Peacocks voucher gift is worthless
Wednesday 25th January 2012, 2:30PM GMT.
Ken Blinston outside Alliance, which operates the local Peacocks franchise. He bought his daughter a £30 voucher for Christmas but with the clothes retailer now in administration, it is not being honoured. (Picture by Tom Tardif, 1218095)
Shoppers have been left out of pocket after Peacocks cancelled its gift vouchers.
Ken Blinston, 66, bought a £30 gift card for his daughter, Janine, for Christmas.
She went into the shop and picked out her clothes, only to discover when she went to pay that she could not use her present.
Mr Blinston said he thought it had been the perfect gift.
‘She likes clothes and I had no idea what to get for a 30-year-old,’ he said.
But staff at the Peacocks franchise at Alliance told Miss Blinston that they were no longer trading, although they were selling clothes.
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That’s what happens when shops go into administration I am afraid.
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The full article states that Peacocks are now in administration.
Unfortunately for Mr Blinston, what this means is that Peacocks are now being managed by accountants who are not going to be too concerned about customer relations or brand reputation.
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Ask them for a form to fill in & you can send off 2 claim the money for the voucher back that is what I have done.
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Staff at Peacock say they are not trading but still selling clothes? Selling clothes is trading and the vouchers should be accepted.
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Peacocks cannot accept gift cards because it is being run by administrators and those are the rules in which they have set about. Peacocks are still trading but they are no longer operated by Peacocks.
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£30 for a now worthless piece of card with pretty writing on? This is why gift vouchers are the most stupid and pointless ideas going. If there is no protection for the consumer when a business goes under then maybe these things should be outlawed.
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The problem is that Peacocks are in administration, most likely in heavy debt. There isn’t much point in consumer protection legislation when the money isn’t there to refund.
It’s a good idea in principle though – perhaps there should be a caveat emptor requirement to warn that, in the event of the company going into administration, the voucher will be worthless.
That way buyers can make an informed decision.
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Agree there. Perhaps the only vouchers people should stick to using are those vouchers issued by the Guernsey/Jersey States or the Bank of England with a picture of the Queen on. These ones can be spent in any of the shops in the islands and no danger of the issuer going bust there!
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i feel sorry for the young kids that dont understand why they cant use they gifts cards the staff get very upset its out of there hands, but as for the foul mouthed insulting people that i saw in store there was no need what so ever if they want to take it out on some one try mr Kirk the man that put these people in this postion. As the staff of the store dont even know if they got a job next week bare that in mind. its easy to run to the paper and moan.
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Like Tomb it’s sad but no good getting angry over it and start shouting.There job is hanging in the balance.Good Luck to them
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THIS IS OUTRAGEOUS… why are they allowed to get away with this. Isn’t the law out there to protect us ? STOP SHOPPING AT PEACOCKS NOW !
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like any credit agreement the details are in the terms and conditions . Not a lot of consumers actually read these.
It’s not just peacocks. Every time you buy a ‘gift card’ or ‘package’ and the company goes under you will lose out.
We’ve seen a lot of stories like these with UK companies, travel companies, christmas hamper people that sort of stuff.
This is no great surprise, unfortunatley the customers are at the back of the hand out queue. Paul Le Page is correct, their customer service doesn’t matter, the company in effect no longer exists . It’s being handled by a company who’s main concern is to pay back the creditors.
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As a legal concept, administration is a procedure under the insolvency laws of a number of common law jurisdictions. It functions as a rescue mechanism for insolvent entities and allows them to carry on running their business. The process – an alternative to liquidation – is often known as going into administration. A company in administration is operated by the administrator (as interim chief executive) on behalf of the creditors as a going concern while options are sought short of liquidation. These options include recapitalising the business, selling the business to new owners, or demerging it into elements that can be sold and closing the remainder.
so how exactly does “stop shopping at Peacocks ” going to help the administrators find a buyer for the company??
We should be supportive of the people working there who could be made unemployed rather than giving them any more stress than they are already under.
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PEACOCKS ETHICAL TRAIING !!!
Peacocks is committed to ethical practices in all operations. This is not just a legal or compliance issue, it is a cultural one; a belief in looking after one another and the planet on which we all live together.
THIS IS A JOKE !!!
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Zulugirl………..
How is stopping shopping at Peacocks going to help the administrators keep the business afloat?
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A voucher is an IOU – a simple unsecured debt. The holders of these vouchers are creditors of the business along with all of the other trade creditors.
When a business goes into an insolvency situation it needs to treat all creditors equally and cannot prefer one creditor over another.
If some creditors (ie suppliers with outstanding invoices) are only going to get back 50p in the £, then a holder of a £30 gift voucher who takes away £30 of clothing is getting £1 in the £, and is being preferred.
It is hard on the holders of the vouchers, but the shop has no choice in this.
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My wife works for Peacocks and will no doubt lose a job she has loved doing for 15 years and has been really upset about the whole situation, every night i have watch her cry herself to sleep while this nightmare goes on, unfortunately she has to put up with morons who think it is her fault they cannot exchange vouchers or gift cards, are people so thick that they are going to get angry over what is basically a few quid lost, they’ve probably wasted more than that on a night out.
My wife is a victim in this more than the customers will ever know, only she won’t be losing a few quid, she will be losing thousands of pounds in income, but is expected to put up with abusive customers who think it always someone else’s fault when they can’t get what they want.
Shame on those people.
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“what is basically a few quid lost, they’ve probably wasted more than that on a night out.”
Well actually no…my children saved for months…25p each and every week out of their own pocket money to buy me a voucher, bless ‘em.
Far be it from me to do the “won’t someone pleeease think of the chiiiildren” thing but come on…don’t go belittling anyone who’s had their cash stolen.
My sincere sympathies to your wife it’s bang out of order that the company and administrators have knowingly and deliberately put them in this position. I hope she can find another job somewhere else.
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Just a question, why does she have to stay until the shop shuts for good? wouldn’t she be better (knowing that the end is in sight) to be looking for other work now? Or perhaps she is of course.
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People shouldn’t be taking it out on staff who are losing their jobs but let’s not get into victimhood poker here. Two wrongs certainly don’t make a right.
People who bought vouchers have had their cash stolen. It’s *that* simple. To call them “creditors” is an outrageous abuse of the english language. They did NOT invest in the company, loan the company money and certainly did not NOT agree to a non-returnable cash injection in the company.
Voucher buyers simply deferred collection of their paid-for goods…albeit by mutual agreement…and got royally and deliberately shafted.
The company knew damn well it was going bust and made a calculated decision to go ahead and make the most of the christmas period to rip off every customer it possibly could. Forcing staff to deal with the inevitable and frankly righteous fallout is inexcusable.
Shame on THEM.
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I fail to see how me buying a £100 voucher and not receiving any goods in return is different to me supplying £100 worth of goods and not getting paid?
In each case I would be out of pocket by £100. This is why insolvency practice is to treat all (with a few notable exceptions) unsecured creditors as one pool of people so that they get treated equally. The largest supplier shouldn’t get paid everything they are owed at the expense of smaller supplier and/or gift certificate holders.
You say the people who bought vouchers did not lend the company money, however that is Exactly what they did!
Yes, if it happened to me I would be rather annoyed, however it does happen and sometimes you lose out. I’m afraid life can be tough.
Regarding your final point, if that was indeed the case (and I doubt it was) then the directors of Peacocks could be prosecuted for wrongful trading, a criminal offence.
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@Mark …If you truly don’t understand the difference between a consumer agreement, a banking agreement and a commercial contract I suggest you google and do your own research. I won’t waste my time responding in any great detail to patronising twaddle.
This bit was funny though…
“Regarding your final point, if that was indeed the case (and I doubt it was) then the directors of Peacocks could be prosecuted for wrongful trading, a criminal offence.”
Haha. Surely you’re not *that* naive…but if you really are…I have a bridge here to sell you…
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Dawn, sorry to break it to you, but there is no difference.
As for last para – you originally stated as fact that the directors of Peacocks had engaged in a criminal act. You are clearly not in a position to know that and so your whole post is based on supposition and innuendo. On that basis, your post is worthless.
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Dawn, when you buy a gift card, you are essentially giving the issuer an unsecured loan until you redeem the full value of the card.
If you paid by cash or cheque for your card/voucher, there is unfortunately no guarantee that you will receive goods or that you will get your money back. You’re likely to be one of many people in line for a payout from the administrators after a company goes bust. And as I said before you’re usually at the end of a very long queue, so really the best thing to happen is for the company to start making money.
The best thing for people to do is to buy gift cards/vouchers on their credit cards. If you buy a gift card or voucher worth £100 or more there is a chance the purchase may be protected under Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act if the firm goes bust.
Under this protection, a credit card company is jointly liable if something goes wrong so it may reimburse you the cost.
Or….don’t buy gift cards/vouchers.
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gw – not being overly familiar with UK consumer protection legislation, does this apply to people resident in Guernsey and making their purchases in Guernsey?
i.e if our credit cards are issued by a UK bank, can we claim the protection?
we have no local equivalent law.
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Terry Langlois…I stated “opinion” and it still stands.
Sorry to break it to you but whether my “opinion” is worth anything to you is irrelevant.
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gw…”when you buy a gift card, you are essentially giving the issuer an unsecured loan until you redeem the full value of the card. ”
I see what you’re saying but since there is nothing in the terms and conditions of voucher cards to inform customers that this is the case it is only after the fact that a customer will discover just how far a company can and will legally go to screw them over. Live and learn, eh.
I don’t possess a credit card but thank you for responding to me with such positive comment and advice.
I’m sure it will be of benefit to others and I hope it helps get their money back.
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Really do feel sorry for people with vouchers, but it just proves to us maybe we should be putting money in cards instead of vouchers in future.
Went into peacocks today and one of the managers was still putting out new stock and new stock arriving next week, no sign of shop closing but they couldnt really comment. Thought there may be some bargains today but there wasn’t.
Thankfully we can look forward hopefully when the George (Asda) range comes, way more affordable and more fashionable. Great for kids school clothes and more affordable for the everyday family.
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i see people are still presuming the store is going to close down well stop listerning to the raido there getting some off it wrong , there is a big diffrence between admin and liqudation imtold by someone that understands a lot more about whats going on theres something 25 people interested in the company so fingers crossed and they will still have job’s to go to . an if someone is looking at buying to see a store still working and staff still trying there best with one hand tied behind there backs so would show there staff worth keeping.
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