I forgot to activate a $250 (mastercard) Universal Gift Card by the activation date of 28 Sep.
I am able to login and see my account balance as $0. Status - Closed. I wrote to Universal Gift Card to see if I can get the money back.
Has anyone had any experience of getting back the money?
Do you really lose all the amount if you fail to activate on time? There surely has to be a better way. Also, activating gift cards are a pain.
ok didn't realised there are rules around it. will look into that
the card need to be activated by 28 SEP 2021 but once activated it is valid till JUNE 22
why not make the activation date and the card validity date the same. You really only activate these things when you want to spend it.
why not make the activation date
Why not activate it when you buy it if it lasts until june next year?
Because someone else could redeem it before OP gets a chance to redeem it. This happened to a lot of people with Coles-branded Mastercard gift cards earlier this year.
Cause gift cards are far more likely to be stolen due to brute force attacks than actual credit cards!
For gift cards its much safer to activate and use almost immediately to avoid the details being found and used by scammers :P
So OP says " I actually redeemed my credit card points and chose Universal Gift Card."
Hence the gift card was not exactly purchased for CASH. Rather redeemed from points,
I can understand the need to activate with a short time frame when purchased online.
Gift cards bought in-store are usually activated immediately
However the LAW requires they remain usable for 3 years
I believe its different for gift cards redeemed from loyalty schemes..
Contact the supplier and discuss your options with therm
The Australian Consumer Law website words it as "given as a bonus in connection with a purchase of a good or service for use in the same business (customer loyalty programs)". https://consumer.gov.au/new-gift-card-laws
So for example, Uber gives you a $30 discount to use on future Uber rides - that can have an expiry of less than 3 years. Going by OP's post below, they simply used their points to get the giftcard. I'd be pissed if I ordered a gift card through the qantas store and it expired in 6 months.
OK, the ACCC page has a link at the bottom Explanatory Memorandum to the Treasury Laws Amendment (Gift Cards) Act 2018 (PDF) which you could say is an official explaination of the ammendment.
"Gift cards supplied for the purpose of customer loyalty programs
Regulation 89C(2)(d) exempts gift cards that are supplied for the purposes of customer loyalty programs from the minimum three‑year expiry requirement."
"Regardless of the arrangements, gift cards supplied for the purposes of customer loyalty programs are exempt from the requirement to provide a minimum three‑year expiry period. For example, suppliers may manage a scheme in-house and provide gift cards for use at their own businesses or may engage a third party provider to manage or operate the loyalty program, with customers able to choose among a range of products (including gift cards) from other businesses. The particular arrangements of the customer loyalty program may affect the handover process of the gift cards. For example, some customers may receive a gift card directly from the supplier with an option to use it in that store or other businesses, while other customers may receive the gift card from a third party business. All gift cards provided for the purposes of loyalty programs are exempt from the minimum three‑year expiry period."
So the "option to use it in that store or other businesses" would be like a Visa/MC gift card and the "gift card from a third party business" would be like a Myer gift card.
I'd be pissed if I ordered a gift card through the qantas store and it expired in 6 months.
I would assume if it was purchased though the Qantas store with money, you would get the three years. If purchased with points, they wouldn't have to (they probably would anyway because they are directly linked to the card provider - the reason this isn't the case for bank rewards is the rewards provider would purchase X number of cards and wait until they sell out before ordering more).
when was it purchased?
I think it was June 2021.
I actually redeemed my credit card points and chose Universal Gift Card. So it was like a gift from the bank.
so 6 months to activate?
I doubt that'll hold up with the ACCC.
Threaten to take them to the ACCC and watch them quietly activate it.
And then still report them, because this is dodgy.
ok good to know. some legs to stand on.
what's the ACCC's guideline on this?
"The ACCC that doesn't handle individual consumer complaints? OK"
I asked because there is consumer protection rules since late 2019. https://consumer.gov.au/new-gift-card-laws. the banks should know this!
According to that site:
Included and excluded cards
The three year requirement does not apply to gift cards that are:
given as a bonus in connection with a purchase of a good or service for use in the same business (customer loyalty programs)
He redeemed it with points from his credit card - hence customer loyalty program and not included in those rules
If you get no joy with the Universal Gift card and ACCC. Would suggest you try the bank, and if the bank isn't coming to the party. Complain to ombusdman as banks should not be condoning breaches of consumer protection laws. https://www.afca.org.au/ good luck!
good info. thanks.
will reach out to bank too.
From 1 November 2019, all gift cards and vouchers sold must be valid for at least three years. The expiry date must be clearly shown. If the card has an earlier expiry date written on it, consumers will still get the mandatory three-year period.
Gift cards and vouchers are not covered by the three-year period if they:
-are sold for a good or service at a genuine discount
-are given to customers in a limited promotion (for example: valid in-store today)
-were sold before 1 November 2019 (the expiry date at the time of purchase will apply).
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has set requirements for vouchers and gift cards, based on the Corporations Act 2001.
Vouchers and gift cards:
must clearly display the expiry date. This includes the activation expiry date for cards that need to be activated before use
can be used more than once
cannot be reloaded (i.e. the value cannot be increased or added to)
cannot be redeemed for cash unless there is a remaining amount that, in the business' reasonable opinion, cannot be conveniently used.
If a business does not comply with these requirements, it must follow the more extensive requirements for non-cash payments listed in the Corporations Act 2001. For more information, visit ASIC Corporations (Non-cash Payment Facilities) Instrument 2016/211 on the Federal Register of Legislation website.
Consumers can lodge a complaint with ASIC about non-compliant gift cards via:
ASIC's online form https://asic.gov.au/about-asic/contact-us/how-to-complain/re…
ASIC’s Customer Contact Centre on 1300 300 630.
So you forgot, meaning you were aware of the activation date.
Why do ppl always ask businesses to bend the rules when it's not their fault?
From the ACCC link published above, your card does not need to comply with the 3 year validity requirement.
Yes this happened to me a few months ago. I emailed and explained the situation and they loaded back on the value less $15 as a “gesture of goodwill”. When asked why the full value couldn’t be loaded I was ignored and no one could explain to me why. After several emails I gave up but at least the full value wasn’t lost.
This doesn't apply to your gift card but thought I would post this link incase someone comes to this forum and it may help them https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/675206
update: I wrote to Universal cards explaining the situation. They replied after three weeks and loaded back $212.50 as a good will gesture. This was a pleasant surprise. I wasn't hopeful and sort of gave up on it, but this outcome is better than losing the whole amount. I learnt a few stuff from all the comments. Thanks to everyone.
It's good you got a resolution.
I have a fraudulent purchase issue that seems to suggest the cards these people issue are vulnerable to be stolen from the day the are activated.
https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/689050
If anyone uses these, be very wary.
Looks like a dodgy way to get around the new laws requiring a minimum 3 years on them. If they don't allow it I'd go straight to the ACCC.