You know me…if I’m disastified with a service, I write a letter! Here’s my letter to Black’s Photography.
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To whom it may concern,
I purchased a Black’s Prepaid Photo Card for 100 4×6 photos a few years ago. I had used 45 of the photos at the time and placed the card in my wallet.
The opportunity arose to print of some photos and I remembered that I had this card hidden in my wallet and I went to the Black’s Photography store at Place D’Orléans, in Orleans, Ontario. I was greeted by John who was very personable and helpful.
He discovered that my card had expired. I asked how a card that I paid for has an expiry date and he stated it was company policy and he had no real explanation for it.
He was very helpful in that he gave me 15 free photos for my troubles. I would like to applaud his actions in giving me something for my disappointing trip.
I would appreciate it if Black’s Photography will explain to me why there is an expiry date on something that I paid for in the first place. Yes, I understand that there is a notice on the back of the card indicating very clearly that it will expire in 2 years, but that still doesn’t explain why Black’s would do this. I am disappointed that something I paid for is invalid over time. Essentially, I paid for a service that was never fully delivered.
I would appreciate if I receive a response in writing, as well as some form of compensation, perhaps an additional 40 free photos to top up the 15 which John had given to me. Unfortunately, John had taken the card in question, therefore if you need proof that I had this card, I would recommend you contact the store at Place D’Orléans.
Thanks for wasting my time! (alright, I just added this for the fun of the blog)
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What’s everyone’s take on this? Maren was talking about how everything has an expiry date clearly listed (gift cards, etc.) but she did agree that in principle, this is a lame business practice. But, I’m sure we all know WHY they do it this way. They hope that they have people like me who forget about it over time, let the thing expire, and then they essentially got a profit for no work done.
OR, they have an expiry date so that they generate more sales during the 2-year period that it’s good for, rather than sales generated until the END OF TIME. Mwahahaha.
So here’s my take and feel free to comment. Good business policy internally – gets the money in and potentially nabs some cash from the stupid customer who forgets to use it. Bad customer mojo to those like me who forget to use it in time.
