WH Smith Gift Cards Rip Off

uktim29

uganda wrote: »

The fact that WHSmith stores and WHSmith online are separate entities is a red herring. I would prefer that they charged the same in both places but they don't, it's not against the law and I'm afraid there is nothing we can do about that.

Well online business's have lower overheads for a start. They haven't got a physical store for consumers to make a complete mess of each day.

uganda

That may well be a perfectly valid point, uktim.

But it's the first time it's been made, so I maintain it was still a red herring at the time I was writing given what had been said about it up to that point.

But thank you for contributing something valuable to the debate. It's a lot better than the mindless contradiction that I've been finding so tiresome.

iainz26

There is another obvious reason why many stores do not allow you to spend their gift cards online and that is that it makes theft too easy for dishonest people. The majority of stores WH Smith included place their gift cards on the front of the till and oftern in other locations around the store. What is to stop someone writing down the number off the back of all of the gift cards, waiting a few days for them to be purchased and then logging on to the website and using the numbers they noted down from the cards earlier. If this happens it looks like it is the company being disshonest and reflects badly upon themselves. This is why the cards contain a magntic strip that can only be used in store. Lets dace it you wouldnt expect to be able to pay instore with the number of a giftcard if you didnt have the card with you.

And i know your probably thinking that it is unlikely someone would do that but believe me you would be amazed the lengths that many professional shoplifters will go to and lets face it that would be a golden oppertunity for one to steal without having to risk leaving the store with anything they could get arrested for taking.

hollydays

it can't be that simple !!!!!!

marleyboy

I could imagine it being quite a mission, jumping behind a till of a busy dept store, and writing down a list of numbers from the back of a load of vouchers......I mean if your holding them in your hand, Why not just steal them all, it would be much quicker and less of a risk.

CBo

You could ebay the voucher... Ebay is well known for turning limited vouchers into full cash (Should you not be able to get a refund somehow)

juno

marleyboy wrote: »

I could imagine it being quite a mission, jumping behind a till of a busy dept store, and writing down a list of numbers from the back of a load of vouchers......I mean if your holding them in your hand, Why not just steal them all, it would be much quicker and less of a risk.

You've missed the point. The gift cards don't have any value until they're bought and topped up, so stealing the card would be pointless as it's worthless. A lot of places don't keep them behind the till; they're usually hanging near the till but are sometimes on stands just in the middle of the shop floor.

If someone noted the number they could assume that in a few days it would have been purchased and topped up. Then they could try to use it online with just those details.

marleyboy

Not knowing much about vouchers, aside from the admittance that they are "worthless" when compared to a crisp £20 note. Am I to conclude that in copying the numbers down, one would then hope that not only has the designated "voucher" subsequently been sold within a few days, but that "somehow" once purchased the buyer or seller doesnt notice its invalid, as they "key" in the unique serial number??? Or would one have to "simultaneously" key in the serial number, at the same time as it is purchased?

peterpotter

WH Smith and their ilk expect to make a profit when they sell to the giver, and again when the recipient redeems them, so there is not enough margin for them in on-line sales. You can buy their vouchers on-line, but they cannot be redeemed on-line (although Waterstones do allow this with their cards!).
People say these cards are like cash, but cash does not have an expiry date........if you put the cash in a bank you would not expect the bank to steal it all if you did not use it within a couple of years....
If you receive a gift card, just :j smile, say thank you, and accept you will not get the best deal for your purchase - but never buy these carrds for your mates!

Tiddlywinks

Why have you revived a 2 year old thread? You don't even have a query that matches it.

I can see that you're new so here's a tip - please don't give any more oldies the kiss of life because it's really, really confusing.

Yes, I know I've made it worse by keeping it going with my reply....;).