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Gift tokens are a great last-minute present when you have run out of ideas but reckon giving cash is naff and another wrong size/wrong colour/bad taste item is even naffer. And they are easy to post and usually come with a free gift card.
But unless you are careful in choosing which one to buy, that gift token could end up effectively leaving the recipient with a worthless piece of paper.
Guardian Money reader John Jameson from Gloucestershire was given a £20 WH Smith token three years ago - but it proved to be a gift to WH Smith's bottom line.
"When I tried to cash in my £20 'Giftcard' at its Cheltenham store to buy some books, the cashier refused the voucher, saying that as the card had not been used for more than 24 months, it had now 'expired' and was worthless," he says. "As I made a special journey to use the token, which I had discovered at home, you can imagine how annoyed I was."
But Jameson, a tree surgeon, was unaware of the time limit: "It was not clearly marked like a season ticket with an expiry date, though it does say in tiny print on the back that, if unused for 24 months, it will expire and the balance will be deducted."
Jameson is not the first to suffer from this rule. In August, Guardian Money reported how a Derbyshire man who was given a WH Smith "Bookcard" by friends while he was in hospital in 2006, found his £13 card had been declared worthless by the high-street store. In both cases, the retailer cited "terms and conditions" which allow it to keep the money. It told the Guardian that the 24-month rule was for "accounting purposes," though accountants contacted could find no auditing rule which decreed this.
Outraged at losing his £20, Jameson wrote to WH Smith to complain. "I asked how they justified taking my money. After all, the original buyer had trusted them to honour the token. If she had wanted to boost WH Smith's coffers, she could have sent a £20 note to its chief executive. I think this is shameful. If I took £20 worth of goods from them, I would be arrested."
WH Smith told him: "To clarify, it is stated in the terms and conditions that accompany our Gift Cards that the card will expire if it remains unused for 24 months. You can check the balance of your card both in store and online, and we will be happy to advise you of the expiry date at any time.
"I regret the disappointment we have caused; however, it is not economical for us to manage Gift Cards for longer than a two-year period. Analysis of paper vouchers has proved that the majority are redeemed within this time-frame, and I would to assure you that most other retailers adopt a similar procedure.
"Once the money is deducted off the card it goes into a Loss and Profit (sic) account."
Jameson says: "Does it clearly warn the buyer in the store? It is only when you have paid for the token that you can see the terms and conditions. In any case, why should they have my money?"
Which? says the contract with the consumer would be undermined if the retailer failed to spell out the expiry rules at point of sale, although because the amounts are usually so small, no one bothers to go to court.
WH Smith claims "most other retailers adopt a similar position", but the National Book Tokens it sells do not have an expiry date.
Working through stores and their policies can be time-consuming - hardly what anyone would want to do in the last few hectic days before Christmas.
But the most consumer-friendly advice comes in a listing from Ireland's National Consumer Agency - which is useful as many top UK stores appear on it. This suggests the WH Smith assertion that "most other retailers adopt a similar position" does not hold for many of its high-street rivals.
Among leading shops featuring no expiry date are B&Q, Boots, Borders, Currys, Halfords, Harvey Nichols, HMV, Homebase, Miss Selfridge and Timberland. John Lewis also has no expiry on its tokens - although all the stores on the "good" list also have special offer vouchers which may have a time limit.
Of stores that fall into the WH Smith camp, expiry dates range from one to five years. Many stores will reissue "out of date" vouchers on request, but some refuse.
"WH Smith appears to go to great efforts to ensure the loss of my goodwill," says Jameson. "You would have thought that reissuing a voucher was worth their while to keep a customer."
If you buy vouchers, remember:
• The store contract is legally with the original purchaser, not the recipient.
• Check what happens if you part-use the voucher (which is often sold as an electronic card).
• Find out if any "service charges" are imposed if you keep the token too long
• If you lose the voucher, you have no comeback
• If the store goes bust, you're unlikely to get anything as an unsecured creditor, though another retailer could take the vouchers over and redeem them.
t.levene@guardian.co.uk
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