Q. I had a restaurant gift card that had gone partially unused for a period of time. I used it a year ago and all was fine, but I recently tried to use it over Christmas but was told that the voucher that I held was ineligible. I didn’t have a huge problem with this as, to be fair, the restaurant has apparently changed hands in the meantime, but do I have any recourse here?
Dear Reader,
Quite a bit would depend on date the voucher/gift card was purchased. Any voucher purchased after December 2, 2019, comes under the Consumer Protection (Gift Vouchers) Act 2019.
This piece of legislation sets out various regulations as regards to such cards and vouchers. That is, they must be valid for a minimum of five years; card holders cannot be forced to use the whole voucher in one transaction (you did mention that you had used the voucher previously); and the retailer or restaurant cannot charge you to change the name on the voucher, etc.
It would be advisable for you to check the date of purchase and progress matters from there.
It is also important for you to note that some ‘vouchers’ do not fall under the scheme. These would include discount cards (such as buy one get one free meals). Schemes such as these are generally subject to their own terms and conditions.
Also, some vouchers or gift cards cover more than one restaurant or retailer, and they may not be subject to the legislation.
Some gift cards are in the form of pre-paid credit cards or One4All vouchers etc, and these are legally classed as ‘Electronic money cards’. Electronic money cards are subject to different conditions and often subject to a monthly cost if funds are not used after a certain period of time.
If the restaurant has gone out of business, it is unlikely that you will be entitled to any monies from the business or its liquidator. That said, if the business was taken over and is simply being run by a different person, then the gift card should be honoured.
Often, in cases such as this, the retailer can be prevailed upon to honour the voucher – but this is done usually on a case-by-case basis and is at the complete discretion of the retailer.
If you feel that your situation falls into one of the circumstances outlined above, you can make a complaint to the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission.
