John Lewis won't reissue £300 gift card

mariahussain

Rainbowgirl84 wrote: »

John Lewis is really not the guilty party here. The CS guy may have tried to stop the £289 payment and been perhaps too late.

I confirmed with John Lewis if the order was fulfilled and they advised no. The freeze on the card stopped the order going through.

mariahussain

taxiphil wrote: »

Surely John Lewis can't have their cake and eat it by cancelling the balance on the original card and refusing to reissue it. It has to be one or the other!

That sounds to me like an illicit way of making black profit and contrary to the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations.

There's nothing in their T&Cs to say they have the right to effectively seize the balance of the card.

I'd write them a pretty stern letter asking them to reconsider their decision on the above basis; use the fact that they've cancelled the original card to support your argument.

Thank you. My thoughts exactly. They have made a profit and now saying nothing can be done! Yeah right :mad:

mariahussain

marcarm wrote: »

not strictly true, can sell them on zeek or a website called card yard will give you cash for them. I sold a debenhams £30 voucher from work to card yard for £25 and the money was with me the next day, so there other ways of turning your gift card into cash, but of course you won't get full value, but then you won't get full value by buying goods to sell on either.

I have sold gift cards before and have had no issues. This is the first time where I have sold a substantial amount and have been stung!

mariahussain

hollydays wrote: »

Have you attempted to speak to the buyer?

He isn't worth speaking to. When this initially happened, I got into a heated argument over messages with him and he just laughed it off.

mariahussain

Is there any way I can reclaim this back or have I just lost £300? Nice for John Lewis.

mariahussain

Would I be able to complain anywhere else like trading standards or the ombudsman? Would they get involved in this sort of thing?

Fosterdog

Not really it's not John Lewis' fault so you have no claim against them. Your only claim is against the person who has done this to you. John Lewis probably would never have had the fill £300 for the voucher, the way these corporate gift cards work Neff would have bulk bought gift cards at a discount. Say £10,000 of gift cards for £8,000 so something similar.

I guess on the positive side you haven't actually lost any money as the gift card was just a promotional gift not something you had put £300 of your own money into.

Undervalued

mariahussain wrote: »

Is there any way I can reclaim this back or have I just lost £300? Nice for John Lewis.

Whilst I have some sympathy, you breached their terms and conditions and chose to sell the card in a way that was only really likely to attract a dodgy buyer. It is hard to imagine any honest person buying a £300 card for £289 from a private seller. Why would they take the risk for such a small saving and tie themselves to only spending the money at one retailer?

Undervalued

Fosterdog wrote: »

Not really it's not John Lewis' fault so you have no claim against them. Your only claim is against the person who has done this to you. John Lewis probably would never have had the fill £300 for the voucher, the way these corporate gift cards work Neff would have bulk bought gift cards at a discount. Say £10,000 of gift cards for £8,000 so something similar.

I guess on the positive side you haven't actually lost any money as the gift card was just a promotional gift not something you had put £300 of your own money into.

I suspect Neff would have paid JL far less than that! So if JL were to reimburse the OP for the value of the card they would be losing money. I would be surprised if they got even £200 each for these cards in a bulk deal with a large manufacturer. Probably less than that.

Stores love gift cards as a very significant proportion are never redeemed. More still are not fully used. Some are used as part payment for a larger spend. They also bring people into the store who may otherwise have gone somewhere else.

unholyangel

mariahussain wrote: »

Would I be able to complain anywhere else like trading standards or the ombudsman? Would they get involved in this sort of thing?

The problem you seem to have is that (from memory anyway, haven't reread the thread) you have no contract with JL and nothing they have done has caused you a loss in any way - you'd already lost the £300 voucher to fraud by the time they'd cancelled it.

JL may not be reissuing because really, it would be up to a court to decide if the contract you entered was void or voidable and if title passed or not (and JL could be held liable if they give it to the wrong party). Its one of those complex areas and although I can't remember all the ins and outs, pretty sure it would likely focus on who the fraudster was versus who he held himself out to be.

If (example) fraudster said he was Tim Jones, really is Tim Jones and falsely made a fraud claim with his bank then contract would likely be valid & title/ownership of the voucher would pass to him.

The promotion may also have stipulated that the voucher would be invalid if resold. Literally a minefield of details that could affect the legal position.


However, try writing both to JL's head office & neff explaining (and provide police incident reference - I'd also include any imperative supporting evidence on separate sheets from a main covering letter) and asking if either of them can reissue and see how you get on - for the value involved, its definitely worth at least asking.