FOR almost 50 years, Warrnambool man Phillip Hicks has carried an unused gift voucher in his wallet waiting to be spent.
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The $30 Clancey's Menswear gift voucher was given to him for Christmas in 1976 when he was working at the city's iconic Fletcher Jones factory sewing pockets for trousers.
"I don't remember who gave it to me but I've had it in my wallet ever since," he told The Standard.
"I don't know why I kept it for so long, but every time I got a new wallet, I thought of using it. I've had about 20 wallets in that time."
Mr Hicks recently went into the store to buy a suit for his granddaughter's wedding which is being held in February.
The store's owner and manager, Peter Clancey, honoured the voucher, and even added an extra $20 to the voucher to cover "inflation". The voucher has been on many adventures throughout the years.
"Around 20 years ago, I was pulled over by the police to check my driver's licence, and I accidentally presented the voucher to them," he said. "The voucher was sitting in my wallet between my driver's licence and my gun licence."
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Mr Clancey said Mr Hicks' voucher was not the only historical voucher that he had honoured. The store was opened in 1956 by Peter's father, Tony Clancey and uncle, Bill Clancey, with Peter taking over the store around 30 years ago.
"I had someone come in with a voucher that was four years old," he said.
"Another man who received a voucher when he was 18 and had since moved to South Australia, who now has three children, returned to the store years later.
"We stand by all our vouchers."
The voucher has now been framed and will adorn a wall of the Liebig Street store.
The Australian Consumer Law was amended nationally for gift cards supplied to consumers on, before or after November 1, 2019 with a mandatory minimum expiry period of three years, from the date of purchase.
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