Don't forget those old gift tokens.

[Ohmisterporter]

A reminder to anyone who has an unused gift token tucked in their wallet: they have an expiry date. I had two birthday present gift tokens in my wallet and to honest I had forgotten about them until I had a bit of a sort out of the cards I was carrying around. WHS and Waterstones cards each worth twenty pounds, or so I thought. Tried to use the WHS card yesterday only to be told it had expired and was now worthless. I handed the magazines back. Went to Waterstones and asked if there was anything still on the card. Not a problem; the card was updated there and then for another two years. So twenty quid lost at WHS and another twenty still to spend at Waterstones. 

 This leaves me wondering why gift cards need to have an expiry date at all? My kids buy Wetherspoon gift tokens for birthdays and Christmas and I have never had one refused even though we kept away for almost two years during the pandemic, I made sure I was using the oldest ones first. The card I proffered there must have been very close to two years old, if not more. In short if you have unused or forgotten gift tokens get them used. 

 

[kevinlms]

9 minutes ago, Ohmisterporter said:

A reminder to anyone who has an unused gift token tucked in their wallet: they have an expiry date. I had two birthday present gift tokens in my wallet and to honest I had forgotten about them until I had a bit of a sort out of the cards I was carrying around. WHS and Waterstones cards each worth twenty pounds, or so I thought. Tried to use the WHS card yesterday only to be told it had expired and was now worthless. I handed the magazines back. Went to Waterstones and asked if there was anything still on the card. Not a problem; the card was updated there and then for another two years. So twenty quid lost at WHS and another twenty still to spend at Waterstones. 

 This leaves me wondering why gift cards need to have an expiry date at all? My kids buy Wetherspoon gift tokens for birthdays and Christmas and I have never had one refused even though we kept away for almost two years during the pandemic, I made sure I was using the oldest ones first. The card I proffered there must have been very close to two years old, if not more. In short if you have unused or forgotten gift tokens get them used. 

 

The other problem with gift vouchers is that the business can go broke, in between you obtaining them and finding something you wish to purchase.

I remember someone purchasing a computer, that turned out to be unsuitable for some reason and he returned it. But because another model wasn't available for a few more days, he took vouchers. Two days later and the chain called in administrators, and all outstanding vouchers weren't honoured by the administrators. I think that was the story, but he certainly lost out.

 

So the old story is that cash (or the modern trend of transferring cash to your account) is a foolproof way of giving gifts, even though some regard it as lazy.

 

There are businesses around who don't have expiry dates, but that doesn't save you if they go broke.

[Guest]

1 hour ago, Ohmisterporter said:

 This leaves me wondering why gift cards need to have an expiry date at all?

 

Well WH Smiths just got twenty quid for nowt...

I don't know the figures off-hand but there is some significant proportion of tokens that go unclaimed meaning free money for the store.

[Michael Hodgson]

1 hour ago, Ohmisterporter said:

 

 This leaves me wondering why gift cards need to have an expiry date at all?

 

I assume the reason is one of accountancy practice. 

 

If they sell you a voucher for £20, they've got a "sale" without selling any goods, not a genuine sale.  So they record an increase in their cash balance on their books but also a liability.  When you use it, they have a real sale that they should record as such, but no corresponding effect on their bank balance, instead they remove the liability from their accounts.

 

Given that some percentage of these vouchers never gets used, their liabilities would just keep rising indefinitely.  But if they expire, those uncashed can be removed after a suitable period of time. 

 

 

And yes, it is free money for the company - they win twice with vouhers: if it is used they have obtained cash for the prioed that the boucher is held, so they save the interest they would have paid on that muh of their overdraft, as well as a 100% gain if it is never used.

 

[BernardTPM]

Yes, a complete rip-off really.

[AY Mod]

10 hours ago, Michael Hodgson said:

they win twice with vouhers:

 

And a third way, if inflation is 10% and they're not redeemed in that year you're only getting £9 worth of goods compared to the £10 if you'd spent them straight away.

 

Mind you the same applies to a tenner!

[Mark Saunders]

9 minutes ago, BernardTPM said:

Yes, a complete rip-off really.

I realised that when Jessop’s receivers refused to honour vouchers!