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whistles vouchers, any ways round their T's and C's?

11 replies

brakespeare · 28/10/2014 20:08

I was lucky enough to be given a £50 voucher for Whistles for my birthday. I've always loved Whistles but can no longer afford it full price

The voucher comes with very mean spirited terms and conditions including
-it can only be used in a stand alone whistles store (the one in my large city is v small and the staff are the don't bother me, I'm conducting my social life type)
-it cannot be used for sale merchandise
it can't be used in conjunction with any other offer
-it cannot be used online, or to order stuff online to get delivered to the stand alone store, where I could pay for it, but only if it were full price

I really want to spend it and know that my friend will be amazed that I haven't spent it yet but these T's and C's are the worst I've come across! I do like their Fawcett society t shirt but it's £45 and not £50, so big fat voucher fail (no change given!!)

Help?

OP posts:

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Saurus72 · 28/10/2014 22:12

This sounds very very weird to me, as a gift voucher is merely a payment method, not a discount voucher or promotion, so I do not understand at all why it can't be used to buy things in the sale, or on promotion, or that it can't be used online. The Whistles Grazia discount code that happens a couple of times each year, plus a £20 giftware that was a freebie with Elle magazine this month can both be used online, and for sale merchandise. I have never heard of a gift voucher not being valid on sale items from any other retailer. I would be tempted to check this out with maybe a trade association/Financial Conduct Authority or similar, as how can Whistles possibly dictate what you buy with your gift voucher?

I do understand that it can't be used in concessions, that makes complete sense, unlike the rest of the T&Cs. I don't want to cast aspersions on the friend who gave this to you, but is there any chance it could be some kind of promotional voucher, or something she may have received as part of some kind of dispute with Whistles, that she has passed onto you? It's just that it all seems very very dodgy to me. Good luck.

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Ijustworemytrenchcoat · 28/10/2014 22:33

Like the above poster I can understand the no concessions clause, and the no change given (unless it is put on a gift card) and I have seen vouchers - eg Gap that can't be used online. But, I have to say it sounds like compensation or a special company promo. Could it be store credit? My mum once won £14 worth of New Look 'vouchers' in a raffle and passed them on to me, it was store credit that somebody had donated! God knows how old it was.

If would be really bizarre for a company to sell vouchers and gift cards then say the recipient couldn't use it on sale items or special offers. A proper £50 voucher can be redeemed against anything you want I would have thought.

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OldRoan · 28/10/2014 22:35

Have you tried emailing customer services? I had a few issues about service in store and they were very helpful and responsive.

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evelynj · 28/10/2014 22:43

Can you ask if you can use it with the Elle voucher?

My dh used to love reiss so his sis got him a voucher for it for his birthday for....... £10-it has never been used as he forgot about it & left it in a drawer & when I found it couldn't find anything, even socks that were worth buying even with £10 off!

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brakespeare · 29/10/2014 11:23

It's a totally legitimate whistles voucher (black with metallic writing) in a little whistles envelope. I also have the receipt for it and it was purchased in store. I'm glad others think this is as mean spirited as I do. I may try going in and discussing it with the scary women in store. . . Or just contacting them directly.

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LaCerbiatta · 29/10/2014 11:44

I've had to call whistles customer service for a different reason and they were lovely and incredibly helpful. So maybe try calling them?

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Hopefully · 29/10/2014 13:28

I have heard their customer services are excellent, so i would call or email them as a first step.

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OldRoan · 29/10/2014 13:35

Really, OP - don't bother faffing about going to the store. Customer services should be able to sort you out.

If you email them though, make sure you check your spam filter. I was getting increasingly cross with them on twitter because I thought they hadn't replied, and then got an email from someone's personal work account (rather than generic customer services) explaining that sometimes the generic email address gets junk mail filtered. I checked, and it was there.

That aside, they were really good. And I have never been able to say a single good thing about their in-store 'service'.

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OnlyLovers · 29/10/2014 13:43

I think 'can't be used in conjunction with any other offer' and the stand-alone thing are completely fair and common practice.

The 'cannot be used for sale merchandise' and online restriction seem unusual and a bit draconian though.

As for the staff in your local one, contact head office and tell them exactly why you don't like going into that branch.

Do you have a larger, better Whistles a bit further away that you could go to?

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Saurus72 · 29/10/2014 23:17

The thing is OnlyLovers, it doesn't make sense to say it can't be used with 'any other offers' as gift cards are themselves not an 'offer' - they are a cash equivalent payment method so they should be accepted as though they are cash. Hope you get it sorted OP. Maybe the scary looking girls in your store won't be as scary in reality - they have a job to do after all.