Was I in the right? Or just being tight?

Kitty777

Hello everyone,

On friday I went to the body shop, and spent £30 to get a 'free' gift that I had planned to give to my brother for yule.

I bought products that I would of bought and use, plus there was 40% off a lot of products as well. However, I spent £30.30 and all was fine until I got outside the shop and looked at my 'free' gift. I noticed that it was a different one to the one advertised, and not one suitable for males really. (They advertised the hemp one, and this was shea).

I went over it in my head for a minute, and then decided to go back in and ask about it. I did say 'sorry, you may think I am being cheeky...but..' and they told me that they were out of stock of the hemp and therefore given out other gifts. What got to me was when the manager turned round and said 'it is a free gift!! It shouldn't matter what it is because it is free!!'.

I did think to myself, but didn't say 'it isn't truly free, because I have had to make a purchase to get it!'.

I then said am I able to have a refund on a product I had bought, and exchange it for a product on the males range (I didn't fancy spending another £10 ontop of what I had bought). They looked at me gone out.

I went to have a look, and did hear them speaking about 'that woman with the free gift' not realising I was still in store but that is not the point.

I then decided that there was nothing really worth getting, and the hemp gift set was the only thing I really wanted to decided to leave it and rearrange my presents for other people (as the shea gift set it really nice) and use some of my swagbucks amazon vouchers to buy for my brother.

But what are you views? Was I out of order going back and questioning it? Was I 'looking a gift horse in the mouth'? I was pleasant to the staff as I understand it isn't there fault at all...Just wish they changed the advertising in store OR told me at the till

bris

These things always have disclaimers, such as while stocks last or if chosen gift isn't available we reserve the right to give an alternative or something along those lines. But your right free gifts are never free, usually cheap tat with a fake rrp to make you thing your getting a good free gift.

~Beanie~

No, I would have questioned it too. If they had run out of the advertised gift, they should have mentioned it when you were purchasing.

I buy a lot of Clinique stuff and often wait until their Bonus Time offer is on , where you get a free bag of sample sized items. I check what they are giving away before purchasing the items needed to get the freebie. I wouldn't be happy if I got home and found different products and they hadn't told me.

Kitty777

bris wrote: »

These things always have disclaimers, such as while stocks last or if chosen gift isn't available we reserve the right to give an alternative or something along those lines. But your right free gifts are never free, usually cheap tat with a fake rrp to make you thing your getting a good free gift.

Oh no, I understand that trust me!!
I just felt a bit embarrassed, as I was chatting to the lady on the shop floor explaining it was for my brother before all this and she didn't mention it to me ><

When I went back, I asked if they thought the shea gift set was suitable for men (As I didn;t know what was in it at that point) and she said yes...then when I asked what was in it, it was clear it wasn't :P

AJXX

Probably being a little bit tight about it. However the way they went on with you wasn't very professional - personally I'd be more angry about that if anything.

You're right, it's not FREE if you have to buy something to get it. If you can walk in and take it off the shelf then it's free...

meer53

Just had my Body Shop stuff delivered with my 40% off. I got the Hemp tin as the free gift, i love the Hemp hand cream.

I'd just give it as a gift to someone else and use that money on your brother.

I just noticed the free gift is worth £25 ! Bargain, especially as i also got 40% off everything else too.

enjoyyourshoes

Hi

you could write in a positive way to their customer services team

I would explain your were tempted to purchase more due to free gift and the advertised was ideal match for your brother etc

say about staff being unprofessional talking about you in an open forum within the shop that customers could overhear.

There are lessons here for the company to learn to improve the quality and service they provide customers.

See what they have to say

Kitty777

meer53 wrote: »

Just had my Body Shop stuff delivered with my 40% off. I got the Hemp tin as the free gift, i love the Hemp hand cream.

I'd just give it as a gift to someone else and use that money on your brother.

I just noticed the free gift is worth £25 ! Bargain, especially as i also got 40% off everything else too.

They say it is worth £25, I wouldn't pay £25 for it :P

and that is what I am doing

meer53

Kitty777 wrote: »

They say it is worth £25, I wouldn't pay £25 for it :P

and that is what I am doing

It's £25 on the website.

http://www.thebodyshop.co.uk/gifts/view-all-christmas-gifts/hemp-head-to-toe-body-care.aspx


If you price all the items individually they come to more than £25 so it's a great free gift. Not sure whats in the Shea gift but would imagine it's similar value. Would your brother really use the lip and foot protector creams ?

paddyrg

Worth, cost and value are not the same thing! The markup on cosmetics is criminal - a few pence worth of ingredients in a fancy pot with a pretty label and a good story!

Back when The Real Hustle was on telly, they did a great demo with chemists generic unscented cosmetic bases bought by the bucket load, whizzed up with parsley, and served on ice with a good legend for a fortune...

meer53

paddyrg wrote: »

Worth, cost and value are not the same thing! The markup on cosmetics is criminal - a few pence worth of ingredients in a fancy pot with a pretty label and a good story!

Back when The Real Hustle was on telly, they did a great demo with chemists generic unscented cosmetic bases bought by the bucket load, whizzed up with parsley, and served on ice with a good legend for a fortune...

I regularly buy the Hemp products from Body Shop, i buy the hand cream and the body butter all year round. The free Hemp gift is a bargain for me as i would be spending more than £30 on gifts anyway for Xmas. Free delivery too. I got over £70 of stuff for £31 with this latest promotion. I buy my other moisturiser from Aldi, it's £3.20 a bottle. I'm not one of these people who fall for products that are marketed as "wonder products" at extortionate prices, although a lot of people are.