Pricewatch reader queries: Gift voucher buyers beware

"I have just been ordering some vouchers for my sister for Christmas from the Radisson, Farnham Estate, Cavan," writes a reader, Ros.

“I mentioned to the lady that we had some unused vouchers, as we had a long illness and a death in the family during the year. As they were a Christmas present from last year, I thought they were still valid, but they expired at the end of November, as that was the date they were bought on, and they were now invalid. She suggested that we send them to the hotel and they will reissue them with a booking that will stay valid for a month only, and have 10 per cent of the value deducted. Is this normal practice?”

The bad news for Ros is there are still virtually no laws governing the gift-voucher system that operates in the State, which means retailers can attach ridiculous terms and conditions to them and bury those in the small print of contracts, which few consumers are ever given sight of. Under new rules, which should come into force next year, expiry dates will be banned.

In the meantime we contacted the hotel. It should be noted that by agreeing to extend the voucher, it was doing something it did not have to do. After we got in touch, the hotel said that “in view of this person’s circumstances, in this particular case we are happy to waive the 10 per cent administration fee”.

The voucher business is worth more than €300 million in Ireland each year. If you are buying vouchers, check at the point of purchase the terms and conditions, including the expiry date, what happens to any unused part and whether it can be used in every outlet if the shop is part of a chain. Buy vouchers that can be used at more than one outlet or chain to protect against a single shop going bust, which can render unspent vouchers useless.

If you get them, use them as quickly as possible. Expiry dates vary wildly. Some shops give you just six months to redeem your voucher. If you lose a gift voucher, the shop doesn’t have to replace it.

And watch out for maintenance fees. These usually come into effect about 12 months after a card is bought. So if you give someone this type of gift card for €40, and they don’t use it for two years, maintenance charges at €3 a month will mean there is only €4 left on it.

Every little irks

We got a mail from Sheila and she wasn’t very happy. Who do you think was the subject of her ire? We were. “I have been glancing at Pricewatch over the years and meaning to write you a complaint for a long time,” she starts, somewhat ominously.

"I have often wondered how you feature Tesco products every week. Every week, your range includes Tesco products, and I feel you give huge free advertising to Tesco products. Whether they are good or bad, they are always featured and, as the phrase goes, there is no such thing as bad publicity."

She cites last week's page and points out that few of the 20 products reviewed were Irish or came from an Irish retailer. Then she asks why we did not include a cranberry sauce from Ballymaloe, "as this is a wholly Irish company, employing Irish staff. This is what I want to see as an ethically minded Irish Times reader. Please try to be less biased towards that English supermarket chain, which would be running our lives if they could. Please make us all aware of more indigenous Irish products and how they compare with the branded products."

Okay, well, we accept that we should have included more Irish products last week. We would, however, take issue with the notion that we feature Tesco products every week. In fact we have reviewed their products only a handful of times over the past year. And we have reviewed Ballymaloe cranberry sauce before. “As anyone who has ever been to Ballymaloe will know, the Allen family and their company know how to make very good food. This sauce does not disappoint,” is what we wrote.

This party’s over – we’re going home

Staying with last week, due to a mix-up that Pricewatch was entirely to blame for, we had a picture of Aldi’s Let’s Party range of party food sitting above a review of Lidl’s Party Time range of party food. In fairness, they look very similar.