Gift Vouchers

[loubylou]

I had a lady phone me today saying that she had a gift voucher and would like to book an appointment,
i knew that i hadn't sold her it as all the gift vouchers i have sold have been used so i asked her when she had received it, she said DEC 2006,

I bought the salon in April 2007,
i explained that the voucher had been bought from the previous owner and she should have explained when selling it that she would not be here after April as she knew in December that i was buying the salon, i also explained that she had made no arrangement with me financially regarding any gift vouchers so unfortunately i would not accept it, the lady said she understood and left it at that,
5mins later i get another phone call from her sister who had bought the voucher, so again i explained but she was not interested and kept insisting that it was my responsibility to accept the voucher as the business had taken her money, i explained that the money was given to the previous owner not me so there for my business had not taken her money and i was sorry and did understand but was not willing to give out free treatments for which i had not been payed,
i explained all this very calmly and i had a client sat with me as i was doing her nails at the time,
the sister said she was going to take this further ??

My question is do any of you know if legally i should have accepted this voucher and done the treatment for free,
i wont loose any sleep over this as i was polite the whole time and believed i was right but thought i should check with those in the know.
Sorry my post is so long, i don't normally ask many questions.

 

[weezie]

I am no lawyer but wouldn't have thought it was your responsibility. I mean lets say the previous shop there was a bookshop and she brought a book token you wouldn't be expected to give her a book to the value. The voucher probably says it is non-transferable. I guess you could offer her a discount as a good will gesture-you may get a new customer out of it. But surely you are in no way obliged to do anything. She would need to take it up with the business that sold it to her surely? It's a shame you are both in this position.

 

[Rosey]

OK - I am not 100% sure on this but I think that if you take over a business then you would also take any debts belonging to your business as you own it as a whole. So if the business owes this lady a treatment in exchange for the voucher then it would be redeemable against the business as it still exists. In other words she bought the voucher from the company and not the individual owner, so the voucher is still redeemable from the company. If you just purchased the lease and started your own new business or transferred your personal existing business to the new premises then that would be a different matter.

As I said, I am not 100% sure, but I think that is how the land lies on this sort of situation. Business Link or maybe ACAS are good to call to clarify this kind of query. Just read this back and its a bit waffly - sorry!

HTH :hug:

 

[loubylou]

This is what i thought too wezzie,
if i had opened it as a sandwich shop would she still be shouting for me to do her nails lol
as she has had the voucher since DEC (7 months ago) i don't think i am missing out on a regular client

 

[Nailsinlondon1]

Well huni thats a toughy, but you know what, I would come to some sort of deal here......
You have a few options:
1. Accept the voucher, do the treatment and you could possibly gain a very satisfied returning customer.
2. Accept the voucher as a part payment, that's where the deal comes into lol as in:"ok what I can do is, honour 50% of the voucher value as this voucher is really not my responsibility". Refer her back to the previous salon owner for a refund if she refuses this offer.
3. Tell her no way and you could loose a possible client and a bit of your reputation. ord of mouth.

How much is the voucher for? I dont know the ins and outs of your business deal when you brought the salon, is there a clause that states you are not responsible for any treatments sold via vouchers? I dont mean by no means that you should be held to ransome over this, i.e. that there could be some bad word of mouth, but sometimnes giving in just a little goes a long way.

Also you could, now that you are aware of the voucher situation put up a notice as in, all vouchers have a 6 month validity......this way old ones will be covered by your ruling......As the new owner this is your rule lol...........

Just a thought xxxx

 

[weezie]

Her voucher may not even be in date, can you not contact the previous owner? as this may happen again. (ooh someone got in before me on this one..great minds and all that)

 

[Nailsinlondon1]

This is what i thought too wezzie,
if i had opened it as a sandwich shop would she still be shouting for me to do her nails lol
as she has had the voucher since DEC (7 months ago) i don't think i am missing out on a regular client

LOL no she could'nt as the use of business has been changed.....
Just another thought, have you changed the name of the salon? If you have changed the name then the voucher is redeemable against say XYZ Salon and not your salon name.....Loop hole possibly.... but I still stand by my previous post......

 

[weezie]

This article clears things up:

Shoppers Rights Articles - Gift vouchers

and this

Fair Trading Qld - Fair Trading Update - Fair Trading Update 3 April 2006

You do not have to honour it x

 

[loubylou]

OK - I am not 100% sure on this but I think that if you take over a business then you would also take any debts belonging to your business as you own it as a whole. So if the business owes this lady a treatment in exchange for the voucher then it would be redeemable against the business as it still exists. In other words she bought the voucher from the company and not the individual owner, so the voucher is still redeemable from the company. If you just purchased the lease and started your own new business or transferred your personal existing business to the new premises then that would be a different matter.

As I said, I am not 100% sure, but I think that is how the land lies on this sort of situation. Business Link or maybe ACAS are good to call to clarify this kind of query. Just read this back and its a bit waffly - sorry!

HTH :hug:

I have bought the business and lease,
it is not a company as a company would have be registered as LTD, in this case then yes i would have bought all debts but it is my new business and i am trading as a sole trader,
I am registered with business link so i will ask them but they don't have the experience that all you do

 

[Cathie!]

Well huni thats a toughy, but you know what, I would come to some sort of deal here......
You have a few options:
1. Accept the voucher, do the treatment and you could possibly gain a very satisfied returning customer.
2. Accept the voucher as a part payment, that's where the deal comes into lol as in:"ok what I can do is, honour 50% of the voucher value as this voucher is really not my responsibility". Refer her back to the previous salon owner for a refund if she refuses this offer.
3. Tell her no way and you could loose a possible client and a bit of your reputation. ord of mouth.

How much is the voucher for? I dont know the ins and outs of your business deal when you brought the salon, is there a clause that states you are not responsible for any treatments sold via vouchers? I dont mean by no means that you should be held to ransome over this, i.e. that there could be some bad word of mouth, but sometimnes giving in just a little goes a long way.

Also you could, now that you are aware of the voucher situation put up a notice as in, all vouchers have a 6 month validity......this way old ones will be covered by your ruling......As the new owner this is your rule lol...........

Just a thought xxxx

I think this is great advice....I don't know how busy your salon is but if you can cut a deal, a bit of good will goes a long way....ok so the voucher, if it was valid for 6 months is now out of date.....I have heard many clients complaining about how pernickety salons can be about gift vouchers...they don't go back there when told no you can't use it and they tell all their friends about it too.

How much was the voucher for? Is it so much that for a bit of good will it will be detramental to your business?

 

[Rach]

LOL no she could'nt as the use of business has been changed.....
Just another thought, have you changed the name of the salon? If you have changed the name then the voucher is redeemable against say XYZ Salon and not your salon name.....Loop hole possibly.... but I still stand by my previous post......

I was thinking this....i presume the voucher has the previous salon name on it?

 

[Rosey]

As it is your new business and you are sole trader then you are separate from the previous business so I think that the voucher is not your responsibilty. I think it would be different if you had taken ownership of her company.

Ruths advice is really worth considering. :hug:

 

[loubylou]

Well huni thats a toughy, but you know what, I would come to some sort of deal here......
You have a few options:
1. Accept the voucher, do the treatment and you could possibly gain a very satisfied returning customer.
2. Accept the voucher as a part payment, that's where the deal comes into lol as in:"ok what I can do is, honour 50% of the voucher value as this voucher is really not my responsibility". Refer her back to the previous salon owner for a refund if she refuses this offer.
3. Tell her no way and you could loose a possible client and a bit of your reputation. ord of mouth.

How much is the voucher for? I dont know the ins and outs of your business deal when you brought the salon, is there a clause that states you are not responsible for any treatments sold via vouchers? I dont mean by no means that you should be held to ransome over this, i.e. that there could be some bad word of mouth, but sometimnes giving in just a little goes a long way.

Also you could, now that you are aware of the voucher situation put up a notice as in, all vouchers have a 6 month validity......this way old ones will be covered by your ruling......As the new owner this is your rule lol...........

Just a thought xxxx

The voucher was for £20.00
I have had a notice up since taking over saying all gift vouchers bought from previous owner must be redeemed by 30 June,
i thought this would give anyone the chance to see it and use any vouchers that they may have.
There is no clauses in the lease to say i am responsible for any vouchers or out standing sun bed Min's which i have to say i have been fair and honoured every ones Min's left, which all add up to almost 18 hrs so i am dreading the phone bill lol

 

[gillian w]

Personally i would just do it for good will.I would let her know that you dont have to but because of your companies generosity and kindness you will still honour it.
Hopefully she will become a regular or if not she may at least tell everyone how fair and nice you are.For £20 its not worth taking the risk that she may bad mouth you and lose you future custom.You never know she may give you a big tip.

 

[loubylou]

This article clears things up:

Shoppers Rights Articles - Gift vouchers

and this

Fair Trading Qld - Fair Trading Update - Fair Trading Update 3 April 2006

You do not have to honour it x

Thanks Wezzie they are great links and answer my question perfectly :hug:

 

[weezie]

You're welcome the internet truely is a wonderful thing! :lol:

 

[loubylou]

Thank you every one for taking the time to help me out with your sound advise.
I am off to bed now but i will up date you all if i hear anything more from the voucher holder or her sister :hug:
I hope my Thread will help some one else out if they are ever in the same situation.

 

[marioned]

There is no clauses in the lease to say i am responsible for any vouchers or out standing sun bed Min's which i have to say i have been fair and honoured every ones Min's left, which all add up to almost 18 hrs so i am dreading the phone bill lol

:?:
What does the phone bill have to do with the sunbed minutes??? Maybe you spend all your time when the client on the sunbed phoning your mates? Thats the only thing I can think of! lol

 

[leah82]

Personally i would just do it for good will.I would let her know that you dont have to but because of your companies generosity and kindness you will still honour it.
Hopefully she will become a regular or if not she may at least tell everyone how fair and nice you are.For £20 its not worth taking the risk that she may bad mouth you and lose you future custom.You never know she may give you a big tip.

Personally I have to agree with this!! Could be a win win situation overall!! Plus word of mouth can be either a wonderful thing or detrimental to a business. I know I would be a bit peeved if I were in the customers situation although not your fault, but you'll look good & professional if you do it, as it will also show you do really care about your clients & its not all about the money!! Plus I can honestly say I am speaking from experience from the clients point of view as before I trained I stopped & also other people I know going to a salon because of the way we were treated, so it does/can have an effect. Is it really worth all the hassle for £20? But do make sure she realises its a one off & a favour to her.

Would be good to know if you do here anything back though, the lady who's treatment it was seemed ok with it all which was nice but obviously she hadn't spent the money. Her sister might have just been venting her anger at it all & unfortunately you coped for it!! Might not here any more from them!!!

 

[loubylou]

:?:
What does the phone bill have to do with the sunbed minutes??? Maybe you spend all your time when the client on the sunbed phoning your mates? Thats the only thing I can think of! lol

Yeah lol i meant the electric bill hun :hug: