Tax one. Eat out scheme, we had a voucher and the receipt took money off fe eat out but that wasn't passed to us?

[Bulblasagne]

So our voucher covered 4 afternoon teas and we happened to book it on the last day of the scheme.

Our receipt showed 2 extra drinks I brought but also took £40 is off for the scheme. The person was confused and had just come into a shift and charged us for the drinks.
After dh said he is sure that they will be claiming that eat out tax back due to our receipt and yet we didn't get the benefit?

I've emailed and called the hotel twice about it, over 2 weeks ago and not heard back.
It maybe a small amount but surely that's still fraud?

I get it though, if they'd given you a bill saying £80 and you handed them a voucher for £130 then there should be change/vouchers back.

As said though, it depends on what the voucher was for...a value or a specific thing.

I know what people mean re hotel and business struggling but I'm sure whilst this one has hit rocky patches like others, it's actually owned by one very wealthy individual who deliberately keeps it half full to make it seem more exclusive!
So in this instance I'm not so concerned about a small struggling business.
. I did email the next day querying the reduction on the receipt but the fact that wasn't actually passed onto us.
I asked would they be issuing a voucher for the difference or not claiming the money from the money from the scheme.

You don't get change when using a voucher if you spend below that amount, that's why vouchers as a gift idea are a bad idea and if you don't use them within a year usually all the money is lost

I'm surprised you're getting a hard time OP, yes, your posts aren't clear but I can see that you'd be pissed off to have paid full price when you could have had it cheaper AND the hotel have had part of their money twice (assuming they did claim for the £40) and haven't responded to your email.

They've committed fraud maybe unwittingly and not given you good customer service. I'd write to them again asking if they did make a claim against the rules for your afternoon teas and see what they say.

The restaurant is claiming tax payers (our) money fraudulently if they ask for and receive the extra discount without giving it.

YABVU and very petty.

You don’t get change from vouchers whatever the circumstances, so if you’re paying under the voucher amount then that’s your choice and you lose out.

You don’t get the difference; that’s not how it works.

Agree entirely with @vanillandhoney and @ameliajoan
You chose to use your voucher on that day .. you are being greedy and petty

I asked would they be issuing a voucher for the difference or not claiming the money from the money from the scheme.

But that's not how vouchers work. It's not the same as handing over a £50 note. Shops are under no legal obligation to give you change if you buy something with a voucher. That's why most people prefer gift cards, as they're basically a cash card and you don't need to spend it all at once - you can keep the card and keep using it until all the money is gone (within the time limit - normally 12 months).

Your husband bought a gift voucher for four afternoon teas. You went out and had four afternoon teas. The drinks were extra, so you paid for those on top. It's not the hotels' fault you chose to use the voucher at the same time as they were offering EOTHO. That was your choice. But you still got your afternoon tea that you paid for, so they owe you nothing.

If it mattered so much that you got the discount, you could have paid in cash and used your voucher another day.

Also they may not submit the receipt for the refund ... you would never know .

You don't know that the hotel is claiming the £40 back. It is entirely possible that the way their till is set up they have to show it that way on the receipt, but then do a manual calculation at the end of the day based on the gift vouchers collected that day (which are in their till).

OP the scheme was really unorganised and no proper advice given until just before it launched. We own a restaurant and j can tell you the staff were very confused. The first two days most of them charged exactly half price for everything including alcohol and I was livid as we couldn't claim it back! So what should have helped us cost us about £2000! We then had to take many off the tills and only keep those on who really understood it so it took us longer to process the bills. It was a nightmare! It was the busiest we have ever been as everyone wanted to save £10 and many didn't read the guidelines and assumed it was 50% off each completely so there were arguements etc.

Not all places acted fraudulently, we could have done but we didn't and we honoured the scheme and lost a lot of money due to human errors. Mainly our fault as we were confident the staff understood when actually they didn't or just couldn't be bothered. In fact two members couldn't be bothered and it was when I was going through the receipts and I approached them it transpired they couldn't be bothered to use the right bloody button on the till!

So what I'm trying to say is your receipt might show the discount but doesn't mean they claimed for it!

They should have issued you voucher for £40 for you to use another te provided the voucher was not time limited ie it expired on day you had tea. You need to pop over and ask to speak to manager if they do not return your call.

@caringcarer

They should have issued you voucher for £40 for you to use another te provided the voucher was not time limited ie it expired on day you had tea. You need to pop over and ask to speak to manager if they do not return your call.

Of course they shouldn’t. Vouchers don’t work like that and they never have done.

If you choose to spend less than the voucher amount that is your choice; you don’t get the difference.

OP chose to go on an EOTHO day; she could have gone at any other time.

there's probably something in the T&C of the voucher that change/refunds not permitted. The voucher predates the eat out scheme.
Personally I wouldn't have used the scheme with a voucher without checking in advance whether a refund would be made, whether in cash or by voucher.
Just remember the nice meal and try not to let your concerns over this spoil the experience.

You are being ridiculous, if you wanted to raise this you should have done so when paying the bill or better still just paid normally and used the voucher another time.

But you paid for the afternoon tea in May 2020? When the Eat Out scheme wasn't available. It just happened that you used that voucher when a scheme was in place.

I am sure if they had INCREASED their prices since May 2020 you wouldn't have been happy to pay the difference between when you bought the voucher and the new price.

I suspect the till may have just automatically done it, whether or not the company claims is not really your concern, but I don't think you deserved a partial refund.

@caringcarer

They should have issued you voucher for £40 for you to use another te provided the voucher was not time limited ie it expired on day you had tea. You need to pop over and ask to speak to manager if they do not return your call.

But vouchers don't work this way. They don't have any real cash value. They're worth, say, £50 and you can go into the establishment they're for and use £50 worth of services or buy £50 worth of goods.

What you can't do, is use £25 worth of services and expect to get £25 back in vouchers. That's not how vouchers work. If you choose not to use them to their entire value, you lose out.

OP could have paid in cash and used her voucher on a "full price" day if she was so bothered about it. Either way, she would have gotten her afternoon teas.

Most places said that vouchers were not eligible for the discount because the purchase had already been made prior to August

@Dishwashersaurous

Most places said that vouchers were not eligible for the discount because the purchase had already been made prior to August

That's interesting, I haven't seen that. But then it's very much an afterthought for me anyway.

I think if you have vouchers and you aren't sure you ring and ask when you book. I presume you have to book at this place? Or if you are happy to pay cash too you ask before you order so if they say no you just pay for it and get the saving.

@Dishwashersaurous

Most places said that vouchers were not eligible for the discount because the purchase had already been made prior to August

Tbf I would understand that. It already went through the account, vat was paid or already accounted for etc.