B&Q trick up the sleeve, £10 voucher not honoured ** RESOLVED **

[king12345]

Hi guys, after many emails B&Q ignored my complaint almost entirely.

I post the email exchange and I let you be the judge.

Apologies for the length of the post, but I want to be transparent.

 

17/01/2014 from me to b&q

 

I received a ?10 eGift card (number xxxxxxc) through my b&q club card number xxxxxx.

I went out of my way to go to your store and purchase a cabinet door to use the discount, but at the till I was asked for id which I didn't have.

I pointed out that there was no requirement to have an id in the email containing the eGift card, but to no avail.

I wasted a lot of time and petrol when I could have bought the door locally for cheaper.

I'm not happy about this and I would like to know if this was a mistake or the eGift card is just some sort of lure technique.

Should the latter be true I will make sure other people don't fall into the same trap I was lured into.

The eGift card will now expire on the 18 January, so no time to use it.

Not impressed at all

 

19/01/2014 from b&q to me

 

Good Morning,

Thank you for your e-mail dated 17th January 2014.

I am disappointed to hear that you have received incorrect information by staff in our Yeading store. I have contacted the management team at the Yeading store with your comments and asked that they ensure that all staff promote offers and promotions appropriately. I have also requested that a member of the management team contact you directly in order to resolve this issue.

I can confirm that you do not need identification in order to use the voucher issued to you by the B&Q Club.

Please accept my apologies for any inconvenience caused. If I can be of any further assistance, please feel free to contact me.

Kind Regards,

 

21/01/2014 from b&q yeading store to me

 

Hi

I am writing in relation to your email regarding your E voucher.

I am sorry that we have caused you any inconvenience, I would like to send you a B&Q gift voucher via post at the value of £10.

Could you please contact me on 0208 845 1600, to confirm your address.

The address I have is below

 

21/01/2014 from me to b&q yeading store and customer services

 

Dear Ms xxxx,

Thank you for your reply.

I am disappointed that a large organization like B&Q treats loyal customers the way I was treated.

This trick of asking for I.D. when using a voucher as costed me time and expensive petrol.

As you can see from the address you hold on record, I am much nearer Homebase, Howdens and Wickes where I could have sourced the same product at a cheaper price.

Inatead I wrongly decided to keep on shopping at B&Q.

If the best you can do is send a £10 voucher to compensate for all of this aggravation, then let it be it.

I would probably give it away and shop somewhere else.

I was expecting a better offer given the circumstances.

Thanks for wasting my time and petrol.

 

23/01/2014 I received a £10 by post.

 

28/01/2014 from me to b&q yeading store and customer services

 

Dear B&Q,

I note that you have blatantly ignored my communication for an entire week.

I will wait until Thursday 30th January 2014 at 17:00 hrs for your response.

Should you once again ignore me, I will have no other option than publish our email exchange, which highlights your worst business practises, luring loyal customers to your stores under false promises and not honouring your own discount vouchers.

 

07/02/2014 from me to b&qyeading store and customer services

 

Dear B&Q,

I note that you have ignored all my emails.

I have now no other option than publish your emails as promised.

I will do so tonight at 18:00hrs.

Regards

[tezza1234]

May i ask how far away this store is from your address, what would you have been happy with, They apologized and re-issued the £10. I must say and this is my own personal perception from the emails above but it does seem like you are trying to hold them to ransom for a mistake which they have apologized for, and of course they have lost you as a customer.

[topcat1802]

If you live so far from the B&Q store why did you bother having a B&Q clubcard in the first place?

[king12345]

The store is about 7 miles from me.

Wickes, homebase and howdens all within 2 miles.

I have a b&q card for when I pass by one of their stores and get material from them.

I don't really have a preference on which shop I go to.

I went to b&q specifically to use the £10 voucher before it expired.

I miss the days when hardware stores and builders merchants employed ex builders or at least knowledgeable people instead of young student who can only scan barcodes at the till and be grumpy and obstructive.

[tezza1234]

May i ask how far away this store is from your address, what would you have been happy with, They apologized and re-issued the £10. I must say and this is my own personal perception from the emails above but it does seem like you are trying to hold them to ransom for a mistake which they have apologized for, and of course they have lost you as a customer.

Any reply to this

[citizenB]

Any reply to this

 

Yes, in the post above yours ??

[porkyp1g]

They could have doubled it to cover petrol and gogw, but they haven't done that much wrong here I think....

[king12345]

They could have doubled it to cover petrol and gogw, but they haven't done that much wrong here I think....

 

I have a feeling that I'm not the only one whose voucher was not accepted.
Maybe just one who is talking about it.
Issuing a voucher and not accepting it is not best practice.
And the few complaining just get another voucher.
No loss to b&q, but a large loss to the customer.

[king12345]

Well,

After writing to CEO they sent me a £10 voucher for petrol and trouble and assured me that staff have been retrained.

Could a moderator add *Solved* to the title please, I don't seem to be able to edit it.

Thanks

[citizenB]

Great, I am pleased this is now resolved - will amend title to reflect this for you.