Banquet Records to accept customer's HMV vouchers
Indie record store to give 50% discount
Independent record store Banquet Records have leapt to the aid of disenfranchised customers with HMV vouchers.
Music giant HMV stopped accepting the vouchers, which many had given as gifts this Christmas, following the announcement that they would be going in to administration on Tuesday.
This left many customers feeling cheated, and one man in Dublin walked out of a store with three games he hadn't paid for in protest at the store's refusal to accept his voucher.
But Banquet Records, based in Kingston, have offered a solution to upset customers.
The store will give a 50% discount on items purchased in their store to anyone with a HMV gift card until the end of the weekend.
In a statement on their official website, Banquet's owners said: "We're very aware and sad that people are looking at losing their jobs, and we're concerned about the effect HMV's possible closure may have on physical releases in general. However, one gripe many have is the current situation where gift cards are now no longer valid at HMVs. Whatever happened, it's certainly no fault of the person who got someone a Christmas gift, and it's unfair on someone to not be able to use their credit.
"We wanted to find a way to make these gift tokens valid at our store. But the system using an Oyster-esque card means we've got no way of knowing how much credit is on them. So this is the best idea we could come up with. We'll offer anyone with a HMV gift card 50% off in our store up to and including Sunday 20 January."
Yesterday saw sit-in protests from staff at HMV stores in Ireland who say their employers have not paid their wages.
The 92-year-old highstreet music giant started a massive month-long sale last Friday, leading some to suspect the store may be approaching closure.
On Tuesday this week (January 15) the brand announced it was indeed going into administration.
If the chain is unable to find a buyer it's thought more than 4,000 jobs will be lost and there will be no wide-spread music retail presence on British high streets.
Many recording artists recently expressed their sadness at the chains prospective closure and shared their memories of the store.
Below: Everything Everything meet fans at Manchester HMV
