Gift Card Law

[DoubleF]

Originally Posted by Barnet Flame

Companies may get a reduction on the face value price.

Hmm... Perhaps. I looked on the website and it looks like there's a shipping and handling fee on the pass to get mailed to you. That's dumb. My question is whether the amount on the giftpass is refunded to the company in the event the giftpass expires. If no, then it makes sense that the gift pass can expire. If not, then it seems fishy to me.

why do so many companies go through the bother of giving blank gift cards?

Probably people with poor understanding of employment standards in charge of gifts to employees. Probably don't include it on the T4 too.

[flamesrule_kipper34]

Originally Posted by DoubleF

Hmm... Perhaps. I looked on the website and it looks like there's a shipping and handling fee on the pass to get mailed to you. That's dumb. My question is whether the amount on the giftpass is refunded to the company in the event the giftpass expires. If no, then it makes sense that the gift pass can expire. If not, then it seems fishy to me.


Probably people with poor understanding of employment standards in charge of gifts to employees. Probably don't include it on the T4 too.

That's what an admin assistant is looking into for me right now.

She's trying to get the amount refunded or hoping they'll provide another code after they confirm that the gift pass was never redeemed.

Additionally we do a lot of business with them, it'd be nice...but I have a feeling as kunkstyle said I'll be SOL.

[DoubleF]

Whoops, I meant if the amount is indeed refunded to the company vs paid up front. Hope it works out for you. I could definitely see your company being quite upset if they took the money and didn't give anything back in return regardless of expiry.

Good luck.

[flamesrule_kipper34]

Well,

It did work out in the end, we were able to convince them to do us a solid and they re-activated the gift card and extended the expiry to the end of next month!

This should make it into the WMMRH thread .

[DoubleF]

So was the amount prepaid or was it deducted from ("let's say") a pool from the company/billed when redeemed basis. Doesn't seem right if the company paid for it in full and the amount can expire.

Glad to know it worked out in the end.

[DownhillGoat]

Originally Posted by DoubleF

Doesn't seem right if the company paid for it in full and the amount can expire.

Originally Posted by DoubleF

If not, then it seems fishy to me.

There's nothing fishy and/or not right about it. The gift card laws are pretty black and white.

A card/certificate for a cash value cannot expire. A card/certicate for a specific item/service, etc can. This falls in the latter category as it's a certificate for a gift card.

If they're paid for up front it's irrelavent.

Anyway, glad they made it work for you, flamesrule.

[lazypucker]

Is the "no expiry" law just for Alberta, or is it the law for all provinces and states?

[DownhillGoat]

Originally Posted by lazypucker

Is the "no expiry" law just for Alberta, or is it the law for all provinces and states?

Varies from province to province. I think all of them have some sort of no-expiry clause, but there's different loopholes. For example, Saksatchewan includes certificates for future goods and services in the no-expiry. BC exempts any card with Credit Card branding.

I have no idea about the states though.

[flamesrule_kipper34]

Originally Posted by DoubleF

So was the amount prepaid or was it deducted from ("let's say") a pool from the company/billed when redeemed basis. Doesn't seem right if the company paid for it in full and the amount can expire.

Glad to know it worked out in the end.

As an FYI the company paid for it upfront in full.

[#-3]

Originally Posted by lazypucker

Is the "no expiry" law just for Alberta, or is it the law for all provinces and states?

The law in Alberta is that if you paid for a voucher, coupon or gift card, It can not expire up to the value you paid for it. I don't know what it is elsewhere, its possible the company did not buy the card in Alberta.

So for example if you paid $5 for a $10 gift card. they could put an expiry on it that would allow it to drop to a $5 value after a period of time.

It seems odd to me that there would be different laws for gift cards purchased by corporations. I can't see why consumers would get rights that corperations would not enjoy.

[Bring_Back_Shantz]

Originally Posted by kunkstyle

There's nothing fishy and/or not right about it. The gift card laws are pretty black and white.

A card/certificate for a cash value cannot expire. A card/certicate for a specific item/service, etc can. This falls in the latter category as it's a certificate for a gift card.

If they're paid for up front it's irrelavent.

Anyway, glad they made it work for you, flamesrule.

That's mostly true.
If a card is for a specific service, you're right it can expire.
However, they must still honour the original value paid for the card.
For example, if you buy a groupon for $20 and it's good for a windshield, when it expires, the no longer have to give you the windshield. They do however, have to give you $20 off of the same windshield, as that's what you already paid.

[Hack&Lube]

Originally Posted by troutman

Can I still use my Sam The Record Man bucks?

Go to the last store in Ontario and see if they'll honor it!

http://www.thestar.com/entertainment...ail_chain.html

[Locke]

Originally Posted by Street Pharmacist

Not sure on the law, but as gift cards now get taxed the same as a cash bonus, why do so many companies go through the bother of giving blank gift cards? Seems like so many more hoops, and if they want you to spend it on anything you want, there's these lovely polymer paper gift cards that come in easy denominations like $5, $10, $20 and $100. There's even a $1000 option for those big spenders out there

Easy answer is that the person in charge of giving out gifts to employees is usually Betty in HR and not Gertrude in accounting.

Its typically easier to buy a gift certificate with the company card than it is to try and scrounge up a few hundred bucks of company cash and just tacking it onto the next paycheque doesnt have the same flair to it.

[GP_Matt]

Every year before Christmas we get a reminder from our accountants that gift cards make terrible company Christmas presents.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by GP_Matt

Every year before Christmas we get a reminder from our accountants that gift cards make terrible company Christmas presents.

Donations to the Human Fund then?

[DownhillGoat]

Jelly of the month club!

[DoubleF]

Originally Posted by kunkstyle

There's nothing fishy and/or not right about it. The gift card laws are pretty black and white.

A card/certificate for a cash value cannot expire. A card/certicate for a specific item/service, etc can. This falls in the latter category as it's a certificate for a gift card.

If they're paid for up front it's irrelavent.

The law isn't fishy, I meant the situation was a little fishy. Like sitting on a loophole/notsureifloopholeormestupid situation.

Originally Posted by #-3

The law in Alberta is that if you paid for a voucher, coupon or gift card, It can not expire up to the value you paid for it. I don't know what it is elsewhere, its possible the company did not buy the card in Alberta.

This is the part I was wondering about. It didn't seem logical enough of a loophole that an upfront paid amount can completely expire. But it does make sense that the upfront amount paid for it can be used towards the same product.

Thanks for the additional info flamesrule.