Experience Voucher Expired: Can I Get a Refund?

Q.

My wife purchased a voucher for a day out from a well known company offering such experiences. We attempted to use the voucher and have been refused. We have contacted the company to get the voucher renewed and they have said 'no'. We asked for a refund they said 'no' as the voucher has expired, so we have lost our money.

When booking online you only get 7 months - if you phone you get a year. At no point when booking online is this made clear and when the ticket arrives, the expiry date is in very small print and on the back of the card - but the how to book form is actually glued over it! We left the two attached up until we came to make our booking. We mistakenly thought we had a year having bought one before via phone. What are our rights? Is it right that we should have paid and received no goods in return?

A.

The company is likely to insist that the 7 month period is made clear during the online booking process, and regrettably I must admit it seems unlikely that you are going to get your money back. Nevertheless, given what you have said about the expiry date I would suggest the following:

Complain

Write a letter of complaint detailing what has happened and specify that:

• a) it was not made clear online that the expiry date was seven months away rather than a year,
• b) that you are already a customer of this company having previously bought an experience by telephone
• c) that this is not a situation in which you are merely trying to extend your voucher’s validity because of inertia on your part
• d) that you feel that you have been prejudiced as a result of the fact that the how to book form was glued over the expiry date, and that you left the two attached (which is hardly abnormal) until such time as you wanted to book.

Your Reasoning

I would also include the following: you feel, as a previously satisfied customer of their company that you have a legitimate expectation to be able to enjoy the voucher, and that it is unfair of the company to have supplied documentation in such a way as to make it confusing and unclear as to how/ when the voucher needed to be used. You can also say that you have acted in good faith at all times, and that there is a significant imbalance in your rights as consumer, and their rights as the business. While you understand that they need to fulfil their commercial needs, they must also take into account your rights and interests – and in this case you have been subjected to treatment which you consider unfair.

Round off your letter specifying exactly what you want –i.e. an extension so that you can still enjoy the benefit of the voucher – and add that you expect to hear from them forthwith. Make it clear that your letter is a ‘complaint’ rather than mere ‘correspondence’ as this could mean you get a quicker response.

The Law

In answer to your original question, the company is within its rights to put a time limit on your ability to use the voucher. This means that you could easily have a situation in which you have paid money for a service that has subsequently expired (think lottery tickets, department store gift vouchers, credit notes.)

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