Issue link: https://www.massageandbodyworkdigital.com/i/68175
PRINTABLE GIFT CERTIFICATES ARE AVAILABLE AT ABMP.COM FOR MEMBERS OF ASSOCIATED BODYWORK & MASSAGE PROFESSIONALS. TO DOWNLOAD AND PRINT THEM, LOG IN TO THE WEBSITE, THEN CLICK ON THE "MARKETING CENTER" TAB. KEEP THE RECORDS STRAIGHT Different issuers handle record keeping in different ways. Let's say a client purchased a gift card from SpaFinder at a department store. Other than the receipt he or she may have kept, there is no record of the purchase. The name is not written anywhere as the owner of a gift card. If you accept a SpaFinder card, the company bases its payment to the therapist on a bar code. The name of the person who purchased or redeemed it is of no concern anywhere in the transaction. Some massage therapists may run their business in the same manner—not recording gift certificate sales. A nail salon I visit frequently sells gift certificates that state "Treat this certificate like cash. We are not responsible for lost or stolen gift certificates." There is no place on the certificate to write "to" or "from"; it only has a place for a dollar amount. Other therapists record every gift certificate sale, along with the giver's and recipient's names, amount of the certificate, and expiration date. That's how it's done in my office. If someone calls and says they've lost a certificate, we can honor it anyway, but we note in the log book that the certificate was not presented at the time of service so we know not to honor it twice. While it may be diligent of you to keep a record of the person who bought the certificate, the date of purchase, the name of the recipient, and so forth, I was unable to locate any law that requires that in any state. THE TRICKY BUSINESS OF GOING OUT OF BUSINESS What if you go out of business and you have gift certificates that haven't been redeemed? If you've kept records of purchases, it would be good professional business ethics to attempt to contact RESOURCES Consumers Union. State gift card consumer protection laws. Available at www.consumersunion.org/pub/core_financial_services/003889.html (accessed May 2010). Federal Reserve System: What you need to know: New rules for gift cards. Available at www.federalreserve.gov/consumerinfo/wyntk_ giftcards.htm (accessed May 2010). National Conference of State Legislatures. Gift cards and gift certificate statutes and recent legislation. Available at www.ncsl.org/IssuesResearch/BankingInsuranceFinancialServices/ GiftCardsandGiftCertificatesLegislation/tabid/12474/Default.aspx (accessed May 2010). Your State Consumer Affairs Division. the buyers or recipients and let them know that you're closing your business and the recipient has X amount of time to redeem the certificate. If you haven't kept such records, you could run an ad for a period of time stating your last date in business and that anyone with unredeemed certificates should call immediately to schedule an appointment. As long as you have made a good-faith effort to contact people, you've done your best. The key is to handle it before closing your business. Only five states have laws specifically relating to unredeemed certificates when a business closes (California, Montana, New York, Oklahoma, and Washington). Since the law doesn't address this in many places, consumers may have no legal recourse, but if there is a chance you would open another business in the future, clients left with an unredeemable gift certificate are not likely to patronize you again. Alternatively, they may show up with the gift certificate from the defunct business in hand and expect you to redeem it. If you're in the financial position to do so, you might consider honoring the gift certificates of a competitor who has gone out of business. No doubt, this could earn you a lot of goodwill and customer loyalty, and the expense is a tax deduction for you. Putting a time limit, dollar limit, or both, could keep you from overextending yourself. Simple Guide to Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork Examinations (Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 2009) and One Year to a Successful Massage Therapy Practice (Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 2008). A third book, A Massage Therapist's Guide to Business, will be published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. Allen is the owner of THERA-SSAGE, a continuing education facility and alternative wellness clinic with more than a dozen practitioners of different disciplines in Rutherfordton, North Carolina. Visit her website at www.thera-ssage.com. Laura Allen is the author of Plain & connect with your colleagues on massageprofessionals.com 25