According to Andrew Johnson of the UK Gift Card and Voucher Association, at least £250 is not being used each year on gift cards which have been purchased at stores throughout the UK. Some of these cards were purchased as gifts whilst others were purchased by companies looking to give them away as reports to customers or employees. With sales of gift cards totalling over £4 billion annually, at least 6% is never being utilised.
Whether the cards are being bought for business or as personal appearance the travesty is that they are not being used in their entirety before the expiry date. Unfortunately, this is because the expiration is only mentioned in the small print on the back card and many people don’t take the time to read the conditions under which the cards can be used. This can be a tool to those the recipient of the card and the retailer issuing the card.
As figures were tallied for the year 2011, approximately £2 billion or sold in retail stores whilst £2.18 were purchased by businesses as staff or customer rewards. A total of £250 million went unspent last year and much of that amount was because there was a remainder on cards after having been used. In other words, if the customer went in with a £50 gift card and only used £45 there would be a £5 remainder on the card which often sat there until well past the expiry date. Although there were times when the cards simply were not used most of that £250 was the result of an expired remainder on cards.
The advice Mr. Johnson gives is to always check the small print on the back of your card and if it isn’t perfectly clear how long the card is valid it is always possible to contact the retailer who issued the card. Sometimes this information is available by phone and other times you have to physically go into the shop but in any case, each were concerned about losing value on gift card that was given to you remember the old adage “Use it or lose it.”
