Odd question regarding coupons with offer.

[Rand0m411]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Oregon

I live in Southern Oregon. I have held onto a coupon for a couple years now from a local car wash for one free car wash. I went to use it today and was told they stopped accepting my free coupon a year ago. This coupon has no expiration date or any disclaimer that says it would ever become invalid. I am having a hard time sifting through Oregon law to find information regarding this issue. They gave me $1 off and I still got my car washed, but I felt slighted. I left that business with a negative feeling and I will never do business with them again. But, what I really want to know is were they in the wrong for refusing the free car wash coupon?

Thank you in advance for any help pointing me to the correct information.

Rand0m411

 

[BL]

They were not wrong.

Look at what is reasonable .

Obviously one should NOT wait two years to have their Auto washed, let alone 6 months.

 

[Rand0m411]

"Obviously one should NOT wait two years to have their Auto washed, let alone 6 months."

And that's why I love this site, no legal advise, just useless assumptions on how many times I wash my car. By the way it's a new car (2013) a week old. Old car I washed by hand every time. Thanks for trolling though.

 

[BL]

"Obviously one should NOT wait two years to have their Auto washed, let alone 6 months."

And that's why I love this site, no legal advise, just useless assumptions on how many times I wash my car. By the way it's a new car (2013) a week old. Old car I washed by hand every time. Thanks for trolling though.

Alrighty then. Glad you love this site.

Who's the troll?

Ya see even though I won't even attempt to look up any laws if they exist on this , these kind of issues fall under common sense.

Of course I understand that may be hard to grasp for you ,or you just like to play around with 2 whole post on the forum here.

You keep getting banned and come back ????

Keep washing by hand....

 

[quincy]

A tip for you Rand0m11: Never insult any of the volunteers on this site.

BL had a correct answer for you. What the car wash did was reasonable. The proper thing for you to do now is say, "Thank you."

Then I suggest you leave rapidly before your unwarranted rudeness is noted by others.

 

[Rand0m411]

Alrighty then. Glad you love this site.

Who's the troll?

Ya see even though I won't even attempt to look up any laws if they exist on this , these kind of issues fall under common sense.

Of course I understand that may be hard to grasp for you ,or you just like to play around with 2 whole post on the forum here.

You keep getting banned and come back ????

Keep washing by hand....

Who's getting banned? I forgot my old account I haven't used in the last 5 years and made a new one, as for common sense really? So if I gave you a coupon for something with no expiration date you wouldn't attempt to use it? I didn't say I yelled at the guy or made a scene, I paid and got my wash. I'm only curious about law pertaining to the coupon, as we have strict gift certificate laws here in Oregon, so I was simply curious how our laws relate to coupons.

 

[Rand0m411]

A tip for you Rand0m11: Never insult any of the volunteers on this site.

BL had a correct answer for you. What the car wash did was reasonable. The proper thing for you to do now is say, "Thank you."

Then I suggest you leave rapidly before your unwarranted rudeness is noted by others.

No your right, I should accept being insulted with opinions about how often I wash my vehicle (which is just rude); I'm not here to boost anyone's ego though.

 

[BL]

No your right, I should accept being insulted with opinions about how often I wash my vehicle (which is just rude); I'm not here to boost anyone's ego though.

Well , you admitted yourself ,you washed your old car by hand.

Anyways , use common sense.


If I were going to keep my Walmart receipt and try to return a package of boxers 2 years later , you think they'd oblige?

 

[Mass_Shyster]

I'm not licensed in OR, but if you move to my state and pay me $5,000, I'll be happy to file a lawsuit against the car wash that treated you so badly.

If the case doesn't get thrown out for lack of personal jurisdiction, we can even try for double or treble damages.

 

[Zigner]

OP agreed to a settlement. OP has no case.

 

[tranquility]

Actually, BL (and others) gave the correct response--reasonable.

What you have is a unilateral offer. Much like a reward. You do the consideration of bringing your car to us, we'll wash it. It was an outward manifestation of present contractual intent with definite and certain terms relayed to the offeree. They can terminate their offer anytime before acceptance as you paid nothing for it and such a coupon is not covered by the laws on the matter. Sometimes, if there is a great deal of effort involved with acceptance (Like "I'll pay anyone $10,000 who brings me 1000 paper airplanes".), sometimes the terminated offer must be communicated to remove the risk of creating a quasi-contract. That is, while there is no contract as the offer was rescinded before acceptance, a person might claim damages based on promissory estoppel.

What is that?

That is where a person could reasonably rely upon the promise of another, and did rely, and that reliance caused damages; the person could claim the amount of damages suffered. (Not the benefit of the contract.) So, even IF the OP was not being rudely unreasonable here and at the car wash, the best he could hope for is the gas to get to the car wash. But, as others have said, it is simply unreasonable to expect a free coupon to be redeemable two years later. While some businesses might do it as a chance to hook a customer, they would certainly have no duty.

 

[quincy]

Well, what is perhaps odd about Oregon (and, no doubt, the reason our friendly Rand0m selected it out of 50 for his state ), is that Oregon allows for the expiration of coupons as long as the expiration date is clearly marked on the coupon. Note how Rand0m cleverly mentioned there was "no expiration date or disclaimer" marked on coupon.

Trick question by a tricky troll trying to trip up the volunteers.

 

[eerelations]

Ummm, OP if you believe all you're going to get here is "useless assumptions" why did you bother posting? (By posting it appears that you want useless assumptions...)

 

[quincy]

. . . By posting it appears that you want useless assumptions...

Bingo!

The fact is, though, Rand0m received an excellent first response (what the car wash did was reasonable) and Rand0m entered into a settlement agreement with the car wash anyway, thereby resolving any legitimate legal dispute he may have had.

His purpose here is definitely left to question.

BUT, if I were Rand0m, I would certainly take Stevef up on his offer. Five thousand seems a small price to pay for justice.

 

[tranquility]

Well, what is perhaps odd about Oregon (and, no doubt, the reason our friendly Rand0m selected it out of 50 for his state ), is that Oregon allows for the expiration of coupons as long as the expiration date is clearly marked on the coupon. Note how Rand0m cleverly mentioned there was "no expiration date or disclaimer" marked on coupon.

Trick question by a tricky troll trying to trip up the volunteers.

Where do you find the law on such free coupons?

I see the law on gift cards:

646A.274 Definitions for ORS 646A.276 and 646A.278. As used in ORS 646A.276 and 646A.278, “gift card” means a prefunded record evidencing a promise that the issuer will provide goods or services to the owner of the record in the amount shown in the record. “Gift card” does not include prepaid telephone calling cards, prepaid commercial mobile radio services as defined in 47 C.F.R. 20.3 or any gift card usable with more than one seller of goods or services. [2007 c.772 §1]



646A.276 Sale of gift card that expires, declines in value, includes fee or does not give option to redeem. (1) Except as provided in subsection (2) of this section and ORS 646A.278, a person may not sell a gift card:

(a) That has an expiration date;

(b) That has a face value that declines as a result of the passage of time or the lack of use of the card;

(c) That has a fee related to the card, including, but not limited to, an inactivity fee, a maintenance fee or a service fee; or

(d) That does not give the cardholder the option to redeem the card for cash when the face value of the card has declined to an amount less than $5 and the card has been used for at least one purchase. For purposes of this paragraph, “cash” means money or a check.

(2) Subsection (1)(d) of this section does not apply to:

(a) Gift cards that have been given for free or less than full consideration to a person or entity as a donation or as part of a promotional offer;

(b) Gift cards issued by an entity that provides services that are subject to the federal Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 151 et seq.); and

(c) Gift cards redeemed to an online account for the purchase of goods or services.

(3) Redemption under subsection (1)(d) of this section may be obtained only from the provider of goods or services indicated on the gift card regardless of whether the provider is the issuer of the gift card. [2007 c.772 §2; 2011 c.336 §1]



646A.278 Requirements for sale of gift card that expires. A person may sell a gift card that has an expiration date if:

(1) The gift card bears, in at least 10-point type, the words “EXPIRES ON” or “EXPIRATION DATE” followed by the date on which the card expires;

(2) The person sells the gift card at a cost below the face value of the card; and

(3) The gift card does not expire until at least 30 days after the date of sale. [2007 c.772 §3]