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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:
WD41 · 09/12/2014 19:39

Also the fact that the girl in the cafe said that other customers thought it was free - that may well be true but she was probably saying it out of kindness so you wouldn't feel a plonker.

Mousefinkle · 09/12/2014 19:42

I want to visit your planet sometime, free lunch! Brilliant. Nothing is free, everything has its price. Unless the member of staff clearly said to you "Here's a voucher for a free meal at the cafe" then yabu. Why didn't you read the voucher? That's the first thing I'd think to do. You must feel pretty embarrassed.

crumblebumblebee · 09/12/2014 19:52

YABU but some of the comments here are really OTT. Hmm The OP didn't throw a tantrum, complain or act like a twat unlike some people on here, she was simply surprised. So, she was wrong, big deal. You don't have to be an arse just because it's AIBU.

partialderivative · 09/12/2014 19:53

What Icimoi said

sharonthewaspandthewineywall · 09/12/2014 19:58

Refusing to read a voucher, assuming and walking off after ordering food IS behaving ridiculously. Its not being an arse to point that out.

TimelyNameChangey · 09/12/2014 20:03

Crumble you're right but do you know what it is?

Some posters just have a way of writing that makes them seem annoying. I think in this case it was all the talk of "my meal", "My voucher" "For Free" "sweet".

Sort of very entitled sounding.

Poor OP.

Pipbin · 09/12/2014 20:18

What is entitled about 'sweet'?

sharonthewaspandthewineywall · 09/12/2014 20:23

its annoying imo as the OP seems to have no sense of responsibility for her error. You see it more and more on here, people who seem to think any error they make is always automatically the fault of someone else.

Madeleine10 · 09/12/2014 20:28

No such thing as a free lunch

Er, well actually.........Grin... there was exactly that for me and my husband at IKEA the other day!

They gave us a voucher for a free lunch each in the cafe, due to a cock up with timings to meet one their kitchen planners leaving us having to hang about for an hour and a half. Fish and chips and Ikea meatballs, plus puds and drinks all round for no ££'s at all.

I agree with the others though, OP, promotions don't automatically = FREE.

needaholidaynow · 09/12/2014 20:44

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

TimelyNameChangey · 09/12/2014 20:47

Pipbin nothing. I might have been letting my personal irritation with people who refer to pudding as "the sweet" get to me there.

timetoplay · 09/12/2014 20:56

YABU, you don't get much for free. Promotions are offers, not freebies. I get petrol vouchers handed to me all the time towards a tank of petrol without being told about the actual offer itself, I'd never assume I was being given a free tank of petrol.

Joolsy · 09/12/2014 20:56

Madeleine10 - your lunch wasn't free, you had 'paid', not in money but in the fact that you had to hang around for an hour and a half.

londonrach · 09/12/2014 20:57

Why didnt you read the voucher to see what the promotion is. £5 is good value for two courses and a drink.

GoofyIsACow · 09/12/2014 21:00

I reckon it is John Lewis

Did you get a voucher for a Monty and Mabel tote bag... I am very bitter about this

NoArmaniNoPunani · 09/12/2014 21:01

OP how much did your lunch cost in the place you went to instead?

Bogeyface · 09/12/2014 21:01

I understood that "sweet" is a shortening of "The sweet course" which is an acceptably alternative to pudding.

I dont see why the OP is getting such a hard time. She was told something by the cashier that was obviously misleading (if it wasnt then several other customers wouldnt have made the same mistake) and didnt check. Have none of you ever made a mistake by not reading the small print properly?

I hate it when Boots say "here is a £5 No 7 voucher" when it isnt. You have to have a minimum spend to get £5 off (not that there is anything for £5 on the No 7 counter anyway but not the point!) but the way it is phrased means you could be forgiven for picking up a £9.50 lipstick thinking you will get it for £4.50.

As for suggesting that the OP calculate how much the offer could be costing the company in order to work out the likelihood of it being free.....:o

StrattersThePreciousSnowflake · 09/12/2014 21:07

Pudding.

Pudding. Pudding. Pudding. PUDDING.

And yes, YAB ridiculously U.

Blu · 09/12/2014 21:13

"leaving us having to hang about for an hour and a half."

An hour and a half of two people's time is worth more than an IKEA lunch, even on minimum wage!
You should have stuck out for a Billy Bookcase.

hauntedhenry · 09/12/2014 21:25

Sounds fair enough to me. I wouldn't have assumed it was a free meal. You should have read the voucher before ordering!

sanfairyanne · 09/12/2014 21:28

is that how the no7 vouchers work now? i used to just get something for a fiver for free

Pipbin · 09/12/2014 21:41

I thought that too san. I've always got £5 off whatever I've bought, even if it cost £6.

Bogeyface · 09/12/2014 21:50

Not the most recent one I had (which admittedly was a while ago), you had to spend £10 to get the fiver off but it was billed as a £5 voucher with the implication that there was no minimum spend.

GarlicGiftsAndGlitter · 09/12/2014 21:56

Back when I could buy beauty stuff in Boots, I used to buy things just so I could get the No. 7 voucher! I'm glad you've told me they have a minimum spend on them now, or I might have gone mad with my Christmas £10 bonus!!!

If it makes you feel any better, OP, I once paid £50 for one of those books of restaurant vouchers. The hot sliver-tongued sales guy did not mention at any point that ALL the deals were limited to one hour in the week, when ordering 17 full meals with wine, and only when the waiter was called Carlos. Well, maybe not exactly Xmas Wink but ykwim. I doubt I even got £20 of value for my fifty.

Guilianna · 09/12/2014 22:07

The free lunch is tomorrow