Vouchers, the greatest and bestest gift you can give someone, or the lazy man’s way out of thinking about a present. Whatever way you look at them, they’re useful. All the high-street shops stock them and online retailers do too which is why I ordered vouchers for my brothers Donal and Cathal, and my friend Justin to thank them for being best man and groom’s men respectively.
Justin’s over in the UK now, and I wanted to make things nice and simple so I ordered CD WOW! vouchers. At the time I ordered there was a handling fee of €1.20 for gift vouchers. That’s €1.20 for each gift voucher. They may provide free shipping worldwide but that obviously doesn’t apply to all their products.
When Donal went to redeem the vouchers after selecting the CDs he wanted he discovered that only one voucher can be used per purchase! Because the vouchers come in denominations which don’t match the prices of their CDs he would have ended up buying extra CDs and paying for them himself. I find that underhand and just a bit sneaky. It is stated in their terms and conditions but that only leaves a bitter taste in my mouth because I didn’t read them.
Imagine the consternation if you could only use one voucher per purchase in HMV or Virgin? At least they’d give you change in the form of money or a smaller voucher. In protest, Donal recommends that people do not buy CD WOW! vouchers and I have to agree with him. Go down to HMV, Virgin, Golden Discs, buy a paper voucher and the recipient can enjoy the experience of handling real goods immediately and savour the pleasure of rushing home to play a new CD.
Welcome CD WOW! to that place in my heart that I originally reserved for 7dayshop. Well done!
