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Don't buyagift.co.uk
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BuyerBAware
Posts: 1 Newbie
My in-laws have bought 'experience vouchers' for us for the past couple of years. They buy the vouchers for Christmas and my partner and I spend the vouchers on a spring/early summer UK getaway for two nights.
This is how it works. The options available for the price of your voucher are limited and so they entice you to broaden your range of options by spend more money. We opt to stay within our voucher limit.
Our first experience was OK. Nothing to write home about. The hotel was out of town and average but we didn't expect any more and were quite happy. The second experience was terrible. The hotel was in a fabulous location in Liverpool but it was more of a hostel with grimy windows, grubby paintwork, and hairballs on the floor. Oddly, the reviews on BuyaGift were very positive.
Shocked, we looked it up again and discovered that if we'd booked the 'hotel' directly, it would have cost £25 a night ie £50 for two nights. They'd charged my in-laws £100 for the voucher, so they make £50 profit, and we get two terrible nights in a sub-standard hotel. My repeated complaints had been ignored. My in-laws were under the impression that there'd be some money left on the voucher. There wasn't.
My complaint is this.
First, that accommodation of that quality and price shouldn't have been included in a that category in the first place as it didn't represent value for money by any stretch.
Second, that we should have been compensated or at least refunded the difference with an apology.
It feels unethical and their customer service is paltry ie they responded quickly but did nothing.
Finally, I suspect (but can't prove) that they have some kind of algorithm that selects the best reviews/filters out the worst. When I looked at the reviews directly via Trip Advisor they were of the 'avoid' variety. If we'd seen those, we would have taken heed.
I've learnt my lesson, but I think Buy A Gift needs to learn theirs too. Lots of organisations are looking to save/make money post-Covid, but shafting customers by selling high, and buying cheap isn't the way to go about it.
This is how it works. The options available for the price of your voucher are limited and so they entice you to broaden your range of options by spend more money. We opt to stay within our voucher limit.
Our first experience was OK. Nothing to write home about. The hotel was out of town and average but we didn't expect any more and were quite happy. The second experience was terrible. The hotel was in a fabulous location in Liverpool but it was more of a hostel with grimy windows, grubby paintwork, and hairballs on the floor. Oddly, the reviews on BuyaGift were very positive.
Shocked, we looked it up again and discovered that if we'd booked the 'hotel' directly, it would have cost £25 a night ie £50 for two nights. They'd charged my in-laws £100 for the voucher, so they make £50 profit, and we get two terrible nights in a sub-standard hotel. My repeated complaints had been ignored. My in-laws were under the impression that there'd be some money left on the voucher. There wasn't.
My complaint is this.
First, that accommodation of that quality and price shouldn't have been included in a that category in the first place as it didn't represent value for money by any stretch.
Second, that we should have been compensated or at least refunded the difference with an apology.
It feels unethical and their customer service is paltry ie they responded quickly but did nothing.
Finally, I suspect (but can't prove) that they have some kind of algorithm that selects the best reviews/filters out the worst. When I looked at the reviews directly via Trip Advisor they were of the 'avoid' variety. If we'd seen those, we would have taken heed.
I've learnt my lesson, but I think Buy A Gift needs to learn theirs too. Lots of organisations are looking to save/make money post-Covid, but shafting customers by selling high, and buying cheap isn't the way to go about it.
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Pmd the team to move to a board as it’s currently not been posted on one xI’m a Senior Forum Ambassador and I support the Forum Team on Competitions Time, Shopping & Freebies boards, Employment, Jobseeking & Training boards If you need any help on these boards, do let me know. Please note that Ambassadors are not moderators. Any posts you spot in breach of the Forum Rules should be reported via the report button, or by emailing forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com. All views are my own and not the official line of MoneySavingExpert.0
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