Gift Vouchers, valid for how long?

[Emmalou91x]

Hi, I have some gift vouchers, how long should they be valid for? is there any legal time etc.. was thinking 6 months or too long? x

 

[Lisa S]

I do them for 3 months x

 

[Lynne Baker]

I feel quite strongly about this.
If you have taken money for a gift voucher why would you put an expiry date on it?
OK so it's not legal tender, but it's as good as, in your salon.
Why would you turn someone away who had an "expired" voucher? There could be all manner of reason why they didn't come before the expiry date!
I had a lady who came for a course of electrolysis last year. She paid £200 upfront. She had told me she was trying for a baby and I told her that she would need to do a pregnancy test before each visit as I wasn't prepared to take the risk of zapping her unless we knew for sure.
She had £50 left on her course when she discovered she was pregnant. That was in June 2011. Yesterday I met her gorgeous baby girl, and I honoured that 50 quid. Why on earth wouldn't I?

I do just wonder whether people put expiry dates on vouchers hoping that people will forget until it's too late, and then they've got the money for nothing...

 

[Steph86]

I date mine for 6 months, although If someone wanted to use it after the 6 months I would still do them as I have had the money for the treatment.
I guess I would like to encourage them to book/ be in touch.
.xx

 

[AmeliaR]

We do 3 months and point this out when the voucher is bought! If a client has a voucher and does ring up and it's a few days out of date we usually validate it!

I understand and when a course of treatment is booked and with the client becoming pregnant yes I would valid that!

I also think if you don't put a date on them people just forget and don't use them for years!! I think if you put a date on it stick by it!! And if you dont mind and they can last 'forever' then don't put a date on them if your going to let them use them whenever!!

 

[Jen889]

I feel quite strongly about this.
If you have taken money for a gift voucher why would you put an expiry date on it?
OK so it's not legal tender, but it's as good as, in your salon.
Why would you turn someone away who had an "expired" voucher? There could be all manner of reason why they didn't come before the expiry date!

Have to agree with Lynne on this one.

Here in Quebec (Canada) it's actually against the law to put expiry dates on gift vouchers. this law was passed because the government felt a client was giving you money, that monetary value on a gift voucher should never expire as money doesn't expire.

We also have to give back whatever is left on the gift voucher in cash after the first visit. so example a new client comes into my spa with a $100 gift voucher, she has a service of $20. i would have to give her $80 cash as this is the remainder of whats on her card. this sucks big time as you are never sure if they will come back!

 

[Redduck]

I put 6 months on the voucher to encourage them to use it. The number of people who use it in the last month and when they book they say 'I kept meaning to book it but then realised I had to as it was going out of date'.


I also tell the purchaser that it can be replaced with a valid voucher if it goes out of date. A few times a client has phoned to request a replacement voucher but I've encouraged them to book a treatment which they have.

Out of the last 100 vouchers I've sold only 6 went out of date and all were still honoured. 11 never claimed them and I'm always in a quandary over that. Can I tell the purchaser the voucher hasn't been used and credit them with the money or does that contravene client confidentiality?

 

[Tomme]

On prize vouchers I put I one month. For gift vouchers its going to be 12 months. Reason being they won the prize and are getting it free, so why do they need ages? For a present they may keep it until before a holiday or something xoxo

 

[squidgernetball]

That's a really good idea for vouchers given as a prize. I've had clients trying to use their charity donated gift vouchers outside the expiry time - I do usually honour it, but it makes me cross - use it in the spirit it is given! I put 6 months and still honour it outside this time, but if its for a treatment and my prices have gone up, I will point this out if it's outside the 6 months! If it's a cash voucher, I just honour it, but hope the time limit will actually encourage them to get round to using it!

 

[PremierIan]

I feel quite strongly about this.
If you have taken money for a gift voucher why would you put an expiry date on it?

...

I do just wonder whether people put expiry dates on vouchers hoping that people will forget until it's too late, and then they've got the money for nothing...

I'd generally agree, but there's some logic to putting dates on, as others have said, namely that it encourages the voucher to be used within a certain amount of time, and there's also the issue of price changes. If I purchase a gift voucher for £100 last year, and you've raised your prices significantly this year, it doesn't quite work out.

Any longer than 12 months, I'd normally assume that whoever has the voucher probably isn't going to redeem it.

Playing Devils advocate slightly, if you purchase a voucher that never gets redeemed, it's almost entirely profit.. not bad for business really!

 

[essentia]

I think it is better to put a date on for various reasons

- Accounting
- Price changes
- Treatment menu changes
- Encourages the client to use the voucher and a chance to upsell/rebook
- Monitor sales from vouchers in a given time frame
- Not wondering whether x amount of vouchers are suddenly going to be presented 2 years on!

If a client says that they may have a delay due to holidays, pregnancy, unforeen incident etc then that can be factored in but otherwise I would stick to the dates on the voucher. If a client has bought it then they honour the terms and conditions and you are not keeping their money if they don't abide by them.

 

[StrawberryAnna]

3 months x

 

[Lady Murasaki]

I used to my for 6 months and would contact the client 1 month before the expiry date to remind them to use it and send over a current price list.

I am however phasing out vouchers as feel they are out dated

 

[LillyGoose]

Very interesting topic! Mine are a 12 month... I will be thinking about the prize ones as a 1-3 month will be better instead of 12 months!

 

[Zooks]

For vouchers of monetary value I have no dates on these.

For vouchers for a certain treatment I have 12 months. My reason for this is due to a price increase at the end of the 12 months, the traetments gone up, they have had time to use it and havent, if they wanted to use it after the 12 months I would honour it but have them pay the increase.

I dont think this is unfair.
Products go up, prices go up etc.

 

[Beau-ty]

i put 6mths on mine just because it makes them use them quicker but i do honour them when they are over you can't not really - they usually ring in a panic a few weeks past the date 'oh i forgot' but they wouldn't do that without that date on there (get me). Someone i used to work for never dated them and it was a nightmare trying to track the records 2 years down the line! I can never understand it if someone bought me beauty vouchers i would use them asap or save them for a special occasion - not forget about them x

 

[Beauty Wales]

Mine are 3 months. The reason I do this is , 1. The cost of providing treatments can go up. 2. If the cost has gone up, you can give them the option of paying the difference. 3. It is easier to keep track of voucher numbers. 4. It is easier to keep track of cash flow.

 

[Ruby S]

I do 6 months, but will honour them if the person is polite enough to call and say they forgot about it or whatever and they usually apologise and we get them booked in asap then. Usually if they don't call, they aren't going to redeem it anyway. I would never turn one away because the chances are that its going to be a new client and they will not book with you if you say "no you're 3 months too late"! Hopefully they will rebook and then you have someone else on your books. For prize vouchers, I usually do 1 month aswell, but am very careful around Christmas time etc, because I wouldn't want a freebie voucher that expires the week before Christmas, when I'm too busy to honour it and if I do have time to book it in, I would feel resentful about someone taking time up with a free treatment in that busy period!