Hong Kong watchdog flags lack of clarity with e-gift card rules, urges fewer restrictions
Consumer Council finds discrepancies in policies for cards sold by 10 retailers, in areas such as purchase methods, expiry dates and refunds
Hong Kong’s consumer watchdog has called for retailers to relax usage restrictions on e-gift cards after finding a lack of clarity with the terms of use among 10 sampled vendors.
The Consumer Council said on Tuesday that it had found discrepancies in gift card policies relating to purchase methods, usage conditions, expiry dates, as well as reports of loss and refund arrangements.
Among 10 surveyed stores, three required cardholders to log in or register as members before using the e-gift card, whereas while other retailers had limits on the number of e-gift cards that could be used per transaction, or restricted their use to online purchases.
“These kinds of limitations should be eliminated to ensure that when I receive the e-gift card, I can use it freely, no matter if it is online or offline, and also with a longer validity period,” said Gilly Wong, the Consumer Council’s chief executive.
Only one store notified the purchaser about whether the recipient had viewed the e-gift card and also sent a message to the buyer if the recipient had not checked their email within 15 days.
Other stores depended on the purchaser to check if the card was received and used by the intended recipient.
