Need to know
- Gift cards are just like cash and considered a prepayment – a retailer shouldn’t have the right to decide when you’re allowed to use them
- Nothing in the Australian Consumer Law gives retailers the option of rejecting a gift card for purchases
- We’re calling on JB Hi-Fi to reverse this ill-conceived policy
In JB Hi-Fi’s 2020 annual report, the company says “gift cards and store credits are considered a prepayment for goods and services to be delivered in the future”.
But even though the goods have technically been paid for, JB Hi-Fi apparently reserves the right to choose which products gift-card holders can and can’t buy.
That seems pretty shonky to us, since gift-card credits are effectively cash.
With the gift-giving season not too far away, the gamers of the world, or their parents or caregivers, might well have their eyes on the new PS5 or Xbox Series X/S.
They may even have already put down a $50 deposit if they “were lucky enough to get a spot in the pre-order queue”, as a JB Hi-Fi webpage puts it.
JB Hi-Fi calls its gift cards “a prepayment for goods and services”, but the company is refusing to accept them for popular new gaming consoles.
Your gift card is no good here
If you’re planning to use a JB Hi-Fi gift card to pay off the balance for the new console, however, it looks like it’s game over.
The webpage also says “using JB Hi-Fi gift cards to pay for your console will not be available”.
The JB Hi-Fi terms and conditions say gift cards “entitle the holder to goods/services equal to the value stated on the gift card or remaining after partial redemption”. But they don’t say anything about not being able to use one for certain purchases.
The company is at real risk of breaching the [Australian] Consumer Law here by misleading customers
CHOICE head of policy Julia Steward
“Gift cards are meant to operate like cash,” says CHOICE head of policy Julia Steward.
“Any onerous restrictions on gift-card use have to be clearly explained at the time of purchase,” she says. “JB Hi-Fi has clear terms and conditions for gift cards with no information about restrictions. The company is at real risk of breaching the [Australian] Consumer Law here by misleading customers.”
We contacted JB Hi-Fi for comment but didn’t get a response by the deadline.
Got a JB Hi-Fi gift card and can’t use it? Here’s what to do
- Lodge a complaint with JB Hi-Fi, pointing the company to its own terms and conditions for gift cards.
- If the company still says no gift cards, lodge a complaint with your state or territory consumer affairs body.
