Very annoyed with Wallis

pattycake

My daughter bought me a cardy from Wallis for my birthday which is on Boxing Day(!). She got a gift receipt from the Manchester Arndale store and was assured there would be no problem in exchanging it if there was a problem. It was too big for me.

I took it back to the Wallis in The Potteries Centre in Hanley and boy, what a performance. Apparently, their gift receipts do not actually show the price paid. My DD had paid £45 but the item was now £30 in the sale. However, she had left the original price tag on which was intact and clearly showing £45. After a kerfuffle, the very rude shop assistant went for the manager. She immediately said it was fine and they would honour the £45. I exchanged for a coat which was £80 so I was putting more money in their tills but the whole experience was ruined by the shop assistant's attitude.

Surely the whole point of a gift receipt is to facilitate returning an item and getting the full value originally paid? It was just so lucky that my DD had left the tag intact or we would be down £15.

Wallis had been one of my favourite stores but I think I will be taking my business to Principles and M&S in future.

McKneff

Its not just Wallis, it's normal practice all over England. You were lucky
You'll probably see signs at customer services in Principals and M & S saying the same thing.

glitter123

I thought that was the whole point of a gift receipt. That's certainly what they told me in Debenhams. They said the person would be able to exchange for the price I paid.

zenseeker

glitter123 wrote: »

I thought that was the whole point of a gift receipt. That's certainly what they told me in Debenhams. They said the person would be able to exchange for the price I paid.

I think that a gift receipt just gives you the ability to claim after a longer period of time than otherwise normal, but it still needs to be presented with the original receipt.

carolineb23

When I worked for Topshop we were told to advise customers that a gift receipt would allow the customer to have an exchange for the value that was paid not the current value, and if they wanted a refund the original receipt would be needed. As the date is on the gift receipt it will be possible to look up on the till to see the price the item was on that date. Too many sales assistants don't seem to know the correct policies, so I'm glad the manager sorted it out for you.

milliemonster

I can't see the point in gift receipts at all, because surely the point of them is so the recipient can't see the price that was paid, but will anyway if they return or exchange and the amount comes up on the till!

carolineb23

I think its cos you won't see the price unless you do need to return it which obviously doesn't happen all the time.

dannyth_2

gift receipts have codes on to tell the store what you paid ...the sales advisor did not know the correct policy !!!

jaz_2

dannyth wrote: »

gift receipts have codes on to tell the store what you paid ...the sales advisor did not know the correct policy !!!

Exactly. I returned an item to Milletts with a gift receipt this week, and the assistant was able to tell me the original price of the item and that it was paid for with a Visa card.

Gift receipts are a fiddle anyway, when I asked if I could get a refund I was told it would have to be applied to the card that was used to pay for the item originally if I didn't have the 'proper' till receipt. The alleged benefit of these receipts is to prevent the person receiving the gift from knowing how much it cost, but the assistant had to tell me that so that I could exchange it for something of similar value.

The only people helped by gift receipts are the stores themselves.

carolineb23

jaz wrote: »

The alleged benefit of these receipts is to prevent the person receiving the gift from knowing how much it cost, but the assistant had to tell me that so that I could exchange it for something of similar value.

Only because you took it back though, if you hadn't needed to return it you'd not have found out the price. Surely a gift receipt is better than nothing??

jaz_2

carolineb23 wrote: »

Surely a gift receipt is better than nothing??

What did we do before gift receipts? I don't know about you but I just passed on the normal receipt for the transaction. Why make it more complicated than it has to be?