House of Fraser-expired gift vouchers

[billybobynumeroduo]

Hi all,

 

I have around £500 gift vouchers for HOS, they expired on Nov 2011.

 

An initial call to HOS, and they said "we will not renew the vouchers they are not valid anymore"."It says clearly that they have expired"

 

My question is are they allowed to get away with this. They have my £500 pounds and effectively have withheld my credit.

 

Can anyone tell me what the law on this is and how I can proceed with Dealing with HOS?

 

Best Wishes

 

BB

[Bullpoofilter]

Unfortunately gift vouchers are subject to the terms and conditions specified by the trader. Part and parcel of buying them is the acceptance of these terms.

 

I guess that the fact that over 14 months has passed since their expiry doesn't add anything to a request for a re-issue under goodwill.

 

Sorry that I can't give you more positive news.

[assisted blonde]

I think that they are within their rights as per their t & C,s a few days prehaps but these are a long time expired, a lesson learned i supppose

[renegadeimp]

Yep. I could see them offering to accept them within a month of the expiry date, but definitely not over a year later. The onus is on the holder of the gift voucher to use them as per the stated T&C's. If you dont use them, then you lose them.

[ericsbrother]

It is a problem that most people dont think about when buying vouchers and one that comes to the fore when the shops selling them go bust. Write to Head Office explaining why you have such a large amount of them and why they havent been used and ask for replacement vouchers so you can purchase (whatever) a particular item you have had you eye on. If you dont get any joy then you can try TV's watchdog in the hope that they may be embarrassed into reconsidering.

A problem with vouchers is that they are normally given as presents and any contract is with the purchaser. If they were given to you by one person then get them to write to the head office as Hof F actually owe them a service and there is the possibility that they could be hit for the non-performance of the expected service even though time has gone by. They are not time sensitive like theatre tickets so it is worth an initial shot.

[assisted blonde]

I really think to have left them so long it is very unlikely that you will get anywhere its not as if its just a few pounds its quite a lot to have hanging around for so long.