Madeleine, it's a bit extreme to say that we are punishing people by having expiration dates on gift certificates. That's a standard business practice.
We, like Breakfast Diva, sell gift certificates on the Reservaton Key. They are for a specific dollar amount and are good for six months.
Presently, I post what one night costs including the tax. That way they can purchase a complete night and the recipient is not out any money. It would be annoying for the recipient to get a gift certificate that only paid for part of their stay and they were out of pocket for the balance. What the heck kind of gift is that?
If gift certificates are for a set amount and there is no expiration, then what do you do when you need to raise your rates? What happens to the gift certificate if you sell your B&B? Will it still be honored by the new owner?
If there is any annoyance at all from the purchaser, it's because on many occasions the gift certificates they buy are never redeemed. Why do you think retailers love selling gift cards? Nine times out of ten they are never redeemed and it just means free money for them.
If someone has a problem with expiring gift certificates, then don't buy them. Punishing the customer? Really? I Don't think so..
I guess no one noticed that is a link to someone else's comments. A brand marketer who has some good advice. Like JB says, 'I just post this stuff, I don't make it up.'
As for GC's, it's one example of his where we (business owners) could be a little proactive. But, we're all entitled to run the biz as we see fit. In my case, I just refunded a GC because the people who bought it are leaving the country and won't be able to use it in the next 3 weeks before they ship out. My call. I could have kept the money, but why? I'm getting the product returned to me, why keep their money?
My business is small enough that I can keep track of the couple of thousand dollars outstanding on the GC's that haven't been used. (Now $360 less than yesterday.) If I sell the business and they're still outstanding? I'm not planning on selling for so low a price that a couple of thousand is the difference between walking away with money in my pocket and walking away to live in a tent somewhere.
And I really don't care about the $10 it cost to process the cc in the first place.
I felt this way before I read the blog post. I still feel this way.
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Didn't notice the link. But I still stand by what I said. We're not hard-assed about gift certificates. If there are extenuating circumstances, we make allowances. But, "I forgot to use my gift certificate" is not a good enough excuse.
AND just because there is an expiration date on the gift certificate doesn't mean they have to stay with us within the next 6 months, only make a reservation in that time. We have people booking months in advance for area activities. If they're not coming in the next 18 months, then they're probably not coming.
If they don't want the gift certificate, then they can give it to someone else, which is exactly what one older couple did. Their friends bought the gift certificate for them (not knowing what to get them) for their 50th wedding anniversary. He didn't want to go to "no dang bed and breakfast". So, they gave the gift certificate to a young soldier who was about to be deployed and his young wife.
We had a church buy a gift certificate for their pastor so that he and his wife could get away. One month after it expired, he called to make a reservation. It seems the church secretary bought the gift certificate, but never read the letter that came it with or even gave the certifcate to the pastor. They just told him he had a gift certificate. It wasn't his fault, so we let him come.
I can be kind, but I do not mind taking someone elses money because they are not thoughtful about how they spend their money.
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