Ever fish out that old gift card from last Christmas just in time to find out that it?s expired?
Starting today, those days are gone as Maryland?s new gift card law takes effect, obliterating short-term expiration dates.
Now, any gift card sold in the state must have an expiration date longer than four years, and that date must be printed clearly in at least 10-point font on the card?s jacket.
State Del. Neil Quinter, D-District 13, and State Sen. Kathy Klausmeier, D-District 8, the bill?s lead sponsors in the legislature, said they were motivated by constituent complaints about gift cards? expiration dates.
“I had constituents get up at community meetings and pull out their wallets and show me their gift cards that had expired,” Klausmeier said. “When people lay out their cash, they should be able to get what they paid for.”
Quinter echoed that sentiment.
“Too many of these consumers are paying something, but getting nothing,” he said, adding that 63 percent of consumers don?t know that some gift cards charge fees that accumulate over time, decreasing the value of the card.
Quinter said the problem with Maryland?s gift cards hit home for him when his wife went to redeem a $20 gift card at the Children?s Place, a children? clothing store, and found it had diminished in value to become “worthless.”
“The retailers are getting money for nothing,” he said.
Credit card companies and malls are exempted from the four-year expiration date time limit imposed by the bill, but not the10-font print rule.
