JD Sports agree to reissue more than 5,000 gift cards
JD Sports are to reissue 5,604 gift cards due to the cards being issued with a one-year expiry date. The value of the cards to be re-issued is €246,859.
Under the Consumer Protection (Gift Vouchers) Act, 2019, gift cards must be valid for at least five years.
The gift cards were all sold online between late 2019 and late 2025. The company is to reissue cards where an outstanding balance of €10 or more was cancelled on the expiry of the card.
When contacted by the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) on foot of a report received regarding a consumer who was having trouble with their card, John Davis Sports Fashion (Ireland) Limited, trading as JD Sports, admitted the error, and offered to immediately take steps to remedy the losses.
A spokesperson for JD Sports noted the majority of gift vouchers sold by the company in Ireland - 97.5% - had the correct expiry date applied with affected cards representing a very small percentage of the total.
“We apologise to those affected and have started the process of contacting customers to offer them a replacement,” they said.
Speaking on Morning Ireland on Monday 6 July, CCPC Director of Communications Gráinne Griffin said JD Sport had treated Irish consumers who bought their vouchers online “like British consumers essentially, and sent out gift cards with just a 12-month expiry date on them”.
The company has until 4 January 2027 to contact all affected consumers and re-issue their gift cards. Griffin said consumers will be contacted in batches of hundreds at a time by JD Sports to rectify the error.
Brian McHugh, Chairperson of the CCPC, said Ireland has stricter rules on gift vouchers compared to neighbouring jurisdictions.
“This case shows why consumers need that extra time to spend gift vouchers. Customers of JD Sports lost out on almost a quarter of a million euros when their gift vouchers expired after only 12 months.
“Following a CCPC intervention, that loss is now going to be set right,” he said.
He said JD Sport fully co-operated with the CCPC and the organisation was “happy to move quickly to resolve the issue and confirm this positive outcome for consumers”.