Lose your voucher and you lose out ... not quite

LOSE your voucher and sorry for you; you lose out. That’s always been retailers’ stance when it comes to gift vouchers, because they’re as good as cash, they say.

But in reality, it’s really not that hard for companies who issue gift vouchers to keep track of them, especially in the case of electronic vouchers.

And even with the old-school paper ones, all that’s required of a company to know when a voucher has been redeemed is to number the vouchers and keep a register.

Of course, if the consumer doesn’t know the number of the lost voucher – paper or digital – they can’t be helped.

So there’s a good tip – photograph a voucher or gift card when you get it, particularly since, thanks to the Consumer Protection Act (CPA), consumers have up to three years to redeem a pre-paid voucher in full.

Sadly, many a service provider – spa and beauty salons in particular – continues to issue vouchers valid for just three or six months.

And consumers who don’t know their rights simply lose out. The law aside, how those suppliers justify keeping that unearned money when a consumer presents a voucher seven months or more after it was paid for, I’ll never understand.

Vimbai Manyukwi of Sunninghill and her husband of just two weeks, Gcina Magagula, discovered after opening all their wedding gifts that a Clicks gift card to the value of R1 000 was missing.

“I had the receipt displaying the card details and balance, but when I called Clicks customer care, I was told that the only thing they could do was block the card so that no one else could use it,” Manyukwi said.

“On their system they could see that the card hadn't been used yet – the balance was R1 000, but they were telling me that they see the gift card as cash, and that once you lose the card, you lose the cash.

“This makes no sense,” she said, turning to In Your Corner for help.

I took up the case with Clicks, arguing that the company had nothing to lose in re-loading that R1 000 on to a new card and allowing the newlyweds to spend the money which was intended for them.

“No loss to Clicks, a very happy day for the couple, and lots of goodwill generated,” I said.

Happily, the company agreed. “We encourage customers to safeguard gift cards and treat them like cash, as our normal policy is that lost or stolen gift cards cannot be replaced, said spokesman Susann Caminada.

“However, seeing that the customer’s balance is still available, we have made an exception in this instance and have transferred the balance onto a new card.

“We wish her all the best with her recent nuptials and lots of happy shopping at her nearest Clicks store.”

I do love a happy ending. One hopes that the company’s customer care agents will be trained and empowered to exercise such discretion in future.

A voucher protest Staying with vouchers, University of Cape Town (UCT) students in residences have become very well acquainted with “emergency food vouchers” since last year, when strikes and protests have kept the catering staff away from the kitchens. When that happens, the university issues two R55 vouchers a day to res students, with the stipulation that they be redeemed with 48 hours at a few specific Pick n Pay branches and a few fast-food outlets, and no change will be issued.

The Empangeni-based father of a second-year biochemistry student at UCT queried the conditions with In Your Corner.

“Because thousands of students are affected, my daughter cannot always redeem the full value of the vouchers,” he said. “They can’t cook in their dorms so they opt for either fresh produce or prepared meals, so these are sold out first, leaving limited options for the rest, meaning a portion of her meal funds goes to waste.

“Surely these vouchers would be valid for a longer time, and the retailers should give change? What exactly are the rules that govern these vouchers?”

Well, clearly these emergency vouchers aren’t the pre-paid vouchers which are governed by the CPA, which gives consumers the right to redeem them, in full, for up to three years.

UCT gets to make the rules regarding redemption, because the voucher is very specific – a meal replacement.

The university’s communication department told In Your Corner that as part of an “interim arrangement” the 17 chosen vendors in the area claim from the university the exact amount each student spends with their voucher each time, which is why no change is issued.

“The sole intention of the voucher is to ensure that students obtain meals for the day or days that the catering service does not function,” the university said.

“Students have 48 hours to redeem the voucher because it is intended to provide a student with a meal on the day the catering service is not in operation. The same applies to meals in residence – if the student misses a meal they do not get a refund or an extra meal the next day.”

The no-change rule was intended to stop students using their food vouchers to buy non-food items. Students were issued the emergency food vouchers last Wednesday when UCT closed because of the massive storm.

Incidentally, on top of its budgeted-for catering spend, UCT spent an extra R7,4-million in the last financial year on emergency vouchers for res students.

● Vouchers issued as part of a company’s loyalty programme are also not subject to the CPA’s three-year validity stipulation.

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