Park Christmas Savings Club - is it just a big rip-off?

[FatherJackHackettsUnderpantsHamper]

Now that Christmas 2023 is over, there are loads of adverts on TV for Park, which supposedly helps you to save to pay for Christmas 2024.

However, their main advertised 'benefit' is that you save a certain amount each month and then get it back in time for Christmas in vouchers.

No mention of them paying any interest on the money you're lending them for up to 12 months; and they also obviously massively limit the buying ability of all the money you save - so not only can you not buy any goods that are only available from places that don't accept the vouchers, but you also can't shop around if 'non-voucher' places have the same goods but at cheaper prices. And are the vouchers widely accepted, or are they just for buying from their own catalogue?

What is the actual point in this company? I get that many people - especially those on low incomes - really appreciate the structured discipline and find the regular commitment to saving helpful, but why does it have to be returned in vouchers? Why not just a 'save money, get your money paid back into your bank account/withdraw it in cash in December' scheme - even if they didn't pay any interest in order to pay for/make a profit for running the scheme?

Am I missing something here? What is the benefit of this? And are there now protections in place so that poor folk can't lose all of their savings in another Farepak-type scandal? Why do people bother with this - and effectively reduce the spending power of their limited Christmas budgets even further?

It's just another way of managing money. I know people who use them to get the M&S vouchers for their Christmas food to order shop. They use the credit union for cash. The credit union does a separate Christmas saving account, which can't be touched. Whoever uses one of the alternative has decided that a savings account won't work for them. It isn't a scam or exploitation.

But they’re a money making company - why should they give you your interest back?

I don’t do it because of the limit in vouchers.

Its better than the old provident vouchers. I remember the guy walking around the streets of town collecting the money for rip off vouchers.

Some people find it very difficult to save. This way they cannot withdraw the money. I can see why it appeals to certain people.

I do it through work, they ‘keep’ whatever amount we ask them to each month (I go with £30.00) and pay us it back in November with an extra fiver on top. £10 if you ‘save’ £50.00 or more a month.

I have used it for several years and find it great. You can convert some of the L2S cards into vouchers eg Amazon and M&S. I sometimes get a cash card you can use anywhere (there is a small charge for that). It is a weight off my mind that Christmas and 2 birthdays are catered for by saving a bit each month separately.

This is the second year I have saved with them, last year there was a huge range of shops I could use the gift card (even then you still had to buy gifts you couldn't use the vouchers with) with for online shopping - this year it was reduced to about 7!! I am not using them again next year, you really are better off setting up a savings account and then buying anything you want/need for Christmas, without the restrictions