week, 10 days notice like..... minute she mentioned the grabone voucher the lady said, "no, sorry we're booked out, on both days"...

I began to smell a rat, thinking "hmm, they are only fobbing us off now cos they want to keep the money we've paid already without offering the service".... so we rang again and tried to make and appointment only I spoke this time, and she said there was availability, but then when I mentioned the Grabone, she again said "no we're actually booked out" so this meant she wouldnt get any other time to use the voucher....

We rang again, and told them that we thought they where being purposely unflexible so as they wouldnt have to offer the deal we had signed up on so as to keep the money and that we would be contacting the Grabone people about it..... Voila suddenly she says on the phone "actually we do have an appoinement slot on sat morning"

how many other people have they tried to rob and succeeded in robbing?

decies

God these retailers must be thick lots of people especially blokes like to give vouchers as presents as they haven,t a clue what to buy people . Anway would they prefer that people gave cash for pressies, where in all possibilitys it just ends up paying a bill or something.Maybe if people would if they could avoid buying vouchers with expiry dates it would put manners on some of them.

beazee

shazb01 wrote: »

Just found a gift voucher (...) It had expired with a couple of months

How long was it valid for? 12 months like?
Were you informed the voucher was valid for 12 months only? Does it clearly say 12 months validity? Isn't this enough time to use the voucher not losing it?

How much is "couple of months expired"? Another 6 months or so?

Should I be p!ssed off with Argos their vouchers have expiry date as well?
This way I lost whole fcuking 10 quid ffs

Professey Chin

beazee wrote: »

How long was it valid for? 12 months like?
Were you informed the voucher was valid for 12 months only? Does it clearly say 12 months validity? Isn't this enough time to use the voucher not losing it?

How much is "couple of months expired"? Another 6 months or so?

Should I be p!ssed off with Argos their vouchers have expiry date as well?
This way I lost whole fcuking 10 quid ffs

Yes since its the same as putting a time limit on your money

shazb01

SillyMcCarthy wrote: »

In fairness to them, how long do you want to hold on to it
before you do something with it. If you had realised you lost it
surely you should have gone to the shop & explained, prior to
the expiry date?

If that was me I would have made an appointment & given
the voucher after the work had been done & then come across
all apologetic. You played in to their hands by showing your cards first!

I wouldn't have expected any shop to honour a lost voucher, I didn't have any proof that I actually held it. However, I would have thought that once I produced the voucher (albeit 2 months expired) they would have honoured it as a gesture of goodwill. I wasn't about to risk spending the voucher and having it refused after the fact.

shazb01

beazee wrote: »

How long was it valid for? 12 months like?
Were you informed the voucher was valid for 12 months only? Does it clearly say 12 months validity? Isn't this enough time to use the voucher not losing it?

How much is "couple of months expired"? Another 6 months or so?

Should I be p!ssed off with Argos their vouchers have expiry date as well?
This way I lost whole fcuking 10 quid ffs

Voucher was valid for 6 months, it stated an expiry date on the front of the voucher. A couple of months expired is.....2 (ie a couple)

shazb01

So the only purpose putting an expiry date on a voucher serves is to give businesses the hope that somebody doesn't use it in the specified time and, hey presto, money for nothing for them!

Funfair

First thing I would do is tell the person that gave you the voucher the way the beauty salon responded..

Just say something like "ohh BTW remember that beauty voucher you gave me... imagine they wouldn't honour it as it was 2 months out of date"

At least that way your friend will also not go in there again..

shazb01

Funfair wrote: »

First thing I would do is tell the person that gave you the voucher the way the beauty salon responded..

Just say something like "ohh BTW remember that beauty voucher you gave me... imagine they wouldn't honour it as it was 2 months out of date"

At least that way your friend will also not go in there again..

Done already!

shazb01

decies wrote: »

God these retailers must be thick lots of people especially blokes like to give vouchers as presents as they haven,t a clue what to buy people . Anway would they prefer that people gave cash for pressies, where in all possibilitys it just ends up paying a bill or something.Maybe if people would if they could avoid buying vouchers with expiry dates it would put manners on some of them.

Well that is something I will definitely be checking from now on. If there's an expiry date I aint buying

longshanks

Name them.

looksee

There is no reason why there should be an expiry date on gift vouchers. They have your money and have use of it, the more time goes past the less valuable the voucher becomes due to inflation, its a win win situation for them. To make myself clear. You buy a voucher for €50 and are told this will be enough for the recipient to have a facial. Recipient doesn't spend it till 2 years later, cost of facials have gone up to €70 so recipient has to pay balance of €20. Fair enough, how are the company losing out here? Time there was a bit of legislation on this.

billythepig

a gift voucher is like cash, it does not or should not expire,
id go back to that shop and tell them your going to take them to the small claims court if they dont cop on for themselfs,

they got paid cash for that voucher and it should always hold its value until its used no matter how long it takes to use it.

Finnbar01

The Great Chinholio wrote: »

Yes since its the same as putting a time limit on your money

No it is not.

Professey Chin

Finnbar01 wrote: »

No it is not.

For that shop it is.
How is it different if you have €50 to spend and a shop tells you that you only have until this date to buy it then we're taking it all anyway.

Finnbar01

The Great Chinholio wrote: »

For that shop it is.

The voucher is only valid for the shop that issued it. Your money (euro) is valid for all shops.

How is it different if you have €50 to spend and a shop tells you that you only have until this date to buy it then we're taking it all anyway.

Simply walk out with your €50 and go somewhere else. And the shop can't do that anyway, as they are not the issuer of the currency (government/central bank are) and don't get to make the rules as they go along. With a vouche,r they do get to make the rules, as they are the issuer of the currency, in this case the voucher.

Saying all that, I think the shop should redeem the voucher for the OP.

Vouchers, like 'clubs' are a waste of money and really only benefit the shops and not the consumer.

Professey Chin

I dont agree with vouchers either. They were usually used to force me to buy clothes from shops I didnt like :pac:
I still think its a time limit on currency since its only giving a set time to use it which even though theyre making the rules it shouldnt be legal to do. But thatll never change and cnuts will be cnuts

Finnbar01

The Great Chinholio wrote: »

I dont agree with vouchers either. They were usually used to force me to buy clothes from shops I didnt like :pac:

I absolutely loath vouchers and 'clubs' with a passion. I've stopped using them years ago. Can't for the life of me understand why people still go for them today.

I still think its a time limit on currency since its only giving a set time to use it which even though theyre making the rules it shouldnt be legal to do. But thatll never change and cnuts will be cnuts

It is a time limit ok, but the time limit is on the shops currency, their vouchers.

Rainbow_brite

Does the salon have a Facebook Page? If so you should chance writing a message on their wall explaining the situation again and saying how disappointed you were about not being not able to use the voucher and is there a chance they would revoke their decision.

I have noticed lately with some retailers that have terrible customer service they soon have a change of attitude when something is made public through social media means. I was fobbed off myself by a large retailer I called into the store, phone calls, and emails problem wasn't resolved as soon as I contacted them by Facebook they sorted it. Probably through fear of their customers being made aware!

calvin_zola

Rainbow_brite wrote: »

Does the salon have a Facebook Page? If so you should chance writing a message on their wall explaining the situation again and saying how disappointed you were about not being not able to use the voucher and is there a chance they would revoke their decision.

I have noticed lately with some retailers that have terrible customer service they soon have a change of attitude when something is made public through social media means. I was fobbed off myself by a large retailer I called into the store, phone calls, and emails problem wasn't resolved as soon as I contacted them by Facebook they sorted it. Probably through fear of their customers being made aware!

yeah i agree, they won't want that on their facebook page

shazb01

Rainbow_brite wrote: »

Does the salon have a Facebook Page? If so you should chance writing a message on their wall explaining the situation again and saying how disappointed you were about not being not able to use the voucher and is there a chance they would revoke their decision.

I have noticed lately with some retailers that have terrible customer service they soon have a change of attitude when something is made public through social media means. I was fobbed off myself by a large retailer I called into the store, phone calls, and emails problem wasn't resolved as soon as I contacted them by Facebook they sorted it. Probably through fear of their customers being made aware!

May give that a try later, I should have probably argued a bit on the phone with them but I didn't get the impression that it was up for discussion!

YumDeiseMum

Am in a similar situation with a voucher for a travel agents.

Lost it, has expired now and after e-mailing their customer service have basically been told its tough cookies on me.

Silly of them really because if they would honour the voucher for €150 we would be spending an additional €2400 with it to book next summers holiday.

Back to the brochures it is so

Dicky Pride

YumDeiseMum wrote: »

Am in a similar situation with a voucher for a travel agents.

Lost it, has expired now and after e-mailing their customer service have basically been told its tough cookies on me.

Silly of them really because if they would honour the voucher for €150 we would be spending an additional €2400 with it to book next summers holiday.

Back to the brochures it is so

I'm literally open mouthed with shock. Will you name the travel agents? They need to be named and shamed for being idiots.

Cabaal

YumDeiseMum wrote: »

Am in a similar situation with a voucher for a travel agents.

Lost it, has expired now and after e-mailing their customer service have basically been told its tough cookies on me.

Silly of them really because if they would honour the voucher for €150 we would be spending an additional €2400 with it to book next summers holiday.

Back to the brochures it is so

How can they be sure you're not just trying to con them?

gift vouchers are like money, its your job to look after them....if you lost 50e after getting it out of a ATM would you expect the bank to refund you or for a shop to give you free stuff?

Dicky Pride

Cabaal wrote: »

How can they be sure you're not just trying to con them?

gift vouchers are like money, its your job to look after them....if you lost 50e after getting it out of a ATM would you expect the bank to refund you or for a shop to give you free stuff?

Sorry I somehow missed the point about it being lost. I thought they were just refusing to honour an out of date voucher.

In saying that, every company makes a record of all vouchers sold so they should have a record of it, for reasons just like this.