Written by John Kruse, one of the leading experts on Bailiff Law, this consumer friendly guide is essential reading for anyone who comes into contact with a bailiff.
The book is easy to understand and clearly explains the rights
a bailiff has, and also what they cannot do when collecting debts and repossessing goods etc.
Basically my sister wanted a Nintendo Wii for xmas so decided Currys was the place for her to get it! Unfortunately they were out of stock at the time so we got her gift cards to the value of £150 (between 3 of us). Now this was fine but they have not had any in stock since and cant give a date of when they will be stock (they show them in stock online but we cant use the cards online!!).
She has waited so long that she decided to buy it elsewhere and sell the vouchers to her partner so he could buy an Ipod, in typical fashion its the same with the Ipod! No stock and no projected stock dates!
Now there has been several discussions with currys to try and get a refund but they have told my sister that they will not give a refund (not even to the card holder who purchased them - ME).
What is the law on this? Surely they have to refund the cards dont they?!
Any help would be greatly appreciated as im hoping to visit them on the way home!
Well, no. What you bought is gift cards and you got gift cards. If you had made an advance payment towards a specific item and this then wasn't available then yes you could get a refund, but a gift card doesn't have a stated purpose, so I'm afraid you're stuck.
Apologies to people who I was in the process of helping, I may be gone some time.
I have to say that between this kind of scenario, Zavvi refusing to honour theirs, anyone with Woolworth's being stuck, I can't see the sale of gift cards going up. Who would spend money on stuff you can't be sure will be honoured in 2 weeks time?
In your case, unless Curry's decide on a good will gesture (and they're not known for those), I'm afraid this is it.
Apologies to people who I was in the process of helping, I may be gone some time.
The only thing I can think of, and it is a big push with a possible leap of logic or two, was that the purchase was based solely upon being able to use them at that store for this item on the promise of availability. Even so, I doubt you would have the evidence available to prove what you are saying.
I would dare say that a manager would order them online for you and do something with the till to count it as payment.
But the best advice for the future is never to buy gift vouchers - why limit yourself to one store or chain when the cash can be used anywhere? I personally think the damned things should be banned - whoever thought of them must be laughing their head off.
I know vouchers seem nicer than handing cash over (and there is the con - it's some psycological thing that handing money over is naff - something that sellers have created and instilled). Some will disagree I know, but it's more practical having doshers in hand than some shop's T&C'd IOU.