AIBU to find Buyagift vouchers can be a bit 💩?

[queenceleste]

I got a buyagift relaxation spa gift and the whole thing is just such a pain. You don’t know how much it’s for. I can’t find the nearest place.
My sister is also pissed off, she has been trying to book a spa near her for three months and no one ever answers the phone and booking online has been impossible.
Just give people an M&S voucher, these experience vouchers are gnarly enough to take too much pleasure out of the experience. Go John Lewis vouchers! Screw these spa days that are too hard to book.

I agree. I had one for a weekend break I couldn't use due to childcare. Ended up donating it to a charity to use for a raffle main prize.

Totally agree. I really hate experience vouchers because it’s very convenient for the person gifting it, they can even buy it on the day of and print it out for the recipient, but for the receiver it’s an incredible inconvenience.

We’ve had it where we’ve had to book things in months in advance, when it comes to doing it we don’t feel like it or we are suddenly busy with something else, we have to travel across the country, pay more to do it on a weekend, pay more for insurance etc etc. all because the person gifting didn’t look into it properly and wanted to make their life easier.

Don’t get me wrong it’s a lovely thought and for a retired couple with all the time in the world it’s a great gift but for busy people they are being gifted hassle and wasted time!

I agree. There are always limited dates and times available. You have to book ages in advance and they are always hard to contact.

Yep. Experience vouchers are only convenient for the person buying the gift. I judge anyone who gives these.

Yes! You have to spend so much more!
I got one for tea for two which ran out so quickly I lost it; totally my fault but still, it’s a stressful gift for the recipient; I would FAR prefer a simple store voucher! No stress.

My sister got given one and had the same issue - it made its way to the school raffle!

Also I just read through the spa conditions and they’re so poorly written that I don’t understand what they mean about the £10 on £40 minimum spend - it’s like I’m not certain what that actually means in cost terms. It makes me think f* it I don’t want an unusable spa gift!!

YANBU OP.

Just as bad as the wretched One4All gift card that never scans properly in shops!!

I've never heard of that particular one. Is it like groupon? No idea if that is still a thing, but that used to drive me nuts too- even more so because MIL used to give them to us!
Nothing within 100miles of us, no availability short expiries etc. 😡

I am trying to find where I can use it and there’s nowhere for like a hundred miles. It’s such a total s**t gift! You picture this lovely experience which then you can’t have because you can’t find where you can use it. So you end up feeling more miserable than if you had not had a gift

We had one for a hotel break. A few places we tried to use it at said they’d never heard of it. Some said it was three night minimum and only mid week so we’d have had to have taken annual leave and paid for two nights in somewhere random like Milton Keynes just to use it. We didn’t bother.

You can transfer it to something else on the website. There’s bound to be a prezzo or slug and lettuce nearby.

Oh can you transfer it? That’s worth knowing!

I was 'gifted' a spa day by a family member. I can't recall the company but the nearest spa was a £40 train ride plus taxi (dodgy eyes so can't drive which gifter knows about) then can only be used mon-wed. I work ft and have dcs so my free spa day was going to cost me approx £80 in transport plus another £60 to cover the extra days holiday club for dcs during the holidays because i'd need to use a day's annual leave....or DP could drive me and then we've each used up a days annual leave so would need another day's holiday club. Fabulous! (Just buy me a box of ferrero rochers or a nandos voucher - i have simple taste!)

I hate them. Unless you live in a city then you are often trailing miles to do anything on them. Half the stuff is in the middle of no-where.

There is so much bloody small print and usually some kind of hidden cost or they majorly inconvenient to use.

My brother bought us a photoshoot one when DD was a baby, he thought it would allow us to have some lovely family photos. Finding a photo studio that would do it was a pain and we ended up having to drive for 90 minutes to the nearest one. Then they would only do the shoots on a weekday so DH had to take an afternoon off work. We got there and had to listen to a spiel about his side business (Herbalife and some kind of fitness and wellness journey). Then we had the photo shoot. Then we had to go back in person in the week to view the photos. Whereby we were informed that the voucher covered the photoshoot and 1 6x4 photo. Prices for the rest started at £300 for digitals only.

Even the basic afternoon tea ones are a faff, you have to call up and then find out the voucher can only be used when Venus is in Jupiter and the moon is blood red.

Yes! They are all transferable to another gift. And you’ll see the value too.

If you’re having a day out somewhere you could use it there. Or go to Alton towers 😂

Totally agree. We were given a 2 night getaway for 2 for Xmas. Decided we'd use it to stay in London when we go to see Abba Voyage next month.

Website says you can swap the experience so we decided to swap for a one night stay in London. Was a nightmare trying to find anything within the voucher price. We eventually found an upgrade for an extra £36 for a stay with a certain chain of hotels, one of which was a great location for the concert. When I tried to book the website said I would have to pay a £260 further supplement!!! Turns out only one of the hotels in that chain which was listed as an option was free with that £36 upgrade - all the others required extra money to book! Such a con as you can't view prices before swapping and upgrading. So I had to swap the voucher yet again for another option and we've ended up with an overnight stay at a hotel with very mixed reviews which I wouldn't have ordinarily booked tbh.
It's an over complicated website that's hard to navigate and that lures you in and confuses you and makes you spend more money. Absolutely awful!! As previous posters have said, you get so fed up it sucks the joy out of the booking!
Avoid! Avoid! Avoid!

Oh I have heard about the horrific baby photoshoots 🤦‍♀️

I’ve come to the same conclusion just recently. I was the guilty gift giver. I bought my daughter an under 17 driving experience as part of her 16th birthday presents. It was an absolute nightmare the book. There were no dates or times that were convenient. After checking daily, a date came up so I tried to book but the voucher code wouldn’t work. When I contacted them I was told that the experience was no longer offered but I could transfer to a different experience. We didn’t want a different experience! They continued to refuse to refund for ages but I complained to everyone I could and they have now refunded. Never again!

Add to the list those One4All gift cards too! An absolute nightmare!

I have heard lots of complaints about these . I had one Christmas 2024 and just couldn’t get anywhere with it when I tried to book.