Gift cards and being charged a different price at the till

Aylesbury_Duck

So this is potentially a systematic problem affecting hundreds of shoppers, possibly thousands, but you, an anonymous forum member, are not prepared to name the retailer.

Why?

flaneurs_lobster

This is silly, what possible reason can the OP have for not naming the "well known supermarket chain". 

There's an oddity too in the OP's account of using a gift card. In my experience once the thing is scanned and accepted then there's no backout button, the amount paid has been deducted from the gift card total.

Is the OP saying that the total is revised when Gift Card is selected as the payment type? That's almost certainly illegal, outlawed like having a different price for cash vs card.

I know the OP's experience is not mine when using gift cards for shops at Tesco, Waitrose & M&S - got the till receipts in front of me to prove it. 

sheramber

Nobody can offer any help without confirming the terms and conditions on the gift cards / the supermarket concerned.

If you don’t name them then what do you hope to achieve by posting?

born_again

kkgbd2223 said:

Hello thank you for your comments.  I'm not going to name the retailer, however, I have spoken with their customer services team and have been clearly told by them that higher pricing for loyalty members is charged when using a Gift Card for payment.

In my example, the sequence at the till will be:

I scan the item, price shows at £10, matches what is on the shelf

I scan the loyalty card, price decreases to £8, matches what is on the shelf

I scan the Gift Card, price increases to £9.  This price isn't displayed anywhere on the shelf

If I then remove the Gift Card as payment, the price decreases to £8

I appreciate a number of employers offer Gift Cards through a work discount scheme, however, clearly that discount isn't being honoured if you are charged a higher price at the till when paying with the Gift Card than is available paying with cash or a bank card even factoring in any discount when buying that Gift Card.

So where exactly are you buying these gift cards?
As from the OP sounds like in store @ Supermarket.
Now it sounds like buying them online.

Could it be that "This Supermarket" does not allow discounts on gift card purchases, when using loyalty cards. Hence why we need to know exactly which supermarket it is.

la531983

born_again said:

kkgbd2223 said:

Hello thank you for your comments.  I'm not going to name the retailer, however, I have spoken with their customer services team and have been clearly told by them that higher pricing for loyalty members is charged when using a Gift Card for payment.

In my example, the sequence at the till will be:

I scan the item, price shows at £10, matches what is on the shelf

I scan the loyalty card, price decreases to £8, matches what is on the shelf

I scan the Gift Card, price increases to £9.  This price isn't displayed anywhere on the shelf

If I then remove the Gift Card as payment, the price decreases to £8

I appreciate a number of employers offer Gift Cards through a work discount scheme, however, clearly that discount isn't being honoured if you are charged a higher price at the till when paying with the Gift Card than is available paying with cash or a bank card even factoring in any discount when buying that Gift Card.

So where exactly are you buying these gift cards?
As from the OP sounds like in store @ Supermarket.
Now it sounds like buying them online.

Could it be that "This Supermarket" does not allow discounts on gift card purchases, when using loyalty cards. Hence why we need to know exactly which supermarket it is.

In which case why is it not reverting to £10 (as per the OPs example)? Its all a bit odd. And also a bit cloak and dagger.

Aylesbury_Duck

It does come across that OP is somehow "fiddling" with the process to effect the phenomenon they describe.  Perhaps they are trying to "double dip", using vouchers they've bought at a discounted rate and trying to combine them with a loyalty scheme when the terms don't permit that?

Is it possible that the loyalty discount isn't applied when gift cards are used (and that accords with the ts and cs) and that OP has discovered that with some fiddling, they can get a partial discount they're not entitled to?  E.g. the £10 product is £8 for scheme members, should be £10 if a scheme member uses a gift card but the system is only putting it back up to £9.

PHK

Aylesbury_Duck said:

It does come across that OP is somehow "fiddling" with the process to effect the phenomenon they describe.  Perhaps they are trying to "double dip", using vouchers they've bought at a discounted rate and trying to combine them with a loyalty scheme when the terms don't permit that?

Is it possible that the loyalty discount isn't applied when gift cards are used (and that accords with the ts and cs) and that OP has discovered that with some fiddling, they can get a partial discount they're not entitled to?  E.g. the £10 product is £8 for scheme members, should be £10 if a scheme member uses a gift card but the system is only putting it back up to £9.

The problem with that is that the gift card is a method of payment and the option to pay is only presented once the sale has been totalled. 

user1977

PHK said:

Aylesbury_Duck said:

It does come across that OP is somehow "fiddling" with the process to effect the phenomenon they describe.  Perhaps they are trying to "double dip", using vouchers they've bought at a discounted rate and trying to combine them with a loyalty scheme when the terms don't permit that?

Is it possible that the loyalty discount isn't applied when gift cards are used (and that accords with the ts and cs) and that OP has discovered that with some fiddling, they can get a partial discount they're not entitled to?  E.g. the £10 product is £8 for scheme members, should be £10 if a scheme member uses a gift card but the system is only putting it back up to £9.

The problem with that is that the gift card is a method of payment and the option to pay is only presented once the sale has been totalled. 

Yes, what the OP seems to be describing isn't a feature of any of the several well-known supermarkets where I've paid by gift card. And the tills don't (and presumably cannot) distinguish whether the gift card was funded at full price or via a discount scheme.

Aylesbury_Duck

PHK said:

Aylesbury_Duck said:

It does come across that OP is somehow "fiddling" with the process to effect the phenomenon they describe.  Perhaps they are trying to "double dip", using vouchers they've bought at a discounted rate and trying to combine them with a loyalty scheme when the terms don't permit that?

Is it possible that the loyalty discount isn't applied when gift cards are used (and that accords with the ts and cs) and that OP has discovered that with some fiddling, they can get a partial discount they're not entitled to?  E.g. the £10 product is £8 for scheme members, should be £10 if a scheme member uses a gift card but the system is only putting it back up to £9.

The problem with that is that the gift card is a method of payment and the option to pay is only presented once the sale has been totalled. 

Indeed, which does sound wrong in terms of consumer transparency, but unless OP divulges more information, all we can do is guess.

kkgbd2223

Hello, many thanks for all of your replies, this is appreciated and sorry for the delay in posting.

Yes you are right, the higher prices when using a Gift Card are not shown or revelaed until the payment method using a Gift Card is presented.  I have contacted their Customer Services and been told that they do sometimes charge higher loyalty prices when using a Gift Card for payment.

Yes you are also right that I obtain the Gift Card through my employer's "benefits" scheme which offers a 5% discount.  I have complained to the company that runs the scheme that they are advertising the scheme as offering a 5% discount, when in fact, some items may be more expensive bought with the Gift Card than would be the case paying by cash or bank card, hence there is not a 5% discount.

For the moment I'd rather run this through my employer's HR team (who administer the staff benefits scheme) so I'd rather not name any company's involved for the moment.  I'll post back when I know more.