Marks and Spencer Gift Card (Voucher) AVOID!!

corcaigh1

So went and purchased a €200 gift card (voucher) for my mother for christmas, happy out she was until she wanted to spend it. she wanted to purchase a jacket but M&S didnt have much in-store so she saw a jacket on the M&S website and decided to go for it...alas when trying to checkout it became apparent her giftcard couldn't be used even though M&S UK have the facility in place.

So i said ill ring the cork stores and try get an explanation, it couldn't be done apparently because M&S Ireland doesn't have the facility set up for using giftcards to make online purchase's but UK do, so i queried surely if this is the case the gift card can be brought in-store and then the jacket can be ordered with the card..NO THIS CANNOT BE DONE EITHER! What??? I rang head-office also and they confirmed the same. So a €200 voucher but it cannot be used to buy something from M&S. Absolutely disgraceful carry on and its the last time i will purchase anything from M&S.

juan.kerr

Avoid because they can't be used online? Hardly.

Grayditch

Avoid all vouchers.

juan.kerr

Grayditch wrote: »

Avoid all vouchers.

Rubbish.

Grayditch

Yeah, recently they have been working out well for everyone.

juan.kerr

Grayditch wrote: »

Yeah, recently they have been working out well for everyone.

Everyone? So the entire country had HMV vouchers? I'm surprised business was so bad then...

Grayditch

My advice is to avoid all vouchers. It's what I'll be doing and and as such, won't be stung by small print, shops shutting, or any other problems that arise from them.

juan.kerr

Grayditch wrote: »

My advice is to avoid all vouchers. It's what I'll be doing and and as such, won't be stung by small print, shops shutting, or any other problems that arise from them.

Noted, but it is still scaremongering.

emeldc

juan.kerr wrote: »

Everyone? So the entire country had HMV vouchers? I'm surprised business was so bad then...

You're right, not the entire country. But to put it into perspective there is three of them in my house :mad:

Grayditch

Haha, ok.

Grayditch

The safest voucher route would be to get a ONE For All voucher, then cheekily ask for a Marks And Spencer (or whoever) envelope from them. At least that voucher would be worth something if the worst happens.

I still wouldn't buy store vouchers with the economy the way it is. Not all stores are nearing administration, but I don't have the time to read the finance sections of the paper to find out which ones are, or aren't. Call me ignorant or a scaremonger, or whatever, that's fine.

monkeypants

Hate vouchers and I hate being given them. Often I have no interest in buying something from a particular shop, but I'm forced to because of the voucher. Spent an hour in Arnott's this week with the missus, looking for something to buy with a voucher. Didn't find anything I wanted.

TheIrishGrover

juan.kerr wrote: »

Everyone? So the entire country had HMV vouchers? I'm surprised business was so bad then...

No, not everyone..... Some had Game vouchers... some had La Senza vouchers... some had JJB Sports vouchers.... some had Millets vouchers.... some had....

monkeypants

What are the advantages of vouchers? They can expire or be refused by the shop, the shop can close down. There's no discount for using a voucher. Why are vouchers being bought by anyone?

cuilteanna

I prefer to give cash since I'd much rather get that myself instead of any sort of gift voucher. (No one has complained about it yet.) I also had an M&S gift voucher from last summer that I wanted to use online but couldn't. Luckily for me though the item I wanted was in the shop so I just had to wait until I could get there. Still it was really annoying not to be able to order online.

Procrastastudy

Buy prepaid mastercards that can be spent anywhere on anything. It's still like a voucher but without all this rubbish.

I simply don't get vouchers. I would agree with the avoid them. Not through scaremongering just because they are pointless. In Ireland they are especially problematic because of the Euro and some of our retailers being based in the UK.

OP I'd write into M&S they CS is normally excellent.

Galadriel

corcaigh1 wrote: »

So went and purchased a €200 gift card (voucher) for my mother for christmas, happy out she was until she wanted to spend it. she wanted to purchase a jacket but M&S didnt have much in-store so she saw a jacket on the M&S website and decided to go for it...alas when trying to checkout it became apparent her giftcard couldn't be used even though M&S UK have the facility in place.

So i said ill ring the cork stores and try get an explanation, it couldn't be done apparently because M&S Ireland doesn't have the facility set up for using giftcards to make online purchase's but UK do, so i queried surely if this is the case the gift card can be brought in-store and then the jacket can be ordered with the card..NO THIS CANNOT BE DONE EITHER! What??? I rang head-office also and they confirmed the same. So a €200 voucher but it cannot be used to buy something from M&S. Absolutely disgraceful carry on and its the last time i will purchase anything from M&S.

My local M&S have an in store ordering facility, you could try that?

slimjimmc

corcaigh1 wrote: »

So went and purchased a €200 gift card (voucher) for my mother for christmas, happy out she was until she wanted to spend it. she wanted to purchase a jacket but M&S didnt have much in-store so she saw a jacket on the M&S website and decided to go for it...alas when trying to checkout it became apparent her giftcard couldn't be used even though M&S UK have the facility in place.

So i said ill ring the cork stores and try get an explanation, it couldn't be done apparently because M&S Ireland doesn't have the facility set up for using giftcards to make online purchase's but UK do, so i queried surely if this is the case the gift card can be brought in-store and then the jacket can be ordered with the card..NO THIS CANNOT BE DONE EITHER! What??? I rang head-office also and they confirmed the same. So a €200 voucher but it cannot be used to buy something from M&S. Absolutely disgraceful carry on and its the last time i will purchase anything from M&S.

OP, did you enquire about the Terms and Conditions of the gift card before purchase? Did you ask could it be used to purchase from the website, or did you just assume (a lot of people including mois do this) it would be ok?

This is what the M&S Irl webstore says about gift cards. If you were told differently in-store then there may be hope.

11.2. Gift cards and gift vouchers are territory specific meaning that generally gift cards can only be used in the country of their purchase and are not redeemable in other international stores, please see your gift card terms and conditions for details.

11.3. Please note that gift cards and gift vouchers bought in store cannot be used for online purchases on this Website unless stated otherwise

dudara

corcaigh1 wrote:

a €200 voucher but it cannot be used to buy something from M&S

That's not quite right - you can use it to buy instore, but you can't buy online.

Ask the store if they can order in the jacket. M&S customer service in the stores is usually excellent

Cabaal

I don't see the consumer issue here, the op assumed that gift vouchers can be used on the Irish M&S website....this is clearly not the case and had they bothered to even read the website they would have seen this.

An incorrect assumption by the customer doesn't mean m&s have done something wrong here,

ABajaninCork

Got a load of M & S gift vouchers as wedding presents. Most were in sterling, some in euro. I knew that they could be used anywhere (I checked), and I also knew they couldn't be used online. TBH, I don't know of anywhere that will take vouchers online, although someone did tell me you can do M & S vouchers online at home, but never dared try it for myself...

And we had absolutely NO problems in using them. Not here, and not in London. I even ordered a mattress protector from London and had it sent to the Patrick St store.

So OP, I really don't get what the issue is. Like others have said - it's a simple matter of ordering what you want from the store. When it comes in, just pay with the gift voucher. End of.

Corruptedmorals

Grayditch wrote: »

The safest voucher route would be to get a ONE For All voucher, then cheekily ask for a Marks And Spencer (or whoever) envelope from them. At least that voucher would be worth something if the worst happens.

I still wouldn't buy store vouchers with the economy the way it is. Not all stores are nearing administration, but I don't have the time to read the finance sections of the paper to find out which ones are, or aren't. Call me ignorant or a scaremonger, or whatever, that's fine.

The only shop that is beyond question safe is Penneys. You would think Dunnes are...and they are, but only because of grocery, drapery is a huge loss. I'm constantly suprised that Arcadia, (Topshop, Miss S, Dorothy P) Aurora (Oasis, Warehouse) and A Wear (already shut down their big Henry Street store and moved to a much smaller one on Mary st) are all still operating here. Their shops are dead, people just buy online or don't buy at all. They all have constant desperation sales.

As for M&S, most gift cards cannot be used online. They are first and foremost for bricks and mortar stores. They have more functionality in the UK because they have a much bigger presence there- they also have online recruiting there, but not here.

cml387

Vouchers are a lazy way of people buying gifts.

They don't give money because that would be a bit "obvious" but still burden the recipient with the requirement of buying in only one shop.
Think about it, if you gave someone a voucher, was it because you couldn't think of a nice gift to give them?

ABajaninCork

cml387 wrote: »

Vouchers are a lazy way of people buying gifts.

They don't give money because that would be a bit "obvious" but still burden the recipient with the requirement of buying in only one shop.
Think about it, if you gave someone a voucher, was it because you couldn't think of a nice gift to give them?

Not necessarily. I & lots of others I am sure would prefer vouchers. That way, I can spend the money on what I want within the store.

What about weddings where people actually ask for a certain shop's vouchers? We asked for Debs and M & S vouchers. I really don't see what the problem is....

OTOH - I think just giving the cash is lazy. Oh - I couldn't be bothered to go to the store, so I'll just give money. Works both ways, I think.

jmorrisey

ABajaninCork wrote: »

Not necessarily. I & lots of others I am sure would prefer vouchers. That way, I can spend the money on what I want within the store.

What about weddings where people actually ask for a certain shop's vouchers? We asked for Debs and M & S vouchers. I really don't see what the problem is....

OTOH - I think just giving the cash is lazy. Oh - I couldn't be bothered to go to the store, so I'll just give money. Works both ways, I think.

Cash is a gift voucher for every store in the country, who wouldn't prefer that?

Newaglish

jmorrisey wrote: »

Cash is a gift voucher for every store in the country, who wouldn't prefer that?

If I get cash, I'll end up using it to buy lunch, drinks, bills, taxis etc.

Vouchers are good for making you get something you want but allowing you the freedom to pick specifically what that is. Unless of course you get a voucher for a store you don't like.

It's not the most rational or logical thing in the world but it works. Just buy them with your credit card!

cml387

Would you ever buy a voucher for yourself?

keithclancy

ABajaninCork wrote: »

OTOH - I think just giving the cash is lazy. Oh - I couldn't be bothered to go to the store, so I'll just give money. Works both ways, I think.

On the other hand I would see giving vouchers as lazy.

dudara

Posters - please stick to the original topic. Don't go off-topic with a general discussion on vouchers.

dudara

schemingbohemia

corcaigh1 wrote: »

So went and purchased a €200 gift card (voucher) for my mother for christmas, happy out she was until she wanted to spend it. she wanted to purchase a jacket but M&S didnt have much in-store so she saw a jacket on the M&S website and decided to go for it...alas when trying to checkout it became apparent her giftcard couldn't be used even though M&S UK have the facility in place.

So i said ill ring the cork stores and try get an explanation, it couldn't be done apparently because M&S Ireland doesn't have the facility set up for using giftcards to make online purchase's but UK do, so i queried surely if this is the case the gift card can be brought in-store and then the jacket can be ordered with the card..NO THIS CANNOT BE DONE EITHER! What??? I rang head-office also and they confirmed the same. So a €200 voucher but it cannot be used to buy something from M&S. Absolutely disgraceful carry on and its the last time i will purchase anything from M&S.

Could you not have asked the local M&S shop to get in the exact item for you and then purchase in-store? I would have thought that was possible, I know Debenhams have their on-line catalogue available in-store for customers to use.