"Gift" vouchers.

Naikon

Am I the only person alive that does not understand why these exist?.
I mean, people would usually be offended if you just handed them cash in an envelope as a gift, but somehow giving someone an item which is very similar to cash but restricted and much more limited is somehow justifiable?.
Anyone else here willing to shed some light on this issue?.

Gift voucher=money!(albeit, a much more limited and severe variant)

</rant>

rejkin

yeah i dont like them either but i dont see why people can be insulted by getting money,its either that or you get some crappy gift you dont want,at least with money you buy what you want

Sinfonia

Yeah, the One4All vouchers are even worse - it's not like "I know you love music so I got you a record shop voucher", it's just "here's crap money"...

Although one of the best gift ideas I've ever heard is a de-clamping voucher

iguana

Naikon wrote:

Am I the only person alive that does not understand why these exist?.
I mean, people would usually be offended if you just handed them cash in an envelope as a gift, but somehow giving someone an item which is very similar to cash but restricted and much more limited is somehow justifiable?.
Anyone else here willing to shed some light on this issue?.

Gift voucher=money!(albeit, a much more limited and severe variant)

</rant>

It depends on the type of voucher. If it's the usual Easons/HMV type voucher then yes it is as you describe. However sometimes it can be a voucher for something that the person would like but would never spend the money on. For example one year I got my mum a voucher for a hairdresser/beauticians as she was always saying she should go get a good haircut and beauty treatments but she never actually did it until I gave her the voucher. Or last year my husband gave me a voucher to go micro-lighting (it's a cross between a motor-bike and a hang-glider) which I had always wanted to do but would possibly never have gotten around to doing for myself.

johnnyskeleton

The thinking is this:

I care enough about you to know that you like books/music/clothes/whatever, but I don't care enough to know what author/band/colour/etc you like.

To be realistic, it's better than getting something you don't want, and in the absence of the other person knowing what you do want it's the next best thing.

In any case, it's usually men that get gift vouchers. Women let it be known what each person should get them and when.

bronte

i've always tried to avoid these things... I dunno what it is but, it just feels kind of impersonal...like a rush job or something.

rannerap

i personally like getting them,but its always for shops that they know i like,i dont see it as they dont know me well enough,more that they know where i like and the option to get what i want there

Kimbot

Well i only get them a voucher if there really is nothing else to get them. Like for my mothers birthday this year everyone was stumped but my sister said she needed clothes. As you could imagine I wasn't going to buy clothes for her so I got a voucher for debenhams for her and she loved it! She was able to get what she wanted.

Terry

People are offended by cash in envelopes?

Well there goes every chritening/ birthday/ wedding/ christmas/ you name it present I give to people.

To hell with vouchers and presents.
Give people cash. That way they can buy what they really want and not some crappy toaster.

seamus

Really depends on the voucher. When you get cash in an envelope, it's very easy to whittle it away on nothing or throw it against the credit card bill.

However if, for example, you give your ladyfriend a voucher for a spa/salon, then you're saying, "I believe you deserve to be pampered, so I'm providing you with the means to do so". To the receiver it's not real money, so it's not money being wasted that could be spent better elsewhere. If you give someone cash and say, "Head off to the salon there and look after yourself", you look like you just couldn't be arsed putting in any effort.

Karl Hungus

I'm never offended by money in an envelope as a gift. Now, money in an envelope as a bribe, well that's another thing completely.

Terry

seamus wrote:

Really depends on the voucher. When you get cash in an envelope, it's very easy to whittle it away on nothing or throw it against the credit card bill.

However if, for example, you give your ladyfriend a voucher for a spa/salon, then you're saying, "I believe you deserve to be pampered, so I'm providing you with the means to do so". To the receiver it's not real money, so it's not money being wasted that could be spent better elsewhere. If you give someone cash and say, "Head off to the salon there and look after yourself", you look like you just couldn't be arsed putting in any effort.

That one can bite you in the arse.

'OMG you think I need to go to a salon. You think I'm ugly'.

With the cash, if they want to pay off their credit card bill, then so be it. It's a bit of a weight off their mind.
I'm telling you, man. You can't go wrong with cash.

dlofnep

They give them to ya so you don't spend the money on drugs. They are sure that with a gift voucher, you won't buy anything silly.

StupidLikeAFox

Got the father a gift voucher for louis copelands for his fiftieth, he was never gonna go out and shell out €500 in louis copelands, but he always said he'd like a louis copeland top. Also he could go in and get fitted and all that jazz without us guessing what he'd like etc.

Gift Vouchers FTW!!

projectmayhem

gift vouchers win always. i get them for others (not close people like girlfriends or direct family) whome i don't know enough to know what they like/already own.

getting them is great. i'd rather a nice voucher then some socks

whiskeyman

projectmayhem wrote:

gift vouchers win always

Especially for the shops that do them.
Gift vouchers are highly profitable for those in the retail trade.
A very high percentage of them are never actually redeemed, so it's akin to people just throwing money for nothing at them. I remember hearing that around 15% (can't confirm, but sure it was close) of Brown Thomas vouchers went unredeemed. That's a serious amount of pure profit to them, given the popularity of them for presents / corporate gifts etc...
Also, the T&Cs can be flexible to suit their own needs... eg. fix a short redemption period to screw you further; only allow on purchases over a certain amount etc...

Thrill Girl

Hey All,

Think I’m a little behind responding here, but I've gotta agree - vouchers aren’t always the best gift idea. Seems sometimes the person didn’t want to make the effort or doesn’t really know you well enough to get a decent gift. :eek: :mad: Same time though, giving someone an envelope of money seems even lazier me. Not a lot of effort there either.

SumGuy made an EXCELLENT suggestion a while back about a de-clamping voucher (where can I find me one of those?), and as for my 2 pence, I bought a weekend getaway voucher for my parents anniversary last year from a site called Great Days Out (website is www.greatdaysouts.ie) and they LOVED it! You can buy gift vouchers for a few quid there too and the recipient can redeem it for whatever activity they want on their website. I’ve used them quite a few times - def recommend.

Rita

Tigger

Thrill Girl wrote: »

Hey All,

Think I’m a little behind responding here, but I've gotta agree - vouchers aren’t always the best gift idea. Seems sometimes the person didn’t want to make the effort or doesn’t really know you well enough to get a decent gift. :eek: :mad: Same time though, giving someone an envelope of money seems even lazier me. Not a lot of effort there either.

SumGuy made an EXCELLENT suggestion a while back about a de-clamping voucher (where can I find me one of those?), and as for my 2 pence, I bought a weekend getaway voucher for my parents anniversary last year from a site called Great Days Out (website is www.greatdaysout.ie) and they LOVED it! You can buy gift vouchers for a few quid there too and the recipient can redeem it for whatever activity they want on their website. I’ve used them quite a few times - def recommend.

Rita

what a fantastic idea you've changed my whole view of vochers and where to get them

Thrill Girl

LOL. Sorry. Didn't know we couldn't post links. Sure you get the gist though.

Not shilling, just trying to help out.

I should also add, if you find something you do want to get someone online, always do a google and ebay search for it to see if you can't find it cheaper elsewhere, hotel rates especially.

Rita

Terry

You can post links. No problem there.
It's just that when a new user bumps a thread and posts a link in it, we get a bit suspicious.

coolhandc

i think its the fact that to give money all you need to do is take it out of the wallet and put it in the envelope but for vouchers you need to actually go to the place and get them...seems like your making more of an effort...

Yeah the people who give out about cash being "impersonal" or "the lazy way out" are usually the people who go around stressed, busting their balls trying to get someone the perfect gift. Their attitude stinks of "well I got you a new set of cushion covers with matching curtains that I queued for over an hour in Debenhams for, and all you got me was cash from the ATM on the corner?"

Pffft,........Although......one of my mates, him and his whole family just exchange money every Christmas. They all just stand around giving each other €50 notes and the only one who buys actual presents is the mother.
TBH, thats a bit much.

RuggieBear

i like the universal voucher....


money.

jscan1

Folks i have just posted on another similar thread talking about the one4all voucher and I’ve stumbled across this now. I am thinking about giving out SMALL cash prizes and originally wanted to just give cash. But of course i guess a business can't just go shoving 10€ notes into envelopes and posting them out to winners, so i was looking at an alternative, one4all seems to be this alternative - but i don’t like the way that it seems to be very limited as regards where you can actually spend the money - jack&jones in Navan for example? That’s plain ridiculous. Is there an alternative for me or indeed anybody else in the same predicament?

marti101

My kids for christmas got vouchers for mcdonalds and uci vouchers.I think its a great idea to give kids vouchers like that,then the parents cant really use them

jscan1

marti101 wrote: »

My kids for christmas got vouchers for mcdonalds and uci vouchers.I think its a great idea to give kids vouchers like that,then the parents cant really use them

I wouldn't be happy with anyone that gave my kids vouchers for mcdonalds. I like the idea of cinema vouchers tho.