WARNING - WHSmiths gift vouchers rip off

BBurkill

I realise that this is partly my fault, but I think its a rip off all the same. .Here goes:

Over a period of time, I had accumulated £50.00 in WhSmiths gift vouchers, bought for me by my daughters. I had not used them due to other things happening in my life and reading not being on top of my agenda.

I went into WHSmiths the other day to spend these vouchers, to be told they had expired. I rang their helpline (0845 number, now on saynoto0870.com), for which I spent 5 minutes on hold for an 11 minute total call (paying 0845 rates). I was told they had expired after two years and could not be reinstated.

I immediately walked out of WHsmiths and went to Waterstones instead. The assistant in there was surprised when I told her WhSmiths gift cards expired, as theirs never do. I texted my family to advise them never to buy me WHSmiths stuff again.

At home, I browsed their website and read the Terms and conditioins. OK, it DOES state that they expire, but this is not clear and is hidden in the (very) small print (and not even on the same page as the cards). But I got to thinking, this isnt fair. A person deposits hard CASH with WHSmiths, who keep the money and make interest on it until spent, and after two years, keep the original capital anyway. The sales assistants, when selling these cards DONT warn you that they will expire. ie "You give us your money, we will look after it for you until you spend it. We wont give you interest and if you dont spend it after two years, we are going to keep it anyway, so there.

I looked at a couple of other gift cards, and sure enough, they expire as well. BUT, these other cards can be reinstated by simply requesting a balance. WHsmiths offer nothing.

I emailed WhSmiths, politely requesting that the cards be reinstated. After several days (5) I got a reply saying NO. I emailed again with words along the lines of "Give me my money back then".. Once again refusal, also with "We will no longer enter any further discussion in this matter", followed by "I hope this is now resolved to your satisfaction".. yeah, right.

OK, so Smiths now have made £50.00 profit, for nothing, and in my view, illigitimately, and certainly unethically. As I was of the opinion that I was never going to see this money again, I emailed them back stating that the money they had taken from me was to be given to a cancer charity(cos my mum died of cancer), for which I wanted to see the receipt. This time there has been NO response.

I am disgusted by their attitude and will NEVER step inside a WH smiths again. I fully realise this is partly my fault, in that I should have used them, but if they have nothing I want, for over two years, why should I feel compelled to spend money on stuff I do not want.

I just thought I would warn others. You are giving MONEY to WHSmiths, who WILL keep it for you. In my view,it would be better to give the recipient cash, for which interest can be earned by them instead of WHSmith.

Rant over

dmg24

So where is the rip off? You have had TWO YEARS to use the vouchers.

This is pretty standard practice now, indeed for many stores gift cards run out over six months or a year.

Freddie_Snowbits

And?

Sorry I have given WHS Vouchers for years, include the reciept in the card and it states the current value, and validity.

I as a business are not a bank, and would not let you have a credit note for eternity. As such, my vouchers are valid for 30 days, full stop.

BBurkill

dmg24 wrote: »

So where is the rip off? You have had TWO YEARS to use the vouchers.

This is pretty standard practice now, indeed for many stores gift cards run out over six months or a year.

My Disney cards NEVER expire, Waterstones gift cards dont expire. WHSmith abjectly refuse to reinstate, despite polite requests to do so.

Why should I give them my money, make no interest, and if the recipient of the card forgets to use it, then they keep your money...

Thats a rip off..

BBurkill

Freddie_Snowbits wrote: »

And?

Sorry I have given WHS Vouchers for years, include the reciept in the card and it states the current value, and validity.

I as a business are not a bank, and would not let you have a credit note for eternity. As such, my vouchers are valid for 30 days, full stop.

A five pound note is a credit note for five pounds.. And that never expires.

tomwakefield

BBurkill wrote: »

My Disney cards NEVER expire, Waterstones gift cards dont expire. WHSmith abjectly refuse to reinstate, despite polite requests to do so.

The policy of one company does not mean others are being unfair for not following suit. I'm surprised they didn't offer at least some recompense (even if not the full £50) for customer satisfaction, but they are certainly by no means obliged to.

Halloway

Two years sounds quite reasonable. I think HMV vouchers expire after a year. And sorry to bang on about this, just because something doesn't suit you, that doesn't make it a rip-off.

BBurkill

Halloway wrote: »

Two years sounds quite reasonable. I think HMV vouchers expire after a year. And sorry to bang on about this, just because something doesn't suit you, that doesn't make it a rip-off.

OK, Maybe I am a little steamed up.. And I do/did admit I am partially to blame for not using the cards. Maybe I should not have used the word "Rip Off". But my aim was to bring this to the attention of others such as I, who do not always read the small print and simply did not realise that the cards expire.

However, I still feel they should not expire and that the attitude of WHSmiths leaves a little to be desired, especially as I requested that the £50.00 be donated to Cancer charity, rather than them simply keep it themselves.

tomwakefield

BBurkill wrote: »

However, I still feel they should not expire

That's something that would have to be taken up at head office, and not for a store assistant to override.

BBurkill wrote: »

and that the attitude of WHSmiths leaves a little to be desired,...

I'm not sure what attitude you were expecting. Obviously, not having read the letters, I don't know the tone they were written in, but I don't see that strictly upholding the terms is particularly unreasonable. You'd presumably want the terms to be upheld if the vouchers were refused after only 23 months.

BBurkill wrote: »

...especially as I requested that the £50.00 be donated to Cancer charity, rather than them simply keep it themselves.

It's their money to do with as they wish. It's not their responsibility that you didn't use the vouchers.

heatherw_01

They should print an expiry date on the voucher if they expire!

Halloway

BBurkill wrote: »

OK, Maybe I am a little steamed up.. And I do/did admit I am partially to blame for not using the cards. Maybe I should not have used the word "Rip Off". But my aim was to bring this to the attention of others such as I, who do not always read the small print and simply did not realise that the cards expire.

However, I still feel they should not expire and that the attitude of WHSmiths leaves a little to be desired, especially as I requested that the £50.00 be donated to Cancer charity, rather than them simply keep it themselves.

Well, I've loathed WHSmith for years and I never shop there unless there is no alternative. Their pricing and range sucks and were it not for the occasional magazine I'd never shop there again.

I have to admire your self-restraint in keeping vouchers for two years. When I get them they get spent within about two weeks. If they are online voucher they last about five minutes.

I was wondering, what exactly would you spend £50 on in WHSmiths? The answer: on something that would cost £20 anywhere else.