I cannot believe this!

[BotoxNurse]

Why don't you just call her back and honour the voucher. You will feel like you have the moral high ground, she will feel like she does, she gets her treatment, you have had her money and then just walk away. Everyone is a winner.

 

[BeautyLoungeSW]

Ok well im gonna leave it here now I havent got anything else to say il just carry on with my business and will not be using this forum again for fear of being accused of stealing from people. All I wanted was some friendly advice and this is what happens. Sorry to cause such a fuss. Goodnight

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[Teenyx]

Phone her back/if the husband does phone, say it was a salon junior who didn't realise there was flexibility with vouchers and let her use the voucher. She phoned and was honest about the voucher, could have let you carry out the treatment and then whip it out at the end. I doubt she was trying to be fly.

 

[virtues2011]

Beautylounge - Why use a 'professional' forum if you can't take criticism be it constructive to you or not, you really have no need to leave the site because people don't agree with you....we all have opinions on how we run our businesses - although this post and my comment quite a few pages back really sum it up to me...! ... My observation to your thread and my thought process tells me you probably were ruder than your client because you don't like what you hear...or read.

 

[Mad_4_Massage]

So can i just ask lovelies, if a voucher is brought for a special treatment, (Ie in my salon we do monthly offers that are only available in that month only as all the products are put away and not reordered in the middle of the month before) if a voucher was brought for this treatment, would you have it valid for that month? Or transferable to another treatment or equal value? Or carried over to the next time that treatment is available?

Hope this makes sense, just wondering what you would do in this situation,

xxxx

 

[coco.]

You did actually ask in your first post if we thought you had dealt with it correctly. We as consumers and business owners have replied with our thoughts.
I know most people haven't agreed with your handling of the situation but we've just been honest!

 

[hazeleyes]

I agree with all thats been written, I don't really get the concept of expiry dates on already purchased gift vouchers or the need to even have them. The money has been paid already, no? there's no way of losing out? Also 3 months is far to short a time in my personal opinion. I would be extremely annoyed if i was this lady who let it expire and was told I couldn't redeem it, although this has happened to me a few times in the past with things such as dinners bought through Groupon (who I hate). While I am upset at the time, I sort of have to accept it as those are the clearly stated rules.

Personally in the OPs situation I would of just allowed her to use it, for the aforementioned reasons of many of the the other geeks.

That said I do feel a bit bad for the OP after reading through, as she posted with a clear opinion about her decision, and so many people disagree with this business decision which is a personal thing and none of us like to feel our judgement questioned. Perhaps she is now regretting her decision hence the defensive attitude to everyones posts.

BeautyLoungeSW don't leave the forum just because people disagree with your decision. I think perhaps as others have said this is just one of those learning curves where you take stock of your decision and maybe rethink and deal with it differently next time? Perhaps you were a little harsh on this woman? Was it because of the way she spoke to you? If she had been really polite, apologetic and lovely would you perhaps of thought again about your decision not to honour it?

We all make mistakes sometimes.....

 

[pinkthistle]

So can i just ask lovelies, if a voucher is brought for a special treatment, (Ie in my salon we do monthly offers that are only available in that month only as all the products are put away and not reordered in the middle of the month before) if a voucher was brought for this treatment, would you have it valid for that month? Or transferable to another treatment or equal value? Or carried over to the next time that treatment is available?

Hope this makes sense, just wondering what you would do in this situation,

xxxx

I do this...a client can buy my monthly offers then has the 3 months to use it at that reduced price they paid.

 

[Mad_4_Massage]

I do this...a client can buy my monthly offers then has the 3 months to use it at that reduced price they paid.

But what i mean is the offers we do are only valid for that month, as the products arent restocked until the next year, so what would you do? Carry it on to next year? Exchange the voucher?

Hope im making sense! xxx

 

[tonicj]

Beauty lounge SW, while these things can be annoying, I would honour the voucher because it's been paid for and also because it's just not worth the bad publicity if you don't!

 

[virtues2011]

But what i mean is the offers we do are only valid for that month, as the products arent restocked until the next year, so what would you do? Carry it on to next year? Exchange the voucher?

Hope im making sense! xxx

Why are you providing vouchers for a special offer service that only lasts a month. Don't give vouchers for this service. It is a monthly special offer if people want it then they book up and pay. Make it a condition of sale, then you won't worry about this issue. If someone is adamant they want this particular service for a gift, put the voucher in monetary terms of the service cost, explain to the client if the gift is presented after the offer has expired then the voucher is redeemable/part payment against another service. In fact put this on the T&C's of the voucher along with the wording E&OE...'Errors and Omissions Excepted' E&OE should be as standard on any professional price lists, vouchers, leaflets etc.

 

[Littlegems1]

But what i mean is the offers we do are only valid for that month, as the products arent restocked until the next year, so what would you do? Carry it on to next year? Exchange the voucher?

Hope im making sense! xxx

I would let them redeem the amount against another treatment.
For instance if a voucher was bought for a offer which was £20 for that month only, then came in to redeem 2months later then they could use the amount £20 off a treatment.
Make sure you explain this properly at the point of sale.

Beauty lounge, I really don't see what you are getting so upset about. You need to have a thick skin to survive in business. It really is unnecessary to be melodramatic and threaten to leave the forum simply because the majority have a different view point to you.
Like the saying goes don't ask a question if you don't want the answer.

I am curious though, has this happened before? I'm asking as if it has then perhaps you should reconsider your flexibility or expiry dates. If this hadn't happened before then I'm thinking that perhaps you could of been more accommodating and honoured the voucher, scene as it would show that people are not taking libertys.

 

[Mad_4_Massage]

Why are you providing vouchers for a special offer service that only lasts a month. Don't give vouchers for this service. It is a monthly special offer if people want it then they book up and pay. Make it a condition of sale, then you won't worry about this issue. If someone is adamant they want this particular service for a gift, put the voucher in monetary terms of the service cost, explain to the client if the gift is presented after the offer has expired then the voucher is redeemable/part payment against another service. In fact put this on the T&C's of the voucher along with the wording E&OE...'Errors and Omissions Excepted' E&OE should be as standard on any professional price lists, vouchers, leaflets etc.

That's what i thought about doing/ try to do,for example we offered a November treatment called a 'Diva Day' where we did a complete makeover and pamper, but a client wanted to buy a voucher for her friend to have the treatment, we told her we could only do it for the amount and that if the treatment would no longer be available after November 31st, however her friend didn't use the voucher until December, so we let her use the amount for somethings else....

but i was wondering that if they were adamant it had to be for that treatment and nothing else, would you put your foot down and say that's not possible or say she could save it until the treatment came available again etc? We do try to avoid committing a voucher to a treatment to avoid things like this but if its for a gift the clients insist they dont want to know how much was spent.

 

[JemimaFox]

This is a really tricky one. We have 12 months expiry on ours, we also track every single one so if it is lost they can still use it. Therefore we do everything we can to be fair to the client.
I would worry about having no expiry date, because let's face it nobody actually has all of the 'unredeemed' voucher money put to one side until it is used.....so what if after the salon had been open 10 years and everyone who hasn't used their vouchers came in all at once over a few months?! Surely it would put a small salon out of business? Just a thought

 

[virtues2011]

That's what i thought about doing/ try to do,for example we offered a November treatment called a 'Diva Day' where we did a complete makeover and pamper, but a client wanted to buy a voucher for her friend to have the treatment, we told her we could only do it for the amount and that if the treatment would no longer be available after November 31st, however her friend didn't use the voucher until December, so we let her use the amount for somethings else....

but i was wondering that if they were adamant it had to be for that treatment and nothing else, would you put your foot down and say that's not possible or say she could save it until the treatment came available again etc? We do try to avoid committing a voucher to a treatment to avoid things like this but if its for a gift the clients insist they dont want to know how much was spent.

You can get yourself tied up in all sorts of issues with this to be fair. Personally I would state vouchers are not given stipulating monthly special offers as they are on a first come first served basis and the time limits are minimal. There is no reason why the client couldn't make an appointment for her friend and pay for the service when it has been completed, that is the same principle then for anyone. If you don't know when the next time will be that you offer the service again then I would be reluctant to take money for it, like you say if it was in a years time the chances of having a disgruntled client who won't wait a year is quite high and probably would want a refund. It depends how hard you want to make it -

 

[libbylou]

please do not take offence BUT i really do NOT think the client is taking advantage of you , you have taken the money, done nothing for it and wont to keep the money for yourself, that is how she is seeing it. I have been in business a long time and i am only offering you advice,if you have such a short expiry why not ring clients and remind them the voucher is about to expire ? please do not leave this forum when so many experienced salon owners are willing to give you free advice.

 

[virtues2011]

This is a really tricky one. We have 12 months expiry on ours, we also track every single one so if it is lost they can still use it. Therefore we do everything we can to be fair to the client.
I would worry about having no expiry date, because let's face it nobody actually has all of the 'unredeemed' voucher money put to one side until it is used.....so what if after the salon had been open 10 years and everyone who hasn't used their vouchers came in all at once over a few months?! Surely it would put a small salon out of business? Just a thought

Emma it is a very unrealistic thought. :lol:

 

[Mad_4_Massage]

You can get yourself tied up in all sorts of issues with this to be fair. Personally I would state vouchers are not given stipulating monthly special offers as they are on a first come first served basis and the time limits are minimal. There is no reason why the client couldn't make an appointment for her friend and pay for the service when it has been completed, that is the same principle then for anyone. If you don't know when the next time will be that you offer the service again then I would be reluctant to take money for it, like you say if it was in a years time the chances of having a disgruntled client who won't wait a year is quite high and probably would want a refund. It depends how hard you want to make it -

"Personally I would state vouchers are not given stipulating monthly special offers as they are on a first come first served basis and the time limits are minimal"

thats what i was looking for haha, i couldnt think of a way to word it, if i had my way we wouldnt do vouchers at all for specific treatments- its too messy, and you're right, although we try to do the treatments yearly theres no guarentee when the treatment will next be offered Thanks Virtues :hug:

 

[JemimaFox]

Emma it is a very unrealistic thought. :lol:

Well I guess it depends how good you are at organising your cash flow. I employ 6 people, so have a large wage bill, and I start to panic if we have had a few days in a row where we have barely made anything due to all of the voucher redemptions! But yeah probably wouldn't happen, still is a worry. I think calling your clients and letting them know it is about to expire is a fantastic idea.

 

[adamlea87]

This is a really tricky one. We have 12 months expiry on ours, we also track every single one so if it is lost they can still use it. Therefore we do everything we can to be fair to the client.
I would worry about having no expiry date, because let's face it nobody actually has all of the 'unredeemed' voucher money put to one side until it is used.....so what if after the salon had been open 10 years and everyone who hasn't used their vouchers came in all at once over a few months?! Surely it would put a small salon out of business? Just a thought

After 10 years with the rate of inflation their vouchers might not be worth much! = Profit!

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