Policy on Gift Certificates

As the Christmas season has ended and clients have are redeeming those wonderful gifts of massage, perhaps this is a good time to review our policy on gift certificates. I recently participated in such a discussion, and it became clear that there are many variables that massage therapists need to clarify for themselves and their practice.

These are a few of the decisions we need to make in writing our policy on gift certificates:

1. Are expiration dates legal where you work?
2. Should you have an expiration date, and if so, for how long?
3. What happens after the expiration date? Do you still honor it, or does something change?
4. Do you honor the recipient when they want to switch services or request a refund?
5. Who 'owns' the gift? If you need to alter or refund services, should it be to the giver or to the recipient?
6. Does it risk hurting the relationship between the giver and recipient if the giver is informed that the service was not redeemed? What is your responsibility in this?
7. Do you have different policies for purchased gift certificates and donated gift certificates -- cash value, expiration dates, missed appointments, etc.?
8. What is the best balance for you and your practice between customer service and honoring your boundaries?
   

What is your policy on gift certificates?