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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think she should have made this clearer?

121 replies

bluebellmouse · 09/12/2014 12:10

I was out shopping yesterday and was buying some things in a large department store. After I had paid the girl who served me handed me my receipt and also gave me a voucher and she told me that because I'd purchased something in store the voucher was for a promotion in the cafe for a meal, dessert and a drink.

I was very hungry at this point and I wanted to get something to eat anyway so I thought I'd take advantage of this and go to the cafe in store. I should add that at no point did the girl tell me the voucher was for x price, the way she handed it over and talked about it she seemed to imply that it was a special promotion and that the meal, drink and dessert would be free for shopping in store.

So I went to the cafe and chose my meal, sweet and drink and I handed in my voucher to the girl at that till. She then rang it through the till and then she said "that's £5 please". I then politley pointed out that I had given her my voucher to which she said "yes, so that will be £5 please". Again thinking she had misunderstood I told her that I had given her my promotion voucher for my meal, sweet and drink for free.

She then sighed and showed me the promotion voucher and explained that it wasn't free and that it was a meal, sweet and drink for £5. I told her that the other girl had given me it and implied it was for a free offer and I told her that the shop floor staff should make it clear what the offer was.

In the end I left and went somewhere else for lunch instead.

So AIBU to have expected the offer to be made clearer to me?

OP posts:
cricketpitch · 09/12/2014 12:22

She didn't say "free" - she said "promotion" which usually means some sort of special offer to encourage you to buy something. There are loads of things "on promotion" in stores every week or advertised in the media. "Promotion" never means totally free, (unless it is free drink with meal for example). You misunderstood, you didn;t read the voucher and you took it out on the staff. Not fair really.

However shopping is stressful and we can all get a bit unreasonable at this time of year! Hope you enjoyed the lunch that you did get!

OhFFSWhatsWrongNow · 09/12/2014 12:22

You went somewhere else after ordering? Bet you paid over £5 for your lunch when you want somewhere else. I think you missed a really good deal tbh.

Fairyfellowsmasterstroke · 09/12/2014 12:22

I think you should have taken the responsibility of reading the voucher before trying to redeem it. Common sense really.

KarenHillavoidJimmyswarehouse · 09/12/2014 12:23

and she told me that because I'd purchased something in store the voucher was for a promotion in the cafe for a meal, dessert and a drink

she said promotion, she didnt say free. YABU.

OnlyLovers · 09/12/2014 12:23

How did she imply that it was free? Genuine question, not being snippy!

I think others on here are being a bit nasty. I don't know why people think the OP is 'weird' and it's silly to say things like 'Why on earth would they give you a whole free meal?' –sometimes things ARE given away free.

Having said that, I would think I'd have read the voucher when it was handed to me. But it sounds as though the person who gave it to you might have worded it a bit confusingly and misleadingly. Which is why I'd be interested to know exactly what she said!

NoSquirrels · 09/12/2014 12:24

If she said, as in your OP "here's a voucher for a promotion in the cafe" for customers who've made a purchase, then she wasn't in the wrong.

You really should have read it and not assumed anything.
How did the first assistant "imply" it was free?

I'd have happily paid £5 if I'd chosen and was hungry. That's 2 courses plus a drink - sounds good value to me.

I can't quite understand why you're het up about it all!

XmasTimeMissCostelloAndWine · 09/12/2014 12:28

YABU. You should have read the voucher. Often these types of offers are only for a few meal options rather than the whole menu, so even if it was free, it might not have applied to the things you had chosen Confused

Tinkerball · 09/12/2014 12:29

Not sure why saying something is on promotion is implying it's free - promotion doesn't mean this. And really not sure why you didn't even bother to look at the voucher.

Shetland · 09/12/2014 12:30

for future reference, it's never free.

Fallingovercliffs · 09/12/2014 12:33

I think YABU, but so are some of the snippy comments on here.

waithorse · 09/12/2014 12:34

YABU She didn't say it was free and £5 is good value for a two course meal and drink.

isthisunfair1967 · 09/12/2014 12:34

There's no such thing as a free lunch

Grin
OnlyLovers · 09/12/2014 12:36

BAdoom-tish, unfair. Grin

OfaFrenchMind · 09/12/2014 12:41

Well, at least it will make a story for notalwaysright.com
You get to be on the Internet OP! For free, no lies!

LadyLuck10 · 09/12/2014 12:41

She wasn't sneaky, you were silly to assume it's free. Really do you think people just hand out free lunches? A fiver sounds very reasonable for that, not sure what you were expecting. Next time, read.

Bettercallsaul1 · 09/12/2014 12:43

I don't think it was completely unreasonable of you to assume the whole lunch was free - it could have been made clearer, especially if the bit about the price was in small print and you had to read a mass of information to get to it. One department store I am in a lot gives vouchers for a hot drink and cake completely free so you might have thought (optimistically!) that everything was free as a special short-term Christmas promotion. If £5 wasn't clearly marked in a conspicuous way on the voucher, it should have been pointed out to you, to avoid confusion.

Having said that, it sounds as if the meal was very good value anyway, in terms of what you got, so I would have paid it. But you needn't feel as if you were an idiot or greedy!

PuppyMonkey · 09/12/2014 12:44

Do you not get out much op
(I mean this in a loving way)?

NamesNick · 09/12/2014 12:46

Darn these sneaky sales assistants :D

CheeseBuster · 09/12/2014 12:50

YABU or are a bit dim.

askyfullofstars · 09/12/2014 13:08

so, how much did you pay for your two course lunch and a drink that you bought elsewhere Grin

CakeAndWineAreAFoodGroup · 09/12/2014 13:08

Lesson learned OP: Always read the T&Cs on vouchers

sanfairyanne · 09/12/2014 13:16

Grin Grin Grin

SDTGisAnEvilWolefGenius · 09/12/2014 13:29

I think there is a big difference between 'the assistant implied it was free' and 'I assumed it was free' - and I suspect that what happened was the latter not the former.

You were unreasonable not to read the voucher you had been given, bluebellmouse. It is not the assistant's fault that you didn't read the voucher.

SantasBassoon · 09/12/2014 13:43

Oh come on! How could you think every customer would receive a free meal?

MrsMaker83 · 09/12/2014 13:48

Yabu

You should have read the voucher!

Who gives out a full free meal and drink just for shopping there?!