They're bought and paid for and they're money in the bank for stores. So how can they possibly say their time is up? That's what the Ontario government wondered and their conclusions have resulted in a new law about gift cards that will go into effect this fall.
Starting October 1st, any of the free passes you buy in this province will cease to have an expiry date. You'll be theoretically able to hold onto them forever and use them years down the road. The move ends a long and often bitter complaint from consumers, who wondered why something that's already paid for has a time limit put on it.
"About 80 percent of the gift cards in the province right now have an expiry date on them. In other words, 24 months from now the value expires," explains
Government Services Minister
Gerry Phillips. "We don't think that's fair."
Under the new rules, all terms and conditions must be clearly spelled out on the cards before you buy them and there won't be any limits set on when they can be used or fees charged for trying to redeem them. The only exceptions: loyalty cards, where you accumulate points, as well as items that fall under federal jurisdictions, like prepaid phone cards.
Many stores have already taken the imposed deadlines off in the interest of good customer relations. "It builds trust between our business and the customer that we don't impose that expiry date on the card," agrees Hayley Cockerton of
The Running Room. Other stores will now have to follow suit.
Ontario becomes the first province in Canada to make the change and imposed the October 1st deadline to allow merchants to make any necessary adjustments to their systems. Consumer groups in other parts of the country may be hoping to use the model to effect change in their neck of the woods, as well.
Gift Card Facts
- Most gave consumers an 18 month-two year window to use the card.
- Most didn't spell out those terms on the cards themselves. And many failed to indicate what they
can't be used for.
- Gift cards sales are one of the fastest growing sectors of the merchandise market. In 1995, retailers sold $1 billion of them. By 2006, those numbers were up to $70 billion - and growing.
- At least 24 U.S. states have laws regarding gift cards. Many eliminate time limits on the cards; others impose strict conditions on what merchants can and can't do with them.
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