Outstanding GC reminders?

[royalcres]

I am curious if anyone sends a reminder to their outstanding (unused) gift certificate holders (or givers), to redeem the GC? Would I be heaping a lot of problems on my head by doing this? I am thinking of preparing a postcard to send when the slower season starts (summer vacation) to help fill my appointment book up. Any thoughts?

 

[Brittany]

You've got gc's unredeemed for nearly seven years already? Really?

 

[falas6een7ora]

You've got gc's unredeemed for nearly seven years already? Really?

Nope. Not even close.

 

[SLEEP IS FOR SISSIES]

In Massachusetts, GC's can't expire for at least seven years.

I would always accept an expired gc anyway, just for goodwill.

 

[Metallica]

GC's can't expire for at least seven years.

I would always accept an expired gc anyway, just for goodwill.

You have misunderstood my question. I am not talking about expired gcs, but "outstanding" ones. A GC that has not yet been redeemed. Don't worry, I'm not concerned about seeing an expired gc come through the door. Should I ever get to that point I'll be sure to post again.

 

[Pauly]

It depends on where you live whether g.c.s are allowed to have an expiration date and how far out that should be. In my state there are no rules governing this, so I could sell a g.c. that expires next week if I wanted.

I usually put a 6 month expiration on g.c.'s to encourage people to come in sooner, rather than later. I used to send reminders close to the expiration date, but that became time consuming. I figure it is up to the recipient to pay attention. I will accept them after the expiration date. From time to time I will go through my records and will send notices to people who have purchased g.c's that have expired and will notify them that the g.c. has not been used and say that I will accept it until ______ date.

I think if your goal is to give your business a little boost and get these people in the door so that they may rebook, then it is not such a bad idea to remind people from time to time.

 

[Bonkers D. Bobcat]

I think if your goal is to give your business a little boost and get these people in the door so that they may rebook, then it is not such a bad idea to remind people from time to time.

Thanks, that's what I was thinking!

 

[Ryan Stanford]

My GCs have a six month life and I started to call the ones that were coming close to expiring, but I just kept getting people who wanted to extend the expiration date saying they are just too busy right now...blah blah blah. So I decided not to contact anyone and let these adult people either use their gift or not. I don't want to drum up business with people who NEVER find time in six months to get a (gifted) massage. I want to focus my energy on people who value massage and make time for it.

I was also going to call the purchaser if the GC went unused, but one purchaser expressed irritation that she spent money on a gift that the receiver obviously didn't value. So I thought it might be better to just let it lie.

 

[a-z]

I think a call to the recipient (if you have that info) would help encourage them to come in. It is easy to put that sort of thing in the back of your mind and forget about it- a call (or postcard) might be just the reminder they need.

As for contacting the buyer of the card, I can see Anita's point in them getting frustrated that the gift has gone unused. Then again, they may not get upset, and may coerce the reciever into actually using the gift.

And, of course, we all know that once the reciever comes in to utilize the gift they will realize you are the greatest and book weekly appts