Amway Gift Cardhoders have been given another shot.
As the result of a California lawsuit, Amway has agreed to redeem or replace more than $20 million in gift cards which have gone expired, at least in the the minds of consumers. That's because Amway placed the words "redeem before" on gift cards sold to consumers. Naturally, it was argued such a practice violated California Gift Card Law which prohibits expiration dates.
While Amway still denies the use of "redeem before" implies the gift cards has an expiration date, they are clearly wrong. We can all see it would be completely reasonable for a consumer to look at a gift card with a "redeem before" date in the past and think of the gift card as expired. This was an extremely deceptive practice.
Groupon And LivingSocail Should Take Note
One can't read the result of this case and without thinking about a recently lawsuit filed against Groupon in California. It's very similar: a Groupon Voucher clearly states an expiration date and the lawsuit argues such an expiration in in violation of California Gift Card Law. However, buried in the Groupon's own terms, it's disclosed that the "paid portion" of the voucher might be governed by state laws and may not expire.
The Proper Way To Operate: Full Disclosure
While it's reasonable for the promotional portion of a voucher to expire, it's likely the paid portion is governed by gift card laws. I recommend Groupon, LivingSocial and other daily deal sites begin clearly disclosing the expiration dates and dollar amounts for both the "paid portion" and the the "promotional portion" directly on each voucher sold.
