Expired gift voucher - any chance of an extension?

born_again

Hoenir said:

Exodi said:

It is a sad day to see promotion of the use of frivolous claims; exploiting the fact that many retailers will settle small claims as the cost to defend would be higher.

Easy enough to defend small claims. Retailer will simply quote their contractual terms. Onus then remains on the claimant to decide whether it's worth pursuing. Throwing £35 down the drain to file a claim needs to be considered. 

Yes, but cost is also a factor in their decision.
They are not going to send a corporate legal person when their fee is far greater than the claim. Shame that costs can not be awarded in these case, so they do get defended. 
But a standard fee for the costs.
As companies can not just send anyone.

screech_78

We had an expired gift voucher case go to small claims and it was defended by us. It was for £500 of gift cards. We won the case due to the terms & conditions being clear. A receipt is given with all gift cards with the exact date of expiry and we actually give a month’s grace after that. It’s also noted on the actual card that making a part purchase with the card or a balance enquiry resets the expiry for a further 24 months so it doesn’t have to expire if you don’t let it. 

We used to replace expired gift cards but a decision was made a couple of years ago at the highest level that they will only now be replaced if there are extenuating circumstances. 

After Covid, all gift cards were also given an extra 3 months if they expired at any point between March 2020 and a certain date in 2021, although they could still have been used online. 

HillStreetBlues

user1977 said:

HillStreetBlues said:

user1977 said:

HillStreetBlues said:

RefluentBeans said:

HillStreetBlues said:

user1977 said:

HillStreetBlues said:

user1977 said:

Okell said:

user1977 said:

Okell said:

motorman99 said:

But registrars aren’t judges, and often see things differently…..

(I do wonder if gift vouchers etc that have an expiry date might be "unfair" under the Consumer Rights Act 2015.  I'd be interested what argument sellers would put forward to show the term was fair)

They've got to expire at some point anyway under the normal laws of prescription for debts (5 or 6 years depending on the jurisdiction) - which is actually what some retailers explicitly do e.g. Tesco's gift cards expire 5 years after their last use.

They don't "have to expire" at all.  

I had some WH Smith vouchers that had no expiry date and were well over 6 years old*.

I redeemed them instore and even checked before doing so that they were still valid.  The shop assistant said that so long as they had no expiry date then they should be accepted and they were.

I think I've done the same with Boots vouchers too.

Yes, I'm not arguing that retailers are prohibited by anybody else from honouring old vouchers if they choose to do so, but they don't have a legal obligation to honour them until Doomsday.

It's the law of contract, it doesn't simply end because you want it too.

And the law of prescription applies to contracts...

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1980/58/section/5

Yes it does but you're misunderstanding it.

Time limit for actions founded on simple contract.

An action founded on simple contract shall not be brought after the expiration of six years from the date on which the cause of action accrued. 

If you have a gift voucher (that you bought) that has no expiry date and the retailer reject it, then you have 6 years from that date as that is when the cause of action accrued (the date of rejection).
It's not the start of the contract.

I was under the impression that indefinite contracts (with no exit clauses by the parties) are generally disfavoured by courts? It would be rather ridiculous to have a Harris’s voucher from 1850 and expect it to be still be valid, never mind that our currency has changed since then! 

Disfavoured doesn't mean disallowed.
If you feel something from 1850 would be ridiculous, how about transferable token from 1766, that must be mindblowing
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-67194169

The Bristol Old Vic added: "If it is indeed authentic, we will honour our policy and provide free tickets to the owner."

Paid £50 and got a token, the gift card of it's day.

Nothing in that story suggests it's legally enforceable though, just that the Old Vic are happy to honour it.

That is true, no way of knowing either way.
As you replied to another post, rather than my comment to yours I'm guessing you accept that you were wrong about how the law of prescription applies to contracts works (sometimes you have to guess as some are scared to admit to making them).

Ah, no, the relevant date is surely when it could first be redeemed i.e. the date of purchase normally - or the clock restarts whenever it is re-acknowledged (hence the Tesco policy of running from the last use). Your interpretation would suggest that any contractual obligation could lie in abeyance for decades and then suddenly be enforced.

Not any, will depend on the contact but of course they can run for many years.   999 year lease is a contract.
If someone buys a product from a manufacturer with a 20 guarantee then that becomes part of the contract,  so that could wait years until being enforced.
There is no legal time limits in contract law (feel free to try and find them).

I not sure why you are so fixated with a Tesco gift card and using that a basis of your thinking, Amazon have 10 years from issue date, and I certainly wouldn't use an Amazon gift card as my guidance to contract law. 

RefluentBeans

HillStreetBlues said:

user1977 said:

HillStreetBlues said:

user1977 said:

HillStreetBlues said:

RefluentBeans said:

HillStreetBlues said:

user1977 said:

HillStreetBlues said:

user1977 said:

Okell said:

user1977 said:

Okell said:

motorman99 said:

But registrars aren’t judges, and often see things differently…..

(I do wonder if gift vouchers etc that have an expiry date might be "unfair" under the Consumer Rights Act 2015.  I'd be interested what argument sellers would put forward to show the term was fair)

They've got to expire at some point anyway under the normal laws of prescription for debts (5 or 6 years depending on the jurisdiction) - which is actually what some retailers explicitly do e.g. Tesco's gift cards expire 5 years after their last use.

They don't "have to expire" at all.  

I had some WH Smith vouchers that had no expiry date and were well over 6 years old*.

I redeemed them instore and even checked before doing so that they were still valid.  The shop assistant said that so long as they had no expiry date then they should be accepted and they were.

I think I've done the same with Boots vouchers too.

Yes, I'm not arguing that retailers are prohibited by anybody else from honouring old vouchers if they choose to do so, but they don't have a legal obligation to honour them until Doomsday.

It's the law of contract, it doesn't simply end because you want it too.

And the law of prescription applies to contracts...

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1980/58/section/5

Yes it does but you're misunderstanding it.

Time limit for actions founded on simple contract.

An action founded on simple contract shall not be brought after the expiration of six years from the date on which the cause of action accrued. 

If you have a gift voucher (that you bought) that has no expiry date and the retailer reject it, then you have 6 years from that date as that is when the cause of action accrued (the date of rejection).
It's not the start of the contract.

I was under the impression that indefinite contracts (with no exit clauses by the parties) are generally disfavoured by courts? It would be rather ridiculous to have a Harris’s voucher from 1850 and expect it to be still be valid, never mind that our currency has changed since then! 

Disfavoured doesn't mean disallowed.
If you feel something from 1850 would be ridiculous, how about transferable token from 1766, that must be mindblowing
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-67194169

The Bristol Old Vic added: "If it is indeed authentic, we will honour our policy and provide free tickets to the owner."

Paid £50 and got a token, the gift card of it's day.

Nothing in that story suggests it's legally enforceable though, just that the Old Vic are happy to honour it.

That is true, no way of knowing either way.
As you replied to another post, rather than my comment to yours I'm guessing you accept that you were wrong about how the law of prescription applies to contracts works (sometimes you have to guess as some are scared to admit to making them).

Ah, no, the relevant date is surely when it could first be redeemed i.e. the date of purchase normally - or the clock restarts whenever it is re-acknowledged (hence the Tesco policy of running from the last use). Your interpretation would suggest that any contractual obligation could lie in abeyance for decades and then suddenly be enforced.

Not any, will depend on the contact but of course they can run for many years.   999 year lease is a contract.
If someone buys a product from a manufacturer with a 20 guarantee then that becomes part of the contract,  so that could wait years until being enforced.
There is no legal time limits in contract law (feel free to try and find them).

I not sure why you are so fixated with a Tesco gift card and using that a basis of your thinking, Amazon have 10 years from issue date, and I certainly wouldn't use an Amazon gift card as my guidance to contract law. 

If neither party has been in contact with each other for a prolonged amount of time, then the court may see that contract as terminated. In the same way there are some archaic laws on the books but enforcing them would be difficult. 

Going back to my example of the Harrods gift voucher of over a century ago, if Harrods refused it and said sorry this is no longer valid, I don’t think any court would allow the claimant to claim on that voucher. You may disagree, but contracts that have an indefinite period and no exit clauses for either party are, categorically, a terribly idea. How can you possibly prove the validity of such contracts (contract being a gift voucher). 

I think if you tried to enforce the voucher, and the other party is unwilling it is highly unlikely that you could convince a court that it should be enforceable. 

HillStreetBlues

RefluentBeans said:

HillStreetBlues said:

user1977 said:

HillStreetBlues said:

user1977 said:

HillStreetBlues said:

RefluentBeans said:

HillStreetBlues said:

user1977 said:

HillStreetBlues said:

user1977 said:

Okell said:

user1977 said:

Okell said:

motorman99 said:

But registrars aren’t judges, and often see things differently…..

(I do wonder if gift vouchers etc that have an expiry date might be "unfair" under the Consumer Rights Act 2015.  I'd be interested what argument sellers would put forward to show the term was fair)

They've got to expire at some point anyway under the normal laws of prescription for debts (5 or 6 years depending on the jurisdiction) - which is actually what some retailers explicitly do e.g. Tesco's gift cards expire 5 years after their last use.

They don't "have to expire" at all.  

I had some WH Smith vouchers that had no expiry date and were well over 6 years old*.

I redeemed them instore and even checked before doing so that they were still valid.  The shop assistant said that so long as they had no expiry date then they should be accepted and they were.

I think I've done the same with Boots vouchers too.

Yes, I'm not arguing that retailers are prohibited by anybody else from honouring old vouchers if they choose to do so, but they don't have a legal obligation to honour them until Doomsday.

It's the law of contract, it doesn't simply end because you want it too.

And the law of prescription applies to contracts...

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1980/58/section/5

Yes it does but you're misunderstanding it.

Time limit for actions founded on simple contract.

An action founded on simple contract shall not be brought after the expiration of six years from the date on which the cause of action accrued. 

If you have a gift voucher (that you bought) that has no expiry date and the retailer reject it, then you have 6 years from that date as that is when the cause of action accrued (the date of rejection).
It's not the start of the contract.

I was under the impression that indefinite contracts (with no exit clauses by the parties) are generally disfavoured by courts? It would be rather ridiculous to have a Harris’s voucher from 1850 and expect it to be still be valid, never mind that our currency has changed since then! 

Disfavoured doesn't mean disallowed.
If you feel something from 1850 would be ridiculous, how about transferable token from 1766, that must be mindblowing
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-67194169

The Bristol Old Vic added: "If it is indeed authentic, we will honour our policy and provide free tickets to the owner."

Paid £50 and got a token, the gift card of it's day.

Nothing in that story suggests it's legally enforceable though, just that the Old Vic are happy to honour it.

That is true, no way of knowing either way.
As you replied to another post, rather than my comment to yours I'm guessing you accept that you were wrong about how the law of prescription applies to contracts works (sometimes you have to guess as some are scared to admit to making them).

Ah, no, the relevant date is surely when it could first be redeemed i.e. the date of purchase normally - or the clock restarts whenever it is re-acknowledged (hence the Tesco policy of running from the last use). Your interpretation would suggest that any contractual obligation could lie in abeyance for decades and then suddenly be enforced.

Not any, will depend on the contact but of course they can run for many years.   999 year lease is a contract.
If someone buys a product from a manufacturer with a 20 guarantee then that becomes part of the contract,  so that could wait years until being enforced.
There is no legal time limits in contract law (feel free to try and find them).

I not sure why you are so fixated with a Tesco gift card and using that a basis of your thinking, Amazon have 10 years from issue date, and I certainly wouldn't use an Amazon gift card as my guidance to contract law. 

If neither party has been in contact with each other for a prolonged amount of time, then the court may see that contract as terminated. In the same way there are some archaic laws on the books but enforcing them would be difficult. 

. 

On what legal basis? Case law is the way to prove it.

RefluentBeans

HillStreetBlues said:

RefluentBeans said:

HillStreetBlues said:

user1977 said:

HillStreetBlues said:

user1977 said:

HillStreetBlues said:

RefluentBeans said:

HillStreetBlues said:

user1977 said:

HillStreetBlues said:

user1977 said:

Okell said:

user1977 said:

Okell said:

motorman99 said:

But registrars aren’t judges, and often see things differently…..

(I do wonder if gift vouchers etc that have an expiry date might be "unfair" under the Consumer Rights Act 2015.  I'd be interested what argument sellers would put forward to show the term was fair)

They've got to expire at some point anyway under the normal laws of prescription for debts (5 or 6 years depending on the jurisdiction) - which is actually what some retailers explicitly do e.g. Tesco's gift cards expire 5 years after their last use.

They don't "have to expire" at all.  

I had some WH Smith vouchers that had no expiry date and were well over 6 years old*.

I redeemed them instore and even checked before doing so that they were still valid.  The shop assistant said that so long as they had no expiry date then they should be accepted and they were.

I think I've done the same with Boots vouchers too.

Yes, I'm not arguing that retailers are prohibited by anybody else from honouring old vouchers if they choose to do so, but they don't have a legal obligation to honour them until Doomsday.

It's the law of contract, it doesn't simply end because you want it too.

And the law of prescription applies to contracts...

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1980/58/section/5

Yes it does but you're misunderstanding it.

Time limit for actions founded on simple contract.

An action founded on simple contract shall not be brought after the expiration of six years from the date on which the cause of action accrued. 

If you have a gift voucher (that you bought) that has no expiry date and the retailer reject it, then you have 6 years from that date as that is when the cause of action accrued (the date of rejection).
It's not the start of the contract.

I was under the impression that indefinite contracts (with no exit clauses by the parties) are generally disfavoured by courts? It would be rather ridiculous to have a Harris’s voucher from 1850 and expect it to be still be valid, never mind that our currency has changed since then! 

Disfavoured doesn't mean disallowed.
If you feel something from 1850 would be ridiculous, how about transferable token from 1766, that must be mindblowing
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-67194169

The Bristol Old Vic added: "If it is indeed authentic, we will honour our policy and provide free tickets to the owner."

Paid £50 and got a token, the gift card of it's day.

Nothing in that story suggests it's legally enforceable though, just that the Old Vic are happy to honour it.

That is true, no way of knowing either way.
As you replied to another post, rather than my comment to yours I'm guessing you accept that you were wrong about how the law of prescription applies to contracts works (sometimes you have to guess as some are scared to admit to making them).

Ah, no, the relevant date is surely when it could first be redeemed i.e. the date of purchase normally - or the clock restarts whenever it is re-acknowledged (hence the Tesco policy of running from the last use). Your interpretation would suggest that any contractual obligation could lie in abeyance for decades and then suddenly be enforced.

Not any, will depend on the contact but of course they can run for many years.   999 year lease is a contract.
If someone buys a product from a manufacturer with a 20 guarantee then that becomes part of the contract,  so that could wait years until being enforced.
There is no legal time limits in contract law (feel free to try and find them).

I not sure why you are so fixated with a Tesco gift card and using that a basis of your thinking, Amazon have 10 years from issue date, and I certainly wouldn't use an Amazon gift card as my guidance to contract law. 

If neither party has been in contact with each other for a prolonged amount of time, then the court may see that contract as terminated. In the same way there are some archaic laws on the books but enforcing them would be difficult. 

. 

On what legal basis? Case law is the way to prove it.

If there are no exit clauses (which there often aren’t on the old ‘perpetual’ gift cards) then the contract is allowed to be terminated. That is very common basic law. I would advise you to actually check your facts before spouting nonsense. 

user1977

HillStreetBlues said:

user1977 said:

HillStreetBlues said:

user1977 said:

HillStreetBlues said:

RefluentBeans said:

HillStreetBlues said:

user1977 said:

HillStreetBlues said:

user1977 said:

Okell said:

user1977 said:

Okell said:

motorman99 said:

But registrars aren’t judges, and often see things differently…..

(I do wonder if gift vouchers etc that have an expiry date might be "unfair" under the Consumer Rights Act 2015.  I'd be interested what argument sellers would put forward to show the term was fair)

They've got to expire at some point anyway under the normal laws of prescription for debts (5 or 6 years depending on the jurisdiction) - which is actually what some retailers explicitly do e.g. Tesco's gift cards expire 5 years after their last use.

They don't "have to expire" at all.  

I had some WH Smith vouchers that had no expiry date and were well over 6 years old*.

I redeemed them instore and even checked before doing so that they were still valid.  The shop assistant said that so long as they had no expiry date then they should be accepted and they were.

I think I've done the same with Boots vouchers too.

Yes, I'm not arguing that retailers are prohibited by anybody else from honouring old vouchers if they choose to do so, but they don't have a legal obligation to honour them until Doomsday.

It's the law of contract, it doesn't simply end because you want it too.

And the law of prescription applies to contracts...

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1980/58/section/5

Yes it does but you're misunderstanding it.

Time limit for actions founded on simple contract.

An action founded on simple contract shall not be brought after the expiration of six years from the date on which the cause of action accrued. 

If you have a gift voucher (that you bought) that has no expiry date and the retailer reject it, then you have 6 years from that date as that is when the cause of action accrued (the date of rejection).
It's not the start of the contract.

I was under the impression that indefinite contracts (with no exit clauses by the parties) are generally disfavoured by courts? It would be rather ridiculous to have a Harris’s voucher from 1850 and expect it to be still be valid, never mind that our currency has changed since then! 

Disfavoured doesn't mean disallowed.
If you feel something from 1850 would be ridiculous, how about transferable token from 1766, that must be mindblowing
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-67194169

The Bristol Old Vic added: "If it is indeed authentic, we will honour our policy and provide free tickets to the owner."

Paid £50 and got a token, the gift card of it's day.

Nothing in that story suggests it's legally enforceable though, just that the Old Vic are happy to honour it.

That is true, no way of knowing either way.
As you replied to another post, rather than my comment to yours I'm guessing you accept that you were wrong about how the law of prescription applies to contracts works (sometimes you have to guess as some are scared to admit to making them).

Ah, no, the relevant date is surely when it could first be redeemed i.e. the date of purchase normally - or the clock restarts whenever it is re-acknowledged (hence the Tesco policy of running from the last use). Your interpretation would suggest that any contractual obligation could lie in abeyance for decades and then suddenly be enforced.

Not any, will depend on the contact but of course they can run for many years.   999 year lease is a contract.
If someone buys a product from a manufacturer with a 20 guarantee then that becomes part of the contract,  so that could wait years until being enforced.
There is no legal time limits in contract law (feel free to try and find them).

I not sure why you are so fixated with a Tesco gift card and using that a basis of your thinking, Amazon have 10 years from issue date, and I certainly wouldn't use an Amazon gift card as my guidance to contract law. 

For a start, different rules apply to any obligations created by a deed. And leases are different for other reasons anyway. Though the 6 year period still applies for arrears of rent.

But I'm not writing an essay about it just now, I think you are misguided about the principle that a contract can simply sidestep the principle of prescription.

HillStreetBlues

RefluentBeans said:

HillStreetBlues said:

RefluentBeans said:

HillStreetBlues said:

user1977 said:

HillStreetBlues said:

user1977 said:

HillStreetBlues said:

RefluentBeans said:

HillStreetBlues said:

user1977 said:

HillStreetBlues said:

user1977 said:

Okell said:

user1977 said:

Okell said:

motorman99 said:

But registrars aren’t judges, and often see things differently…..

(I do wonder if gift vouchers etc that have an expiry date might be "unfair" under the Consumer Rights Act 2015.  I'd be interested what argument sellers would put forward to show the term was fair)

They've got to expire at some point anyway under the normal laws of prescription for debts (5 or 6 years depending on the jurisdiction) - which is actually what some retailers explicitly do e.g. Tesco's gift cards expire 5 years after their last use.

They don't "have to expire" at all.  

I had some WH Smith vouchers that had no expiry date and were well over 6 years old*.

I redeemed them instore and even checked before doing so that they were still valid.  The shop assistant said that so long as they had no expiry date then they should be accepted and they were.

I think I've done the same with Boots vouchers too.

Yes, I'm not arguing that retailers are prohibited by anybody else from honouring old vouchers if they choose to do so, but they don't have a legal obligation to honour them until Doomsday.

It's the law of contract, it doesn't simply end because you want it too.

And the law of prescription applies to contracts...

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1980/58/section/5

Yes it does but you're misunderstanding it.

Time limit for actions founded on simple contract.

An action founded on simple contract shall not be brought after the expiration of six years from the date on which the cause of action accrued. 

If you have a gift voucher (that you bought) that has no expiry date and the retailer reject it, then you have 6 years from that date as that is when the cause of action accrued (the date of rejection).
It's not the start of the contract.

I was under the impression that indefinite contracts (with no exit clauses by the parties) are generally disfavoured by courts? It would be rather ridiculous to have a Harris’s voucher from 1850 and expect it to be still be valid, never mind that our currency has changed since then! 

Disfavoured doesn't mean disallowed.
If you feel something from 1850 would be ridiculous, how about transferable token from 1766, that must be mindblowing
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-67194169

The Bristol Old Vic added: "If it is indeed authentic, we will honour our policy and provide free tickets to the owner."

Paid £50 and got a token, the gift card of it's day.

Nothing in that story suggests it's legally enforceable though, just that the Old Vic are happy to honour it.

That is true, no way of knowing either way.
As you replied to another post, rather than my comment to yours I'm guessing you accept that you were wrong about how the law of prescription applies to contracts works (sometimes you have to guess as some are scared to admit to making them).

Ah, no, the relevant date is surely when it could first be redeemed i.e. the date of purchase normally - or the clock restarts whenever it is re-acknowledged (hence the Tesco policy of running from the last use). Your interpretation would suggest that any contractual obligation could lie in abeyance for decades and then suddenly be enforced.

Not any, will depend on the contact but of course they can run for many years.   999 year lease is a contract.
If someone buys a product from a manufacturer with a 20 guarantee then that becomes part of the contract,  so that could wait years until being enforced.
There is no legal time limits in contract law (feel free to try and find them).

I not sure why you are so fixated with a Tesco gift card and using that a basis of your thinking, Amazon have 10 years from issue date, and I certainly wouldn't use an Amazon gift card as my guidance to contract law. 

If neither party has been in contact with each other for a prolonged amount of time, then the court may see that contract as terminated. In the same way there are some archaic laws on the books but enforcing them would be difficult. 

. 

On what legal basis? Case law is the way to prove it.

If there are no exit clauses (which there often aren’t on the old ‘perpetual’ gift cards) then the contract is allowed to be terminated. That is very common basic law. I would advise you to actually check your facts before spouting nonsense. 

I was waiting for you to argue against yourself and glad you didn't disappoint.

To be able to terminate a contract  you must have a valid contract, so by bring up termination it's admitting there is a valid contract.

Have a look back on the thread, I never stated the contract couldn't be terminated, as I know it can be, I just waiting for someone to shoot their self in the foot.
(guess you didn't find any case law either).

RefluentBeans

HillStreetBlues said:

RefluentBeans said:

HillStreetBlues said:

RefluentBeans said:

HillStreetBlues said:

user1977 said:

HillStreetBlues said:

user1977 said:

HillStreetBlues said:

RefluentBeans said:

HillStreetBlues said:

user1977 said:

HillStreetBlues said:

user1977 said:

Okell said:

user1977 said:

Okell said:

motorman99 said:

But registrars aren’t judges, and often see things differently…..

(I do wonder if gift vouchers etc that have an expiry date might be "unfair" under the Consumer Rights Act 2015.  I'd be interested what argument sellers would put forward to show the term was fair)

They've got to expire at some point anyway under the normal laws of prescription for debts (5 or 6 years depending on the jurisdiction) - which is actually what some retailers explicitly do e.g. Tesco's gift cards expire 5 years after their last use.

They don't "have to expire" at all.  

I had some WH Smith vouchers that had no expiry date and were well over 6 years old*.

I redeemed them instore and even checked before doing so that they were still valid.  The shop assistant said that so long as they had no expiry date then they should be accepted and they were.

I think I've done the same with Boots vouchers too.

Yes, I'm not arguing that retailers are prohibited by anybody else from honouring old vouchers if they choose to do so, but they don't have a legal obligation to honour them until Doomsday.

It's the law of contract, it doesn't simply end because you want it too.

And the law of prescription applies to contracts...

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1980/58/section/5

Yes it does but you're misunderstanding it.

Time limit for actions founded on simple contract.

An action founded on simple contract shall not be brought after the expiration of six years from the date on which the cause of action accrued. 

If you have a gift voucher (that you bought) that has no expiry date and the retailer reject it, then you have 6 years from that date as that is when the cause of action accrued (the date of rejection).
It's not the start of the contract.

I was under the impression that indefinite contracts (with no exit clauses by the parties) are generally disfavoured by courts? It would be rather ridiculous to have a Harris’s voucher from 1850 and expect it to be still be valid, never mind that our currency has changed since then! 

Disfavoured doesn't mean disallowed.
If you feel something from 1850 would be ridiculous, how about transferable token from 1766, that must be mindblowing
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-67194169

The Bristol Old Vic added: "If it is indeed authentic, we will honour our policy and provide free tickets to the owner."

Paid £50 and got a token, the gift card of it's day.

Nothing in that story suggests it's legally enforceable though, just that the Old Vic are happy to honour it.

That is true, no way of knowing either way.
As you replied to another post, rather than my comment to yours I'm guessing you accept that you were wrong about how the law of prescription applies to contracts works (sometimes you have to guess as some are scared to admit to making them).

Ah, no, the relevant date is surely when it could first be redeemed i.e. the date of purchase normally - or the clock restarts whenever it is re-acknowledged (hence the Tesco policy of running from the last use). Your interpretation would suggest that any contractual obligation could lie in abeyance for decades and then suddenly be enforced.

Not any, will depend on the contact but of course they can run for many years.   999 year lease is a contract.
If someone buys a product from a manufacturer with a 20 guarantee then that becomes part of the contract,  so that could wait years until being enforced.
There is no legal time limits in contract law (feel free to try and find them).

I not sure why you are so fixated with a Tesco gift card and using that a basis of your thinking, Amazon have 10 years from issue date, and I certainly wouldn't use an Amazon gift card as my guidance to contract law. 

If neither party has been in contact with each other for a prolonged amount of time, then the court may see that contract as terminated. In the same way there are some archaic laws on the books but enforcing them would be difficult. 

. 

On what legal basis? Case law is the way to prove it.

If there are no exit clauses (which there often aren’t on the old ‘perpetual’ gift cards) then the contract is allowed to be terminated. That is very common basic law. I would advise you to actually check your facts before spouting nonsense. 

I was waiting for you to argue against yourself and glad you didn't disappoint.

To be able to terminate a contract  you must have a valid contract, so by bring up termination it's admitting there is a valid contract.

Have a look back on the thread, I never stated the contract couldn't be terminated, as I know it can be, I just waiting for someone to shoot their self in the foot.
(guess you didn't find any case law either).

So you agree that perpetual gift cards don’t form a contract and thus unenforceable. Great. Thanks for playing champ. 

HillStreetBlues

RefluentBeans said:

HillStreetBlues said:

RefluentBeans said:

HillStreetBlues said:

RefluentBeans said:

HillStreetBlues said:

user1977 said:

HillStreetBlues said:

user1977 said:

HillStreetBlues said:

RefluentBeans said:

HillStreetBlues said:

user1977 said:

HillStreetBlues said:

user1977 said:

Okell said:

user1977 said:

Okell said:

motorman99 said:

But registrars aren’t judges, and often see things differently…..

(I do wonder if gift vouchers etc that have an expiry date might be "unfair" under the Consumer Rights Act 2015.  I'd be interested what argument sellers would put forward to show the term was fair)

They've got to expire at some point anyway under the normal laws of prescription for debts (5 or 6 years depending on the jurisdiction) - which is actually what some retailers explicitly do e.g. Tesco's gift cards expire 5 years after their last use.

They don't "have to expire" at all.  

I had some WH Smith vouchers that had no expiry date and were well over 6 years old*.

I redeemed them instore and even checked before doing so that they were still valid.  The shop assistant said that so long as they had no expiry date then they should be accepted and they were.

I think I've done the same with Boots vouchers too.

Yes, I'm not arguing that retailers are prohibited by anybody else from honouring old vouchers if they choose to do so, but they don't have a legal obligation to honour them until Doomsday.

It's the law of contract, it doesn't simply end because you want it too.

And the law of prescription applies to contracts...

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1980/58/section/5

Yes it does but you're misunderstanding it.

Time limit for actions founded on simple contract.

An action founded on simple contract shall not be brought after the expiration of six years from the date on which the cause of action accrued. 

If you have a gift voucher (that you bought) that has no expiry date and the retailer reject it, then you have 6 years from that date as that is when the cause of action accrued (the date of rejection).
It's not the start of the contract.

I was under the impression that indefinite contracts (with no exit clauses by the parties) are generally disfavoured by courts? It would be rather ridiculous to have a Harris’s voucher from 1850 and expect it to be still be valid, never mind that our currency has changed since then! 

Disfavoured doesn't mean disallowed.
If you feel something from 1850 would be ridiculous, how about transferable token from 1766, that must be mindblowing
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-67194169

The Bristol Old Vic added: "If it is indeed authentic, we will honour our policy and provide free tickets to the owner."

Paid £50 and got a token, the gift card of it's day.

Nothing in that story suggests it's legally enforceable though, just that the Old Vic are happy to honour it.

That is true, no way of knowing either way.
As you replied to another post, rather than my comment to yours I'm guessing you accept that you were wrong about how the law of prescription applies to contracts works (sometimes you have to guess as some are scared to admit to making them).

Ah, no, the relevant date is surely when it could first be redeemed i.e. the date of purchase normally - or the clock restarts whenever it is re-acknowledged (hence the Tesco policy of running from the last use). Your interpretation would suggest that any contractual obligation could lie in abeyance for decades and then suddenly be enforced.

Not any, will depend on the contact but of course they can run for many years.   999 year lease is a contract.
If someone buys a product from a manufacturer with a 20 guarantee then that becomes part of the contract,  so that could wait years until being enforced.
There is no legal time limits in contract law (feel free to try and find them).

I not sure why you are so fixated with a Tesco gift card and using that a basis of your thinking, Amazon have 10 years from issue date, and I certainly wouldn't use an Amazon gift card as my guidance to contract law. 

If neither party has been in contact with each other for a prolonged amount of time, then the court may see that contract as terminated. In the same way there are some archaic laws on the books but enforcing them would be difficult. 

. 

On what legal basis? Case law is the way to prove it.

If there are no exit clauses (which there often aren’t on the old ‘perpetual’ gift cards) then the contract is allowed to be terminated. That is very common basic law. I would advise you to actually check your facts before spouting nonsense. 

I was waiting for you to argue against yourself and glad you didn't disappoint.

To be able to terminate a contract  you must have a valid contract, so by bring up termination it's admitting there is a valid contract.

Have a look back on the thread, I never stated the contract couldn't be terminated, as I know it can be, I just waiting for someone to shoot their self in the foot.
(guess you didn't find any case law either).

So you agree that perpetual gift cards don’t form a contract and thus unenforceable. Great. Thanks for playing champ. 

That comment just makes you seems desperate and very foolish, actually it's pathetic.

You know you gone from,  there is a contact  but time limited  to there is a contract but needs to be terminated, to now there isn't a contract.

I would give up, as the more you try the deeper the hole you dig.