Two-thirds of experience voucher recipients have issues redeeming their gifts

Two-thirds of people who used an experience voucher in the past two years encountered an issue when redeeming it, Which? research has found.*

While a voucher for an afternoon tea, short break or driving day can make for an exciting gift, Which? has heard from a number of voucher-recipients who have hit a brick wall when trying to book onto their experiences.

Availability issues, invalid codes or awkward time restrictions are just some of the issues people have faced, leaving them with experiences they'd much rather forget.

Here, we look at some of the most blood-boiling issues people have encountered and your rights if something goes awry.

What went wrong with voucher gifts?

Voucher recipients were aggrieved for a range of reasons, with 15% reporting that there were no times available when they went to book, and 12% finding that their voucher wasn’t accepted or valid.

Of those that hadn’t yet used their voucher, 16% said they had been unable to book the experience on a suitable date.

One voucher recipient we spoke to, Nicola, was gifted a spa day experience purchased through Red Letter Days for Christmas last year.

When she tried to book it in March, she found that the experience was no longer available and that she would have to pay for the treatments included with her voucher.

Nicola told us that she’d struggled to arrive at a resolution with the Red Letter Days customer service team, who told her she should have used her voucher sooner. When we contacted Red Letter Days it apologised and offered Nicola a refund.

Red Letter Days told us that there’s been supply disruption since the pandemic, with some businesses ceasing trading or increasing prices. It says it endeavours to offer a suitable alternative where experiences are unavailable. It added that customers who attended an experience gave it a 4.2 out of 5 rating.

• Find out more: what are my rights with gift vouchers?

Vouchers with added costs 

Nicola isn’t alone in being asked to absorb additional costs when booking an experience. Some 18% of people who used a voucher in the past two years told us the voucher only partly covered their experience.

On average, these participants had to pay an extra £21.40 to be able to enjoy their gift.

We heard about other frustrations with the booking process, too. In our survey, 17% of people said that they had to rebook their experience after their booking was cancelled by the supplier, while 14% didn’t get confirmation emails after they had redeemed their voucher.

Having finally booked on to their experience, 13% said that they were disappointed to find the experience didn’t match its description.

'My Virgin Experience Day steam train was fully booked’

Jane Cantor from Cheshire was gifted a steam train experience as a wedding gift. But when she went to book onto it, there were no seats available for 18 months. The operator said to contact Virgin, but she struggled to resolve the issue, saying Virgin’s chatbot was ‘useless’.

She ended up paying £20 to extend the expiry date of the voucher, then a further £20 to exchange the voucher for another train ride with a different operator. But there was no availability for this, either. Not wanting to waste it, Jane paid another £20 to swap to another experience. Jane was left £60 out of pocket in total for her gift.

Virgin Experience Days said that the steam train operator Jane initially booked with was removed from its site in January due to restricted availability. It won’t be reintroduced until Virgin’s sure that availability has improved. It apologised and refunded Jane in full.

It added: ‘People can get in touch with our customer services by email, WhatsApp, social media or live chat, where we’ll assist with any questions. Should an experience become unavailable, we’ll offer to extend the validity period free of charge or exchange it for another experience.'

• Find out more: 'I want a refund for my useless Virgin voucher'

Passing the buck

Resolving issues with a voucher experience day isn’t always straightforward. Once you book, you’re normally bound by the T&Cs of both the voucher company and the experience provider, so you’ll need to read both contracts if you run into any issues.

A number of gift recipients told us that voucher companies were slow to respond and resolve problems.

Sam Harrison, for example, bought his wife a HelloFresh voucher from Buy a Gift, but the code didn’t work. ‘I kept chasing Buy a Gift for a new code with no success,’ says Sam. He got a refund, but almost three months later.

Buy a Gift apologised and said it fixes voucher issues as a priority. HelloFresh said there was no technical issue with the code and re-issued a new one as a gesture of goodwill. Buy a Gift added: ‘Of the small fraction of customers who faced an issue, we we have had more than one million successful redemptions.'

We’ve also heard from consumers who found themselves stuck between the voucher company and the experience provider, with neither willing to accept responsibility. In this instance, we recommend contacting both companies (even if they try to fob you off ) if you have an issue booking on to or at your experience.

Provide as much evidence as possible and be persistent. Using social media is one way to catch their attention if your emails or chatbot messages are met with radio silence.

• Find out more: can I use my vouchers if the company goes bust?

Are voucher experiences worth buying?

Of course, voucher experiences don’t always go awry and can make for memorable gifts. To avoid any customer service nightmares, it’s worth checking if the experience provider definitely still accepts the vouchers and isn’t fully booked for months on end before you buy.

You could also clarify that your loved one won’t be expected to pay any extra costs or take time off work to fit around inconvenient time restrictions.

Most voucher companies allow refunds on unused vouchers within 30 days of purchase, so it’s worth passing this information on to gift recipients if you’re not sure it’s their cup of tea.

Of those who didn’t use their vouchers in our survey, 14% said they forgot about it, while 13% said they ended up regifting it to someone else. You can normally extend your voucher for a small fee if it gets forgotten about in your inbox or side drawer.

You might also want to check whether you can buy the experience at a cheaper price directly through the experience supplier.

Buying directly could cost less and means you’ll only be bound by one set of T&Cs (which could make life easier if something goes wrong). But make sure to check the rules around exchanges and extensions if you do buy directly, as they might not be as generous as what voucher companies offer.

Five tips for getting your money back 

1. Ask for a refund within 30 days - Voucher firms will generally offer refunds (to the original purchaser) on unused vouchers within 30 days of purchase. So if you get a voucher as a gift, make sure to really think about whether you actually want it before redeeming it. If you’re not entitled to a refund, you can try to exchange your voucher.
2. Check both sets of T&Cs - Once you redeem your experience voucher, you’re normally bound by the T&Cs of both the voucher company (such as Virgin Experience Days, Buy a Gift and Red Letter Days) and the experience provider. This means that you’ll need to read both sets of T&Cs to know what you’re entitled to in terms of refunds, time restrictions, cancellations and voucher extensions.
3. Challenge problems on the day - Most voucher companies say you should bring up any issues on the day with the experience provider. If you’re not satisfied with its response, contact the voucher company. Note, that Virgin Experience Days state that you should contact it about any issues within a week of your experience. Some voucher companies will take more responsibility than others. Red Letter Days and Buy a Gift say they will provide alternative options or refund the voucher in some cases if the activity no longer represents what was outlined on their website. Virgin says that experience descriptions online are presented as a ‘general idea’ and shouldn’t be considered as binding.
4. Don’t let availability issues slide - Voucher companies often state that experiences are subject to availability. But if the experience provider stops supplying the experience, or the activity is fully booked up until the voucher expiry date, you should be able to secure a refund or ask to exchange it. Voucher sites may be in breach of the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 if they sell vouchers for an experience they know is fully booked.
5. Make a Section 75 or chargeback claim - If you’re not getting anywhere with the voucher company or the experience provider, you can try getting your money back through your bank. You can make a Section 75 claim if you paid by credit card for experiences worth more than £100 or a chargeback claim if you paid via debit card.

*Which? surveyed 2,000 respondents, nationally representative of the UK population, between 31 March and 3 April 2023.