Administration + Gift Cards + Third Party Sellers - Rights?

arcon5

Reading an MSE article about Jessops closing I noted this piece

But don't get your hopes up of getting your money back via this method — it rarely happens.
If you buy vouchers from a third party, such as a supermarket, you are unlikely to get a refund.

If you buy the gift card from a Supermarket though, surely you are etering in to a contract with them to provide you with the ability to obtain goods to the value of £x from y shop...

So surely if the shop then closed down it renders the voucher not fit for purpose as the voucher cannot be used in the way it was intended when sold?

Which in turn means you have consumer rights with the Supermarket?

Thoughts?

System

When it was bought it was fit for purpose. If you can return something to a shop at a later date because something has happened thàt makes it obsolete then I have an old tube tv that doesn't work anymore as it can't pick up a digital signal!

mo786uk

When you buy it from the supermarket it does what it says when you buy it - so the liability ends there.

dalesrider

All you are doing is buying a bit of plastic that is loaded with a value.

Often these cards (used to certainly) state has a value of 0.01p or such.

No where on them does it state.

I promise to pay the bearer the sum of xxxx.

arcon5

goater78 wrote: »

When it was bought it was fit for purpose. If you can return something to a shop at a later date because something has happened thàt makes it obsolete then I have an old tube tv that doesn't work anymore as it can't pick up a digital signal!

mo786uk wrote: »

When you buy it from the supermarket it does what it says when you buy it - so the liability ends there.

I'm not sure you can argue because it was fit for purpose at the time they no longer have liability... It's simply not in line with consumer rights... For example if I buy a TV from comet and it works when I leave the shop, if a fault then develops 2 days later you have rights under the sales of goods act.

There's a differenc though between obsolete and not fit for purpose... A Nokia 3310 is obsolete but still fit for purpose. And if the gift voucher has for example an expiry date of 1 year after purchase then surely it's reasonable to expect it to last that long?

arcon5

dalesrider wrote: »

All you are doing is buying a bit of plastic that is loaded with a value.

Often these cards (used to certainly) state has a value of 0.01p or such.

No where on them does it state.

I promise to pay the bearer the sum of xxxx.

No but the purpose is to be able to obtain goods up to a specified value from a specified shop..

You are not buying a bit of plastic.. Your buying a service for which the plastic acts as a way of doing so.
Same as when you buy a freezer you are not just buying a lump of metal, you are buying the ability to store products at a low temperature.


I just can't see how shops can get out of refusin customers

System

arcon5 wrote: »

I'm not sure you can argue because it was fit for purpose at the time they no longer have liability... It's simply not in line with consumer rights... For example if I buy a TV from comet and it works when I leave the shop, if a fault then develops 2 days later you have rights under the sales of goods act.

There's a differenc though between obsolete and not fit for purpose... A Nokia 3310 is obsolete but still fit for purpose. And if the gift voucher has for example an expiry date of 1 year after purchase then surely it's reasonable to expect it to last that long?

But thats a fault with the TV which is different.

If you took your TV home and then 2 days later you had your electricity cut you couldn't take the TV back to the shop, even though its not "fit for purpose" anymore!

There is no actual fault with the gift card it can just no longer be used for the function it was originally bought for.

arcon5

The difference in your example is the TV still works, thus is fit for purpose. The gift card cannot be used through no fault of yours but the supermarkets third party.

The example given and the gift card situation are not compatible examples.

There is no actual fault with the gift card it can just no longer be used for the function it was originally bought for.

May not be a 'fault' but doesn't conform to contract... For the exact reason you have just said...it can no longer be used for the purpose sold for.



If I took out a SIM card phone deal and it was disconnected after 6 months in to 12 month deal by the supplier for no reason... Have I merely bought a SIM card making this acceptable or has the contract been breached as the SIM card is no longer fit for the agreed purpose? It's the latter, I don't see how gift cards are any different

dalesrider

arcon5 wrote: »

If you buy the gift card from a Supermarket though, surely you are etering in to a contract with them to provide you with the ability to obtain goods to the value of £x from y shop...

Well the supermarket pass the funds to the retailer. So they have upheld their end of the contract.
Therefor that means that your only recourse is as a creditor and join the list to get your p in the £ back.

arcon5 wrote: »

No but the purpose is to be able to obtain goods up to a specified value from a specified shop..

You are not buying a bit of plastic.. Your buying a service for which the plastic acts as a way of doing so.

I just can't see how shops can get out of refusin customers

That card has a redeamable cash value. So long as the retailer is trading.
If they are not then they do not. It is simply becomes a piece of plastic.
Think of it like GBP crashing. That £10 in your pocket would become worthless.

The only service the shop taking the money from you is providing, is loading the cash onto the card.
Nothing else.
As such as far as the sellers goes that contract/service is forfilled at that point.

The fact that you cannot not use that card is not their issue.

As a aside we have raised this very issue at work with our tech reps to look into where we would stand on a chargback for non reciept of service.
Surfice to say their responce was do not hold your breath for a reply from visa.
Chargbacks have been actioned before and rejected on the basis. that your cash buys the voucher and nothing else.

arcon5

The only service the shop taking the money from you is providing, is loading the cash onto the card.

So you're saying the service the shop are providing is merely to load money on to the card (thus a product of convenience) and not (as has been my point) the ability to spend £x at y store...

That's an interesting point. Can certainly see where you're coming from now.

halibut2209

When does the supermarket pass the funds onto the retailer?

If I get a coupon from a newspaper, then the shop doesn't get that money until I give them that coupon and then they redeem it.