Expired vouchers/giftcards

dogleish

(Sorry if this is the wrong channel.)

I just discovered I have a recently expired voucher on https://www.lifestylegiftcards.co.uk boo. hoo.

I checked the T&Cs and it says they expire after 18 months, fair enough. What I think is unfair, however, is that they never sent me any email or reminder that the expiry date was approaching.

In fact, my account homepage which lists my registered vouchers doesn't mention any expiry date whatsoever, so how would someone know when the actual expiry date is?

It got me thinking about other vouchers/giftcards – do other companies ever send out emails to let people know the expiry date is approaching?

Should they not have some responsibility to do that? Of course I can understand why they don't, they must make a lot of money off of unclaimed giftcards… (perhaps some FOIs are needed – could be an interesting news story for MSE?) I imagine so many people have unclaimed giftcards they forgot about…

Edit: Vouchers via lifestyle are a bit different compared to regular giftcards. It was remuneration for being interviewed for a research project. So they have my email address as I had to register with them in order to claim the voucher. They never told me the voucher had an expiry date when I claimed it.

pramsay13

Martin Lewis has said on many occasions to avoid gift cards for several reasons and you've just highlighted one.

user1977

Why would they need to remind you? You know what the expiry date is when you buy the card - stick it in your own diary.

flaneurs_lobster

MSE/ML seem to have a feature every six months or so when ~30 million quids-worth of Tesco vouchers are about to expire.

Don't think Tesco (or anyone else) have ever notified me of a voucher's/gift card's imminent demise.

One reason I only buy gift cards on the day they will be spent (by me).

Aylesbury_Duck

No need for a news story, it's well known that a healthy percentage of vouchers are never spent.

Most vouchers are purchased as gifts, so how would the retailer know who to remind, if they were inclined to do so? Bit embarrassing for the donor to find out that the voucher they lovingly chose ages ago has been forgotten about...

dogleish

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82038886#Comment_82038886

They never told me there was any expiry date when I claimed the voucher, so there was no way of me knowing the expiry date… (which was remuneration for being interviewed for a research project).

Isthisforreal99

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82038937#Comment_82038937

So you didn't even buy them, therefore you have zero consumer rights.

And back to your OP, what makes you think a private entity would need to comply with a FOI request?

zagubov

You can politely ask the retailer if they will reactivate expired gift cards; some (not all) may do that if you ask nicely.

Aylesbury_Duck

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82038937#Comment_82038937

It doesn't sound like you're the original purchaser. Any consumer rights (or B2B rights if the purchaser was a business) reside with the purchaser. If the voucher provider was inclined to remind anyone, it would be the purchaser.

Okell

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82038942#Comment_82038942

I've successfully done this with M&S and one of the vouchers had expired about three years earlier.

If you don't ask…

(Nb - I renewed them instore. M&S online CS refused point blank)

p00hsticks

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82038918#Comment_82038918

Tesco have certainly e-mailed me to say I had expiring vouchers - I rarely visit them as we don't have one near us (points accumulated via a mobile phone contract) so I just donated the £2.50 to charity via their website.

I also get emails to say my Hobbycraft vouchers are expiring. If you think about it it;s usually in their interest to tell you your vouchers are expiring if they're for a relatively small amount in the hope you'll visit the store and spend more.