Police called to HMV after dispute about vouchers

3:35pm Tuesday 15th January 2013 in News Photograph of the Author By Fran Bardsley, covering Education, East Oxford and Cowley. Call me on 01865 425439

POLICE were called to Oxford’s HMV store this morning after two customers refused to leave when they were told they could not exchange or use their gift vouchers.

The chain went into administration today and the store is not accepting gift vouchers or cards.

Thames Valley Police spokesman Rhianne Pope said police were called at 10.38am after a dispute between two customers and members of staff regarding the spending of gift vouchers.

She said the customers left when two police officers arrived at the Cornmarket Street shop and no further action would be taken.

Pc Steve Higa, who attended the incident, said: “It was a minor dispute.”

Comments(27)

oxfordgirl1974 says...
4:03pm Tue 15 Jan 13

You can't blame people for getting annoyed though can you? Every time a big store goes under, the first thing they do is refuse to take gift vouchers - gift vouchers that they have already received money for - hardly seems fair really...

Report this post »

John Lamb says...
4:04pm Tue 15 Jan 13

If HMV are still trading then they should be trading their legitimately purchased gift vouchers/cards for DVDs/CDs etc. It seems immoral otherwise.

Report this post »

Grunden Skip says...
4:11pm Tue 15 Jan 13

John Lamb wrote:
If HMV are still trading then they should be trading their legitimately purchased gift vouchers/cards for DVDs/CDs etc. It seems immoral otherwise.
Sadly the law is stacked massively in favour of PLC's, and amazingly it would be illegal to pay out on the gift vouchers as they are a form of debt owed to the customer, and the administrators must pay out to preferred creditors first, and the customer is at the end of a long queue.

Report this post »

DuncanB says...
4:14pm Tue 15 Jan 13

The Which? website has some suggestions for people stuck with gift vouchers they cannot use: if they were bought with a credit card the purchaser can use chargeback on the credit card to get their money refunded, otherwise they explain how to lodge a claim with the administrators (but that can take up to 12 months). See http://www.which.co.
uk/consumer-rights/b
uying-services/compa
ny-going-bust-qanda/
?CMP=GPLUS

Report this post »

Braganca says...
5:04pm Tue 15 Jan 13

The staff should be charged with wasting police time.

Report this post »

nicklox says...
5:24pm Tue 15 Jan 13

Braganca wrote:
The staff should be charged with wasting police time.
Seems a bit harsh - can't have been nice for them to be challenged to the point that they felt police needed to be called, over something they personally have no control over. And on the morning they turned up for work knowing their job was pretty much lost.

A little sympathy for the employees maybe - they don't make the rules and today can't have been easy for them.

Report this post »

Phian says...
5:35pm Tue 15 Jan 13

I wouldn't have been surprised if the staff had said "Bu**ger this" and gone home. To lose one's job then get hassle from customers must have been galling.

Report this post »

Grunden Skip says...
5:55pm Tue 15 Jan 13

Phian wrote:
I wouldn't have been surprised if the staff had said "Bu**ger this" and gone home. To lose one's job then get hassle from customers must have been galling.
Especially as the staff may not get paid, I will bet that a few of them go into work tomorrow with a nice big sports bag, that will be a bit heavier when they go home. And who can blame them.

Report this post »

pcollins says...
6:07pm Tue 15 Jan 13

I wouldve told the customer to choose what they wanted to the value of and let them walk out with it,to be honest it's an absolute joke seeing as they are still trading.

Report this post »

Grunden Skip says...
6:16pm Tue 15 Jan 13

pcollins wrote:
I wouldve told the customer to choose what they wanted to the value of and let them walk out with it,to be honest it's an absolute joke seeing as they are still trading.
I agree, seeing as all the money going through the tills, will eventually finds it's way to the directors, and not to it's creditors. We can just wait and see what the payout is, maybe a penny in the pound. Anybody shopping there now must be a bit silly seeing as they have lost their protection, and what point is your statutory rights when there is no shop to use them against. Earlier today the products were still at full and non reduced sale price, so either they have already found a bulk buyer for their stock, or they think that we are stupid enough to but from them. I don't know but maybe in the coming week there may be a fire sale.

Report this post »

faatmaan says...
6:34pm Tue 15 Jan 13

surely selling the same goods twice is illegal ?the vouchers are a promise paid for, so a certain amount of part of the existing stock is owed to the voucher holder.You don't pay say Argos for a stereo then find out upon arrival to collect said stereo that somebody else has been sold it and that your not entitled to a full refund or more. perhaps the administrators should be sued for deception or fraud in the small claims court and seek fair redress.

Report this post »

Andrew:Oxford says...
7:01pm Tue 15 Jan 13

Unfortunately, it's near enough tough for anyone who was unlucky (stupid) enough to hold HMV Vouchers or gift cards.

The blue cross sale last weekend was well known to be a last ditch attempt to save the company.

HMV "died" at the point the administrators were appointed. The administrators are now working on behalf of every creditor - even if there is just £1 left on your gift card. Clearly secured creditors (by their very name) are more likely to fully recover their outstanding debts than unsecured creditors from the "pot" secured by the administrators.

It really is time that legislation was put in place to "ring fence" at least 80%* of the value of gift-cards up to a maximum face value of £500 in a designated client account.


*80% as clearly very few people actually pay 100% of face value for gift cards due to heavy discounting through employee schemes and reward schemes such as Morrison's "Fuel Saver".

Report this post »

Dan - Eynsham says...
8:24pm Tue 15 Jan 13

It does seem unfair, but nonetheless if you have a voucher, then you are a creditor of the company. You have lent it money, and have to join the queue of creditors who have also lent them money, and supplier who haven't been paid, and staff, etc.

The moral is not to buy vouchers.

Report this post »

jimjams123123 says...
8:38pm Tue 15 Jan 13

If they picked up items to the value of their voucher and told the police that under common law they were taking it as a 'lien' in lieu of payment then the police have to let you do it.

it is the same power bailiffs have.

Google 'liens'

Report this post »

DoctorBob says...
9:19pm Tue 15 Jan 13

Ah, the wonders of the free market.

Report this post »

Andrew:Oxford says...
11:08pm Tue 15 Jan 13

jimjams123123 wrote:
If they picked up items to the value of their voucher and told the police that under common law they were taking it as a 'lien' in lieu of payment then the police have to let you do it.

it is the same power bailiffs have.

Google 'liens'
No, that's not true.

You are stealing from the Administrators of the company who are acting on behalf of the credtiors.

If you are going to exercise a right of lien, you are going to have to do it prior to the appointment of an administrator.

Check out the companies act and insolvency next time you visit google.

Report this post »

Myron Blatz says...
12:05am Wed 16 Jan 13

Yes, on the face of it a refund or stopping transaction via credit or debit card seems most likely way to resolve the issue. However, a voucher may not actually be covered, and would depend upon the terms which each bank or card company provide. As for somehow hoping that the Adminisrator or accountants might give individuals their money back, reality usually means that such reimbursement would at best only happen after banks and major creditors have been paid - and believe this would include the administrator and accountants involved. It is grossly unfair, but don't forget that the money we use every day is only guaranteed by a 'promise to pay' scribbled on bits of paper called 'bank notes' by this bloke (none to-date having been female?) called the Governor of the Bank of England. Sadly, the HMV voucher and guarantee fiasco follows hotly on the tail of Comet, which also recently ceased trading, and also left thousands of its former Customers with little or no hope of redress. Maybe one solution would be to legally require all retailers to subscribe to something like ABTA, which safeguards holidaymakers from travel agents and operators going bust, if they are registered with ABTA - and if they are not, then you don't buy from them! Would it cost more to buy things? Well, not as much as losing money on useless vouchers from HMV, it would now seem.

Report this post »

John Lamb says...
8:01am Wed 16 Jan 13

Grunden Skip wrote:
John Lamb wrote:
If HMV are still trading then they should be trading their legitimately purchased gift vouchers/cards for DVDs/CDs etc. It seems immoral otherwise.
Sadly the law is stacked massively in favour of PLC's, and amazingly it would be illegal to pay out on the gift vouchers as they are a form of debt owed to the customer, and the administrators must pay out to preferred creditors first, and the customer is at the end of a long queue.
It may be the law at the moment but it is not a just one and it is definitely not one I remember ever being giving the chance to vote on. I presume then that it's a statute made up by the people who usually make statutes up for them to gain at some point....a corporation (like the courts, the police and this place we call the UK).
All businesses run to make vast profits from any dubious method. When I buy a £20 gift voucher, I am not told by a well-meaning teenager in company garb that I encumbering myself with their company's debt. It's a present that's meant to bring joy to a young person's face. Remember joy?....it's hazy but I think I can.

Report this post »

online_reader says...
11:22am Wed 16 Jan 13

Really far better to give cash than vouchers, even the ones that can be spent in a multitude of shops are issued by a company that could easily go under. Has no-one learned from Farepak? All you're doing is putting your money in a company bank account without any of the protection you'd have if you put it in your own. You should never put money anywhere that isn't backed by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme unless you can afford to lose it.

Report this post »

OxfordBuc says...
1:29pm Wed 16 Jan 13

Seems appalling to me that HMV were taking money for gift cards & Jessops were taking money for on line orders only hours before going into Administration. These companies must know what is about to happen. It seems like some sort of robbery. Shouldn't the Government do something about it, or the introduction of something like ABTA as suggested earlier. This you would expect is going to happen again.

Report this post »

mandate says...
2:56pm Wed 16 Jan 13

It seems, just like a pet, a HMV gift voucher isn't just for Christmas; it's for life. Shame on HMV, and the administrators for not honouring gift vouchers that were purchased in good faith.

Report this post »

pcollins says...
4:58pm Wed 16 Jan 13

Always make sure the gift vouchers you give have the queens head on it and can be spent in ANY store.......ie £50/£20/£10/£5 notes :) can never see the point of gift vouchers really.....its not as if you pay any less for them...??????

Report this post »

Grunden Skip says...
5:03pm Wed 16 Jan 13

mandate wrote:
It seems, just like a pet, a HMV gift voucher isn't just for Christmas; it's for life. Shame on HMV, and the administrators for not honouring gift vouchers that were purchased in good faith.
Not really when you look at it. Businessess trade on their good name, HMV no longer has a name to trade on so what is the point of throwing money away in honouring the gift vouchers. Which anyway is irrelevant as the administrator is not legally allowed to pay out to creditors (which gift card holders are), but as mentioned earlier there is more than one way to skin a cat. Another one is for somebody to set up a facebook group for all gift card holders to converge on HMV, and at the same time take goods to the value of their cards, lets say a hundred of them, there are not enough police in Oxford let alone security guards, to sort that one out.

Report this post »

Andrew:Oxford says...
11:08pm Wed 16 Jan 13

pcollins wrote:
Always make sure the gift vouchers you give have the queens head on it and can be spent in ANY store.......ie £50/£20/£10/£5 notes :) can never see the point of gift vouchers really.....its not as if you pay any less for them...??????
Don't most people buy gift vouchers at a discount?

This is how much I pay for a £100 gift card top-up via my employer's scheme...

Tesco - £99.00
M&S - £94.00
Argos - £92.00
House of Fraser - £93.00
B&Q - £91.00
Sainsbury - £95
Boots - £92
Costa - £92

Report this post »

sablond oxford says...
12:52pm Thu 17 Jan 13

Gift vouchers are mainly given by people who have to send presents and so send vouchers instead of cash. It's a shame that vouchers aren't worth the paper / card they are printed on. but i think its totally unfair for the couple to have taken out their frustration on the staff! it's not their fault and how they didn't tell them where to go is beyond me, its not like they'll get the sack! poor HMV staff have enough to deal with!

Report this post »

Vernon Spools says...
6:21pm Thu 17 Jan 13

Not sure what I would do with a £92 Costa gift voucher even if it were discounted, and I wouldn't want a £1 discount on any other if there is a chance that it could be worthless!

Report this post »

dant40 says...
6:31pm Thu 17 Jan 13

If this sort of thing going to happen more often where big shops are going to close down.

Your better off just giving the money to who ever it is, because at the end of the day your have the money already to pay for the gift voucher and all you do is put it in a nice card, and recorded delivery

It save all this frustration where you can't refunds because they closed down

Report this post »

click2find

About cookies

We want you to enjoy your visit to our website. That's why we use cookies to enhance your experience. By staying on our website you agree to our use of cookies. Find out more about the cookies we use.

I agree