Make sure you don’t lose out when a company goes bust
IT HAS been a grim few years for some of the big brands on the high street and in recent weeks, some major retailers have announced they may go bust or be broken up.
Understandably lots of you are concerned about what happens if you still have vouchers, gift cards or pending orders. Here are your rights:
A VOUCHER basically entitles you to buy goods or services up to a certain prepaid amount. They can be bought as gifts or issued in lieu of a refund, for example, by a shop if you’ve decided you don’t like what you’ve bought or been given. Vouchers usually have an expiry date on them and you must ‘use it or lose it’. Firms like them as people forget to cash them in. If you have one, put a reminder in your calendar at least a month before expiry so you don’t lose out.
GIFT CARDS: Work in a similar way to vouchers, are almost exclusively purchased as gifts, and should also have clear expiry dates on them, though there have been disputes in the past about these rubbing off or not being clear.
If you have a gift card problem, the purchaser usually has to make the complaint.
VOUCHERS:
Because they are, in effect, cash with a time limit, you might – might – be able to get a lost gift card or voucher reissued. It depends on the Ts&Cs and if you can prove you genuinely had one.
WHEN ADMINISTRATORS STEP IN:
Administrators will generally try to keep the business trading. But they can make sweeping changes to the way it operates, including putting restrictions on vouchers and gift cards.
If you recently bought a gift card you might be able to ask your bank to ‘charge back’ your purchase on the grounds you haven’t got what you paid for, but this is a grey area.
THERE used to be an assumption that when a business was purchased or rescued, gift cards and vouchers would be honoured if the firm continued to trade. That all became a little complicated in recent years.
When House of Fraser was taken over, it was announced that gift cards and vouchers would be replaced. Yet a huge number of Resolver users had to wait for months before they got an answer about theirs. So don’t assume your vouchers will carry over under new management.
WHEN FIRMS GO BUST: Officially, when a firm goes bust, you join the long list of creditors owed money – but at the back of the queue. It’s rare to actually get any cash back. So for most people, when a firm goes bust, your vouchers and gift cards become worthless.
But... the process of going into administration isn’t usually instantaneous. There’s often a window of opportunity to quickly spend the voucher or card before the firm goes under.
There’s no way to definitively prepare for this. You just have to keep an eye on the news and remember what vouchers and cards you have.
Sometimes the administrators may even honour them, but if you hear a firm is going under, spend the voucher.
RETURNS AND REFUNDS: Things get more complicated if you need to return goods or replace faulty items. Often this is at the discretion of the administrator.
Once again, speed is of the essence. You may be able to ask your bank or card provider to ‘charge back’ your money for undelivered items or pending refunds. Don’t hesitate.
Resolver can help you sort out complaints about pretty much anything. See resolver.co.uk