Gift cards and being charged a different price at the till

MattMattMattUK

So out of curiosity I tested this with Sainsbury's this morning and it does not apply to them/Nectar discounts. Full discount applies regardless of payment method.

flaneurs_lobster

kkgbd2223 said:

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.

Thanks for getting back.

In order that other users of this forum can avoid paying more for their goods than they might otherwise do (rather the reason that this forum exists) then you will have to help by naming the retailer that has this practice.

I really cannot see any reason why you wouldn't, you have anonymity here. You are not breaking any confidences if this is an established practice of the store, there is no need to name any other party.

powerful_Rogue

Can't see this has anything to do with the staff benefit scheme. You're getting what you paid for, a gift voucher with 5% discount.

flaneurs_lobster

MattMattMattUK said:

So out of curiosity I tested this with Sainsbury's this morning and it does not apply to them/Nectar discounts. Full discount applies regardless of payment method.

Using gift cards?

flaneurs_lobster

powerful_Rogue said:

Can't see this has anything to do with the staff benefit scheme. You're getting what you paid for, a gift voucher with 5% discount.

Need to be clear here, what I believe the OP is describing (please confirm) is the purchase of a gift card with a face value of (say) £10 for £9.50. So as you say, not really anything to do with the scheme.

The concern is that the retailer is not applying the full shelf display loyalty discount if the Gift Card is used as payment. 

Probably legal, but not exactly common knowledge. I've always assumed that a Gift Card is equivalent to cash.

MattMattMattUK

flaneurs_lobster said:

MattMattMattUK said:

So out of curiosity I tested this with Sainsbury's this morning and it does not apply to them/Nectar discounts. Full discount applies regardless of payment method.

Using gift cards?

Yep, a £20 voucher against a £43 shop.

flaneurs_lobster

MattMattMattUK said:

flaneurs_lobster said:

MattMattMattUK said:

So out of curiosity I tested this with Sainsbury's this morning and it does not apply to them/Nectar discounts. Full discount applies regardless of payment method.

Using gift cards?

Yep, a £20 voucher against a £43 shop.

Be simpler if the OP just told us who it is, but in the meanwhiles - if it ain't Sainsburys then who else has loyalty prices on the shelves - only Morrisons and Tesco come to my mind.

Olinda99

What I think the OP is saying is not that the store is charging higher prices as such but that on discounted/on offer items (only) the discount is reduced when paying by gift card

Jenni_D

Olinda99 said:

What I think the OP is saying is not that the store is charging higher prices as such but that on discounted/on offer items (only) the discount is reduced when paying by gift card

I believe the OP was saying that any product that offers a loyalty card discount (e.g. Nectar card, Tesco club card, etc.) is then charged at a higher price than the loyalty discount if a gift card forms part of the payment. If paying by cash or other card the full loyalty discount applies. So it's not just any old discount, it's a specific loyalty discount.  

user1977

Jenni_D said:

Olinda99 said:

What I think the OP is saying is not that the store is charging higher prices as such but that on discounted/on offer items (only) the discount is reduced when paying by gift card

I believe the OP was saying that any product that offers a loyalty card discount (e.g. Nectar card, Tesco club card, etc.) is then charged at a higher price than the loyalty discount if a gift card forms part of the payment. If paying by cash or other card the full loyalty discount applies. So it's not just any old discount, it's a specific loyalty discount.  

Well, we know it isn't Tesco or Sainsbury. I can't recall any retailer which recalculates discounts after you declare you're paying with a gift card.