![Pinterest](https://pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=https://uknews.evprotec.com/martin-lewis-issues-warning-over-christmas-gift-that-could-become-worthless/&media=https://uknews.evprotec.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/financial-journalist-martin-lewis-pictured-766176834-1.jpg&description=XMAS TIME Published : 9:39, 13 Sep 2023 Updated : 9:39, 13 Sep 2023 MONEY-SAVING expert Martin Lewis has issued a warning over a popular Christmas present that could become worthless. The consumer champion urged shoppers to be wary of buying gift cards ahead of the festive period . 1 Martin Lewis' MoneySavingExpert has urged shoppers to be wary of buying gift cards Credit: The Times There's no guarantee you can use a gift card if a retailer goes bust, so you could lose money. Not only this, but gift cards occasionally have expiry dates meaning there's a time frame on using them. Instead, Martin urged shoppers in MoneySavingExpert.com's latest newsletter to gift cash or make a simple bank transfer. He said: "If the store goes bust, gift vouchers usually become worthless. "Plus some have expiry dates. So think carefully about the likely financial strength of the firm, and how quickly they'll be used, before you do it." The fresh warning comes after Which? told customers to be wary of buying gift cards last Christmas . The consumer website said one in ten who had received a gift card in the preceding two years did so from companies that went bust. And a survey of 2,000 shoppers found that 7% received one for a retailer that had collapsed since March 2020. One in five of those which had vouchers for a collapsed store had a gift card for the Arcadia Group, which owned, among other retailers, Burton and Dorothy Perkins. But the group went bust in November 2020 , putting 13,000 jobs at risk. Some of the retailers, including Topshop and Miss Selfridge , only let customers pay for 50% of their order total using gift card credit. The other half had to be funded by the shoppers themselves. Your rights if a retailer collapses If you've bought a gift card from a retailer that ends up going bust, it might be a struggle getting your money back. When a company collapses, administrators are brought in to take control of its day-to-day running and to try and rescue it from going bust){kind=link}
MONEY-SAVING expert Martin Lewis has issued a warning over a popular Christmas present that could become worthless.
The consumer champion urged shoppers to be wary of buying gift cards ahead of the festive period.
There’s no guarantee you can use a gift card if a retailer goes bust, so you could lose money.
Not only this, but gift cards occasionally have expiry dates meaning there’s a time frame on using them.
Instead, Martin urged shoppers in MoneySavingExpert.com’s latest newsletter to gift cash or make a simple bank transfer.