Difference between a discount code and a voucher? Annoyed with Look Fantastic

mrbrightside842

Hi!

For my birthday, I asked for Look Fantastic gift vouchers (which can be seen here) off people as I wanted to put them all together and buy a larger item. Even better, there’s a 20% off code on the site. So I’ve sat today and tried to make my order and discovered that the “gift vouchers” aren’t really vouchers but more of a discount code, each being a £25 discount, and you can only use one code per order. So you can’t use a 20% off code with a gift voucher and you can only use one gift voucher at a time. Plus you have to spend the full amount in one go as they don’t hold the change like they do on other sites when you use a gift card. So instead of being able to put them all on one order to get the item I want, I have to make several small orders of £25 to get them spent.

I spoke to them On twitter today and they DMed me a link to their T&Cs. The information can be found here in clause 24 https://www.lookfantastic.com/info/terms-conditions.list which surely should be made more noticeable when you buy! I don’t get why you can only enter one code per transaction. I’ve also left a factual review letting people know that they can only spend one at a time and it hasn’t been approved.

sarah1972

mrbrightside842 wrote: »

Hi!

For my birthday, I asked for Look Fantastic gift vouchers (which can be seen here) off people as I wanted to put them all together and buy a larger item. Even better, there’s a 20% off code on the site. So I’ve sat today and tried to make my order and discovered that the “gift vouchers” aren’t really vouchers but more of a discount code, each being a £25 discount, and you can only use one code per order. So you can’t use a 20% off code with a gift voucher and you can only use one gift voucher at a time. Plus you have to spend the full amount in one go as they don’t hold the change like they do on other sites when you use a gift card. So instead of being able to put them all on one order to get the item I want, I have to make several small orders of £25 to get them spent.

I spoke to them On twitter today and they DMed me a link to their T&Cs. The information can be found here in clause 24 https://www.lookfantastic.com/info/terms-conditions.list which surely should be made more noticeable when you buy! I don’t get why you can only enter one code per transaction. I’ve also left a factual review letting people know that they can only spend one at a time and it hasn’t been approved.

Seems fair to me, clearly states only one per order.

What are the restrictions? - You can only use one voucher per order and no change will be issued if the full value of the voucher is not used in the order.

Moglex

sarah1972 wrote: »

Seems fair to me, clearly states only one per order.

What are the restrictions? - You can only use one voucher per order and no change will be issued if the full value of the voucher is not used in the order.

I'd love to know what goes on in the brains of some people who post here.

A company sells gift vouchers which have terms attached that are clearly designed to ensure that they don't have to honour them to the full amount that was paid for them unless the customer jumps through hoops.

Christ on a bike, what would it take to make them think it was unfair?

True, they are not doing anything that is actually illegal, but as a business practice it is well beyond shoddy.

As is so often the case, Amazon demonstrate how 'gift vouchers' should work.

mrbrightside842

Really? Fair that you could have £200 in vouchers but as they’re in multiples of £25 you can only spend them over 8 transactions instead of one £200 item? The t&C are well hidden, I had to ask for them. Surely this should be stated when buying the vouchers or a link to the t&cs alongside when you buy them.

sarah1972

Moglex wrote: »

I'd love to know what goes on in the brains of some people who post here.

A company sells gift vouchers which have terms attached that are clearly designed to ensure that they don't have to honour them to the full amount that was paid for them unless the customer jumps through hoops.

Christ on a bike, what would it take to make them think it was unfair?

True, they are not doing anything that is actually illegal, but as a business practice it is well beyond shoddy.

As is so often the case, Amazon demonstrate how 'gift vouchers' should work.

Cant see any jumping through hoops that you mention? Or not honouring the full amount that was paid for them.

You buy a £25 gift voucher and you use it for something priced £25 or over.

I do agree that the using only one at a time is a bit sneaky though but t&c's are rarely read when making a purchase and I am sure there was a click somewhere along the line to say that they were accepted

George_Michael

mrbrightside842 wrote: »

I had to ask for them. Surely this should be stated when buying the vouchers or a link to the t&cs alongside when you buy them.

There is a link to the T&Cs on the checkout page when buying the vouchers/codes.
This link is directly below the "Submit my order" tab.

By placing this order, you are confirming that you agree to our Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.

Both the "terms and conditions" and "privacy policy" are clickable links.

mrbrightside842

I mean it should be cleared alongside the description of the vouchers “ Can't think what to get that special someone? Need a last minute gift without the hassle of trekking around the high street? Look no further than a Lookfantastic Gift Voucher! It can be used to buy any item on site and will be emailed to you to either forward onto family and friends, or to print out to give to them personally.” by the way, we only accept one per order.

Oh no they won’t, cause then they won’t sell any. Continue to tell me it’s fair and clear all you want, but I think people should have this as a warning not to buy any. I don’t think it’s ever good practise for a business to be “a bit sneaky”

Pollycat

mrbrightside842 wrote: »

I mean it should be cleared alongside the description of the vouchers “ Can't think what to get that special someone? Need a last minute gift without the hassle of trekking around the high street? Look no further than a Lookfantastic Gift Voucher! It can be used to buy any item on site and will be emailed to you to either forward onto family and friends, or to print out to give to them personally.” by the way, we only accept one per order.

Oh no they won’t, cause then they won’t sell any. Continue to tell me it’s fair and clear all you want, but I think people should have this as a warning not to buy any. I don’t think it’s ever good practise for a business to be “a bit sneaky”

I think your warning is valid (and posted in the right place).

I also think the point made by 2 other posters that one voucher per order is clearly shown in the T&Cs is valid.

Takmon

I can never understand how people converting their cash into gift vouchers which are far more limited is somehow considered a better present that just giving them the cash....

BoGoF

Takmon wrote: »

I can never understand how people converting their cash into gift vouchers which are far more limited is somehow considered a better present that just giving them the cash....

Exactly this......MSE and Martin Lewis actively advise against gift vouchers.

George_Michael

mrbrightside842 wrote: »

The t&C are well hidden, I had to ask for them. Surely this should be stated when buying the vouchers or a link to the t&cs alongside when you buy them.

George_Michael wrote: »

There is a link to the T&Cs on the checkout page when buying the vouchers/codes.
This link is directly below the "Submit my order" tab.

mrbrightside842 wrote: »

I mean it should be cleared alongside the description of the vouchers “ Can't think what to get that special someone? Need a last minute gift without the hassle of trekking around the high street? Look no further than a Lookfantastic Gift Voucher!
It can be used to buy any item on site and will be emailed to you to either forward onto family and friends, or to print out to give to them personally.” by the way, we only accept one per order.

Firstly your post was very specific and you stated that:

or a link to the t&cs alongside when you buy them

and it was then pointed out that there was such a link to the T&C's.
You then decided that this wasn't what you meant (although it was exactly what you posted) so you then thought that the T&C's should be posted without the need to click on a link.
If the T&C's can easily be accessed from a single link which is directly below where the customer clicks on the "submit order" button and where it states that:

By placing this order, you are confirming that you agree to our Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy

and customers can't be bothered to click on the link and read up on what they are agreeing to, what makes you think that simply having those terms on the checkout page would mean that they would get read?

In simple terms, there is a clearly shown link to the T&C's and a statement that the customer is agreeing to them before buying.
If someone wants to complete the purchase without bothering to actually read any of those terms, whose fault is that?