The following action is from the WA Consumer Protection Coalition:
Washington consumers buy gift cards for people they care about – teachers, mail carriers, caregivers, and loved ones. But some of the largest retail corporations incorporated in Washington successfully lobbied for a legal loophole in 2004 allowing them to pocket their customers’ unspent gift card balances. Together, they keep hundreds of millions in unspent customer dollars every year.
Click here for an easy email action to tell WA lawmakers to support two bills that will close the gift card loophole and protect consumers: https://www.waconsumerprotection.org/action/
More about each bill:
HB 2094 is a consumer protection bill that will:
Prohibit corporations from setting high gift card reload minimums.
Require big retail corporations to continue to honor gift cards at any time – no expiration dates.
Allow consumers to redeem unspent gift card balances for cash up to $50.
Prevent corporations from forcing consumers to reload a minimum amount.
HB 2095 – Concerning Gift Certificates As Unclaimed Property – is a bill that will
-change the law back to what it was in 2004, when there was no gift card loophole.
-Require the biggest corporations registered in WA to return money from unspent gift cards to the public good after 3 years, and allow consumers to still spend these gift cards.
