As stores reopened in England following a monthlong lockdown, shoppers at one of the country’s biggest retailers have been met with an unwelcome surprise.
Arcadia Group, which filed for bankruptcy protection on Monday, restricted the value of its gift cards to no more than 50 percent of a total purchase. So a £10 card would be worth only £5 when making a £10 purchase, or up to £10 when making a £20 purchase. Any balance can be used another day.
People shopping online are further out of luck. Arcadia, which owns fashion brands including Topshop, Miss Selfridge and Burton, told customers that it wasn’t able to redeem gift cards online. “We hope to be able to offer this in the near future,” a notice on Topshop’s website read on Thursday.
Arcadia has 444 stores in Britain and said on Monday that they would be open while Deloitte, acting as administrators, seeks to rescue to the company. The company has blamed the pandemic and the forced store closures for its financial troubles.
The restrictions have left customers upset and searching for advice from Martin Lewis, a popular personal finance journalist.
Can’t believe I have a gift voucher for @Topshop and I’m now only entitled to 50% of it. I’m fuming 😤
— Sanem (@Sanemkoseoglu) December 3, 2020
@MartinSLewis I’m looking for some advice my daughter has a £30 gift card for OUTFIT which covers all of the Arcadia Brands she has tried to use it on line @Topshop but they have stated she cannot redeem it now! I have contacted @Topshop but no response
— Miriam Henshaw (@MiriamHenshaw) December 2, 2020
Just three weeks before Christmas, what is normally an easy gift has become more trouble than it is worth. Owners of gift cards from any troubled retailer are being urged to spend the vouchers as quickly as possible.
Debenhams, a venerable department store chain that began closing down on Tuesday after failing to secure a buyer while under bankruptcy protection, said it was still accepting gift cards as a method of payment online and in stores, but not selling new ones. It will keep selling to clear out stock and its 124 stores will probably close early next year. Since the announcement, the Debenhams website has become overwhelmed with some shoppers unable to complete purchases and others having to wait in long virtual waiting lines.
— Eshe Nelson The New York Times