Gift card damaged and cannot be redeemed - England

talk2tod91

Hi all,

Strange one, I was gifted a gift card for my birthday in October for Adidas. It was purchased in Tesco.

Went to their store in Braintree, the staff member accidentally scratched off the pin panel.

The store manager insisted as they didn't issue the gift card they can't help. The customer service phone number says the same. They can confirm the card is active and has a balance of £50 but they cannot reissue the pin.

Tesco customer service and in store team say, all they do is activate the gift cards on behalf of companies like Adidas and they cannot cancel or reissue card and Adidas have your money not Tesco.

At a bit of a loss, feels like I just need to find a sensible person in Adidas to help but yet to find anyone. Citizens advice said adidas are responsible but it seems impossible to engage with them meaningfully as you cant speak to anyone that isn't following the same not our gift card not our problem script. 

Any advice would be great, thanks

la531983

Can you not use the number of the card online instead?

talk2tod91

the pin code was scratched off, you need this to redeem online... i can try and guess it but there is 10K combinations!

DE_612183

I thought the pin panel that was scratched off would reveal the PIN?

talk2tod91

the pin panel was completely scratched off / destroyed by the shop assistant

the pin panel is stuck onto the gift card not imprinted

FlorayG

If an employee of the store damaged it then the store is liable - who issued it is completely irrelevant. If someone in the store had spilled ink on your trousers they wouldn't tell you to take it up with Marks and Spencer would they?

Alderbank

You attempted to spend your plastic card in the Adidas Outlet Store in Braintree Village?
The Adidas staff member serving you processed the card incorrectly with the result that it could not be redeemed?

If so, the Outlet Store is responsible, as CAB have told you. Adidas UK's T&Cs say

3.3 To use a Gift Card in store, present the Gift Card (physical or electronic) to any of our cashiers at the time of purchase. 
6.2 If we fail to comply with these Terms, we are responsible for loss or damage you suffer that is a foreseeable result of our breach of these Terms

Adidas UK is a Dutch company. Their address is

adidas (UK) Limited

Hoogoorddreef 9A

1101 BA Amsterdam

The Netherlands.

9. Governing law and jurisdiction

9.1 These Terms shall be governed by the laws of The Netherlands. Dutch law applies to the sales contract...
9.2 You may bring any dispute which may arise under these Terms to...the competent court of Amsterdam.

Adidas UK give a number of ways to contact them on their website, including WhatsApp, Facebook messenger and phone number, but presumably you have tried all of them without success.

It is possible that the Outlet Village store is a franchise or some kind of reseller rather than Adidas UK . If so they must by law display a sign giving their registered address. You might need to phone or visit the shop to get that information. In your place I would also be asking the manager for a written report of what happened.

Exodi

FlorayG said:

If an employee of the store damaged it then the store is liable - who issued it is completely irrelevant. If someone in the store had spilled ink on your trousers they wouldn't tell you to take it up with Marks and Spencer would they?

I agree with you and immediately jumped to imagining a cashier accidentally ripping a £20 note in half, then suggesting that while they can agree it is indeed a £20 note, they can't accept it as payment because it's ripped and subsequently sending you off to argue it out with the ATM in the wall.

Then I thought about what if it was one of those generic giftcards that can be redeemed in many shops. Presumably if a cashier at one of the eligible shops destroyed the pin, you wouldn't argue that they are liable by sole virtue of being (one of) the redemption retailers.

I still think the store is liable, but not due to any argument of goods not being fit for purpose, but simply for negligence. I'd like to think it would be within the managers remit to offer a £50 'goodwill credit' and take the gift voucher. The risk they may see is that if the OP really did know the pin, they could redeem it later at home, but that's why it's necessary for the store to accept the staff member destroyed the pin while uncovering it.

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

Exodi said:

I still think the store is liable, but not due to any argument of goods not being fit for purpose, but simply for negligence. 

I  would agree with this

Ergates

Exodi said:

I still think the store is liable, but not due to any argument of goods not being fit for purpose, but simply for negligence.

Yes.  From a "giftcard" perspective, then they can say "Sorry, there's nothing we can do", and OK, they're probably correct.

But from a "We damaged an item worth £50 rendering it unusable" they they're clearly liable.  It was damaged in their store, by their staff member, and they've acknowledged this.