LifeExperiences.ca

In 2016, I purchased a gift card from Life Experiences.ca via *** in Orillia Ontario when I saw the offering and thought that it would serve as an appropriate Mother's Day gift for my wife in 2017. Recently, when we looked at acquiring the services that were advertised, we noticed that the Chef services were only available in close proximity to the London area. as there were other options that the card could be utilized for, we tried to book a reservation at the *** in Inglewood Ontario, but the folks there refused the card, advising us that we had to contact Lifeexperiences.ca, so that they can complete the booking on our behalf and ensure payment is received (that in itself seemed very fishy, as though they had issues with payment before). When we contacted Lifeexperiences, we received a call back advising us that our card was expired and that the company could do nothing for us and that we would have to contact the vendor where we purchased the card to receive a refund. I disagreed. I noted if you know that a card expired (which under the law they cannot expire), you know you received the funds for the card when your arbitrary expiry timing began, therefore you are in receipt of the funds and they should be in a suspense account that can either be returned to use or used to settle with the vendor. Nevertheless, the company has offered to do nothing to satisfy the matter. I asked the service rep to speak to his superiors, the owner of the company and the company accountant and or auditor to explain what happened to our funds. We have yet to receive a call back on the matter from anyone and do not expect to receive one.
I think that it is imperative that companies understand that gift cards no longer have an expiry date and that there are a variety of reasons (health and personal) that may prevent someone from using a card that they purchased with best of intentions to use as a gift or to enjoy a life experience. If you sell this type of experience, you need to honor its value and ensure that you can offer suitable substitutes if the original experience can no longer be offered. As well, there is no expiry date on the card, so to claim such exists seem a little bit fraudulent, thereby meriting this complaint and to social media.