Sometimes we forget that we have a gift card for a certain store or business. A few years go by and you come across it when you’re cleaning out your drawers in the kitchen. It’s a great find but can you still use it after it’s been forgotten about for so many years? Watch the video below and find out if your gift card for that favourite store is still good to use.
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Question…
We received gift cards to Milestone’s Restaurant.
They have sold but are still called Milestones.
We went for dinner and were told they no longer accepted the old gift cards.
We had no idea that Milestones had sold.
Are they able to say no to the gift cards that we’ve received as gifts?
I look forward to hearing your response on this matter.
Hi Tammy, thanks for your question. When businesses change hands, the new business may not have agreed to honour old gift cards from the original owners/business. A frustrating situation for sure. You can attempt to escalate the issue through their customer service channels to see if they may be willing to make an exception. This is, however, something we hear about often and it’s not an issue that’s captured by BC’s gift card laws, as the businesses are usually new entities. I imagine this wasn’t the answer you were hoping for but I hope it’s helpful to you. Best of luck!
I have a gift card for a restaurant in Vancouver but there is an expiration date on it. Its a gift card as mentioned on it and not a store credit. Are they allowed to put an expiration date on it?
Thanks
Hi Pratik, thanks for reaching out to us. There are instances when a gift card is allowed to expire. For example, if the card is for a specific good or service (one dinner at a restaurant) or if the card was sold for a charitable or promotional purpose. If the gift card is for a dollar value ($100 towards a restaurant) and it was not sold as a promotion or for charity, than it probably should not expire. For more info on next steps, check out this page here and go to the heading that says “what to do if your gift card expires but it shouldn’t”: https://www.consumerprotectionbc.ca/consumer-help/consumer-information-gift-cards/#Can%20my%20gift%20card%20expire
Best of luck!
I had a subscription online for audiobook credits I purchased each month. I had too many credits to use, so I cancelled the subscription in order to use them before accumulating even more. I just found out I only had 6 months to use those credits I bought. I can find nowhere on the website information about them expiring. They said there is a pop up when cancelling, but I do not recall seeing it. (It was 6 months ago.🙃) I recall seeing a popup asking if I was sure to cancel and that I could resubscribe anytime, but not the expiry date of bought credits. Should I have received a warning email or something to that effect? Thank you
Hi Marianne, thanks for reaching out to us here. The gift card laws do not capture subscriptions, so I can’t say for sure what information should have been disclosed to you as that’s not an area where we have authority. Usually the quickest route to a solution is to try to work it out with the business directly, however, I suspect you may have already tried that. I imagine this wasn’t the answer you were looking for but I hope it helps!