Waterstones online e wallet

Saturn5_2

Hi, I pre-ordered some books from Waterstones online which were due for release on the 4th September and paid with a gift card which my son had given me for my birthday. The release date came and went so I checked the status of my order on line and found they were waiting for delivery from their supplier. I emailed thier useless cs to see if I could cancel the order and have the gift card replaced or re-imbursed so I could make on the spot purchases in store at a later date and I could then buy the books I originally wanted from elswhere i.e Amazon who were showing plenty of stock (in fact by this time even my local Waterstones stores had the books on the shelf to add insult to injury). I was told that gift cards cannot be refunded and the funds would be held in an e wallet for future purchases. This is not acceptable to me as I have no desire to repeat this whole excercise again at a later date e.g missed released dates & shoddy customer service, I simply want either a gift card to the same value or a refund for my son so he can get me an Amazon voucher. Any emails I eventually recieve from their cs have a copy and pasted excerpt from their t&c's and fail to answer my specific points. The last time I checked the order status was 29/09/2009 where I was informed they were still waiting for stock - some 25 days after the release date and 3 months after my original order. Does anyone have any advice to offer? Many thanks.
This is the stock email I get sent each time I contact cs:
Thank you for your email.
I am sorry to hear that you are unhappy with the service that we have provided.
As stated in our terms and conditions :
Cancelling or returning online orders where gift card was used as payment
If you cancel or return an online order where payment was made using a gift card, you should do so in the usual way. Please note: any amount tendered with your gift card is refunded to your online e-wallet, not to your gift card. Funds in your online e-wallet can be used for future purchases on Waterstones.com.
We sincerely appreciate you taking the time to offer your feedback as it is not our intention to inconvenience our customers and we always strive to offer a better level of service.

Wworker_2

Have you gone into your local Waterstone's store and explained the situation?

Although the internet service and the stores are separate, I work at a W store and have before been able to help a few people have their money at least credited back to a physical gift card. However it is a pretty standard procedure across most companies to not refund gift cards for cash. My best suggestion is to go instore and try to speak to an experienced member of staff (but do not go in immediately demanding to see a manager, that gets everyone off on the wrong foot), be friendly and explain your situation clearly, and I'm sure the member of staff will go out of their way to help you. And believe me, most of the staff in the stores are as frustrated with the quality of the online store as you are!



I really do hope this helps a little.