Ho ho ho! CBC recently covered my video criticizing Kingsville BIA Bucks terms, which originally included a very short expiry date for consumers and unusual conditions of reduced redemption rates for participating businesses that redeemed vouchers after the expiry date.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/windsor/kingsville-bucks-complaint-9.6991845
When I reviewed the original terms for the BIA Bucks promotion, the rules on their website stated that the vouchers expired on February 28 and expired vouchers could only be reimbursed by consumers at RBC until March 31. I compared this to other local BIAs whose similar promotions do not expire at all. For consumers, there was no option to be reimbursed/refunded for expired vouchers after March 31 listed on their website. This concerned me because a 3 month expiration (4 with consideration of the reimbursement period) on “gift cards” is unheard of – and potentially raises legal concerns.
The terms have since been updated on their website with “After this date, the public may redeem unused vouchers for the original purchase price of $17.00 by contacting Kingsville BIA at info@kingsvillebia.com.”
This term did not exist on their website when I first tried reaching out to them or when I made my video. If it had, there wouldn’t have been much to critique. To be clear, this is a great improvement and protects consumers in a very fair way.
Kudos to the BIA for that – I would still encourage them to give a buffer for businesses to redeem the vouchers for the full $20 amount following February 28th as if their business closes later than the bank on that day, last minute acceptance of the gift cards.. I mean “vouchers”.. are immediately penalizing participating businesses with the reduced redemption rate.
Above is an image comparing the terms on November 15 and 26, following the CBC article. There were other changes as well but this is the most important addition. These term changes are partially acknowledged in the article: “This program goes back eight or nine years. When we started doing it, gift card legislation was different back then,” Martin says. “The wording in our terms and conditions on the website was not specifically 100 per cent clear. We’ve acknowledge that, and we’ve updated the messaging.”
This should be good news! Instead, some pitchfork holders are upset because they read an early line in the CBC article that makes it seem like refunds were always available past March 31, which wasn’t the case via their website terms prior to the updates.
I’m no grinch perched on a hill plotting to ruin local promotions. My work has always been about supporting our local community. Raising questions about questionable expiration dates wasn’t an attack on the BIA’s intention of supporting businesses through the slow months that follow the holidays, it was an attempt to make sure consumers weren’t left holding worthless “vouchers” a few months after buying them. I believe that if these expired and the BIA kept the funds, this was not as beneficial to the businesses participating or fair for the end consumer. If a large corporation had similar expiry terms on what I would personally describe as “gift cards”, nobody would bat an eye over calling it out.
At the end of the day, is it a “voucher” or “gift card”? I’d still argue that the description on their website that describes it to be “be treated as cash” is extremely clear and it’s effective uses still leans towards the definition of a gift card. If it acts like money, it’s a gift card, even if you call it a voucher but who cares about my opinion.. Consumers are increasingly protected. The promotion continues. Opinions are opinions. Nobody’s Christmas is ruined.
The reddit comments are wild and it’s obvious to me that select people are still upset with me for calling out their favourite politicians in the by-election and that frustration has spilled over into this. What matters most is that people buying or receiving Kingsville BIA Bucks this holiday season won’t be punished for forgetting about them until spring.
Happy Holidays from your friendly neighbourhood BIA Bucks Grinch, even to the Reddit pitchfork holders!
View this post on Instagram
