Mr & Mrs Smith

Molinaar

Hello all,

For some time now I have been buying Mr & Mrs Smith giftcards/vouchers from ebay, ofetn at hugely reduced prices (£500 for £220!!).

I have previously had no issues with using these when booking hotel breaks, that all changed today however!

I made a booking yesterday with a total of 4 giftcards (a mixture of 2 gifts and 2 I had purchased from online auctions) As each giftcard number was quoted the booking agent told me the value attached and the reservation went through without a hitch.
Today I recieved a call from Mr & Mrs Smith stating that one of the vouchers I had used had previously been used and could I confirm who had purchased the giftcard. I told them that I was unable to do so as they were all for the same amount and I was unsure which one came from from where, I explained that i had bought some from Ebay and some were gifts, which I thought was a perfectly acceptable explanation. I was somewhat taken aback when I was met with reply of "I just don't understand how you don`t know who bought these cards", after again reminding them that I had bought cards off Ebay the response I got was "Well I've never heard of anyone doing that before"! I confirmed that I had made several bookings over the past 12 months doing this and that there had never been an issue. At this point I was told that my booking would not be honoured till I could provide proof of ownership of the giftcards, not a problem as I have the physical giftcards in my posession
I was told that I would be sent an envelope to return the giftcards "As proof". I agreed though was rather annoyed in the manner in which I had been dealt with, the break I had booked is in a little over a weeks time so was anxious that any delay could ruin our holiday!

I recieved another call from Mr & Mrs Smith not 10 minutes later claiming to "have cleared up the issue" with regards the duplication of the giftcard number. The story then changed to my booking not being honoured as their records showed that I had previously made several giftcard bookings, for some reason this appeared as "unusual " to them, not sure it was unusual enough for them to basically accuse me of fraud!!

My booking was finally made but not before I was told that in future I should not buy discounted gift cards from Ebay as "You're not supposed to do that", I asked if it was against any company policy and was told "Probably"???
I was told that they had checked on Ebay and had found a couple of giftcards available but warned me not to buy them "As we cannot guarantee we would honour them"...

I have checked the Mr & Mrs Smith website for giftcard T&Cs and the only (semi)applicable ruling I found is as follows:

Mr & Mrs Smith reserves the right to refuse redemption of vouchers if they believe that the vouchers have been obtained by fraudulent means

Plus a "Cover-all" clause of:

Mr & Mrs Smith reserves the right to decline to accept vouchers/gift cards where, in its opinion, a voucher/gift card is invalid for the booking being made.

I have made plenty of traditional bookings (paid by card) through Mr & Mrs Smith and feel extremely let down by this incident, I'm not sure if the T&Cs would have to be tightened to stop people selling unwanted giftcards on Ebay but after todays conversation it would certainly appear that they do not want you doing so, despite the fact they have already recieved the full cost of the giftcard, I simply do not understand this attitude and can guarantee I will not be making another booking through them (depite them pointing out that there are a couple of good deals on Ebay at the minute )

So rant over.....Anyone else had issues with them or could you advise on the validity of selling unwanted giftcards on Ebay when T&Cs do not state that the giftcards are "non-transferable"??

greenface

why would it matter where you bought the cards from or how many or how much worth . They have been paid for in full by someone else and sold onto you. But its worth keeping a copy of what and where you buy these cards as if they turn out to be stolen or fraud then at least you have the info to hand .