MiniVouchersVoucher expired: is it still valid?
Often, yes. In Switzerland, a voucher someone paid for usually only becomes time-barred after 5 or 10 years – even if a shorter date is printed on it. The question is not fully settled, though.
As of October 2026
5 or 10 years
The law sets limitation periods: 10 years in general (Art. 127 CO), 5 years among others for the retail sale of goods, for board and for innkeepers' bills (Art. 128 CO). Consumer organisations usually sort it like this: a voucher for a bookshop or a restaurant 5 years, for a hotel night, a trip or a concert 10 years. The period runs from the day the voucher was bought.
And the printed date?
Limitation periods cannot be changed by agreement (Art. 129 CO). The FRC, ACSI and Beobachter conclude that a shorter printed date does not shorten them. A court in the canton of Solothurn decided so in 2020 (a voucher for a balloon flight). Others hold that a shorter period counts if it was clearly agreed at purchase. The Federal Supreme Court has not ruled on it.
Not for vouchers nobody paid for
Promotional coupons, discounts, Cumulus and Supercard bons and other vouchers nobody paid for usually follow the issuer's own conditions and dates.
What you can do
- Keep the voucher and, if you have it, the receipt with the purchase date.
- Ask the shop: many accept a voucher after its printed date, especially when asked politely.
- If it refuses, consumer organisations can help: Stiftung für Konsumentenschutz, FRC, ACSI.
- If the shop has gone bankrupt, the voucher is a claim in the bankruptcy – it usually brings little back.
How MiniVouchers helps
MiniVouchers shows the date printed on your vouchers and reminds you before it – so you use them while it is easy. MiniVouchers never decides whether a voucher is still valid.