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Gift Vouchers

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Forest Hillbilly Flag in a hidey-hole 02 Oct 18 11.23am Send a Private Message to Forest Hillbilly Add Forest Hillbilly as a friend

Aren't they a waste of time ?

It used to be that given money was considered 'coarse' or a bit 'vulgar' in my parents household.

Now I have been given Gift Vouchers (for £60) at a Department Store I have absolutely no need for.
Do I need furnishings ? no
Ornaments, or other useless 5hlt ? no

so can I convert the vouchers into needed cash at the shop ? no. You have to buy something. Else sell them on a website where you'll get 80-90% of their value.

WTF ? My sister is an idiot. Just give me money in the future, so I can put petrol in the car, or whatever.

Anyone else had similar ?

 


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dorking Flag 02 Oct 18 11.38am Send a Private Message to dorking Add dorking as a friend

Must admit I do find it a pain to remember to use them, often end up choosing a tie or just some food at M&S because there is little else that I remotely want there.

I am a bit of a hypocrite though because I always send my niece vouchers for her birthday. Used to send a cheque inside her card, but my lazy sister takes months to pay it in, leaving me having to remember to allow for it, and I don't really like sending cash in the post in case the postman is a thief

 

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Badger11 Flag Beckenham 02 Oct 18 12.05pm Send a Private Message to Badger11 Add Badger11 as a friend

Originally posted by Forest Hillbilly

Aren't they a waste of time ?

It used to be that given money was considered 'coarse' or a bit 'vulgar' in my parents household.

Now I have been given Gift Vouchers (for £60) at a Department Store I have absolutely no need for.
Do I need furnishings ? no
Ornaments, or other useless 5hlt ? no

so can I convert the vouchers into needed cash at the shop ? no. You have to buy something. Else sell them on a website where you'll get 80-90% of their value.

WTF ? My sister is an idiot. Just give me money in the future, so I can put petrol in the car, or whatever.

Anyone else had similar ?

With the state of the high street the last thing I would be doing is giving someone gift vouchers. Just ask the poor folk who have House of Fraser ones. Poor old Mike Ashley is so hard up he refuses redeem them.

But yes you are correct if the person cannot think of a gift better just to give cash and have done with it.

Edited by Badger11 (02 Oct 2018 12.06pm)

 


One more point

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Midlands Eagle Flag 02 Oct 18 1.16pm Send a Private Message to Midlands Eagle Add Midlands Eagle as a friend

Originally posted by Badger11

With the state of the high street the last thing I would be doing is giving someone gift vouchers.

I sent my grandson a gift voucher for Toys R Us last Christmas and when I got wind of their impending liquidation I asked them to send it back and I replaced it with cash and binned the gift voucher

 

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Midlands Eagle Flag 02 Oct 18 1.17pm Send a Private Message to Midlands Eagle Add Midlands Eagle as a friend

Originally posted by dorking

Must admit I do find it a pain to remember to use them, often end up choosing a tie or just some food at M&S because there is little else that I remotely want there.

Perhaps we should set up a HOL voucher exchange scheme

 

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the_mcanuff_stuff Flag Caterham 02 Oct 18 2.48pm Send a Private Message to the_mcanuff_stuff Add the_mcanuff_stuff as a friend

Vouchers have absolutely no redeeming feature. If you're not sure what the person your buying for wants, give them cash. Buying vouchers show no less imagination and the person getting the gift can actually spend it on what they really want and shop around for it.

If you buy vouchers, the person receiving them:
- might not get to use them if the shop folds
- might not want anything from that retailer
- might not get the best price for what they want, if it's sold cheaper elsewhere.

Plus, the company gets the money up front without having to provide anything in return and can sit on the money.

We have family abroad, who don't see our kids much, so they give them cash, as they don't know enough about what a suitable gift might be. Perfect. Everyone is happy.

If you know the person well and see them a lot, get them something they like, otherwise cash is fine. Or for adults some nice food/drink gift: bottle of wine/selection of craft beers, chocolates etc.

"experience day" vouchers are the worst, because you are normally severely limited on choice or the day/time you can redeem them and it is normally much cheaper to actually go straight to the company providing the experience (not red letter days, Virgin etc.).

One of my pet hates, as you can probably tell.

 

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Stuk Flag Top half 02 Oct 18 3.44pm Send a Private Message to Stuk Add Stuk as a friend

Originally posted by Badger11

With the state of the high street the last thing I would be doing is giving someone gift vouchers. Just ask the poor folk who have House of Fraser ones. Poor old Mike Ashley is so hard up he refuses redeem them.

But yes you are correct if the person cannot think of a gift better just to give cash and have done with it.

Edited by Badger11 (02 Oct 2018 12.06pm)

Why should he pay someone else's debts?

They should be illegal in the first place.

 


Optimistic as ever

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Stuk Flag Top half 02 Oct 18 3.46pm Send a Private Message to Stuk Add Stuk as a friend

Originally posted by the_mcanuff_stuff

Vouchers have absolutely no redeeming feature. If you're not sure what the person your buying for wants, give them cash. Buying vouchers show no less imagination and the person getting the gift can actually spend it on what they really want and shop around for it.

If you buy vouchers, the person receiving them:
- might not get to use them if the shop folds
- might not want anything from that retailer
- might not get the best price for what they want, if it's sold cheaper elsewhere.

Plus, the company gets the money up front without having to provide anything in return and can sit on the money.

We have family abroad, who don't see our kids much, so they give them cash, as they don't know enough about what a suitable gift might be. Perfect. Everyone is happy.

If you know the person well and see them a lot, get them something they like, otherwise cash is fine. Or for adults some nice food/drink gift: bottle of wine/selection of craft beers, chocolates etc.

"experience day" vouchers are the worst, because you are normally severely limited on choice or the day/time you can redeem them and it is normally much cheaper to actually go straight to the company providing the experience (not red letter days, Virgin etc.).

One of my pet hates, as you can probably tell.

The same here. The most shameless operators have ones with "expiry dates".

 


Optimistic as ever

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the_mcanuff_stuff Flag Caterham 02 Oct 18 4.16pm Send a Private Message to the_mcanuff_stuff Add the_mcanuff_stuff as a friend

Originally posted by Stuk

The same here. The most shameless operators have ones with "expiry dates".

How could I forget expiry dates? Yes, indeed another limiting factor.

There really is no upside I can see. It's all about marketing/image and convincing the buyer that they are "looking like I've thought about this, (but not too much)" and the seller (when a request is made/asked for) that they don't look greedy for asking for cash.

It's all nonsense. Just say "look, I know we don't see each other much these days, so I don't really know what Lily and Connor have or want, so here's some cash so they can get themselves something they like". Don't see how any reasonable person would object.

 

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Stuk Flag Top half 02 Oct 18 4.33pm Send a Private Message to Stuk Add Stuk as a friend

Originally posted by the_mcanuff_stuff

How could I forget expiry dates? Yes, indeed another limiting factor.

There really is no upside I can see. It's all about marketing/image and convincing the buyer that they are "looking like I've thought about this, (but not too much)" and the seller (when a request is made/asked for) that they don't look greedy for asking for cash.

It's all nonsense. Just say "look, I know we don't see each other much these days, so I don't really know what Lily and Connor have or want, so here's some cash so they can get themselves something they like". Don't see how any reasonable person would object.

Due to the t&cs on the back of them they can be cancelled at any time, at their discretion.

The fact that they now sell gift vouchers in supermarkets and the like, where they used to only be purchased in said shop many years ago, means they know they're not having to reimburse the full value of all those sold. The 3rd party will be wanting a cut for selling them for a start.

Hopefully the campaign against plastic will see them off in the near future as they don't seem very recyclable to me. Because morons don't look like they're going to stop buying them of their own volition.

"I didn't just give you money, I gave you branded money" Its lazy.

 


Optimistic as ever

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Forest Hillbilly Flag in a hidey-hole 02 Oct 18 4.45pm Send a Private Message to Forest Hillbilly Add Forest Hillbilly as a friend

i think it was a ploy by my sister to not send me money on things I enjoy.
*alcohol
*drugs
*prostitutes

she might as well have given it to charity, as the vouchers are no good to me.
Complete waste of effort.

And the woman in the shop, trying to be helpful this morning said, "if you spend it online, you can buy designer stuff that isn't in the shop"

A gold unicorn ornament
a metal wire lamp
some designer briefs

I thought the world was meant to be getting better. Around 5000 years of (intelligent) human existence, and I'm left with this 5hlt.

Edited by Forest Hillbilly (02 Oct 2018 4.45pm)

 


I disengage, I turn the page.

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Badger11 Flag Beckenham 02 Oct 18 5.43pm Send a Private Message to Badger11 Add Badger11 as a friend

Originally posted by Stuk

Why should he pay someone else's debts?

They should be illegal in the first place.

Legally your are correct however it would have been good PR if he had. I shan't be rushing to shop at HOF or Sports Direct. Time will tell if Ashley is a shrewd business man I don't see any future for HOF or Debenham though because department stores are dying.

 


One more point

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