Shade Station discount codes (Exp 10/7/15)

themaninsunglasses

Hi, I'm new here and I'm spitting mad at the moment, I'll explain why.

I hope I'm posting this in the correct section. My apologies if I've got it wrong.

I received an email this morning from Shade Station (dot co dot uk) with a couple of discount codes contained within.

The headline of the email was "Outrageous Oakley and Ray-Ban Discounts".

Firstly, 30% off Ray-Ban sunglasses when you enter code STUDENT30 at the checkout, and an amazing "up to 45%" off selected (so not all) Oakley sunglasses when you enter STUDENT45 at the checkout. Wow, 30% and 45% discounts. Outrageous is probably an apt description!

I'm not sure why both the discount codes contain the word "Student" as there's absolutely no mention of you needing to actually be a student in order to qualify for the discount.

I can't post links as I'm new to the site, otherwise I'd put links to the Ray-Bans page and the "selected" Oakleys.

I read the entire email, looking for the usual "excludes sale items" etc. but there were no exclusions, in fact it didn't give any more info except that the codes were only valid until 10th July 2015.

I should probably say at this point that I own a lot of sunglasses, in fact I probably qualify as a sunglasses collector with the number of pairs I now own.

So I had a look at the "selected" Oakleys, didn't really like any of them, and despite the lure of up to 45% off, I decided not to buy any. Instead, I decided to treat myself to a new pair of Ray-Bans. I chose a pair with polarised lenses, which are always more expensive, but I thought because I was going to be getting 30% off, I may as well get the ones with better lenses as I'd always promised myself some. They were £120. I did the sums, 30% off that should be £36. So I'd be getting a nice pair of polarised Wayfarers for £84, roughly the price of the non polarised version. Nice. I was happy.

I went to checkout, added my discount code, and... all it deducted from my total was £8. They were still trying to charge me £112. I worked out that it had deducted less than 7%, and not the 30% advertised!

No longer happy. Confused, and getting rather annoyed.

So I used their live chat feature to talk to a customer services rep, I won't use their real names. Let's call the first one "Mandy". I explained my issue with the discount code. After a bit of thinking time, she replied that the 30% discount was in fact only 5% as their prices already included a 25% discount off the RRP.

There was absolutely no mention of the discount being off the RRP in the email. You don't find this out until to try to check out, and even then you have to contact customer services to ask why your full discount isn't being deducted.

I told her I wouldn't be proceeding with the purchase and I was extremely disappointed.

She simply said, "I'm sorry you feel that way. Have a nice day." and logged out of chat!

Have a nice day? I can't repeat what I yelled at the screen of my iPad!

So I carried on typing in the chat window, asking somebody to provide me with a link where I could read the terms and conditions for these discount codes. Eventually, a second customer services rep replied to me, we'll call her "Diane". I repeated my request for a link to the terms and conditions. After a long silence, she said she'd sent a message to the promotions department asking for the info I was requesting, and she'd get back to me when they replied. Eventually... eventually, she said that there were NO terms and conditions for those discount codes other than they were valid until 10/7/15.

How can that be? I'm so frustrated by this point that I just say to her "I think I need to phone up instead, thanks for your time"

Do you know what she said?

"It'll probably be me that answers the phone".

Oh great, either you or your cheeky colleague who told me to have a nice day and then logged off before I could take her to task over how I could possibly be having a nice day after banging my head against a brick wall for the last 20 minutes!

I'm so furious. I can't even phone up and shout at somebody because I'd probably get one of the have a nice day sisters, and I'm too much of a gent to get angry and shout at a girl!

So basically, if anyone wants 5% off their online store prices on Ray-Ban or (selected) Oakley sunglasses, the codes are above. Not that it's worth it for a measly 5%. Free delivery though.

But I'm sure they're breaking some sort of advertising laws by sending out this misleading email. It strongly implies that the 30% is off their prices, as there's absolutely no mention of RRP, and it requires you to enter a code in order to qualify for the discount. When in fact, ANYONE qualifies for 25% off by simply buying from their website! Entering the code only knocks off another 5%!

Should I report them to Trading Standards or something? I'm sure this qualifies as sharp practice. They lure you to their website with the promise of large discounts, in the hope that you'll still go through with the purchase once you find out you're only getting 5% off! Or worse, people who aren't good at maths might still purchase thinking they're getting 30% off!

I'm so angry, does it show?