Jessops, HMV, Blockbuster: what to do if you have unused gift cards and vouchers
If you have a gift card or voucher for one or more of these shops, here's what you need to know.
Camera store Jessops has closed its shops, while entertainment retailer HMV is in administration. It’s terrible news for employees, creditors and suppliers, but it may not be all bad news for customers with unused gift cards and vouchers.
HMV has continued trading and now administrator Deloitte has announced that stores will start accepting gift cards and vouchers again from Tuesday (21st January). The advice is to spend them now, in case the decision is reversed again.
If you have a Jessops gift card or vouchers
While Jessops has ceased trading, you may be able to get your money back on any used gift cards or vouchers. It all depends on how they were paid for.
Credit card transactions
If the gift card or voucher was bought by you or for you using a credit card, under Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act you can claim your money back. However, the minimum amount you can claim for is £100, which probably rules out a lot of people.
These people can instead attempt to claim from the company that issued their card under the chargeback rule. You have 120 days from the date when you’re aware there’s a problem, which would be 9th January, the day when Jessops went into administration.
If your claim is rejected, you can take it to the Financial Ombudsman Service.
Debit card transactions
If the gift card was bought by you or for you using a debit card, you could also pursue a claim under the chargeback rule. You need to contact the bank or building society that issued your card. You have 120 days from the date when you’re aware there’s a problem, which would be 9th January, the day when Jessops went into administration.
If your claim is rejected, you can take it to the Financial Ombudsman Service.
Cash or cheque transactions
Unfortunately, cash and cheque purchases don’t cover the same levels of protection as those made by card. You can write to the administrators but you’ll be added to a list of creditors and may not get any of your money back. If you have a Jessops gift card or voucher, there's information on how to submit a claim on the Jessops website.
If an HMV gift card was bought at Asda, Boots or Tesco
Asda started selling HMV gift cards in November and has announced that it will switch the value of any HMV gift cards purchased at Asda onto an Asda gift card. However, you must be able to provide proof of purchase, which is either a receipt or a bank statement. You have until 30th January to make the switch.
Boots and Tesco will also credit the balance of an HMV gift card bought in its stores or online onto their gift cards. You'll need to provide proof of purchase, such as a receipt.
What about Blockbuster?
DVD and game rental company Blockbuster has also entered administration (also appointing Deloitte). However, gift cards and trade-in credits are still being accepted for now. But you may want to spend them sooner rather than later.
This article has been updated
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@sludgeguts. Agree. That's why banks and financial advisors are encouraging businesses to be set up as limited liability organisations. Scrounge what you can while you can and then go bust blaming trading conditions. If all businesses were run as sole trader or unlimited liability, I can assure you that most businesses would be run without a view to going bust and hiding behind the LTD banner. Owners/shareholders would ensure the viability of the business is judged/monitored on a regular basis. Some may not agree with me and to them I say fine, however do you recall the LTD banks that went begging to the tax payer? The govt acted as our agent and bailed them out to my frustration. LTD is a flawed system where high risk trading is involved. Greed requires safeguards also known as LTD. Just take a look at what happened to Iceland after the banks failed...yes the people rewrote the constitution and sacked the government and it's finanacial safeguards ie FSA and other useless monitors. It must be noted that Iceland is well on its way to a recovery. This is not reported in any news media as it will make our politicians and planners look rather silly and daft.
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@ sludgeguts... Some years back, we paid £2000 to a double glazing company to build us a conservatory. They took our deposit then went bust a few weeks later. Radford and Son were the brought in to liquidate the business. Prior to the bankruptcy, the machinery used to make the windows was sold cheaply to a competitor, and in return the directors of the double glazing company were offered jobs with the competitor. When the company was bankrupted, there was nothing left after the bank took their share. I met up with the salesman who sold us the conservatory a month later, and he admitted to me that they knew they were winding up, which was why they were encouraged to sell windows and doors at cheap prices to secure deposits so that their obligation to the bank was fulfilled. Whether this is legal or not, a company could argue that they endeavoured to stay afloat by trying to sell as much as possible prior to going bankrupt. Also, many businesses borrow from banks to survive, so if the bank calls in its debts, that can end a business prematurely. Oh, the fraud squad were involved with the above case, but they could prove no criminal activity.
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I am so sick of stupid comments regarding the economy based on the failure of high street retailers who have been slow to change with technology and tendency to online sales for many product sectors. The underlying UK economy is extremely strong and there is a scrabble at many levels to try and bring manufacturing back to the UK or Europe. There have been some incredible changes in the products which we regard as 'essential' to our lives and those retailers who have ceased trading were simply not important enough to us, whatever their history. Green Shield stamps in the back of the drawer, anyone?
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19 January 2013