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Honouring gift vouchers whe a company is taken over...help!

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I was given £100 worth of 55 Max gift vouchers as a wedding present in 2007, they had no expiry date on them so I have not rushed into redeeming them. When it has come to redeem them, 55 Max has been taken over in March 2010 and they say that my vouchers are not valid after the takeover. I am really upset as my work mates purchased the voucher for me and I have nothing to show for it. Should they honour the voucher or should I have been informed before the takeover, I have not had any word from anyone.
Please help me if you can.
Thanks, :(!
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Comments

  • Forwandert
    Forwandert Posts: 1,211 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    I am really upset as my work mates purchased the voucher for me and I have nothing to show for it. :(!

    You can't actually be that upset, you were given the vouchers 3 years ago and didn't bother to use them so the gift was obviously not that important to you, but you still have the vouchers to show for it.
  • Gosh, how rude. Had rather a lot on my plate for the last 3 years, but thanks for the help...
  • cyberbob
    cyberbob Posts: 9,480 Forumite
    1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    They do not have to legally honour them
  • Forwandert
    Forwandert Posts: 1,211 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    edited 15 December 2010 at 2:00PM
    I can't see any reason why they're not honoring this voucher though, there's no real t&c's for the vouchers on the site and absolutely no mention of them only being valid for a certain date and if the site hasn't gone "bust" but just sold on i would of thought they had to honor them.
  • Nope, they don't have to honour them, it's a different company. A voucher is money against a promise of purchase, if that company doesn't exist any more, the next company is not the one that got the money in the first place, why should they then pay out? whether they bought the company lock, stock and barrel or not, I'm afraid that makes no difference.

    Personally, I never touch vouchers, better give people cash., at least they're not confined to a specific store, and if the company disappears, the money can still be used elsewhere.
  • DVardysShadow
    DVardysShadow Posts: 18,949 Forumite
    Nope, they don't have to honour them, it's a different company. A voucher is money against a promise of purchase, if that company doesn't exist any more, the next company is not the one that got the money in the first place, why should they then pay out? whether they bought the company lock, stock and barrel or not, I'm afraid that makes no difference.
    This advice is very mistaken. It depends on what was taken over. If the business was taken over, ie the company was bought out, then they are still liable up to 6 years. If only premises and stock were taken over, then the original business remains liable - but if they went into liquidation, the administrators of the business will be responsible for making a payout - provided the administration is in progress.
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  • This advice is very mistaken. It depends on what was taken over. If the business was taken over, ie the company was bought out, then they are still liable up to 6 years. If only premises and stock were taken over, then the original business remains liable - but if they went into liquidation, the administrators of the business will be responsible for making a payout - provided the administration is in progress.
    Not in the case of vouchers, sorry, you're the one mistaken. New company, different sets of accounts. It's not a debt or an unpaid invoice, different rules apply to vouchers.
  • DVardysShadow
    DVardysShadow Posts: 18,949 Forumite
    Not in the case of vouchers, sorry, you're the one mistaken. New company, different sets of accounts. It's not a debt or an unpaid invoice, different rules apply to vouchers.

    Groan. No, you are mistaken. Different accounts does not come into it. When a company is taken over, it still exists and remains liable for all of its debts. Vouchers are debt.

    But as you say there are rules for vouchers, post a link.
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  • bookworm1363
    bookworm1363 Posts: 812 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture Photogenic Combo Breaker
    edited 16 December 2010 at 12:31AM
    Why don't you post a link to support your assertion first and then I'll rebut it? After all, you're the one who called me "very mistaken" and didn't quote anything to support that. ;)

    Edit: sorry, i went for a cuppa and was thinking about this thread. I should make clear that the reason I am asking is simply this: If OP wants to go back top the store armed with knowledge, having already been denied once, he will need to be able to point to the relevant legislation/rules.

    I don't do ego-fighting. If I'm wrong, it won't stop me from sleeping at night, but the least you can do is then give him the necessary weapons to get satisfaction, that is after all the aim of this forum, right? ;)
  • DVardysShadow
    DVardysShadow Posts: 18,949 Forumite
    Why don't you post a link to support your assertion first and then I'll rebut it? After all, you're the one who called me "very mistaken" and didn't quote anything to support that. ;)

    Edit: sorry, i went for a cuppa and was thinking about this thread. I should make clear that the reason I am asking is simply this: If OP wants to go back top the store armed with knowledge, having already been denied once, he will need to be able to point to the relevant legislation/rules.

    I don't do ego-fighting. If I'm wrong, it won't stop me from sleeping at night, but the least you can do is then give him the necessary weapons to get satisfaction, that is after all the aim of this forum, right? ;)

    You are the one saying that there are different rules for vouchers. I'm going on a standard understanding of debt. Now it is easier for you to quote some different rules for vouchers [the basis of your claim] than for me to prove that there are no different rules in existence.

    As I understand it, it is all common law. A voucher constitutes a token for a company to provide goods to a value at a later date - evidence of a contract.

    Now, it is plain enough that if a company is taken over, all its contracts stand. Why should contracts evidenced by vouchers be the least bit different? If however the company has not been taken over, but its assets have been bought, then the contract remains with whoever still owns the company. All explained in my first post.
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