AIBU to expect Waitrose/John Lewis to give me back my £500?

[Clazzer1]

I had my car stolen last night. This would be bad enough in itself but Inside my car was over £500 of Waitrose / John Lewis gift cards that have been stolen along with all my children's Christmas presents.

As I still had the receipt for these gift cards I was able to give JL the gift card numbers and they were able to confirm that nobody had used them and they were able to successfully block anyone from from using them in the future. Sounds good - so you think they would issue new gift cards to me - WRONG.

Waitrose/ John Lewis policy is to NOT refund or reissue gift cards. This means they have my money, they have stopped anybody from using the vouchers I bought, they have confirmed that NOTHING has been spent from these gift cards but they are now withholding this money and refusing to give it back or provide a replacement. I am totally shocked at this response from such a respectable retailer. They are no better than the thief that stole them in the first place.

These gift cards were the school collection money that the parents had collected for a gift for several teachers and teaching assistants To withhold this from us is a true disgrace. AIBU to expect a multi million pound retailer like Waitrose / John Lewis to do the right thing and provide a replacement?

Your email is spot on. Right balance of politeness/appeal/rationale without being overly aggressive which wouldn't engage the customer service team. Good luck OP and I hope your Christmas is not totally ruined by tossers who steal Christmas presents - or anything which doesn't belong to them for that matter. Makes you wonder where their moral compass is at - or how they sleep at night.

If you don't get your money back as someone has said upthread it is most likely covered on your home insurance as things you take out of the house, there will be an excess to pay though, any presents would also be covered under the same thing.

OP I know you say you are not good with social media but twitter and facebook are really the way forward.

It takes seconds to set up accounts if you don't already have them.

Ermm, you have my total sympathy, but unless you really shorten that email, you have no hope. I lost the will to live halfway through

That email is way too long and wordy. Maybe bullet points?

You need to edit that email right down to about 25% or less.

I'm really sorry OP but this is why you should never leave valuables in your car.

Wolfie great bit of victim blaming there - not nice

So you think OP shouldn’t take responsibility for leaving valuables in her car? It’s common sense. You wouldn’t leave your handbag with your purse in it on the garden wall and go in the house for an hour, would you? This is no different.

This is all quite outing now. Especially if the Daily Mail were to pick it up.

In all honesty OP you probably won't get the outcome you're looking for before Christmas. Your story doesn't 'tug on the heartstrings' enough for John Lewis. If you had of made a bigger deal about desperately trying to salvage your Christmas and the disappointment on your kids faces on Christmas morning etc, I think you'd hear back quicker. JL will either see this as you being careless so not their problem, or an opportunity for publicity to 'help someone in need'.
Either way, by the time the right person reads it and actions any results, it'll be after Christmas now

Bilben Tosh. Leaving stuff inside your own property ( ie a car) is nothing like leaving your bag in a public space.

I can't believe people are blaming the victim of crime. It is absolutely legal to have stuff in your car. People that break in and take it are in the wrong and are thieves.
It's not complicated.

Sorry this has happened OP

Your email is far too long but their policy makes no sense

Hope this gets resolved

Your claim of the vouchers is against your car insurance, not JL.

It's annoying so close to Christmas, but it isn't JL fault here. You have enough evidence to claim from your insurance, so I would pursue it that way.

You left them in the car you made a choice to leave them unattended for an hour, it's your issue (for which you are insured). Social media bullying is getting out of hand in this country don't use it when you are clearly the one responsible not JL

I don't get the confusion here from some posters.

A. Gift cards are not like cash at all if they can be blocked and stopped.
B. Leaving belongings in a locked car for a limited amount of time is not stupid. We do it all the time when we go shopping/ visit family/ go on holiday with no expectation that the stuff (let alone your entire car) will be stolen.

OP sounds like you're getting outcome you want, which is brilliant.

Sorry this has happened (and how dare people steal your car). However I am not surprised by JL & Waitrose. Got caught in the middle of a similar JL / Waitrose situation - haven’t shopped with them for over 2 years now - and on the bright side have saved a fortune!

But John Lewis/Waitrose are now £500 better off. This is bloody shocking.

Well OP, we all know who not to get gift cards from in future.

I really hope you get this resolved. I’ve always found John Lewis to be one of the best shops for the friendly, no quibble type customer service and one of the reasons I often shop with them so it’s very disappointing to read their stance on this.

If you have a crime report I’d offer to send them a copy of that too, as extra proof (not that it should be needed).

I think other posters are being unreasonably harsh. I’m sure OP is kicking herself at leaving the stuff in the car, but I know I’ve certainly done it from time to time when I’ve forgotten about things in the boot.

Merry, quite! I can’t tell if some people are terminally thick or just goady.

YABU I'm sorry but why on earth did you leave them in the car?!? As you've said it's in their t&c's not to refund or re issue vouchers so why should they?

Welp, I think that’s answered my question. 🙄

So this company has £500 for nothing.

I won't be shopping with them again any time soon, so I guess that'll balance things out for them.

Sorry you're stuck with this problem, OP.

They are meant to be treated like cash. I had my wallet stolen with JL vouchers inside as well as a book voucher and I didn't even consider that I should try and get them to replace them.

The large HS retailer I work for would reissue these gift cards no problem. I think the problem here is a local branch manager not wanting to take the £500 hit on his branch's p&l, because of the way gift cards are accounted for. I'd be really surprised if this isn't sorted out if you go higher up.

What a stupid outdated policy. Of course they COULD transfer the balance and they wouldn’t be at all out of pocket. They are choosing not to, and the only reason for that is to keep your money.

What I would expect from the JL brand is for them to transfer the balance and also help the police with CCTV should anyone attempt to use the cards.

This falls way behind what is expected from a so called premium retailer.

My CEO website doesn't say a Mr/Mrs Collins. Here's the screen shot taken just now.