Page 2 | Love to shop voucher and M & S - left baffled and speechless

bagpuss90 · 2024-05-03T06:14:28+00:00

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 ?

tellmewhenthespaceshiplandscoz · 03/05/2024 08:54

Meandyouandyouandme · 03/05/2024 07:48

I had a Love 2 Shop card that just wouldn’t work for whatever reason, I ended up buying a Sainsburys voucher on the Love 2 Shop website and spending it that way. Is this something you can do with M&S?

This. I immediately use them to buy a proper voucher. Some including M and S are good for 2 years then all you have to do is occasionally have them scanned to check the balance and it extends that date

tellmewhenthespaceshiplandscoz · 03/05/2024 08:53

I think there should be a special place in hell reserved for anyone that buys these cards as gifts. Total ball ache. Also take care as it may be the one where, if you haven't used it for 12 months they take a % fee off the remaining balance each month.

All 4 One cards too. Bastards

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.

ineedtostopbeingdramaticfirst · 03/05/2024 08:30

SevenSeasOfRhye · 03/05/2024 07:52

Am I missing something - it sounds like the shop has to rely on the customer's word about the remaining balance - are they not opening themselves to a huge fraud risk, i.e. scammer tells them remaining card balance is £200 when it's actually 37p?

No it will just be declined

ineedtostopbeingdramaticfirst · 03/05/2024 08:28

Love to shop is awful. I had this issue online I could only use it if i spend the exact amount. But I ended up using it in a shop Clark's I think and they let me pay the rest on my bank card

Meadowfinch · 03/05/2024 08:25

Yes, same here trying to buy books in Waterstones. I did finally find out the value and get the books but it was just a lot of unnecessary hassle.

Love2shop is pointless. I don't understand why people bother with it.

Persephonegoddess · 03/05/2024 08:25

They are basically a loaded debit card, so the shops cannot tell you the balance just like they can't tell you the available balance on any debit card.

SevenSeasOfRhye · 03/05/2024 08:24

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!!

I would go the cash route - there is no more generic or widely spendable 'gift card' than cash. If you are not going to see her in person, send her a cheque the good old-fashioned way; if she has a banking app she should be able to credit it to her account easily.

Riversideandrelax · 03/05/2024 08:23

Yes, I had this in TKMaxx. Apparently if they put the card through it will 'pay' for the whole balance no matter what the balance is on it. Seems it is something wrong with the Lovetoshop end of so many shops have a problem with it.

hollyblueivy · 03/05/2024 08:20

These are the absolute worst cards and shouldn't be allowed.

GrammarTeacher · 03/05/2024 08:20

I HATE Love 2 Shop cards for this very reason.

chaticat · 03/05/2024 08:18

Createausername1970 · 03/05/2024 08:11

I had one of these and it was a pain. Most things I bought ended in 99p rather than a round pound. I think I ended up with 4p left on it that I couldn't access. Didn't bother me, but I did wonder at the time, how many pennies get unspent across all the cards?

Exactly and then after a certain period that's gone. They must be raking it in

chaticat · 03/05/2024 08:18

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

chaticat · 03/05/2024 08:17

Yes that's a common issue. You are expected to know how much is left! And then often end up with a random small amount left on there as, like you found, retailers don't accept them as part payment.

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!!

VillageGreenPS · 03/05/2024 08:16

Yes; I never realised what a pain L2S vouchers were until someone bought me one. Absolutely woundly recommend buying one as a gift, ever.

Rainbowshit · 03/05/2024 08:14

I got round this by loading the gift card into Apple Pay and buying gift vouchers.

Createausername1970 · 03/05/2024 08:11

I had one of these and it was a pain. Most things I bought ended in 99p rather than a round pound. I think I ended up with 4p left on it that I couldn't access. Didn't bother me, but I did wonder at the time, how many pennies get unspent across all the cards?

fieldsofbutterflies · 03/05/2024 08:04

No worries @SevenSeasOfRhye - they were the bane of my life when I worked retail 😂

longdistanceclaraclara · 03/05/2024 07:59

Had the same in m and s. They are shite gift cards.

Clingfilm · 03/05/2024 07:57

I had this trying to use one in Boots, thankfully I'd kept the receipt of the previous thing I'd bought with the card so I would personally knew what was left but I still had to do some quick maths a the til for the Boots cashier.

user1471542018 · 03/05/2024 07:56

I had similar with one a few weeks ago, could not remember the balance so tried to take more in M&S and it was declined. Then tried a lower balance and that was declined as it had already been “used”. It reissued the credit the next day. There is a phone number you can text on the back that tells you the balance within a couple of mins. Should have done that first! Finally used it in TK maxx who were fine splitting the balance between the gift card and my debit card in one transaction.

SevenSeasOfRhye · 03/05/2024 07:55

fieldsofbutterflies · 03/05/2024 07:54

No - the sale won't go through if the balance isn't sufficient, but because the shop can't see the balance beforehand, they're relying on the customers word so they can put the amount into the till.

It's a huge pain in the arse.

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Ah, I understand now, thank you.

fieldsofbutterflies · 03/05/2024 07:55

Basically, the till and the PDQ (card machine) often operate separately so the cashier still needs to input amounts on the system.

fieldsofbutterflies · 03/05/2024 07:54

SevenSeasOfRhye · 03/05/2024 07:52

Am I missing something - it sounds like the shop has to rely on the customer's word about the remaining balance - are they not opening themselves to a huge fraud risk, i.e. scammer tells them remaining card balance is £200 when it's actually 37p?

No - the sale won't go through if the balance isn't sufficient, but because the shop can't see the balance beforehand, they're relying on the customers word so they can put the amount into the till.

It's a huge pain in the arse.