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?

[Quarantimespringclean]

@MysteryParcels. I can honestly say it didn’t cross my mind and I don’t think it did theirs either.

They are close friends (obviously or we wouldn’t have spent so much money on a gift!). Our lives are full of give and take in various ways, both in terms of money spent on outings, meals and holidays and also of favours done. No one is checking a mental balance sheet of they gave us ‘this‘ and it cost that much and and we did ‘that’ and that cost so much so Now they owe us ‘x’. It would be impossible to calculate and negate the pleasure of giving and sharing.

I bought the tickets because I know how much they love Imelda Staunton and we love Hello Dolly not because they cost what they did. It was going to be a shared pleasure. If it’s not possible to see that show, substituting some random gift or voucher costing the same amount wouldn’t be the same thing at all.


I think it’s a unspoken given that if the show is rescheduled I’ll repurchase the tickets but if it’s not I don’t think they will feel I have benefitted unfairly. But you’ve made me think - I’m going to ask them! I have a feeling they will be horrified at the very idea.

[DiscBeard]

If they were for Christmas the vouchers have probably expired anyway. Don't you usually have to use them within 3 months?

[Fluffycloudland77]

Bloody hell no I wouldn’t. Do they think your made of money?.

[AlwaysCheddar]

Cf!!! Let them sort it out.

[MysteryParcels]

@Quarantimespringclean your situation is really sticking in my mind and I've been musing on it all of yesterday (like a sad bastard I know).

I think if it were me I'd definitely be keen to immediately make alternative provision for the gifts.

However as a recipient if the gift giver didn't, then it wouldn't occur to me to be miffed, because the cancellation is just the way 2020 life is and it really doesn't matter.

[BarbaraofSeville]

If the place has closed down as in gone bust, there is unlikely to be any refund due, because places close down because they run out of money and there is a set order in which any available funds are distributed, with HMRC, the likes of the council for business rates and any secured creditors at the front of the queue.

After all that, there is rarely any money left for any other creditors such as gift voucher holders.

However, if you paid for the vouchers by credit card and they were for more than £100, you can get a refund from your credit card, and obviously it's the holder of the card who needs to organise this. If you paid by debit card, you might be able to get a chargeback, but assuming that there has to be some money available for the bank to take back, I don't know if this is possible, but worth a try.

www.moneysavingexpert.com/shopping/section75-protect-your-purchases/

Of course, if you do manage to get money back via this route, you would probably feel obliged to buy the PILs another gift, as they've lost out up to now.

But to be honest, I'd advise everyone to steer clear of gift vouchers, because there's likely to be a lot of companies go bust over the next couple of years, and in this case, you often might as well set fire to the money.

Just give cash, or agree to stick to exchanging token presents only, much easier and less risky.

[NervousStudent]

BarbaraofSeville, thank you for your detailed reply.

It's not really about the money as such, I just feel it would be a bit off for PiL to accept an alternative gift. Obvs my partner is going to do whatever he see's fit. I was curious as to whether others felt the same way or if it's just me .

I bought theatre tickets for my parents for a show they love which has unfortunately been cancelled. I will buy them some tickets again if the show does come back around but I'm not going to get them something else just for the sake. My parents would be horrified if I tried to give them the money/recompensate them. Likewise, I wouldn't expect it from them.

[Quarantimespringclean]

@MysteryParcels. Lol. You’ve sparked something in me too. I’ve talked about this with a couple of people since yesterday!

I guess I didn’t immediately think of replacing the gift because as a family (one of the couple is my DHs relative as well as my best friend) we have pretty much given up on exchanging gifts routinely for Christmas and birthdays. We are older and we all have everything we want so it got a bit pointless. It’s more a case that if we see something we know someone will love we buy it and give it to them straightaway saying this is for last Birthday or next Christmas or whatever. That might be something big like these tickets or tiny like a packet of seeds or a secondhand book. The tickets were just such a perfect gift. To replace them with something perfunctory seems wrong to me.

That being said, I am seeing the couple at the weekend and after a few drinks (when inhibitions are lowered and the truth might come out) I will raise the question of sharing the refund with them. I think they would be mortified at the idea but they might surprise me! I’ll let you know

[AldiAisleofCrap]

@Quarantimespringclean please do update, I am really curious what their response will be. Tv is rubbish at the moment so I appreciate a real life cliff hanger

[MysteryParcels]

@Quarantimespringclean ah, y'see I didn't realise you didn't regularly exchange gifts with these people! That does change it significantly and make perfect sense!

[Quarantimespringclean]

I asked them last night if they’d like the cash for the tickets to buy something nice with. They stared at me as if I had two heads (by then we’d had a few drinks so maybe I looked as if I did). When they realised I meant it one of them said ‘why would we want that?’, the implication being they already have money to buy nice things with, why would they want me to give them the money. The family member (being less polite) said ‘ Fuck off with your money!’ Then we all laughed immoderately and the conversation moved on.

So yay! I’m £300 up and my conscience is clear. I still hope they announce new show dates soon and that I can get tickets as good as those ones were.