Gift Voucher Return

sshnuke

I bought a tablet as present for someone, in-store, from Argos for £220. I paid with £100 Love2Shop Vouches and £120 via Credit Card. When the tablet came out it was in a shoddy box and not really something you'd want to present to someone. Unfortunately it was the last one they had in the store so I said as it was a present for someone I would prefer to have the vouchers back, credit card refunded and buy it elsewhere. They said they could not give the Love2Shop vouchers back and it would have to be an Argos gift card. They said there was no way round it and all retailers would do the same. Within minutes of a purchase? It just didn't feel right. Does that all sound about right to you please?

They refunded my credit card and I accepted the Argos gift card as I didn't seem to have any other option.

hollydays

You should have asked to speak to a manager and pointed out it wasn't a change of mind, but it was because of damage to the packaging.

Fosterdog

They are right that individual stores have no way of refunding to love to shop paper or card vouchers. Not just Argos but all retailers.

Under the circumstances it may be worth contacting head office to see if they could maybe lease with love to shop for you and arrange new vouchers and cancel the Argos ones. It may not be possible though.

bris

Once the voucher was used it couldn't be replaced as it was , well already redeemed.

unholyangel

Consumer rights act states:

(9)The consumer’s entitlement to receive a refund works as follows.

(10)To the extent that the consumer paid money under the contract, the consumer is entitled to receive back the same amount of money.

(11)To the extent that the consumer transferred anything else under the contract, the consumer is entitled to receive back the same amount of what the consumer transferred, unless subsection (12) applies.

(12)To the extent that the consumer transferred under the contract something for which the same amount of the same thing cannot be substituted, the consumer is entitled to receive back in its original state whatever the consumer transferred.

Explanatory notes provide:

113.Subsection (10) provides that where a refund is to be provided and the original payment (or part of it) was made with money, the consumer is entitled to money back for the money they paid, so the trader may not substitute store vouchers, credit or an equivalent in place of the required monetary refund.

114.If money was not used to pay for the goods, under subsections (11) and (12), the consumer is not entitled to money back but the “refund” would be a return of whatever the consumer gave in exchange for the goods (see examples below). If this cannot be returned to the consumer due to the nature of the exchange, then, under subsection (18) and (19), the consumer may not demand a refund but may pursue a damages claim. The consumer still has a “right to reject” (that is, to reject the goods and treat the contract as at an end) in this situation, but the means of obtaining money back is different. Examples of situations where these subsections may apply include:

A toy “bought” with vouchers collected from cereal packets. In this case it would be possible to return equivalent vouchers (even though they would not necessarily be the actual vouchers that the consumer cut out) and a “refund” could therefore take that form under subsection (11).

A microwave supplied to the consumer by a trader specialising in refurbishment of white-goods, in exchange for the consumer’s old fridge-freezer. In this case, if the fridge-freezer was still available in an unchanged state, then this could be returned to the consumer as a “refund” under subsection (12), but if it was no longer available, or had been refurbished, then a refund would not be possible.

115.Where money formed part of what the consumer used to pay for the goods but the rest was “paid for” with something else (something non-monetary), the consumer is still entitled to a refund for the money that they paid and return of the other property transferred if possible. The consumer may pursue a damages claim for any loss for which they cannot claim a “refund” (of money or property) under section 20.

So it would seem Argos should have returned love2shop vouchers (even if not the exact same ones that the OP had redeemed) and if they weren't able to then OP would have a claim for damages for the amount of the vouchers.

sshnuke

Sorry to fall off the radar on this one and thank you for all your replies.

I actually spoke to the manager and pointed out it was due to the box rather than change of mind.

Regardless, Fosterdog and Bris are (sadly) right. As Argos do not sell Love2Shop Vouchers they are not in a position to issue them as a refund.

unholy angel
thanks for taking the time to provide the consumer rights act info.

I will have a think about writing to head office and asking them if there is anything that can be done. The only other option is to claim for damages. I was deeply disappointed and crumbled inside but I am not sure what else I could claim damages for.

Thanks again all.

unholyangel

Your damages would be for £x of love2shop vouchers.

In other words, if they can't return the exact vouchers or replacements, you have a claim against them for the amount required to put you back into the position you would have been in had the contract not been entered Into.

You should never be on a worse off position due to the other party breaching the contract. Shouldn't be in a better off position either, but that's not the concern here.

DoaM

Argos may argue that they are offering to replace the value ... as Argos vouchers ... therefore Argos may say that the claim has no merit.

Obviously Argos vouchers can only be used in Argos stores whereas L2S vouchers can be used in multiple places. Do Argos offer any form of voucher that is not restricted only to Argos?

sshnuke

Thanks for clarifying the damages unholy angel. Really helpful info!


DoaM
Argos do not give anything other than Argos vouchers. I'm not quite sure Argos may/can say the vouchers are of the same value. From unholy angels post above, the same value would have to mean, I should be back in the same position I would have been, had the contract not been entered into. It can't really be clearer than that.


You never know though... it's rip off Britain so it shouldn't really surprise us if they did say they are of the same value.


Thanks again all.

unholyangel

They may be of the same face value but I don't think theres any chance of them being seen as equivalent vouchers when one is £100 to be spent in any number of retailers and the other is £100 to be spent in a single retailers.

It would be like saying a £100 argos voucher is equivalent to cash when its clearly not.

powerful_Rogue

Could you not goto another Argos and get the same tablet using the vouchers? Or ask the store to order you one in?