Dundrum Gift Vouchers - Beware!

hon79

Hi All, Please read especially coming up to Xmas.
I was given some gift tokens for Dundrum Shopping Centre recently and
found out some interesting information about their "Schedule of Fees"
(yes you read correctly!) for their new "GiftCard" scheme (aka plastic
gift token).
Basically when you buy one of these new "GiftCards" you are CHARGED a
"MAINTENACE FEE" of EUR3 PER MONTH for the privilege of having the
"GiftCard". You are charged this fee every month (its deducted from the
money you put on the card), from the second month after the card was
purchased and until the card balance reaches ZERO! (Unless you have paid
an "ISSUANCE FEE" at the time of purchase - whatever next insurance for
gift
tokens!)
In other words if you bought a card at the beginning of the year for say
EUR40 and didn't use it til the end of the year you'd have very little
left as most of it would go on the maintenace fee!!
If you don't believe me check out www.mygiftflexcard.com for their terms
and conditions!!
You might want to remember this if you are considering buying one of
these cards for Christmas etc., especially as it appears that other
stores who operate card based gift tokens e.g. Brown Thomas and Roches
Stores do not have such a "MAINTENANCE FEE"!!.
PLEASE PASS THIS ON TO AS MANY PEOPLE AS POSSIBLE!

dubgirl

thats a bloody disgrace :mad:
Just giving this a bump cause I think everybody should be aware of this..

justsomebloke

Ok as this just seems to be a rehash of a chain letter going around, can anyone confirm that dundrum are actaully using this type of card for their gift certificate and are not giving out plain gift vouchers

MacBuckley

Well if they are doing it then its just not on!
Id like to know where i can go to make a complaint and have this looked in to.
Any ideas??

Sponge Bob

Here is their website,

http://www.dundrum.ie/

email them or call them to find out if this is a bad joke (by someone such as Navan Super Shopping Centre maybe ) or if it is really true, then post their side here or invite them to post it themselves.

nava

Hi

I can confirm that they are charging a maintenance fee, i had €20 in my account couple of months ago but checking now I only have €16 left. So will need to go shopping ASAP before they take any more money out.

But will never again buy Dundrum vouchers again.

The whole gift voucher system is a bit of a mess as you can only check online how much you have left, so if you are in the middle of shopping you need to give them the amount left so they can try to take it out from the account.

Regards

subway

is mygiftflex not one of the shops in the place....

nava

subway wrote:

is mygiftflex not one of the shops in the place....

Hi

No doesn't look like it, you can see the store list on the home page.

Regards

subway

thats what i meant,
its listed under services.

nava

subway wrote:

thats what i meant,
its listed under services.

Yes, probably because you buy the voucher at the customer care desk.

justsomebloke

Reply from dundrum

"Dear JSB

Firstly, many thanks for using our e-mail facility.

The Dundrum Gift Card is operated by HQ Giftflex in conjunction with Mastercard Maestro and operates on the same principle as a debit card and therefore is subject to the same banking conditions and costs as that of any credit or debit card.

HQGiftflex has a policy of implementing an issuance fee for cards, which covers the operational set up and maintenance of the card holder's account and transactions. In the case of the Dundrum Gift Card a decision was made to waive the issuance fee and therefore allow customers a three month period without any charges. If customers have a balance on their card after 3 months, a maintenance fee is applied at the rate of €3 per month.

This card varies from a proprietary or store card in so far as it can be used, in the case of Dundrum, across more than 100 retailers.

The charges are explained in the Terms and Conditions to customers when they open a Dundrum Gift Card account and HQGiftflex staff are briefed to inform customers of the fees.

Most store also accept the paper voucher which is an alternative choice offered by Dundrum. The paper voucher is not subject to any maintenance fee as it is not issued through the bank.
If you have any further queries, please do not hesitate to contact us."

So they do use this facility however you seem to get 3 months without any charge without having to pay anything extra. However they still do paper vouchers so if anybody thinks they wouldn't use the vouchers in time get them

Sponge Bob

This implies that if you charge the card and use it all up on a visit that there is no maintenance fee if the balance is €0 but that the card is still valid and can be recharged and used up again in future with no fee due ??

Could you check that with them jsb ??

Eg I gets card 1st dec and charge €200 onto it. On the 3rd Jan I belt in the door and spend spend to €0 . Can I charge the card again in July for the July sales and not have to pay for 3 months at €3 ( April May June) because the balance was €0 during that time ??

nava

Sponge Bob wrote:

This implies that if you charge the card and use it all up on a visit that there is no maintenance fee if the balance is €0 but that the card is still valid and can be recharged and used up again in future with no fee due ??

Could you check that with them jsb ??

Eg I gets card 1st dec and charge €200 onto it. On the 3rd Jan I belt in the door and spend spend to €0 . Can I charge the card again in July for the July sales and not have to pay for 3 months at €3 ( April May June) because the balance was €0 during that time ??

Hi

I don't think the card can't be recharged once is 0 you can bin it.

Regards

justsomebloke

Sponge Bob wrote:

This implies that if you charge the card and use it all up on a visit that there is no maintenance fee if the balance is €0 but that the card is still valid and can be recharged and used up again in future with no fee due ??

just as a matter of interest, why would you want to recharge the card, would it not just be a safer alternative to either use cash or a credit/debit card that way you don't have to worry about not spending the money in case you can't find anything you want to purchase

Sponge Bob

were one gifted with a teenage daughter

So the card is only a 3 month gift card. After that Dundrum will introduce a €3 tax on the card every month until all the money has been taken off the card. As A GIFT it will only hold its full value for 3 months max.

Once it reaches €0 its invalid. Is there a maximum time limit on the card in addition to this tax ??

justsomebloke

well I am not sure how it would it work, however even if you could recharge it once it had reached €0, you would be paying a maintance fee as soon as you had topped it up for that month, where as if you where to buy another you would again be getting 3 months free so it would cheaper just to get a new one.
Also as they are still doing the old fashion version you could get her those and they will last her as long as she wants them, (however just check which shops take which versions of the vouchers as some shops mighn't allow the use of a general dundrum voucher so check that the ones she is likely to use do).

snickerpuss

Yeah this was in the Irish Times Bargin Hunt section or whatever a few weeks ago. 3 months is way too short a time.

subway

why not just get them a 3v card.
not as obvious as cash and not as limited as this obvious POS.

Red Alert

the store specific cards might be better - the BT2 one can be used in a|wear too so there's a wide price and brand range, and does not expire or decrease as time passes. (just an example, used to work there but not plugging!) ditto for something like House of Fraser or H&M vouchers.

i think HMV and a couple of the book shops will cross accept vouchers, but i'm not sure which ones.

justsomebloke

got a further mail this morning in relation to this

"Dear JSB,


Many thanks for you recent correspondence re the HQGiftFlex Voucher Scheme.

We were genuinely surprised at the confusion around the terms and conditions surrounding the card as we felt that the system offered clear choices. However, we understand that our customers were unclear on the charges and following a review with the supplier HQGiftFlex we have negotiated the removal of recurring €3 maintenance charge relating to the gift card.

Dundrum Town Centre is committed to providing you with a best in class retail experience and value and we welcome your feedback on all matters relating to the centre.

Yours sincerely,

Don Nugent

Centre Director"

so it looks like they probably have had a lot of people emailing asking about this.

nava

Hi

It looks like they also updated the website http://www.dundrum.ie/ with the same.

Regards

dubgirl

there you go - hows that for people power
now on to the petrol stations...........

justsomebloke

yep all it takes is one crazy person with email to make a difference these days;)

nava

Hi

It looks like they are also going to give refunds on charges. Just sent a mail to the Dundrum.

Regards

dudara

That's a fantastic outcome. Good to see that people power sometimes works

chillywilly

boards makes a difference once again:D

Rb

If you've got one of these cards and can't find anything to buy with it, go up to the customer service desk and buy paper gift certificates for the same amount with the card. Theres no ridiculous charges and no expiration on them and every store in the centre accepts them.
If you want to buy a gift certificate for the centre, make sure you get the paper ones or alternatively, the An Post vouchers are accepted in most, if not all, of the stores in the centre.
Also, all the stores will do invidual gift certificates should you want them.

The cards are ridiculous but thankfully avoidable.

eth0_

jsb wrote:

got a further mail this morning in relation to this


We were genuinely surprised at the confusion around the terms and conditions surrounding the card as we felt that the system offered clear choices. .

What a load of cr*p! It's not clear at ALL! It should be in the FAQ that they charge for it. I tried to read the T&C yesterday and the fees schedule part wouldn't load up, and when I downloaded the PDF it was corrupt.

How then, can he say the charges are clear to see?

Oral Slang

I got an email about this yesterday & went onto their website to check it out. I noticed that they also say that if you want to query a transaction on your card - ie - if you say you didn't buy something, that they will investigate it, but may charge you an investigative fee!
Can't find it now on their website, because it's all changed, but another thing to beware of!

Slice

If it works on the same principle as a debit card I wonder if it's regulated by the financial services regulator??

Sponge Bob

it could be argued that its a deposit account, yes!