Vouchers for a beauty salon that has gone out of business? Can I get my money back?

hkw1

My friend and I have vouchers worth more than £100 each for treatments at a beauty salon which has gone out of business in the last few days. My friend has just been to book the appointment and the place looks to be closed, their website has disappeared and their phone line is dead. There is no info on the door. Is there any way we can try and claim our money back or do something. The vouchers were presents (booked only 3-4 weeks ago) and we're more gutted for the people who bought them than the fact we're going to miss out.

Thanks

lisyloo

First thing you need to do is find out from the gift donors how they paid.
If they paid by credit the transactions are more than £100 then they are in luck because the credit card company are liable.

note that the transaction is between the donors and the salon not you, so the donors will have to contact their credit card company.

Is it a chain.
If it's part of a chain the other salons should accept the vouchers.

If it's an individual business and they didn't pay by credit card then you become and creditor and have virtually zero chance of getting any money back (banks MAY help you if you paid by switch).
When a business goes bust then liquidators get paid and then the tax man, then any preferrential creditors like banks.
There is rarely any money left for ordinary creditors (if there was enough money to pay debts they wouldn't have gone bust in the first place).

Please let us know how you get on.

hkw1

Thanks for your help Lisyloo.

I got a call from Trading Standards this morning and they say the company has been dissolved. As we paid by credit card they've advised us to take it up with them, quoting section 25 of the Consumer Credit Act, but not looking so good for our friends who paid by debit card. They've got a number to call to find out who's looking after the company's assets and will take it from there... but they're probably at the bottom of a long list of people wanting their money.

Thanks again. x

derrick

hkw1 wrote: »

Thanks for your help Lisyloo.

I got a call from Trading Standards this morning and they say the company has been dissolved. As we paid by credit card they've advised us to take it up with them, quoting section 25 of the Consumer Credit Act, but not looking so good for our friends who paid by debit card. They've got a number to call to find out who's looking after the company's assets and will take it from there... but they're probably at the bottom of a long list of people wanting their money.

Thanks again. x

If your debit card has the Visa logo on it, you may still be able to claim back from your bank, see HERE

"Visa debit card refunds
It's common knowledge that consumers can claim from their credit card provider in the event of a problem with their purchase.
But less well known is an obscure Visa rule which means that debit card transactions are often covered too.
Called 'chargeback', the process has been agreed to by all banks issuing Visa debit cards."