Issue with One4All card

chris85

Ok so decided today to go for nice lunch is nice restaurant and use a One4All gift card I was given last year. So checked the one4all website and restaurant is listed as accepting the card. So made a reservation and had lovely meal and went to pay and waitress advised they stopped taking the one4all cards/vouchers 18 months ago. I was not expecting this due to info on One4all website but I said fair enough I paid myself.

So I am placing no blame on the restaurant as they don't participate with the cards anymore and One4all are at fault for still advertising it. Easy to say I should have checked with the restaurant first but I acted in good faith from the info on One4all site that the restaurant accepted them.

So basically I am down cash due to this and still have the balance on card. I have no use for this balance and planned using the card to treat us to this lunch. I am going to contact One4all and let them know I want the balance on the card to be refunded to my debit card. I think this is fair.

How am I fixed from legal standpoint?

Paulw

chris85 wrote: »

How am I fixed from legal standpoint?

You haven't a hope. You should have checked with the restaurant before ordering the food.

http://www.one4all.ie/One4all_Terms_and_Conditions.aspx

11.5 The list of retailers may change from time to time and retailers listed may withdraw from the programme at any time.

There is no obligation on either One4All nor the restaurant. Companies join/leave the scheme as they please and have no obligation to notify you.

chris85

Paulw wrote: »

You haven't a hope. You should have checked with the restaurant before ordering the food.

http://www.one4all.ie/One4all_Terms_and_Conditions.aspx

11.5 The list of retailers may change from time to time and retailers listed may withdraw from the programme at any time.

There is no obligation on either One4All nor the restaurant. Companies join/leave the scheme as they please and have no obligation to notify you.

Fair enough I possibly should have checked but this it has been 12-18 months since the restaurant accepted them so surely one4all should have a case of misleading advertising. If it was recent thing then fair enough but the time frame involved should be a level of responsibility on the company to keep their list of retail partners somewhat up to date.

I am not suggesting their is a legal obligation for the company to notify me of a restaurant leaving the scheme but they are still today advertising that this restaurant accepts their vouchers when they have not for some time. This appears to be misleading advertising as outlined in the consumer information act.

http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/1978/en/act/pub/0001/sec0008.html#sec8

8.—(1) A person shall not publish, or cause to be published, an advertisement in relation to the supply or provision in the course or for the purposes of a trade, business or profession, of goods, services or facilities if it is likely to mislead, and thereby cause loss, damage or injury to members of the public to a material degree.

(2) Any person who contravenes subsection (1) of this section shall, subject to the provisions of this Act, be guilty of an offence.

(3) The Director may, upon giving notice of the application to any person against whom the order the subject of the application is sought, apply to the High Court for, and may, at the discretion of that Court, be granted, an order prohibiting the publication, or the further publication, of an advertisement the publication of which is or would be a contravention of subsection (1) of this section.

wmpdd3

When was the voucher bought? I thought aftera year they had to be tree issued, the issue of the company not taking them would have come up then.

chris85

wmpdd3 wrote: »

When was the voucher bought? I thought aftera year they had to be tree issued, the issue of the company not taking them would have come up then.

Was purchased last November. Valid till 2016 as checked this morning on the website.

wmpdd3

Ah, its a one for all not just for that business, just use it some where else, you have a few months.

I'd you can prove the voucher was only bought as it was stated that it could be used there you might have a case of false advertising.

Paulw

chris85 wrote: »

Fair enough I possibly should have checked but this it has been 12-18 months since the restaurant accepted them so surely one4all should have a case of misleading advertising. If it was recent thing then fair enough but the time frame involved should be a level of responsibility on the company to keep their list of retail partners somewhat up to date.

All4One doesn't state how often they update their website with the list of places that accept their vouchers.

It would still be your responsibility to check, at time of use, that the premises accepts the vouchers, which you didn't do.

You can always contact them and complain, but I believe that they have themselves covered.

chris85

Paulw wrote: »

All4One doesn't state how often they update their website with the list of places that accept their vouchers.

It would still be your responsibility to check, at time of use, that the premises accepts the vouchers, which you didn't do.

You can always contact them and complain, but I believe that they have themselves covered.

Sure will see what they come back with. In this day and age 12 months to update a website should be enough. Also booklet which was sent with One4all card at the time had the restaurant on it at the time.

I know I should have checked but we act in good faith sometimes from the info given by a "reputable" company.

sandin

One4all charge small business an extortionate rate of up to 15% - even medium size business are charged 12.3% of the net sale.

Hence many small and medium business operators have stopped taking one4all cards as they are simply not worth the extra cost.

Boulevardier

I have just found out, to my extreme annoyance, that I have lost most of the value of my card because I did not use it quickly enough.

It is now only a fraction of its original value, because card management fees have been deducted at the rate of 1.45 each month since I got it.

I suppose I should have checked, but I naively assumed it was like other vouchers which retain their face value.

I do not want to get a present of one of these cards again.

Paulw

Boulevardier wrote: »

I suppose I should have checked, but I naively assumed it was like other vouchers which retain their face value.

These days, very few vouchers retain their face value. Many expire after 6 months and many more expire after a year. Then they are worthless pieces of paper.

One4All vouchers normally last a year or more.

sandin

Boulevardier wrote: »

I have just found out, to my extreme annoyance, that I have lost most of the value of my card because I did not use it quickly enough.

It is now only a fraction of its original value, because card management fees have been deducted at the rate of 1.45 each month since I got it.

I suppose I should have checked, but I naively assumed it was like other vouchers which retain their face value.

I do not want to get a present of one of these cards again.

The card management fee only kicks in 12 months (possibly longer) after you get a card. Whilst I'm not a fan of them, I have to accept that it is useable in so many everyday stores such as woodies, did, power city, argos, elevrys, champion etc, that unless you simply forget about the card, it can be used well within 12 months very very easily.

Paul Bad Singer

Just came back home from long weekend and had very similar experience as chris85. Double checked their booklet and website before I booked a hotel just to be told on my check in that the hotel is in receivership and they do not accept one4all for more than 12 months now. I paid by cash and enjoyed my holiday but now I have their card that I do not want to use (to be honest, I'd feel like a beggar calling around to find who accepts their cards). Called one4all today but was told that it was my mistake as I didn't check with the hotel before making booking!? Who's mad here - they blame me for not doing their job. And if so, I couldn't find anywhere in their T&C that I need to call a retailer before making a purchase with their card!
In my opinion, based on this and other posts on board.ie forum only, they are serious <SNIP> and something needs to be done in order to stop them to <SNIP> people around. This is an extract from their T&C:

11.5 The list of retailers may change from time to time and retailers listed may withdraw from the programme at any time. A list of currently participating retailers is available at www.One4all.ie.

This clearly says to me that if my hotel is there, they accept one4all which is not the case for longer than 12 months - enough for small claim court.
Wish me luck.

chris85

Paul Bad Singer wrote: »

Just came back home from long weekend and had very similar experience as chris85. Double checked their booklet and website before I booked a hotel just to be told on my check in that the hotel is in receivership and they do not accept one4all for more than 12 months now. I paid by cash and enjoyed my holiday but now I have their card that I do not want to use (to be honest, I'd feel like a beggar calling around to find who accepts their cards). Called one4all today but was told that it was my mistake as I didn't check with the hotel before making booking!? Who's mad here - they blame me for not doing their job. And if so, I couldn't find anywhere in their T&C that I need to call a retailer before making a purchase with their card!
In my opinion, based on this and other posts on board.ie forum only, they are serious <SNIP> and something needs to be done in order to stop them to <SNIP> people around. This is an extract from their T&C:

11.5 The list of retailers may change from time to time and retailers listed may withdraw from the programme at any time. A list of currently participating retailers is available at www.One4all.ie.

This clearly says to me that if my hotel is there, they accept one4all which is not the case for longer than 12 months - enough for small claim court.
Wish me luck.

Thats the thing, no issue with retailers changing from time to time but surely they have some responsibility to keep their list up to date.

Mine is not much money and its not that that bothers be as much as the lack of due diligence from One4all to keep their list up to date. A reasonable time frame to update them is fair enough but over 12 months is a joke in fairness.

sandin

chris85 wrote: »

Thats the thing, no issue with retailers changing from time to time but surely they have some responsibility to keep their list up to date.

Mine is not much money and its not that that bothers be as much as the lack of due diligence from One4all to keep their list up to date. A reasonable time frame to update them is fair enough but over 12 months is a joke in fairness.

Problem is, their sales staff are an <SNIP> bunch of <SNIP> and I believe they leave name on the site purposely to get people to try and use the card there and then they hope the retailer will re-join.

It took a threat of solicitors letter from me and costs attributed to sending that letter to get my details taken off.

For any retailer thinking of one4all -don't touch them. They charge extortionate fees (unless you are one of their favoured big retailers) and they won't give you the time of day if you have a problem.

Paul Bad Singer

Received a call from one4all today; they were very apologetic for the problem caused by having a retialer on their list who is in receivership and stopped to accept their cards/vouchers more than a year ago. They offered to reimburse me for the amount I paid in cash to the retailer which I accepted though they still do not accept any responsibility but they blame the contract they had in place with this retailer who stopped to pay them but they couldn't remove him for "legal reasons" for longer than 12 months. No need to mention that the retailer dissapeared from their list since I called them on Monday. Anyway, happy to get cash (if everything goes as they promised) and will never do any business with them again.

Barcafan11

Paul Bad Singer wrote: »

Received a call from one4all today; they were very apologetic for the problem caused by having a retialer on their list who is in receivership and stopped to accept their cards/vouchers more than a year ago. They offered to reimburse me for the amount I paid in cash to the retailer which I accepted though they still do not accept any responsibility but they blame the contract they had in place with this retailer who stopped to pay them but they couldn't remove him for "legal reasons" for longer than 12 months. No need to mention that the retailer dissapeared from their list since I called them on Monday. Anyway, happy to get cash (if everything goes as they promised) and will never do any business with them again.

When retailers sign up with one4all they are obliged to tell them if they leave the scheme which they don't all do. Be grateful that you can still use the card elsewhere, and not have a situation like HMV where you just have a worthless piece of plastic in your pocket.

Barcafan11

sandin wrote: »

Problem is, their sales staff are an <SNIP> bunch of <SNIP> and I believe they leave name on the site purposely to get people to try and use the card there and then they hope the retailer will re-join.

It took a threat of solicitors letter from me and costs attributed to sending that letter to get my details taken off.

For any retailer thinking of one4all -don't touch them. They charge extortionate fees (unless you are one of their favoured big retailers) and they won't give you the time of day if you have a problem.

A bit too harsh perhaps ??

Paul Bad Singer

Barcafan11 wrote: »

When retailers sign up with one4all they are obliged to tell them if they leave the scheme which they don't all do. Be grateful that you can still use the card elsewhere, and not have a situation like HMV where you just have a worthless piece of plastic in your pocket.

Barcafan, you sound like a happy one4all customer, fair play to you if you are. However, I am not and to tell me to be gratefull for oportunity to use their cards elsewher is just patatic. That's the reason why we are treated in such a way in Ireland. Instead to get apology from them and to be fully refunded (monetary value and inconvinience caused) we should be happy with the fact that we were not ripped off as HMV voucher holders. Is this situation with HMV setting a standard of customer care and level of business moral in Ireland?
They put me in situation that I had to spend the money left for spending on entertainment on paying my hotel bill. The fact. I don't care was it them or the retailer's error, on the end of the day, it's their mistake - they couldn't put together a proper contract and procedure in place with the retailers in order to keep their customers satisfied withe their service.They should be happy I settled with receiving my money back and not persue this any further. Full stop.