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Original poster

Love to shop voucher and M & S - left baffled and speechless

60 replies

bagpuss90 · 03/05/2024 07:14

So I received a love to shop voucher for £150 - I’ve spent some of it. I went to use it in M & S and I wasn’t able to because I didn’t know the exact balance left on it. I tried scanning the QR code to get the balance but that didn’t work. Anyway I only live a 2 minute walk away went home and scanned the code there . Got the balance - back to M & S and told them the balance. All good - there wasn’t enough on the card to cover the cost of my goods. This time the said I couldn’t pay the balance using my debit card . I asked to see someone else - they were adamant this was right. I lost the will to live and walked out. Has anyone else been asked for a balance on a gift card? Can anyone shed some light ?

OP posts:
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Iwasafool · 04/05/2024 15:07

I wonder what the issue is. I had £5.89 left on an M&S card and did some shopping there this week, I just put the gift card through and then paid the balance. If it can be done on some cards it seems odd it doesn't work on all.

Andrea87 · 04/05/2024 15:04

tellmewhenthespaceshiplandscoz · 03/05/2024 18:41

@Andrea87

Can I ask, if you do can you keep us posted? I'd be really interested to hear how you get on

I will do and thanks for your interest

tellmewhenthespaceshiplandscoz · 03/05/2024 18:41

@Andrea87

Can I ask, if you do can you keep us posted? I'd be really interested to hear how you get on

Andrea87 · 03/05/2024 17:15

tellmewhenthespaceshiplandscoz · 03/05/2024 15:21

Agree with this. It's not One 4 All is it?

Thinking about it it's actually really shit that these companies are able to to this and as a pp said all those 5/2p's that nobody uses ... that must add up Angry

Show quote history

No it’s not one 4 all .
I am thinking of going to citizen Advice and see what they say.

Thanks for your replies

StormingNorman · 03/05/2024 15:37

One for All are just the same. Pain in the arse.

tellmewhenthespaceshiplandscoz · 03/05/2024 15:21

Gymnopedie · 03/05/2024 15:04

@Andrea87

I'd go to Trading Standards. I think they might be interested.

Agree with this. It's not One 4 All is it?

Thinking about it it's actually really shit that these companies are able to to this and as a pp said all those 5/2p's that nobody uses ... that must add up Angry

Gymnopedie · 03/05/2024 15:04

@Andrea87

I'd go to Trading Standards. I think they might be interested.

Andrea87 · 03/05/2024 14:49

I think I can trump this (with a different gift card).

Mine has ‘expires in 09/29’ in much larger writing than the small print that says it has to be used within a year of purchase
( I didn’t know when it was as it was a gift).

Apparently it is now out of date as it was bought more than a year ago.
As a goodwill gesture!🙄😳 they have offered to give me less than 25% of what is still left on the card.

I said but it has an expiry date for in 5 years time - but apparently that is what the card company has put on and because the small print says to be used within a year that is what counts.

They said that nobody else has ever had this issue before so that is their offer.

I am rather 😡 about this!!

Should I let this drop?

Judellie · 03/05/2024 13:15

Really makes you miss paper vouchers!

Original poster
bagpuss90 · 03/05/2024 12:39

AmiShitsaline
The second time around I explained to start with that I now knew the balance on the card. No one told me I couldn’t use my card to pay the shortfall. There was a big queue. I’d have had to start again - for what would have been the third time . I’d lost the will by then 😩

OP posts:
AmiShitsaline · 03/05/2024 11:44

Sounds a nightmare, however why didn’t you just do two transactions - one with items up to the voucher amount and then scan the rest through to pay on card.

Original poster
bagpuss90 · 03/05/2024 11:14

This was a staffed till

OP posts:
StrawberrySquash · 03/05/2024 09:41

I make sure with One4All which is similar to have a label on the back that keeps track of the balance. You can look it up online. But it's a faff.

But I always go to a proper, staffed till so I can split the balance. Those are getting increasingly difficult to find. Are self service set up to split transactions? I hope so. When I worked in a shop I split transactions semi-regularly. Often then it was cash then card, so you let the till knock the cash off. But these days it would likely be card then card which means you will have to specify an amount.

tellmewhenthespaceshiplandscoz · 03/05/2024 09:30

Rainbowshit · 03/05/2024 09:13

You can use their app to find out the balance left surely? I had a One4all card recently that is similar.

I loaded it into Apple Pay on my phone and then just bought a gift card on ASOS. Bit convoluted but meant I could spend more than the gift card amount.

You could but I begrudge taking up storage on my phone for an app purely to be able to use a crap payment card where they also get to possibly harvest my data and take £ off it for the pleasure of keeping it +12 months. But realise I'm grumpy about such things

BeReet · 03/05/2024 09:29

Love2shop and All4One are an absolute scam. They are nigh on impossible to spend, discovering the balance is a total ballache and then they try and rob you of your voucher value in an 'admin fee' if you don't manage to spend it within a certain time.

I hate them with a passion. Every time the kids got one, I would have to buy it off them and then I would spend it in Iceland as quickly as possible. Eventually we begged all the relatives not to buy them. Both companies must be raking it in with the countless vouchers that people just give up trying to spend

MyrrAgain · 03/05/2024 09:25

Yes. I tried to buy some food using self check out at M&S, innocently thought I could just use the remaining balance and then top the rest up on my own card, but I couldn’t. It Kept declining the love to Shop, and in the end I just paid for it all on my credit card, which defeated the point of going to M&S because I only went to use the voucher to buy myself some nice food for a treat!

Be aware if you only have £2.50 left or something on your card. you’ll have to find something specific to use The exact remaining!

Rainbowshit · 03/05/2024 09:24

bagpuss90 · 03/05/2024 09:23

Rainbowshit
it didn’t seem to work

Oh that's a shame. I thought they would work similarly.

Original poster
bagpuss90 · 03/05/2024 09:23

Rainbowshit
it didn’t seem to work

OP posts:
Original poster
bagpuss90 · 03/05/2024 09:21

Thanks everyone. I’ve never had one before. The assistant said they’re an absolute pain

OP posts:
Rainbowshit · 03/05/2024 09:13

You can use their app to find out the balance left surely? I had a One4all card recently that is similar.

I loaded it into Apple Pay on my phone and then just bought a gift card on ASOS. Bit convoluted but meant I could spend more than the gift card amount.

Leopardmatches · 03/05/2024 08:58

I write the amount on the back of them with Sharpie.

John Lewis let me use three of them in one go so that none of us would ever have to deal with the things again. It took ages.

tellmewhenthespaceshiplandscoz · 03/05/2024 08:58

InATimeOfChimpanzeesIWasAMonkee · 03/05/2024 08:53

I still remember fondly the lady in WHSmiths who somehow managed to let me use 3 of these cards as well as my card, in a single transaction. Her hate for them had inspired her to find a way to get the till to do it.

I like her!

NotSorry · 03/05/2024 08:58

I had one of these years ago and had the exact same problem. Can't believe this is still happening. Tbf it's not the shop's fault as they don't have the info. I'd never buy/gift one again

tellmewhenthespaceshiplandscoz · 03/05/2024 08:55

Lovetoridemybicycle · 03/05/2024 07:51

I have a relative that sends these a lot! There is an app you can download to keep up to date on the balance. On line shopping the balance must be less than the value on the card-they are a pre-paid debit card rather than a gift card
In shops I've always been able to tell them how much to use from the card (and use it up) then pay the rest with something else. The key is being able to tell them how much to take off the card. However I tend not to shop in M&S, so maybe they won't allow two stages of payment

They definitely let you use multiple methods at once for one transaction

fieldsofbutterflies · 03/05/2024 08:55

Mochaccino99 · 03/05/2024 08:17

Can anyone recommend a better generic gift card or are they all the same? I want to send my niece one for getting through her exams, was planning one of these as it can be used in loads of places but sounds like hard work!!

Cash.