marks and spencers oxfam vouchers

jumbokins

If you take clothes to oxfam with a Marks and Spencers label they give you a five pound money off voucher. This is great but has restrictions. One way round this is to buy something (anything) for £35 probably on your credit card with the voucher and then take it back. They won't give you cash, but, for example, they will re-credit your credit card with £30 and give you a five credit note in lieu of the voucher. The advantage of this is that the credit note they now give you is valid for 12 months ( not just the one month of the original voucher) and has no restictions how much you need to spend and what you can buy with it. You may even get money back or points on the credit card you have used. This also works on vouchers you get for using the foreign exchange service.
Let me know if this still works for you.

zebedy

It's worked for me about 3 times now.
It depends who serves you at the return point though, sometimes the full amount is credited back to my card (including the £5 that came from the voucher) and sometimes they only credit back what was spent on the car dand give you the credit note for £5.

It's just occured to me that I bought a £4 t-shirt from M7S the other day and need to return it but it would be better for me to take uit to oxfam as I'd get the £5 voucher for it, rather than return it to M&S with receipt and only get the £4 it cost.

ceebeeby

zebedy wrote: »

It's worked for me about 3 times now.
It depends who serves you at the return point though, sometimes the full amount is credited back to my card (including the £5 that came from the voucher) and sometimes they only credit back what was spent on the car dand give you the credit note for £5.

It's just occured to me that I bought a £4 t-shirt from M7S the other day and need to return it but it would be better for me to take uit to oxfam as I'd get the £5 voucher for it, rather than return it to M&S with receipt and only get the £4 it cost.

That sounds dishonest to me ... I guess legally it's okay, but sounds immoral??

Dunno if I like the idea of people making money out of charity's / charitable deeds.

lesley1960

ceebeeby wrote: »

That sounds dishonest to me ... I guess legally it's okay, but sounds immoral??

Dunno if I like the idea of people making money out of charity's / charitable deeds.

I agree , i expect someone will be along to say its not Oxfam losing out , just M & S , but I suspect M&S might think twice about doing this offer again .

Its just greed

zebedy

I see what you are saying but i think you're wrong.
Oxfam isn't losing out as I'm donating it clothes. If i wore the t-shirt once then I wouldn't be able to return it to M&S and so would still get the £5 voucher by donating it to oxfam. It's just I think oxfam can probably sell it for more if it's unworn and still has tags attached.

Also I never go and donate just the M7S item to oxfam - I always donate other clothes etc at the same time.

M&S are still getting their tax breaks for their charitable efforts. If they were really bothered they would attach more stringent t&c's to the process.

I don't see why I am considered to be doing something wrong when it is perfectly legal and within the t&c's. If i'm savvy enough to have worked it out then that's my bonus.

You could say that tarting credit cards or tarting round dvd rental offers is just as bad. This site is about money saving and getting the most for your money. I can get £1 more by donating the t-shirt to charity than i can by returning it to the shop, so good for me and good for charity!

jumbokins

It is really just a way of geting round the restrictions on the original vouchers (and i stress that this works for the other vouchers you get when exchanging money etc.) and isn't free money as such.
I say everyone wins, I took a huge bag to oxfam (which I confess i was going to throw out) so they win; I got money off a purchase in Marks and spencer when I wanted to spend it not on something I didn't want or need (the original voucher only had a few days to run and I was short of funds) and Marks and Spencer wins because I entered the store twice (which I would not have done wothout the voucher) and I am now aware of the company's "no marks and spencer clothes in landfill" policy.
I guess company's may always withdraw giving out vouchers if too many people take advantage of the offer. This is merely a way of using the terms and conditions to extend the original restrictive terms and conditions and I, for one, will be taking even more clothes back to oxfam because of the ability to extend these t and c's.
that's all. sorry I don't feel that i am stealing from oxfam, but i take your point.