NOT VOUCHED FOR
The collapse of HMV and Jessop this New Year and of Comet before Christmas tells us that no High Street retailer is safe. And that means vouchers and gift cards are not a safe way to store money. If you have them sitting in a drawer then it is time to get them out, dust them off and spend them. In fact it is good idea anyway because, as I have warned before, they do run out and are best spent quickly before that happens.
We buy more than £4 billion worth of vouchers and gift cards every year. But they are no more than a promise by the a company to give you goods to the value of the card. And if the company goes bust then that promise becomes worthless. And you become an unsecured creditor of the firm. Chances are you will get nothing.
If you want to give a card or voucher rather than cash then the safest sort are those issued by a whole shopping centre or even a group of retailers in a town. It is less likely they will all go bust.
And Book Tokens can now be given in the form of gift cards which are accepted at thousands of separate booksellers. But generally, with the High Street in the state it is in, someone you give a card or voucher to could end up with a useless bit of plastic or paper.
If that happens don’t despair. The person who bought it can get their money back using a system known as ‘chargeback’. This is a deal agreed by Visa, MasterCard and Amex whereby they take liability if a firm does not provide the goods or service it promises. It is particularly useful where a firm goes out of business. The card issuer will refund your money. There are a few restrictions – you normally have to apply within 120 days of the firm going bust. And MasterCard has a minimum amount of £10.
So if you have a card or gift voucher with Comet or Jessop or HMV then ask the person who bought it and gave it to you to reclaim the money and give you the cash. There is nothing so comforting on a gift as the words “Bank of England. I promise to pay the bearer the sum of…”
And do get out those gift cards and vouchers for other High Street stores and spend them. No-one knows which, but some will not be worth anything this time next year.
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