Just a buyer beware warning here for those that purchase Gift Cards this time of year. My 10yr old niece went to spend her Gift4all gift card only to find the £10 she thought was on the card was now only £2.80. 18mths after the purchase of the gift card the card issuer takes 90p per month off the balance until it is zero. My then 8yr old niece had initially lost the card received from her great auntie, and having a good clear out at the weekend it reappeared, and as there is no expiry date on the card she went to spend it thinking she still had the £10. She was very upset to find she hadn’t as obviously being a child and a recipient she didn’t read the T&Cs prior to purchase!
I don’t know of any other Gift Cards that operate like this, most have expiry dates clearly on the front, but you may wish to double check the T&Cs if you have bought Gift Cards, and make sure the recipients know about anything like this.
There was a feature on this on the radio the other day - not something I had been aware of till I heard it on there. There are also some cards that have a “no change” policy so if you only spend say £6 of a £10 voucher you lose the £4.
That is shocking. Poor kid.
Gift vouchers are an amazing opportunity for the shops to make a fortune. Most go unspent! People should just give money instead of gift cards. I know people don’t see it as personal but ultimately it makes more sense.
I know this happens with certain gift cards that get from those saving clubs. You lose a lot of money as you have don’t get the change or a new lower value voucher if you only spent part of the voucher.
I also know that Marks and Spencer give you 2 years, but if you use one of their gift cards just before it expires it reactives it and gives you another 2 years and starting at it’s new balance.
But yes they are one of the biggest ways for companies to increase their profits as many never get redeemed.
I now think about sending cheques through the post to people rather than gift cards/vouchers.
Another thing is that if you send gift cards/vouchers or money through the post if they get ‘lost’ in the post they can be used by anyone were as a cheque or a bank to bank transfer or friends and family paypal gift transfer is not only free it’s safe.
Thank you very much for this info. I was able to pass it on to my son who received one of these cards for Christmas. I think he’ll be spending it soon!!
