Spa refusing to honour gift voucher as 'out of date'

[ChardonnayGirl2]

Dh bought me a spa day for xmas at local boutique hotel. After the initial 'wow' thank you, I put in in my bedside drawer for safe keeping in the chaos of present unwrapping that is xmas day.

Get it out to book it tonight, - it expired in feb 2011 - only 8 weeks after it was bought.

a) Don't most gift vouchers have 1 year or 6 months to claim?

b) Why are they refusing to honour it? They say there is a grace period of 2 weeks after it expires, so there can be no logical reason for not honouring it, they obviously decide the grace period, be it 1, 2, 4 weeks etc...

c) It is for a service that has been paid for, therefore is relevant WHEN the service is actually given, surely?

d) YES I AM WELL AWARE THAT I SHOULD HAVE CHECKED THE DATE MORE CAREFULLY, - BUT... SHIT HAPPENS AND PEOPLE FORGET - OK?!!!

sorry, c) should read .....is NOT relevant when the service is actually given

Write to the manager of the establishment to ask if they could waive the normal expiration date or offer an alternative.

Btw, they may have been offering a promotional price for these particular months, so it may actually make a difference when you use it.

Forgotten vouchers is a big money maker. Sorry you lost your present but I don't see why the company should pay for your mistake. :( Perhaps sweet talk your DH for a 'woops I forgot - try again?' pressie?

The way of the world I'm afraid. I always wondered why theres a time limit on vouchers. What it means really is if the voucher isn't used they the the money for doing nothing. Nothing you can do really.

It's a pretty poor show if you ask me. In this economic climate they really shouldn't be turning business away like this. You could go and use your voucher, love their service, use it again AND recommend them to friends. As it stands, they've taken your money, are offering pretty poor customer services and are highly unlikely to get anything but negative publicity as a result. Companies like this rely on word of mouth.

I would be really upset if a gift voucher only lasted two months tbh. A promotional voucher (like 20% off) is fair enough but a gift voucher needs to last longer as the buyer doesnt know when the recipient can use it

Have you actually contacted them to see if you can still use it? I got a giftcard as a present and realised it expired July 2010. I asked them to extend and they quite happily did.

I know most companies do put expiry dates on vouchers but I don't think they're actually supposed to - the expiry date should be to allow them to cancel that amount off for accounting purposes but they should be seen as tender to be used in that premises and therefore no actual expiry in the eyes of the consumer (unless of course the company goes bust then you're screwed)

Phone your local consumer council and see what they say.

Actually I'm wrong they can put an expiry date on it but there are a few rules so you might be able to still get your voucher. Here's an old article in the guardian but I think advice still applies

m.guardian.co.uk/money/2006/apr/29/consumernews.moneysupplement?cat=money&type=article - read the last bit