gift vouchers going out of date. Is it legal?

annieapple453

Thanks for sharing.
As I said I'm not looking for redress as we have used the vouchers and therefore got our money's worth.

I was just gauging the reaction of others and putting the thought forward.

After all if no one challenged bank charges many people would be still out of pocket and still feeling hard done by.

I do feel we put up with a lot of practices that are not exactly "fair" but neither am I an advocate of suing someone for something you don't like such as bad service or rude staff. That's a different ball game.

And maybe I'm not questioning law just good customer service. After all that's two or more companies that have lost my custom and maybe that of others who will think twice before buying this form of gift.

Some of the other comments shows that there are companies who are willing to extend dates and well done to them.

The suggestion of the cost of the activity rising is also an interesting take but still does not excuse refunding some or all of the cost. After all, this is not a planned event where costs have to be covered for the day. This is like an extra customer coming into the shop and spending money having given 3 weeks notice of doing so.

And why should the lottery company decide that you only have 180 days to claim your money? There is no limit on claiming a Premium Bond win is there?

Again just ruminating on the differences in companies and where is the law that says otherwise, other than the small print in the terms and conditions, and wondering how far companies can take that.

Ann

juno

But if you go to the supermarket and buy a can of beans, you don't expect that to last forever, surely?

annieapple453

Can of beans????
But....picture the scenario.....
Purchase a voucher for a can of beans with a years expiry date, requiring 3 weeks notice of pick up, cost 8p.

11 months 1 week later ring up to say you don't want them any more.

Refund?

8p, less the cost of putting it in storage and the rent for it sitting on the shelf and the cost of keeping someone available to go take it off the shelf and bring it to you, less the difference in price as beans now cost 10p, less the cost of having to advertise and sell it again to someone else before the expiry day = 0

or am I missing something???? How does this compare to an activity day accepting of course the price rise element?

dangeroussports

What if the activity included beans a bath and feathers.

advent1122

I think I am missing something.
It had an expiry date clearly printed on it. You phoned up and they gave you the next available date, you couldnt make it because of a holiday so the event would have expired.
How is that the companies fault????

annieapple453

Sorry, who mentioned fault?

my vent was
Can a company keep all the money even if they do not incur that amount of expense.
And on a wider issue
How come companies can impose such penalties and what would happen if we all refused to put up with these terms. What is the law that says we have to?

After all a year or so ago people were putting up with bank charges even though the cost that would be charged for going overdrawn was clearly stated beforehand or does the printing of an expiry date change things?

As I said before, I just wondered if I was the only one who felt annoyed by this limitation and wanted to know if others felt the same. Seems not.

RadoJo

Annie Apple - I do understand your annoyance, but I think it is unfair to refer to voucher expiry dates as a 'penalty'. There is nothing a retailer can do if the customer fails to take responsibility for making use of their purchase. I see it in the same light as buying a cinema ticket - you would not expect to get a refund for simply not turning up to the film, nor would you expect to be allowed to go on another night with an expired ticket.

It isn't just the printing of an expiry date, I am betting there would have been terms and conditions included with the voucher explaining how to use it, giving notice of the time required to leave for booking, and specifically stating that the voucher would not be valid after the expiry date.

And as for your theory on the legality of a company keeping the retail sale price even though they do not incur that amount of expense - how do you think any businesses make a profit?

ajaxgeezer

annieapple453 wrote: »

Can a company keep all the money even if they do not incur that amount of expense.

....incurring less expense than turnover is what is called "profit". Some companies even aspire to this theory.

And on a wider issue
How come companies can impose such penalties and what would happen if we all refused to put up with these terms. What is the law that says we have to?

.... why do we need a law to tell us how to use a ticket within a year?

After all a year or so ago people were putting up with bank charges even though the cost that would be charged for going overdrawn was clearly stated beforehand or does the printing of an expiry date change things?

... it's not like bank charges though, is it? If they took extra money out of your bank account - effectively fining you for not using the ticket within 12 months - then that may hold some water.

As I said before, I just wondered if I was the only one who felt annoyed by this limitation and wanted to know if others felt the same. Seems not.

... the word that would apply when questioning a time limit would be 'reasonable'. I can't think that too many people would argue that 12 months expiry is unreasonable.