Old Vouchers With No Visible Expiry Date

jshea1571

Just found some old interflora gift vouchers - three five pounds - and they are clearly old, but have no visible expiry date. I would say they are about four years old. It doesn't sound too bad to me, but I'm finding a 12 month expiry date on most gift vouchers these days - which to me is scandalous. Nothing short of theft!
So, my question. Are my vouchers still valid? Short of stomping into an interflora and demanding fifteen pounds worth of over priced flowers, what can I do?
I was hoping to knock them out on eBay as I like to buy flowers from the local independent florist rather than a big multi national.

Any advice warmly welcomed. Don't mind losing the fifteen so much as resent any large company stiffing people for their hard earned.

rosie383

Why don't you write to Interflora and they may well update them for you. Then you can flog on eBay, or donate them to a local hospice or similar who may appreciate a freebie.

Pink.

jshea1571 wrote: »

Just found some old interflora gift vouchers - three five pounds - and they are clearly old, but have no visible expiry date. I would say they are about four years old. It doesn't sound too bad to me, but I'm finding a 12 month expiry date on most gift vouchers these days - which to me is scandalous. Nothing short of theft!
So, my question. Are my vouchers still valid? Short of stomping into an interflora and demanding fifteen pounds worth of over priced flowers, what can I do?
I was hoping to knock them out on eBay as I like to buy flowers from the local independent florist rather than a big multi national.

Any advice warmly welcomed. Don't mind losing the fifteen so much as resent any large company stiffing people for their hard earned.

Oh dear! Did you mean to sound as angry as you come across in your post?

Surely if you buy or are gifted vouchers with an expiry date it is not unreasonable of the company who issued them to expect you to use them within that time period? It's your responsibility to use them before the expiry date and it's hardly theft by the company if you forget/neglect to do so.

As rosie has said I would either attempt to use them as they are or contact interflora and ask them if it's possible to have them updated if you wish to sell them on.

As this isn't an Old Style query I'll move your thread over to the Consumer Rights board to see if you can get more help.

Pink

arcon5

jshea1571 wrote: »

Just found some old interflora gift vouchers - three five pounds - and they are clearly old, but have no visible expiry date. I would say they are about four years old. It doesn't sound too bad to me, but I'm finding a 12 month expiry date on most gift vouchers these days - which to me is scandalous. Nothing short of theft!
So, my question. Are my vouchers still valid? Short of stomping into an interflora and demanding fifteen pounds worth of over priced flowers, what can I do?
I was hoping to knock them out on eBay as I like to buy flowers from the local independent florist rather than a big multi national.

Any advice warmly welcomed. Don't mind losing the fifteen so much as resent any large company stiffing people for their hard earned.

On the same note, a company can't afford to administer gift cards forever and taking into consideration inflation they could soon find themself fulfilling orders x years old on significantly lower margins affecting their profitability.

Valli

But Interflora use local florists...

gift card information

Lip_Stick

arcon5 wrote: »

On the same note, a company can't afford to administer gift cards forever and taking into consideration inflation they could soon find themself fulfilling orders x years old on significantly lower margins affecting their profitability.

Companies used to do that. Also they've had the cash for x amount of years building interest.

ThumbRemote

arcon5 wrote: »

On the same note, a company can't afford to administer gift cards forever and taking into consideration inflation they could soon find themself fulfilling orders x years old on significantly lower margins affecting their profitability.

Surely, inflation would mean the gift card is worth less over time. A £1 gift voucher bought 30 years ago would have been reasonably expensive at the time, now it's almost worthless.

wealdroam

Interflora's gift card T&Cs say (amongst other things)...

14.1 GIFT CARDS ARE VALID FOR 12 MONTHS FROM THE DATE OF PURCHASE OF THE CARD. AFTER 12 MONTHS THE CARD WILL AUTOMATICALLY EXPIRE AND ANY REMAINING BALANCE ON THE CARD WILL BE CANCELLED.

OK, they are talking about these new fangled magnetic card things, but that's the best I found.

lollipopsarah

haha I just found a £15 voucher for bon marche (d'oh) from christmas 2010, will have to go and ask if they still accept them (doubt it) but surely whatever the amount, then the cash is in their bank getting iterest, so it's only worth less to the consumer who would get less for it as prices have gone up.
xx

hcb42

Aren't most local florists also agents for inter flora?

andyt8

I personally don't see why people buy and send these gift vouchers which are rather like Greek bonds - a year or maybe two later don't expect to be able to get anything back! There is no benefit that I can see and they just restrict the places and times you can exchange them for goods compared with good old fashioned cash or postal orders (remember those?)

I was lucky last Christmas. My old paper WHSmith vouchers explicitly said "there is no time limit by which this voucher must be used". I used one just before Christmas to buy a book and the voucher must have been five years old. The till did not recognise it but the cashier entered it by hand and gave me the discount.

Conversely I have also in the past been given one of their new electronic gift cards and forgot to use that in time - went online just around Christmas only to find out it had expired and no money left on it. Of course if people buy them early to give for Christmas they expire well before the following Christmas.

I would NEVER buy vouchers to send as gifts - send a crisp £5 note or maybe a PayPal. These won't expire for years.