M&S Gift Card wiped and M&S claim it can't happen

Flipjango

I'm not sure if this is the right place to put this, as I'm looking for advice as well as to vent, but here we go?

My mum gave me an M&S gift card when my son was born with £50 on it to buy him some clothes. As I know these cards usually have a 24 month expiry limit and I often forget to use them I have developed a system where I keep the last receipt wrapped around the card, as well as writing on the card the remaining credit. As I had another older M&S card I was using up first this one was just sitting in my wallet new and unused.

Eventually I used it for the first time in the Bromley M&S. I remember exactly when as I have a small baby and rarely get to go shopping anymore, so its easy to remember when I do! Also, I'd kept the receipt and I am absolutely sure that I had only spent £7.50 on the card. THe next time I went to use the card in the M&S Chelsea branch, i got to the till only to be told the card was empty. When I questioned this with the cashier, she asked me if I had used it by accident and forgotten, but my system is pretty fool proof and I rarely shop in M&S so I was completely sure that I had not. I asked to speak to a manager, who said she should be able to scan the card on the customer services computer and tell me the history.

When she scanned the card, she told me that there was nothing coming up, so she called the customer services number and gave them the number of the card to trace over the phone. They tracked the transactions - which included the card being originally loaded in Leeds (which it was- where my mum lives) and the transaction I had made in Bromley. The next two transactions were in the Worthing branch at the same time on the same day, where the card was loaded with £15 and then completely cleared at the same time. This was suspicious for two reasons - 1. I have never ever been to worthing. I was not in worthing that day. I dont' even know where worthing is and 2. its a bit weird to load and then empty a gift card at the same time. The manager too thought this was suspicious and said she would contact the Worthing branch to trace the transactions and if necessary call up the CCTV images, and that she would call me later in the day.

When the manager called me she told me she had been able to speak to Worthing who had not been able to find the transactions on their system at all. She said she was waiting for them to call up the CCTV and would get back to me. It seemed that she was taking it very seriously and believed me that I had not used the card.

Then it went dead and I didn't hear back from her. I tried to call but couldn't get through. Eventually after a week I contacted the main M&S customer services who said they would get a message to her to call me back. Another week later and I'd still heard nothing, but I wasn't prepared to let £42.50 just vanish, so I called the main customer services again and spoke to an agent who was both helpful and unhelpful all in one go. I say this because he agreed to send me a new gift card to replace the 'cloned/defrauded'(?) one, but at the same time he kept trying to tell me that it wasn't possible to clone or defraud M&S cards and his voice was basically implying that he didn't really believe me.

When the replacement card came it was coupled with a letter that said basically the same thing - that it was impossible for these cards to be cloned or defrauded, and with a bottom line that said the replacement card was a one time goodwill gesture. This got my back up a bit as clearly I was being fobbed off, so I wrote a letter to the CEO of M&S Mark Bolland outlining what had happened as expressing concern about the security of their gift cards.

Today I received a letter back which has made me so angry I really want to do something about it. I know I've got my money back and everything, but the letter says the following:

"I can confirm it is not possible to clone our git cards, but it's clear there was a problem which wan't the result of any wrongdoing on your part. Each gift card has a unique number which can only be redeemed if it is scanned through a till point, and using our system we are able to track the full details of each transaction including the date, time and the amount spent. I understand the manager of the Kings Road branch found the card had been spent in Worthing when she checked it. The system shows accurate information for each gift card number, so the only way I can think this may have happened is if there was some kind of mix up with a slightly different gift card number being checked. We are confident in the security of our gift card system, and we are unable to investigate this any further."

Clearly this is just another attempt to fob me off :mad: Its clear that this was the correct card as the other transactions were absolutely correct and therefore this was the correct card that the manager had checked. I'm just completely astounded that M&S can be so caviller about something like this happening. People hand over their hard earned money to them in good faith, and I for one would like to be sure my money was secure if I bought a gift card. Its making me want to take the story to the press. I shouldn't have had to chase this so hard to get this looked into in the first place, and when I went to the trouble of writing to them, surely they should have taken this more seriously? My husband works in financial services, and he commented that though he doesn't think gift cards are regulated by the FSO, he'd be surprised that somewhere they don't have to be accountable. So, who should I take this to? Its got me so wound up now that I don't just want to let it drop. Any ideas?

meer53

I don't think it's a fob off. I think it's a mistake and that as you've been refunded, it would be best to let it go. They've admitted it wasn't your error so what more would you like them to do ?

Flipjango

Honestly, I'd like them to acknowledge that there is a fault in their system and investigate it so that it doesn't happen to anyone else. It was really distressing to find my money had disappeared like that (this is real money that had been stolen, not monopoly money!), and I've had to jump through hoops to get it back.

irishjohn

I am afraid in the grand scale of things, this problem, which is an immense one to you - is really not that important to M&S in terms of the value of the mistake within the turnover of their business.

They have not been very professional or customer focussed in their problem resolution but by being persistent you have ensured you are not out of pocket. Any further action demanded of M&S by you can only cost them in time and effort which they are unlikely to be willing to do - I would guess any further letters / demands you send to them will receive fob off replies until eventually someone senior will write a polite but dismissive letter to tell you that n their eyes the matter is closed and no further correspondence will be entered into.

Save yourself the hassle and bury it in your own memory today you will not get anywhere.

vikingaero

Another nail in the coffin of gift cards. With so many dodgy retailers people should send cheques or give cash as gifts. We have this particularly British obssession that to give cash is vulgar and yet is embraced by so many Eastern societies.

Any card system whether gift cards, debit/credit cards and PIN numbers have been cracked and are not 100% safe. M&S are talking BS.

Helix

Flipjango wrote: »

Honestly, I'd like them to acknowledge that there is a fault in their system and investigate it so that it doesn't happen to anyone else. It was really distressing to find my money had disappeared like that (this is real money that had been stolen, not monopoly money!), and I've had to jump through hoops to get it back.

If it is on a Gift Card, its not really much better than Monopoly money. Its certainly not real money otherwise you could spend it anywhere not just M&S. Just look at what happened to those with HMV and Jessops gift cards recently.

pmduk

Don't forget, back in the 80s and early 90s, bank were saying that their ATMs and cards couldn't make mistakes. They've since quietly stopped making that claim.