Red Letter Days Voucher Expired -- Lost all money!!

aidnolan

Jo_F wrote: »

Maybe there is another reason for short dates on vouchers, how many people had Zavvi vouchers that they couldn't use as Zavvi was being wound up? Maybe it's a case of not knowing if the experience will still be solvent and available 12 months from now, and they are shortening the dates with this in mind?

I agree. It's an awareness of the answers to these questions that I would like to have had before buying the voucher. If they were clear about their process then I would've been more aware of the shelf life of the voucher.

It's the lack of clarity that leaves me suspicious as to whether they make more money out of unused experiences/vouchers than they do out of redeemed ones, meaning they may be content profiting from unsatisfied customers.

mrcol1000 wrote: »

I brought a packet of sausages in Tesco. Left them in the fridge. Forget about them for ten weeks and when I went to eat them I found they were past their expiry date and not suitable to eat. I took them back to Tesco to complain and they refused a refund. Can you belive it??

If I'd paid £100 for a pack of sausages from Tesco I'd expect them to last as long as I wanted them to, cook themselves and jump in my mouth when they were done!

voiceofreason

mrcol1000 wrote: »

I brought a packet of sausages in Tesco. Left them in the fridge. Forget about them for ten weeks and when I went to eat them I found they were past their expiry date and not suitable to eat. I took them back to Tesco to complain and they refused a refund. Can you belive it??

Well I think that's disgusting - you brought them home thinking of the yummy breakfast you were going to have in a couple of months' time, and how were you to know they were going to go all rotten and manky?

I blame Tesco - clearly their business model is based entirely on people buying food, putting it aside to eat later and then having it go off in the fridge and I think it's awful.

I know there's a use-by date on the packaging, but it's only in small letters and who really expects you to look at that when you're thinking of a cracking Christmas morning sausage butty, eh? They should have given you a leaflet or something, or called you and reminded you to eat them maybe.

As it is, you're left £1.29 out of pocket with a stinky fridge and no sausages. I think it's time to call in Watchdog, or the CAB, or Esther Rantzen or something.

Damn you, Tesco - damn you....... :mad:

voiceofreason

aidnolan wrote: »

If I'd paid £100 for a pack of sausages from Tesco I'd expect them to last as long as I wanted them to, cook themselves and jump in my mouth when they were done!

If I'd paid £100 for an experience from Red Letter Days I'd actually use the bloody thing instead of leaving it to gather dust on the shelf and then whinge when I found out it had expired.

aidnolan

I think whingeing is a bit harsh. It was a gift for my Mum so I had no knowledge of the expiry date, which is part of the problem. I would've liked to have known the expiry date in advance of sending the gift and, more importantly, clear consequences of expiry so I could've conveyed this to the person receiving the gift.

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm sausages

mrcol1000

aidnolan wrote: »

I think whingeing is a bit harsh. It was a gift for my Mum so I had no knowledge of the expiry date, which is part of the problem. I would've liked to have known the expiry date in advance of sending the gift and, more importantly, clear consequences of expiry so I could've conveyed this to the person receiving the gift.

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm sausages

But what do you expect. To be able to in 30 years bang your voucher down and demand your experience? For lots of opreational reasons the vouchers need to have expiry dates. You didn't read them and your lost out. You just need to move on with your life and use it as a lesson in life to always check the small print.

aidnolan

30 years is a bit extreme, we're talking 4 months past the expiration of a 7 month voucher period.

Ultimately I was hoping for a bit of understanding on their part rather than expecting any claim against them to be legally viable. If the same thing has happened to a significant number of your consumers then I would've thought it would be the socially and financially sensible thing to do to admit there is a problem.

If I've lost my money then c'est la vie. I'll take my custom elsewhere as I'm sure everyone else who has had the same experience will do

mrcol1000

aidnolan wrote: »

30 years is a bit extreme, we're talking 4 months past the expiration of a 7 month voucher period.

Ultimately I was hoping for a bit of understanding on their part rather than expecting any claim against them to be legally viable. If the same thing has happened to a significant number of your consumers then I would've thought it would be the socially and financially sensible thing to do to admit there is a problem.

If I've lost my money then c'est la vie. I'll take my custom elsewhere as I'm sure everyone else who has had the same experience will do

But where do you draw the line? If you say they should accept vouchers 4 months after the expiry date what about the person who is 5 months past it? They have expiry dates for a reason not just to catch out people who don't read them properly.

preciousillusions

They probably do this because with inflation the price of said spa day may be more after the 7 month or however long period. They can only offer it at the price that was paid for a specific amount of time or something before it means they are losing out as the price of it goes up, maybe?

VanyaHargreeves

I don't know, but I'd think that if it's expired, it's expired. It's a bit of a letdown, with all that money wasted, but the as long as the expiry date was clearly shown....

Gavin83

I really think anyone complaining regarding this issue is being completely unreasonable. It clearly states there is an expiry date when booking and it clearly displays the expiry date on the voucher itself. Short of ringing you up and booking it for you I really fail to see what else they can do. If you sling the experience in the cupboard and forget about it then what do you expect.

For that matter, what do you expect the company to do about it? Honour it anyway or refund the cost?

I've both bought and booked a number of experiences through red letter days and have never had a problem. Then again, I've always booked it long before the voucher expires.

I can appreciate it's easy to forget about the expiry date but this is in no way red letter days fault.