Hot News - August 2003

 The Consumers Trust and Cashable Vouchers

On August 25th OMVIC issued a news release in response to inquiries received about “cashable vouchers” – a new promotional sales opportunity offered by CP Promotions, Ltd. which raises a number of questions and concerns.

The voucher program works as follows: when purchasing goods or services, participating merchants may offer customers the opportunity to claim a portion of their purchase price (up to a maximum of several thousand dollars) through the use of a “cashable voucher.” The voucher is issued by the merchant and claimed by the consumer at maturity – approximately three years’ time. In order to obtain the rebate, however, consumers are required to comply with a complex set of very strict criteria at the time of purchase and again at the time of maturity. Failure to meet all of the criteria results in disqualification. Even if all of the prerequisites are met, there is still no guarantee consumers will receive the full face value of the voucher at the end of the three-year period.

Consumers can read the full news release by clicking here.

Dealers who did not receive a fax copy of the urgent “OMVIC Bulletin” regarding cashable vouchers (sent August 25th), may request a copy by contacting OMVIC.