If somebody bought you vouchers as a present...

[NervousStudent]

Just curious as to others opinions really.

Say somebody bought you some restaurant vouchers for Christmas and the place they were for has since gone out of business, would you expect another gift of equal value from the people who gave it?

If the place was offering refunds for any unused vouchers purchased who would you expect to chase up the refund (I.e. the giver or the recipient)? Either way, as the gift receiver would you expect to keep the money from the refund?

The gift receiver should get the refund if available but no equivalent gift if not.

No! Absolutely not.
I'd kick myself for not using them sooner.

Giver to chase refund as contract is with them.

Yes to the refund, no to the equivalent gift, to be clear!

I think it’s the gift receivers responsibility to either use the voucher or get a refund - nothing to do with who gave the gift.

It's up to the receiver, not the giver. A gift once given us yours to use/regift/donate/chuck away!

If no refund then no expected replacement gift, just a shame not to use it before place went under.
If refund given to giver eg if refunded to purchasing card would think it would be nice to replace gift to receiver.
If refund given to voucher holder ie receiver then they keep.

There's no way I could go back to the giver and ask them to chase up the refund and/or supply a further gift. If I couldn't do it myself, I just chalk it up to experience.

Wouldn’t the receiver need to have a gift receipt to make any changes?

No to an equivalent gift - it's unfortunate but the gift giver has already paid out once.

Gift recipients should chase refund and keep refund - the voucher was a gift and now belongs to them.

If the place is offering refunds, then it may have to be the purchaser of the vouchers who needs to apply, rather than the recipient - you'd need to check.

Otherwise, tough shitski - they should have used the vouchers up sooner.

Thanks for the responses, I personally agree with rhubarbandcustard, Alloverthegrapevine and Elquintoconvo but my partner disagrees with me. So just interested to hear some other opinions!

Receiver should claim a refund and keep the money.
No to an equivalent gift if no refund possible. I think it's similar to someone receiving a gift which then gets broken - you wouldn't ask for another gift replace it.

I would agree with that too OP

It's unfortunate for the gift receiver. But the giver has done their bit.

I think if someone came back to me to ask for another present as the company I'd purchased them a voucher for had gone out of business I'd think them a right CF.

would you expect another gift of equal value from the people who gave it?
absolutely no way! Is someone asking you for another gift, or do you feel you owe them something? because you really don't.

Well I was given 2 vouchers for Christmas.
Both for theatre tickets.

One is getting rescheduled to next year (and was from DH) so I still get to go.

The other was from a friend, it's been cancelled. She booked them and will get the refund, I neither expect the money for them or another gift as a replacement.

I doubt it's entered her head to get me something else.

JaniceWebster, not exactly. It's more my partner who is making a fuss. We bought some experience type gift vouchers for his parents for Christmas but due to Covid the place has closed down.

I personally think we should leave it at that but he keeps telling his parents he will sort something equivalent out for them etc. They have contacted me today to ask if I can contact the place to organise a refund

Crikey , the only time I’d give another gift would be if it had been a present for a small child . They have the vouchers so they need to chase the refund .

The giver gave the gift and it's hardly their fault it now can't be used so no way is a replacement gift necessary. If a refund was available, I think it depends on how the refund is to be accessed. Present voucher and get the cash, then i would say receiver can do that if they want to. If it involves going into the original online order for example then the recipient could ask the giver to request the refund.

Well to be fair, someone needs to contact them, they've got your money and you got nothing for it.

DH got an experience for his Feb birthday. It was expensive and has a strict expiry date.
I rang them, they are just extending all the expiry dates.

W @NervousStudent why would you not organise the refund that’s a bit mean. Your in-laws can’t as they didn’t purchase the vouchers.

If it was friends or relations my own age that I’d bought a gift for I would consider that my involvement ended when the present was handed over. I wouldn’t consider myself responsible any more than if I’d given them cash and they’d lost it or or chocolates that they left next to a radiator to melt. I wouldn’t help with the refund admin or buy another gift.

If it was my parents or in-laws or someone else of an older generation I would probably step in and chase up whatever compensation was available for them because I try to help them out with things like that whenever I can. I would do that even if someone else had given them the vouchers because I’m more confident about things like that than they are. However I wouldn’t buy them a duplicate gift. I would have already spent what I considered an appropriate amount on the present. It would seem flashy and excessive to spend the same amount again, even assuming I could spare it!

@Nottobesoldseparately has jogged my memory! I bought friends tickets to go with us to see Imelda Staunton in Hello Dolly later this year. They were expensive so it was a joint Christmas/birthday gift for the two of them. The show has been postponed indefinitely and although I would have been happy to have the tickets carried forward to the eventual performance the theatre refunded the cost to my bank account. I mentioned this to my friends last week and that was the end of it. They didn’t demand that I sent them half of the refund or ask what I was going to buy them instead. The very idea seems ludicrous.

If they were a Christmas gift, they had 3 months to use them up, thinking that if you’d taken them out for a meal around Christmas, they would have had it by now.

Let your DH chase up a possible refund, if he feels bad about it. But these things happen occasionally.

@Quarantimespringclean but would it not be normal for you to say to them "they've refunded the tickets, I'm sending you amazon vouchers/taking you for a meal when this has all calmed down, instead" ?