To think Toys R Us gift cards should not be wiped after 2 years?

[ballstoit]

On DD2's first Christmas (2009), she really didn't need anything, so I asked friends and family who wanted to buy gifts, to get her gift tokens for Toys R Us so I could get her something when she needed it.

So, she has just started to be able to pedal a tricycle, and I thought it would be nice to get her a new trike of her own. I went to Toys R Us this morning, she chose a trike (well, I did, and then helped her to 'choose' it!), and we went to checkout to pay with her gift cards. Except that they are apparently wiped after 2 years, if they are not used, and all have a nil balance.

AIBU to expect that gift cards should not be wiped? DD2 has lost £85 through Toys R Us dodgy policy, and the fact that I didn't read the (tiny) small print on the back of the gift card which explains this will happen. And Toys R Us have gained £85 for 6 pieces of credit card sized plastic...bastards.

Seriously?! Do you honesty expect them to have these gift cards sitting out there just waiting to be used? No company can allow thousands of pounds of 'credit' just sitting there to be used 'whenever' - complete nightmare for balancing their books. Most actually put a limit of 12 months on it so 2 years is quite generous, really!

All gift cards have a time valid policy

YABU. I think two years is a perfectly reasonable time frame in which to use vouchers or giftcards. Costs have increased for them as a company too, you can't expect them to sell you something at today's price on yesterday's money.

All do don't they? Not just Toy R Us.

This really gets me - DH lost £45 on a PC World gift card in the same way a couple of years ago. It's crap.

Alot of paces are a year, 2 is very generous!

They do say that on them if you look so YABU!

Yes, got all the receipts...will try writing to them but won't hold my breath.

ChitChat, I've got gift cards at home from Boots, Next, Asda, Ikea, Marks & Spencers and Argos, which I have just checked in a bit of a panic, and none of them have an expiry date on them. If they have an expiry date, then I think this should be made clear to the consumer, not in tiny small print on the back of the plastic (which incidentally was stuck to the greetings card so couldn't be seen until it was peeled off anyway).

Businesses must earn interest in the period of time between selling the gift card and them being used, so surely that's like a bank removing the money from a savings account if it's not spent within 2 years? Which is illegal.

your cards themselves might not have an expiry date on them, but i would check out T&C on websites etc - i think you might have a bit of a shock coming OP

As others have said, think most if not all giftcards have a time limit on them, some are more generous than others. 2 years is pretty generous imo. Think it does say on the back (in teeny, tiny print, mind you) that there is a time limit.

Argos giftcards have a 3 year time limit. Or so the guy at the till told me when I bought one fcor my sister.

Alot of the gift cards I have had, expire after 2 years after last transaction, which could just be an inquiry as to how much is on the card. It normally says this on the back of the card.

I don't think its unreasonable to have time limits on gift cards but it is very poor service not to point out the time limit clearly when selling a gift card to a customer.

I dont think there's any need to have a time limit.

All major retailers have sophisticated computer systems that are more than capable of keeping track of whats been sold and which ones have been used.

John Lewis vouchers don't expire (we have a load from our wedding and I just checked their website in a panic!).

I think its really unreasonable for vouchers to expire. Using inflation as an argument makes no sense as if the costs of goods have gone up for the shop, this will be reflected in the price at which they are sold. It's not as if the vouchers entitle you to buy goods at the prices they were when the vouchers were purchased!

I got hundreds of pounds worth of John Lewis vouchers as wedding presents in 2006. Used them last year to buy curtains.

Expiration dates are rubbish. They've taken your money and should honour it. You're doing them a favour, taking less goods for you £85 than you would have done 3 years ago.

Where I work gift cards have a limit of 2 years. We do not have to tell you that it has an expiry date as it is printed on the back.

It does not break an statutory laws, therefore, none of that is illegal in practice. Rather than it being like a savings bank, it is an item of its own, a product therefore it is not illegal to not honour the amount on the card after the last usage. As someone upthread said, this could be as simple as checking the balance in some cases.

In response to lifesalong song, it might be more down to the stripe on the back of the card rather than the computer system wiping the data, but I could be wrong.

That's very disappointing - I would be emailing the head honcho.

YABU! And as for not knowing, they could have told the customer, but who is going to give someone a gift card and expect it not to be used within 2 years?!

Why would you wait years and years anyway? Seems a bit daft to ask for something that you won't actually want to use until 2-3 years down the line.

You are being ridiculous. Nightmare customer. It's your own fault for not checking the t&c. HTH

Fair enough, looks like I probably am being unreasonable then. Will stick with shops that don't have expiry dates on their vouchers or gift cards when asking for them as presents in future.

GetThee I've not used them for a variety of reasons...DD2 hasn't needed anything and I knew at some point she would want a bike/trike and I'd struggle to afford one, I've been in and out of hospital with a heart condition and having radiotherapy, trying to sort out a messy divorce blah, blah, blah. How ridiculous of me to want to save for times when the DC actually need something big, rather than them just getting 12 selection boxes or plastic crap that will break within a few weeks.