AIBU to expect to use two vouchers to pay art.co.uk?

[wherehavealltheflowersgone]

I was very generously given two gift vouchers for art.co.uk. Each one is worth £50.

I found a print I wanted worth £92, went to the online checkout, discovered it's only possible to pay with one voucher at a time.

Thinking this must be a mistake I had a LONG conversation with a customer services advisor who confirmed that in fact, i am not mistaken, I cannot pay with two gift vouchers for one purchase. She said I can only pay £50 with one of the vouchers and the balance on my debit card.

I asked if I can transfer the two vouchers for one worth £100 but she said no.

I spoke to the "manager" who said the same thing.

Shocking customer service and so frustrating - but what can I do now though? Any ideas / advice gratefully received

Why "manager"?

I can see why you might be a bit annoyed but this is just standard stuff. Not really worth getting so frustrated over.

All you can do is decide whether or not that print is worth £52 to you!

Not unusual, lots of places have in their T&Cs that only one voucher can be used per transaction. Nothing you can do about it. Either pay for the print you like, or find two things for £50 each!

Well i have never heard of that and if i got someone 100 quids worth of vouchers i would expect them to be able to buy a print worth 92!

Doesn't sound like an unusual rule to me. YABU. You still got £100 worth of vouchers: be grateful!

Ooh. I'm feeling your frustration Where. I'd be bloody fuming. Vouchers should be treated as cash. They're not bloody supermarket coupons!! I would take this further.

That is a bonkers rule! I get that you can't expect to use more than one discount code, but a voucher has been paid for. It should be accepted just like cash.

Thank you for those who share my frustration!!

"Manager" because I have no evidence she was a manager rather than just another person at the same level.

The vouchers were bought for me by two very dear friends after I lost everything non-essential. They represent waaay more than a picture and I wanted to use them to buy a single print that they chose for me. I am very grateful and they would be devastated if their gift wasn't possible when they paid their hard earned cash to buy it for me.

How can I take it further though?!

Are they on Twitter or Facebook?

Ha e you looked st the website to see if they specify this in their ct&c?

It does sound harsh. I could understand it if they were discount vouchers, but gift vouchers should be able to be used like cash. It would certainly deter me from buying one of these as a gift!

Is it worth trying an email to the CEO alluding to the sad circumstances which led to your friends buying the voucher?

You could try contacting one of the 'Your Money' type journalists - as it's gift vouchers and therefore 'seasonal' they might be interested.

Hope you manage to get it sorted out!

I can understand why you are irritated by this wherehavealltheflowersgone as it seems that a 'Gift Voucher' is being treated in the same manner as a 'discount voucher'.

However, I don't think this is "shocking customer service"..

Surely bad Customer Service is Staff being very rude?
But you've not said they've been rude to you, just that they are unable to do what you want...?

If I've misunderstood, then I do apologise.

Thank you for your advice everyone. I've contacted them via Facebook so we'll see how that pans out.

"Shocking customer service" is not just rudeness IMO, it's running an operation where "the computer says no" has more sway than common sense.

I'm not on the make, I'm not swindling them or trying to find loopholes - my friends paid £100 for something which is not treated as a £100 value.

This is nonsense. I will now never buy vouchers from this shop.

It's their policy that's wrong - they're obviously hoping you'll choose two items which each cost more than the face value of the voucher, so they end up selling more to you.

Is it something to do with the fact that the value of the item is not the full £100, therefore there is no system for allowing a refund? Or that you are trying to pay for shipping within that £100? I'm pretty sure that I've read that gift vouchers must be used on the value of the items, not shipping as that is a separate charge for a business. What would happen if you bought your print, then something for another £10, and paid the £2 plus shipping on your card? Would they allow that?

YANBU. Ridiculous and unreasonable rule.

I was getting confused between discount vouchers and gift vouchers. Discount vouchers often do have quite restrictive terms of use on them, but a gift voucher should be different, surely.

But I've just looked at their FAQ page and it does say:
"Can I apply more than one Gift Voucher to my order?
No. At this time we only allow one Gift Voucher per order."

Their T & C s do clearly say one gift voucher per transaction so while it might be a silly rule they are upfront about it.

If you make enough fuss they might well bend their rules for you

Can your friend return the gift vouchers for exchange them for 1 x £100 voucher?

I would expect to use all my gift vouchers on one transaction. Years ago we had a load of John Lewis ones, which we used to buy a kettle online. I think we had 8 of them, and they all went through no issue.
What is when they give you the gift voucher they don't have the demoniation you are after and need to make it up with smaller ones? I hope you get some sucess.

Ridiculous policy. I won’t buying anything from that website in future

I tried that midnite- but at the checkout you simply cannot enter two gift voucher codes, even if I was spending £500 and was going to pay £400 on my card and £100 in vouchers it won't let you. The customer service advisor confirmed that is true.

Just to clarify - these are not discount codes, they are two gift vouchers which cost my friends £100 total and have the face value of £100.

Yes, they are upfront about it. More fool me for trusting a business would treat £100 as £100.

Do they do vouchers in £100 denominations? If so, would they do a swap?

Or, will they take them back, and then you can use cash - ie your debit card?

Oh mishfish beat me to it.