Pre-paid gift cards and refunds

TracyD82

I have brought 5 pairs of glasses at Specsavers in January for me, my husband and my son totalling £500+.  My partner, never having worn glasses before was told he needed Varifocals.. 
Through my Husbands works loyalty/reward scheme, if we brought Specsavers vouchers we would get 10% off.. No brainer right!
Well, Husband could not get on with the Varifocals so they have been swapped for single vision and we are due £159 refund, however as we paid via gift card they will only refund via gift card... 
I feel that we were pushed into the Varifocals and not given other options (up selling let's say) and the fact that we don't need to revisit for 2 years or purchase anything from them in the near future that a gift card is useless to us thus basically we will be loosing £159.. I have tried to ask for an alternative refund but have been told any other way would be classed as fraud (?).. would we have any luck going through the loyalty company or is that it, we just have to suck it up and learn from our mistake?
Hope that all makes sense.....
Tia

lincroft1710

Standard practice, refund is usually by the same method as purchase. So if you had paid cash you would have received the refund in cash, paid by credit card refunded back to CC

eskbanker

It's standard practice for retailers to refund to gift cards if they were used for the original purchase, regardless of whether or not there's any likely future use of those by the customer, so Specsavers are just complying with normal practice on that front.  You might try logging a complaint about the prescription if it wasn't suitable, but that won't necessarily change the outcome.

No harm in trying the loyalty company but unlikely that they'd buy the vouchers back....

TracyD82

Fair do's it's standard practice but standard, doesn't, to me, imply set in stone.. 
Incidentally, I overpaid on the vouchers too to get 10% off the full cost as I could only buy in certain multiples... I think I've learnt an expensive lesson and won't delve into these work loyalty/reward schemes again 😪

lincroft1710

Standard practice may not imply set in stone, but as far as they are concerned there is no reason for Specsavers not to refund back to the gift card.


As a varifocal wearer I would suggest that persuading your husband to have varifocals is not necessarily upselling for the sake of it. I have found it far easier having varifocals than having 2 pairs of specs. 

Alderbank

That 'two years before we go back' is not set in stone either. Out of the three of you, one might have to go back because their eyes have changed faster than expected, or their glasses have become broken or scratched.

Even if not, you are getting a 2 year voucher in Feb 2024 so you could all go back for your next eye-test as planned in Jan 2026.

It's winter now but one of you might fancy new prescription sunglasses in August?

TracyD82

Alderbank said:

That 'two years before we go back' is not set in stone either. Out of the three of you, one might have to go back because their eyes have changed faster than expected, or their glasses have become broken or scratched.

Even if not, you are getting a 2 year voucher in Feb 2024 so you could all go back for your next eye-test as planned in Jan 2026.

It's winter now but one of you might fancy new prescription sunglasses in August?

So I've now brought insurance.. 2 pairs of the 5 were sunglasses.

Okell

TracyD82 said:

... I have tried to ask for an alternative refund but have been told any other way would be classed as fraud (?)...

This is almost certainly not the reason why they won't give you an alternative refund - but that doesn't mean that you are entitled to an alternative refund.

If you check the small print of the T&Cs for the Specsavers vouchers you used, you will almost certainly find something that says that any refunds will be returned to you only through vouchers.

Assuming your husband and your partner are the same person - that bit of your story is rather confusing - I don't understand why he only needs "unifocal" lenses?

If he's never worn spectacles before but had bifocals prescribed, surely he needs the unsuitable bifocals to be replaced by two pairs of "unifocal" spectacles?  Unless you are suggesting that Specsavers misrepresented your husband's vision needs and sold something entirely unwanted?

(Personally I wouldn't touch bifocals or varifocals with a bargepole - but other people love them)

Aylesbury_Duck

I've found Specsavers' offers are usually good enough that any discounted vouchers are worth less than the discount obtained by the offer itself, and in my experience the two can't be combined.

As for the bought/brought thing, it's a common confusion, and not an autocorrect. 

TracyD82

Husband, partner, ball on chain! His main prescription was for distance with a need for readers.. being naive he took the opticians advice for Varifocals..(didn't question it).  After a scary incident on the motorway he decided they weren't for him.. I (and he) feel he was pressured and not given all the info as a first time wearer of glasses.. 

TracyD82

As my final post, I came here to see if I had any way of getting my money back, not on a gift card.. I now know I'm going to have to put it down as a learning experience but the tone of the comments (including picking on a spelling mistake) has not been great 😪