Legalities of gift vouchers : Eg Zavvi situation

Draxxuk

Is there anyone who understands and can explain the legalities of vouchers?
I too have purchased a number of Zavvi gift vouchers (Before 27th Nov) and given them to friends and family for presents this Christmas.
I have also read the statement on Zavvis website regarding what to do for vouchers bought before and after 27th Nov.
A Zavvi store has confirmed that if I had purchased goods (Lets say to the value of £30), I would be entitled to an exchange for other goods instore to the value of £30. So, If I have purchased a gift voucher for £30 (I my eyes a plastic card loaded with a £30 prepaid amount) why can I not use this in exchange for goods value of £30?
I like many have supported Zavvi from launch and this is how we get treated.
PS, my thoughts go out to all the staff of Zavvi who too may get a bum deal for their loyalty

magyar

Put simply, they're being inconsistent and the irony is that they have no legal obligation to allow people to exchange goods (other than where faulty) but they do have an obligation to honour a gift voucher.

However this is a civil law matter and not a criminal law matter. In practice you are a creditor of Zavvi and can get the value of the voucher from the administrator, but only if there's enough cash to go round (after, e.g., the employees have all been paid). If you got nothing then theoretically you could sue Zavvi for breach of contract but clearly this wouldn't be worth it and in any case they'd probably have wound the company up by then.

kaliber

Interesting

DelBoyPhil

Martin lewis should put on this site

DO NOT BUY GIFT VOUCHERS! THEY ARE JUST AS BAD AS SAVING CLUBS!

why not?

magyar

DelBoyPhil wrote: »

Martin lewis should put on this site

DO NOT BUY GIFT VOUCHERS! THEY ARE JUST AS BAD AS SAVING CLUBS!

why not?

Agree. In fact, can someone tell me something good about gift vouchers?

Liz3yy

I'm certainly not going to buy vouchers anymore and will ask people not to buy them for me. I have a WH Smith gift card with £10 on it and whilst I of course appreciate my parents sending it to me I'm struggling to find anything in there that I really want for £10. I also have a TK Maxx one with £50 on but I'm more hopeful I'll be able to get something I actually want or need with that.

brightonman123

why not get a postal order- they look like proper cheques, and are a lot safer than cash, and more widely acceptable than shop tokens? (depending if crossed, named etc)..

a small fee payable on top, for peace of mind?

Willeh

I myself don't understand gift vouchers either.. In my opinion, a handmade card or a nice decorative card with a £10/£20 note inside is so much better. Atleast the money is universal and can be spent anywhere. Unless you know the person well and where they like to shop, you otherwise run the risk that the gift voucher may never be spent and will just turn into a worthless gift. Although I guess it's the thought that counts

zenseeker

brightonman123 wrote: »

why not get a postal order- they look like proper cheques, and are a lot safer than cash, and more widely acceptable than shop tokens? (depending if crossed, named etc)..

a small fee payable on top, for peace of mind?

Actually, they are about as safe as sending cash.

Bottom line is send/give people cheques or bank notes, the alternatives are not worth the expense or insecurity that come attached.

TheDoolallyDilly

My kids get a lot of gift vouchers (they are teenagers) - thankfully they normally are for somewhere like Game, so they get spent very quickly. However, one member of our family gives them WH Smiths vouchers, which we end up buying from them, as our WHS sells nothing they particularly want. I now have £30 in WHS vouchers, and absolutely no clue what to buy - I will probably get some printer paper and stationery items. There are a couple of DVDs I'd like, but our store doesn't sell DVDs. It would have been much better if she had given them a cheque - and saved her a trip to the shops :rotfl:

ScoobyZ

I always remember a Jasper Carrot sketch where he says where is the good deal in Gift Vouchers ? "If you give us £10 in cash that you can spend anywhere in the UK on anything we will give you a £10 gift voucher that you can spend in any one of our stores !!!" wowwwwww big deal !