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.

The expiry date wouldnt be on the card as you just just pick one up then the details are added electronically/magnetically to the strip on the back. If there's any expiry info it will be on the receipt which I guess you should always give to the person you buy them for.

I know from past experience that JJB vouchers only last for 1 year but I think it is a rolling one if you part use it.

Sorry, I need to correct my last post - ASDA take £1 off the balance for every month that the card isn't used after 2 years of inactivity.

Personally I'd find it a bit strange to give someone a voucher/money that they weren't going to spend for 2 years.

I think it's crap. I hadn't realised this either - always given wh smith vouchers by one relative at Christmas but the station one isn't an inviting place to spend and the others are all on retail parks so never got found to spending. One day did then found out about the 2 yr thing - cards mostly wiped. I discovered this before I'd actually chosen anything as I wasn't sure how much was on the cards so was having them checked at the till. The assistant then suggested that I got the remaining balance changed to paper vouchers because they didn't have an expiry date, just the card ones. I don't know if that's the same for everywhere or just wh smith (and was only pissed off about the wasted cash, it being such a rubbish shop...).
Have just found a John Lewis voucher (paper), hope it's ok as that would be a tragedy...

Remaining balance = some cards still were still ok

We have a gift card and it doesn't say it will expire in 2 years at all. What it clearly states (on ours) is it will expire 2 years FROM the date it was LAST used. Therefore if it hasn't been used it will not have expired.

I also feel that their should be no expiry date and reputable companies like John Lewis allow this. You still see them making big profits and they manage their accounts so well they can 'manage' knowing their is credit out there.

In essence the longer you leave it anyway the less you would get for your money owing to inflation.

Zombie!! :o

You rang?

Ohh, random haha! :o

You would expect a giftcard to have an expiry date, so check it as soon as you receive it. 1 year is normal .. 2 years v generous! YABU.

Next definitely have an expiry, it's on the back of card I think. Says its valid for up to 24 months after last use of the card.
They can't put an actual date on as it would depend on when you bought and loaded money on to the gift card.

You could have £100 on it, use £50 of it after 1 year 11 months and then use a bit more of it after another 1 year and 11 months and so on

Xmas I doubt the OP is around anymore to answer. :o

Andy - when it has been purchased it has been used to 'load' the money.

Oh bloody zombie again!

But andy the first "use" is the purchase and loading of money on to the gift card, so 12 or 24 months from then

This is why I don't give gift cards. There is no reason at all for them to expire apart from greed of the store.

They're not credit, they've been paid for. Someone has exchanged money for a bit of plastic and since the store has the money they should honour the card.

M&S gift cards also have an expiry date of 24 months on - of the last transaction. So if you have an M&S card, then you should at least take it in & query the balance on it, therefore resetting the time limit - otherwise you will lose the money on that too

Also as someone else pointed out upthread, gift cards are worthless if a company goes into administration, in most cases, and in the current economic climate you don't know what company could go under

I had some expired gift cards, I phoned their head office and they replaced them for me.

I think the reason they don't put an expiry date on is because they tend to be valid for 2 years since last use. So if you buy a few bits as you go along or even just check the balance in store when your passing you extend the time to expiry.

I feel sad for you that you didn't realise. Please do throw yourself on the mercy of customer services who might let you have the money back especially if the wording on the card is small / difficult to see.

Unfortunately a lot of gift cards do this now. I had it happen with a Next card. Best to use them fairly quickly before they expire or the company goes bust.

YANBU. Thanks for reminding me I have a WHSmiths card to activate. Don't know what I'm going to spend it on.

My elderly aunt gives Smiths cards with about £25 on them on Christmas and birthdays.

I really don't want to think about how much money Smiths have taken from us, but most importantly, her over the years.

To the posters who say we should have spent the money: have any of you found anything you want in Smiths lately?

The choice of books and music is poor, the stationery range is narrow and over-priced, I get newspapers from my local newsagent because it's more convenient and lots of people don't buy a daily newspaper any more, I don't read any of the magazines on offer and I don't think I'm alone, I don't eat chocolate but if I did, I'd buy it somewhere cheaper.

That leaves greetings cards and wrapping paper, most of which I don't really like, and there are only so many cards and paper you need.

My aunt is old enough to remember when Smiths was a good retailer (about 25 years ago) instead of being somewhere that tries to push chocolate on you.

I've tried telling her not to buy the cards but she wants to give presents and doesn't know what to buy.

The card scam is a nice little earner for Smiths. They certainly haven't put so much thought into their product range and the layout of their shops.

It's not illegal, because the T&C are stated in small print, but it should be.

It's not smiths problem if a relative buys you a voucher for something you don't want!

And as smiths are pretty good at ordering in books and things you want your complaints about them don't really make sense anyway!

YABU - all retailers have an expiry date on them which you should have checked and I think 2 years is more than enough time! It's not like it was a couple of months!

Vouchers have always expired, its not a new phenomenon.
Just looked amazons last 1 year and the spa one I got yesterday was 6 months.
Photobox expires Dec 2014.

No sirzy it's not.

It is Smith's fault that they are very poor retailer with bad customer service and a sly attitude to refunding money or extending the life of money that's already been taken.

Someone else said the policy of money cards costs them money. How does that work? If I deposit £10 with them today and get a card in exchange it's highly likely it will buy less in two years' time. That's okay. Why should they give me more? But it's ridiculous to suggest that poor old Smiths and the other retailers doing this are the losers here.

As for ordering books: Smiths sells books. They are not what I'd call a bookshop. Sadly, my 91 year old aunt still thinks they are.

I go in bookshops to browse the range. Then I invariably choose something by an author or on a subject I'd not thought of. Sometimes I'm helped by staff who are more knowledgeable about books than chocolate.

If I wanted to order a book from a shop I'd do it that way round but I probably wouldn't have to because there are still some proper bookshops with a wide range such as Daunt's.

Not everywhere is lucky enough to have a Daunt's. I think the founder has been taken on as a consultant to Waterstone's to tell them how to sell books. That's good retailing.