Gift cards and chargebacks

GreyCellGreen

Hi can someone advise re the below please..

I purchased some Currys gift cards through a 3rd party site with my credit card.
Spent the vouchers on Currys web site and they confirmed the order but then cancelled it which was 3 weeks ago. Despite numerous phone calls, webchats and emails it is impossible to get anything definitive from Currys as to when and how they will reimburse me.

If I had just purchased the items with my credit card I could have raised a chargeback against Currys but as I have purchased vouchers from a 3rd party site using my credit card and they have fulfilled their contract by providing me with the gift cards what is the process to recover the funds from Currys. Is the small claims court my only option?

Thanks

la531983

More or less.

The third party fulfilled their end of the bargain by providing you with the functioning gift cards.

Alderbank

There are no benefits at all to paying with gift cards.

I assume you bought the cards at a discount, perhaps through a scheme with your employer?

Under the consumer law, Currys must refund you in full in the same form as you paid (unless both you and Currys agree to something different) so it will be back in Currys' gift cards.

GreyCellGreen

Alderbank said:

There are no benefits at all to paying with gift cards.

I assume you bought the cards at a discount, perhaps through a scheme with your employer?

Under the consumer law, Currys must refund you in full in the same form as you paid (unless both you and Currys agree to something different) so it will be back in Currys' gift cards.

Thanks for reply, I understand they should refund me with a gift card if I have paid with a gift card but the query was really what recourse do I have if they don't actually do that or take forever to do it. Normally if I have paid on a credit card I could just raise a chargeback but I presume I cannot raise a chargeback on my credit card for the gift card as this was purchased through a 3rd party and they have fulfilled their obligation. It was more the question as to how I do this other than through the small claims court or is that the only option in this case

Thanks

eschaton

Chase the refund but it will be a gift card. 

I bought an iPad the other week and considered buying a gift card for £30.45 Airtime Rewards. 

I played safe and went with CC and a £30 voucher. I had visions of things going wrong and regretting being stuck with a Currys gift card. 

Heidiho

Thank you op, I’m in a similar spot with Ticketmaster after the gig I bought tickets for was cancelled. The refund was meant to happen with 21 days (which ended today) but when I log onto my employer’s reward website it says the balance of the gift card that I paid with is still zero. I’ll be raising a complaint with ticketmaster tomorrow and will wait to see how they respond.

Isthisforreal99

These 4%/5% savings via employer schemes are really not worth it at times.

Grumpy_chap

GreyCellGreen said:

I presume I cannot raise a chargeback on my credit card for the gift card as this was purchased through a 3rd party and they have fulfilled their obligation.

You presume correctly.

If Curry's have accepted the product return and the need to make a refund, then the refund will be made (in gift cards), albeit possibly more slowly than you might wish.

Isthisforreal99 said:

These 4%/5% savings via employer schemes are really not worth it at times.

The trick is to buy sufficient gift cards to cover the bulk of the purchase and use a CC for the balance so there is, at least, S75 protection should it be required (and the value threshold met).

35har1old

Heidiho said:

Thank you op, I’m in a similar spot with Ticketmaster after the gig I bought tickets for was cancelled. The refund was meant to happen with 21 days (which ended today) but when I log onto my employer’s reward website it says the balance of the gift card that I paid with is still zero. I’ll be raising a complaint with ticketmaster tomorrow and will wait to see how they respond.

Have used gift cards from a third party site but when it comes to a refund its refunded to a new gift card.
They seem to be unable to credit 
 the original card

Exodi

Isthisforreal99 said:

These 4%/5% savings via employer schemes are really not worth it at times.

I don't know, we get 3.5% off our Tesco shop through BLC, meaning we're saving about £17.50 per month just on our grocery spend. We've been doing this for years

If I was intending to make a big purchase, my first port of call would always be try to combine an offer with a discounted giftcard as payment, I can't say this thread has influenced me in any way.

Of course, just to throw a curveball into the mix - are we sure that the OP used an employer or BLC site to buy discounted giftcards?

There are many websites out there that will buy giftcards off people (e.g. https://www.cardyard.co.uk/buy) and then sell them on with a slight markup (but obviously less than the giftcards value).

The problem, is that these websites are Mecca for scammers - obviously scammers don't really want £500 of Apple, Amazon or Steam giftcards, despite that being what they request.

I wonder if someone was to buy from one of these giftcard resale sites, and then the giftcard number gets flagged as involved in criminal activity, would the retailer halt the order?

GreyCellGreen said:

I purchased some Currys gift cards through a 3rd party site with my credit card.
Spent the vouchers on Currys web site and they confirmed the order but then cancelled it which was 3 weeks ago. Despite numerous phone calls, webchats and emails it is impossible to get anything definitive from Currys as to when and how they will reimburse me.

Unfortunately I'm just a bit pessimistic on the whole thing. Currys unilaterally cancelling an order (presumably the OP knows why) and seemingly refusing to provide a response on a refund for 3 weeks and counting? It seems there might be more to it, which is why I wonder if there's something about the giftcards which Currys are investigating behind the scenes.

Exodi

35har1old said:

Heidiho said:

Thank you op, I’m in a similar spot with Ticketmaster after the gig I bought tickets for was cancelled. The refund was meant to happen with 21 days (which ended today) but when I log onto my employer’s reward website it says the balance of the gift card that I paid with is still zero. I’ll be raising a complaint with ticketmaster tomorrow and will wait to see how they respond.

Have used gift cards from a third party site but when it comes to a refund its refunded to a new gift card.
They seem to be unable to credit 
 the original card

Agree, it wouldn't make sense to refund it back to the original gift-card anyway - e.g. what if the original giftcard had expired in the meantime?