Expired WHSmith giftcards - HELP!

DCFC79

Theres nothing wrong with it OP, this is the downside of getting vouchers and not using them straight away

dnomyar

Which state (via the Gardian article) that as the terms and conditions are printed and given to you after the purchase, that they wouldnt stand up in court. I would write to WH Smith, complain about your situation, tell them that the card was a gift and you did not receive the ts and cs and that the person who bought the gift thought the ts and cs were the receipt and must have thrown it away and advise them of Which's comments also point out that the card itself doesnt state the ts and cs or expiry date. In the letter give them 14 days to respond otherwise further action may be considered. If they do not respond to your satisfaction, then issue them a final letter advising them that you will be issuing a summons through the small claims court including costs, if they do not reinstate your balance or compensate you for the loss.

Theres no harm in threatening them via letter and this usually gets me results (if written correctly). If they do not give in, then its upto you if you want to continue, and go online and sue them. Is it worth the hastle just for a few quid. If it is then good luck! If not then at least you tried, just boycot thme.

Miss_Marple_2

dnomyar wrote: »

Which state (via the Gardian article) that as the terms and conditions are printed and given to you after the purchase, that they wouldnt stand up in court. I would write to WH Smith, complain about your situation, tell them that the card was a gift and you did not receive the ts and cs and that the person who bought the gift thought the ts and cs were the receipt and must have thrown it away and advise them of Which's comments also point out that the card itself doesnt state the ts and cs or expiry date. In the letter give them 14 days to respond otherwise further action may be considered. If they do not respond to your satisfaction, then issue them a final letter advising them that you will be issuing a summons through the small claims court including costs, if they do not reinstate your balance or compensate you for the loss.

Theres no harm in threatening them via letter and this usually gets me results (if written correctly). If they do not give in, then its upto you if you want to continue, and go online and sue them. Is it worth the hastle just for a few quid. If it is then good luck! If not then at least you tried, just boycot thme.

I don't think you need to threaten them - whilst I haven't tried it at WHSmith, I've found most shops do give you new voucher / cards when the old ones expire - a lot of the time you just need to ask. I would just call or email CS initially to see what they say - although do point out that you were not given the t&cs with the card - beyond that, I would wait to see if WHSmith put up a fight before threatening to sue. I've emailed WHSmith CS a few times and always received a reasonable & timley response

Sometimes these things are actually a lot easier than you think they are going to be - and a simple request can often get you what you want pretty quickly

snowqueen555

Phone the Smith's helpline, if you have the cardboard that came with the card there should be a number there, I have heard of people getting their credit back on the card but I can't say for sure it will happen to you

firespire

zenseeker wrote: »

It's perfectly legal, and I am reasonably sure that there is nothing you can do about it You'd be best off going into your local branch and asking.

Until it is proved in court no one knows if it is legal. In America giftcards are popular and some states it has been through the courts and in some they have decided it is illegal in that state for a retailer to expire a giftcard.

yorkshirepud_2

Just wondered if anyone has had any luck in getting a whsmiths card re credited.

I have just found mine in a draw. could not for the life in me remember where i had put them.

Illness resulted in some memory problems. searched high and low for them over 12 months ago.

But now i just found a couple of cards that don't work online


Ironically, i now work and my cards don't

grubaarmada

Hi all

I had success from WH Smith after I complained by letter to their office. I explained that I was disappointed that WH Smith had an expiration date on their giftcards and how I'd been receiving giftcards for the past three years with the intention of buying a set of books. I pointed out that similar retailers on the high street do not have expiration dates (such as Argos).

I also asked where the money that was on the giftcards had gone and also said that we'd been customers of WH Smith for years and would like to continue being their customers.

It was a brief, straight to the point letter and had the full amount imbursed onto another giftcard. If you do have success then just make sure you top-up the giftcard regularly (even if it's £1).

I hope that helps - if you don't ask, you don't get! Good luck

MrsBartolozzi

grubaarmada wrote: »

Hi all
If you do have success then just make sure you top-up the giftcard regularly (even if it's £1).

Well done on getting your money back! Just thought I'd let you know that you don't need to top up the gift card to make sure it is still "valid" you can just ask for a balance from the till and keep the receipt you are given.(Just make sure that you do this regularly).

MrsB.

Lucyxx

Sorry to go off topic - but I am slightly concerned about the M& S credit notes being printed onto a receipt. Is this the same paper that till receipts come out on that are heat printed??? as they fade over time (in some cases very quickly) and that would render them useless.

A while back my dad was sorting through his filing, and noticed that where he had a guarantee on something, the receipt had totally faded and was a blank piece of paper!! luckily he didn't need to make a claim, but others could be caught out.

I used to work in a shop with the heat printed shiny receipts and they did rub off/disappear as have receipts in the back of my wallet from other retailers.

Apologies if I am getting the completely wrong idea!!! (don't shop in M& S very often!!)

cplatten

Hi,

I know this thread originated last year but I found it because I have just had the same problem with Habitat!:mad:

I went to spend a card I had been carrying around for (too long!) and was told it had expired!

The worst thing is that it had become quite difficult to spend in that time as the two closest branches to me have closed down in the last few years...

The girl in the store said that I was the third person today! to present an expired gift card but the others just took it better and said "it was their fault"!!) Those people are obviously not Money Savers like the rest of us!!!

It makes you wonder how much money stores are pocketing in this way!

I read on the net that Canada has banned expiry dates on gift cards...shouldn't we start a campaign too?