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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

My friend kept dds money and used Tesco vouchers

791 replies

jammyjamjam · 03/09/2014 12:24

Hi, ds had inservice yesterday and a friend (a mum from school) offered to take her, her own dd and 2 others to an amusement park, entry fee was 25 pounds. When ds got back in the afternoon, we chatted about the day and it turns out the mum paid for my dd and the 2 other children with Tesco vouchers, ie, she had redeemed her Tesco points to pay for the 4 dcs and then kept 75 pounds form my dd and the 2 other dc. Surely she could have told us that this place took in Tesco vouchers and I could have used my own points and saved the money? I'm grateful that she took dd but surely she should have been upfront about her intention of using vouchers....AIBU?

OP posts:
whatever5 · 03/09/2014 15:16

Of course clubcard points are a bonus. You pay for your shopping and get the points as an extra.

The point aren't really extra though. You would probably pay less for food if they didn't give out points! It is no different from the "buy one, get one free" offers.

whatsthatcomingoverthehill · 03/09/2014 15:21

And if your friend asks you to pick up some crisps for them, and they're on buy one get one free, you don't pocket the cash and keep the free packet for yourself do you? Given the responses on this thread I do wonder how many would though.

mamalino · 03/09/2014 15:26

Is the only version of this from your son? So basically you don't know for sure how she paid for whom or what method? I would check this first, ask her and then we can decide on the BU or otherwise.

If you're sure she did this, why don't you do the same, offer to take her DC, charge her then use your points?

If she is a MNer though, I doubt there will be any trips as she probably will think you are an ungrateful fucker.

SaucyJack · 03/09/2014 15:30

For those who think it's fine;

Forget the clubcard vouchers.

If the mum had said it was £30 to get in and the OP had later looked on the website and found out the entrance fee was only £10- woul you also think that was OK? She really hasn't done any different. She has lied to the OP by saying it would cost £25 when she knew (having already exchanged her vouchers) that it would only cost £6.25.

whatever5 · 03/09/2014 15:37

And if your friend asks you to pick up some crisps for them, and they're on buy one get one free, you don't pocket the cash and keep the free packet for yourself do you? Given the responses on this thread I do wonder how many would though.

No because the crisps are effectively half price and if you charge your friend half price you can still buy more crisps for half price. However, if you bought the crisps with a gift voucher it would be reasonable to charge the friend for the crisps as you would have to pay full price for more crisps as a consequence of using the voucher for her crisps.

Bulbasaur · 03/09/2014 15:39

I don't see the problem?

Instead of spending the money on her children, she spent it on yours and took the money for something else.

Ok, she used you to cash her vouchers. Doesn't change the ticket price, does it? It's not like it's free money, she just basically did a currency exchange. So what?

DoJo · 03/09/2014 15:43

That is one way of looking at is Saucy Jack, but only if we assume that the friend would have spent the vouchers in Tesco if she hadn't spent them at theme park, and there's no reason to believe that she would have done that rather than exchanging them for £25 worth of vouchers for any of the other places that she could have used them.

CaptainFracasse · 03/09/2014 15:51

I can imagine 3 dcs arriving at the entrance and finding on that the cost if the entrance us 1/3 than expected. Each child pays the entry price and goes back home with the difference.
Except that in that case, each child has paid the reduced price but 2 of them have gone home with no money left over because the 3rd child has kept it all.
That would go down well wouldn't it?
If you want to make some savings with another person, you just talk to them and ask to share the profit made by being savvy. You don't just keep it all for your self.

whatever5 · 03/09/2014 15:58

She has lied to the OP by saying it would cost £25 when she knew (having already exchanged her vouchers) that it would only cost £6.25.

It didn't only "cost" £6.25 though. If you can buy things for £25 with them they are worth £25. The number written on the voucher is a red herring.

Preciousbane · 03/09/2014 16:11

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

MokunMokun · 03/09/2014 16:14

Ok, say I need to pick up 50 pounds worth of school uniform for my kids at Tesco but I'm broke this month and only have 25 pounds worth of points.

So, instead I invite 3 of my kid's friends to a theme park, use the vouchers and get 75 pounds from the friends. I can now afford the 50 pounds worth of uniform and I have 25 pounds left over for lunch etc at the theme park. Nice deal!

I can totally see why the OP is annoyed.

Stealthpolarbear · 03/09/2014 16:27

Everyone saying vouchers are as good as cash, send me £100 cash and ill send you £100 tesco vouchers
Any takers?

Bogeyface · 03/09/2014 16:34

Yeah ok stealth cos I can trade them for four times what the face value, use them to take all my friends kids to Alton Towers and make a fucking killing!

GhoulWithADragonTattoo · 03/09/2014 16:35

£6.25 is the value of the vouchers if you spend them in a Tesco shop. I think that is also the fairest way to value them. The other mum is taking the pee. I this she owes you the difference back and the same for the other children.

whatever5 · 03/09/2014 16:43

£6.25 is the value of the vouchers if you spend them in a Tesco shop. I think that is also the fairest way to value them. The other mum is taking the pee. I this she owes you the difference back and the same for the other children.

I never spend them in the Tesco shop though. I'm surprised if many people do if they are worth so much less so to me it's not the fairest way to value them.

DoJo · 03/09/2014 16:53

Ok, say I need to pick up 50 pounds worth of school uniform for my kids at Tesco but I'm broke this month and only have 25 pounds worth of points.

So, instead I invite 3 of my kid's friends to a theme park, use the vouchers and get 75 pounds from the friends. I can now afford the 50 pounds worth of uniform and I have 25 pounds left over for lunch etc at the theme park. Nice deal!

I can totally see why the OP is annoyed.

I suppose that's the essence of the issue - if one of my friends were in that situation, then I would be perfectly happy for them to do this and be able to afford the things they need. I would only be paying the cost of getting into the theme park, which I was happy to do either way, they would get a much-needed cash injection, and I would still feel as though I got a better deal because I wasn't at a them park all day with four children!

TwoAndTwoEqualsChaos · 03/09/2014 16:54

I'm with Ghoul and I think it leaves a sour taste in the mouth.

ikeaismylocal · 03/09/2014 16:54

I don't see why it makes any difference to op if her child's entry was paid by voucher, cash, or any other form of payment.

The voucher mum took the time out to plan a lovely day out, spent the whole day looking after other people's kids, op as a sahm could have taken the initiative to plan a nice day for her child and her friend's children but she didn't.

Maybe the voucher mum does need the cash, would you be annoyed if she'd payed by credit card and pocketed the cash?

I assume the voucher mum would have used the vouchers in another way if they hadn't been used to pay for the kids entry into the attraction, it's a very extravagant way of making 50 quid if she really did plan to purposefully defraud you.

whatsthatcomingoverthehill · 03/09/2014 16:59

I doubt it was all setup to get money out of people. More likely she realised she could use her vouchers after the day out had been sorted and declined to tell anyone she was ripping them off. And of course paying by credit card wouldn't be a problem. It's the fact that she is taking advantage of an offer to get in cheaper.

Notso · 03/09/2014 17:01

The points aren't really extra though.
Mine were. We bought several electrical items and baby items that had bonus points offers, all items were the same price or cheaper than anywhere else. The points we gained were enough to boost and pay for four children to get into a theme park. I see that as extra.

whatever5 · 03/09/2014 17:03

Mine were. We bought several electrical items and baby items that had bonus points offers, all items were the same price or cheaper than anywhere else.

They may not have been cheaper anywhere else but that doesn't mean they wouldn't have been cheaper at Tesco if they didn't do clubcard vouchers.

whatever5 · 03/09/2014 17:13

So, instead I invite 3 of my kid's friends to a theme park, use the vouchers and get 75 pounds from the friends. I can now afford the 50 pounds worth of uniform and I have 25 pounds left over for lunch etc at the theme park. Nice deal!

I wouldn't be any worse off if one of my friends did that so why would I mind if it meant they had money to buy school uniform?

Notso · 03/09/2014 17:23

...that doesn't mean they wouldn't have been cheaper at Tesco if they didn't do clubcard vouchers.

True, but asking Tesco to reduce the price instead of giving me the vouchers isn't really an option. The choice is Tesco and it's points or somewhere else, no points and possibly paying more.
If I am happy I am getting the product I want for the best price anything I get as part of a reward scheme I see as extra, even if that scheme obviously has benefits for the retailer.
If I bought a load of stuff I didn't want just to get points to pay for theme park tickets then that wouldn't be extra.

Bouttimeforwine · 03/09/2014 17:24

I can't get over how some people use Tesco points. What a waste. I would never in a million years spend them in Tesco at 1x value. I would never trade them for something worth 2x the value, and would only begrudgingly trade them for 3x. I spend mine on meals and days out, or anything at 4x the value, so to me £6.25 of vouchers is worth £25. I have been known to pay cash with 2 for 1 vouchers as I only see that as 2x which is a waste of vouchers

I can see why the friend didn't think twice about it. She has used her vouchers in a practical way. You got what was on the original tin. Entry for DD costing £25 as you thought.

I agree it might have been nice to ask you if you wanted to use your vouchers but the T's and C's do state they must be in the same name. Perhaps others have got away with it, but what a nightmare if they wouldn't let you use it. Who would be responsible for paying the £25 cash then? You or friend? Not a risk I would take.

comingintomyown · 03/09/2014 17:31

Why did she tell you OP ?