End the expiry date on gift cards
Originally published by UK Liberal Democrats
The Liberal Democrats have called on the Government to lift the expiry limits on Gift Cards.
Currently when a gift card expires, a company finds itself in a perfect situation - it effectively receives remuneration for a service or a good, which it does not even have to provide.
Different companies have different rules and so the Liberal Democrats believe the time limit should be lifted because if it expires the customer has to complain via Trading Standards usually stating the expiry date was not correctly spelled out.
Gift cards in 2013 were worth around £4 billion.
Business Spokesperson Lorely Burt said:
"Millions of people will receive gift cards over Christmas, but not everyone has the time or the inclination to brave the January Sales to redeem them. Expiry times vary, and often by the time you want to redeem your card it has expired.
"There is no good reason for gift cards to have time limited expiration dates. It purely benefits the store, not the customer, who may be waiting for the right product before spending the gift. Getting rid of expiration dates on gift cards would be a welcome gift this Christmas from stores to their customers."