Bluewater gift card

emthehoffmeister

My grandmother gave me a big birthday present last June in the form of a bluewater gift card. I soon after moved away from Kent so didn't get back to spend the £. I've recently moved back to Kent so tried to use the card at Bluewater again adn was told that the card had expired which means Lend Lease retail have taken over £100 off the card for themselves. How can this be fair or correct? There was an expiry date on the card but I thought it was just a matter of getting the credit reissued. As it was a gift I did not receive the supposed terms and conditions. I've written to them to ask them to reconsider but they've told me a flat "no"

Is there anything I can do to sort this out. I can't believe big companies like this can effectively steal money from you,

Any advice welcome, thanks

DVardysShadow

About all you can do is publicise how dishonest and disreputable this practice is and who is doing it. It is legal but unethical.

The ultimate unintended consequence will be that only the terminally stupid will buy vouchers or tokens, which will be the opposite of the intended effect.

vikingaero

DVardysShadow wrote: »

About all you can do is publicise how dishonest and disreputable this practice is and who is doing it. It is legal but unethical.

The ultimate unintended consequence will be that only the terminally stupid will buy vouchers or tokens, which will be the opposite of the intended effect.

There's been threads on this before and how people have complained that it is a rip off etc etc.

It is not a rip off. When I've bought Gift Vouchers/Cards at Bluewater, the agent made it clear to me and everyone else in the line before me that there was a 6 month time limit on them.

Becles

emthehoffmeister wrote: »

There was an expiry date on the card but I thought it was just a matter of getting the credit reissued.

To be blunt, there's your problem.

If you'd found out at the time what the expiry date actually meant with a quick phonecall, you would have been told you must spend the card by then.

DVardysShadow

vikingaero wrote: »

There's been threads on this before and how people have complained that it is a rip off etc etc.

It is not a rip off. When I've bought Gift Vouchers/Cards at Bluewater, the agent made it clear to me and everyone else in the line before me that there was a 6 month time limit on them.

It is still an unethical rip off. Telling you the limit does not stop it being a rip off - it just means you are knowingly ripped off.

Of course, we don't know if OP's grandmother was told of the time limit. And of course, the rip off works because it is not the person giving the gift vouchers who needs to know about the time limit - they could use a mega phone to tell the person buying the vouchers, but that does not help the person who receives the vouchers.

Zandoni

I'd make myself a sandwich board highlighting the unethical practice and walk around Bluewater all day wearing it. I'm not joking...

ceebeeby

Zandoni wrote: »

I'd make myself a sandwich board highlighting the unethical practice and walk around Bluewater all day wearing it. I'm not joking...

So would I!!!

Legal it might be - ethically I'd be raging!

agarr

I was recently given one of these and it was issued with all the terms and conditions printed and put inside the envelope. So as ethically dumb as it is, I still had it all spelled out in print for me.

wealdroam

OP, I think you need to sue your Grandmother.

You have no claim against the voucher issuer. You have no contract with them.

Your grandmother should've explained t&cs to you.

vikingaero

Zandoni wrote: »

I'd make myself a sandwich board highlighting the unethical practice and walk around Bluewater all day wearing it. I'm not joking...

Let me know when you're going to do it. I fancy a laugh. As Bluewater is private property I'd guess you'd be escorted off the property pretty pronto!

Zandoni

vikingaero wrote: »

Let me know when you're going to do it. I fancy a laugh. As Bluewater is private property I'd guess you'd be escorted off the property pretty pronto!

Far too many wimpy people on here keep saying things like "it's in the T&C you just have to live with it"

You can often get companies to change their minds if you fight a little, I've won many a battle that way.

So OP stand up for yourself, just because it's in their T&C's doesn't mean it's right.