Photo: 123rf
Whangārei woman Brooke Gibson was left feeling burned when she tried to use a $200 gift card for a local restaurant.
"We were given a gift voucher by a contractor that we used and I assumed it was 12 months and put it away for safe keeping … fast forward eight months later, I go to use it and I see it was only valid for six months."
She asked the restaurant whether they would still honour it and was told they would not.
Gibson said she always tried to support local business but felt it had been handled poorly and she was not given an explanation for why there was no leeway.
New rules are set to take effect for gift cards that will stop situations such as this from happening.
From 16 March, new rules take effect that mean gift cards have to have a minimum expiry time of three years.
Retail NZ chief executive Carolyn Young said there had been some uncertainty about what was captured.
She said some retailers had wondered how gift cards related to loyalty programmes would be affected by the rules, or vouchers given as incentives or bonuses.
The Commerce Commission on Friday issued guidance that made it clear that any gift voucher or card had to work with the new three-year expiration date rules, no matter whether they were in exchange for money, loyalty points or offered with another purchase.
While prepaid top-up cards for telecommunication services, public transport, electricity, gas, or water services are excluded from the changes, any other prepaid top-up cards will be required to adhere to the new minimum expiry. Loyalty points are not affected.
Gift cards given out free would be exempt.
"This clarification is useful for retailers to understand what is captured by these new rules. While it might not be the news that some businesses will have been hoping for or expecting, it provides clear guidance that they can now use to make the relevant adjustments," Young said.
"We are heartened to hear that the Commerce Commission will be taking a pragmatic approach to enforcement as retailers work to update their programmes."
The commission also said in cases where businesses automatically provide a consumer with a voucher once they reached a minimum spend threshold or a required number of loyalty points, its view was that such vouchers were not subject to the expiry requirements because they were automatically generated rather than forming part of a sale.
The Commerce Commission said if there was no expiry date given, there was no limit on how long a customer had to use a card.
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