“I wish my husband checked these reviews before buying a voucher from these cowboys. I spent several hours on their chat trying to simply redeem a voucher. Their system is not working and nothing can be processed. The customer service has 2 people working in it (so average time for waiting is 30 mins!) and neither of them have any desire nor knowledge to sort things out. Shockingly bad - will never use again.”
“Absolutely hopeless cant get through to anyone by phone and no response to emails sent .Don't waste your time or money .I bought two breaks as gifts before covid ..these were extended but I need to contact someone regarding options as there seem to be very few in terms of places we can stay .Both my friend and I have emailed absolutely no response ,its appalling customer service..almost non existent.I do not want to lose the money I spent on buying these vouchers ,but I am losing faith in getting hold of anyone ,as they make it virtually impossible.
Would not buy anything from them again ...Don't be tempted by their what seem ‘ to be great ‘ offers as I was ...there are so many restrictions attached and as stated the customer service is really poor .would give a 0 if options allowed ..AVOID !”
“Based on my personal experience of dealing with this company , I would try avoid having anything to do with them.
I have recently retired and my former employer gave me some Buyagift vouchers for a theatre trip and an overnight hotel stay.
I was able to register the vouchers and even managed to book a show and a hotel for 2nd February ( in London ) , however , further rail strikes have been called for 1st and 3rd February which will make it very difficult for our trip to take place.
I contacted Buyagift ( via a Live Chat ) and asked if the dates of our trip could be amended in view of the likely travel difficulties on 2nd February - they came back with a very simple "NO".
Surely there should be some flexibility in these types of situation ?
I would never consider giving Buyagift vouchers to anyone in view of their very restricted usage policy and , if you are thinking of giving them as a gift , I would suggest you reconsider - unless you are 100% certain that the activity ( hotel stay , theatre trip etc ) can be enjoyed on the day the booking is made for.”
“Avoid this company at all costs. Buyagift are not only the most difficult company to deal with, but how they get away with the false advertising is beyond me. Trading standards should really do something about them.
They are so bad, they even have a standard response to all the negative reviews, they are not even interested in acknowledging the individuals complaint, check it out, they will do the same with this review!
So we had a two night break with dinner bought for us, which looked great. However, trying to use the voucher is a different matter. You go on the website, enter a location you want to visit, seems good so far! Only to find out there are hardly any locations available, the ones which are, are Holiday Inn's. Not what I really had in mind. The locations in the book supplied look great, but most of them no longer accept the voucher, one hasn't for over two years (I phoned them). The website states the dates are not available, actually, the hotel no longer wants to be involved with Buyagift.
So I tried something else! I went back into the website to see if we could exchange for a different voucher! Bingo! We could. So I went to that voucher to see what was available (thinking ahead)! We found a lovely hotel in Cromer (North Norfolk) so decided to change the voucher (at a cost of £10 extra) to a two day break with no food. Once this was completed and they had taken my money, I went back to that hotel to book the break! And guess what, the hotel no longer came up on the website, complete scam.
Just a note of caution, if you book directly with any hotel or go through booking.com, the stay is so much cheaper than through Buyagift. Save yourself and anyone you may purchase a voucher for time and agony, and just give them the money. Far easier and less expensive.
Oh by the way, the person who bought this for us is now trying to get a refund, we couldn't. Let's see how they get on!
Also, so to go on, but how on earth do Buyagift have a review rating of 4.6 when nearly every review gives them 1. I would give 0 if I could.”
“I make no excuses for copying this comment from one of the reviews I have read as it is almost identical to the experience I have had of this untrustworthy and generally dishonest company...
"I have tried to use our gift voucher for a two [ours is one night] night hotel break in a wide range of places and dates across the Uk. The process is cumbersome and involves numerous repeat entries. There are very few options available with some areas of the country with no availability at all.
The ones which are available require at least a £200 - £300+ [£70+] top up for some quite basic hotels. I feel it would be cheaper to book directly with the hotels and not use the voucher. We have spent hours trying to find a suitable hotel.
I feel that our relatives have been conned!"
Me again...its been a ridiculous affair...I have wasted so much time trying to negotiate Covid rules and obstructions and all I end up doing is to extend the voucher for more time at £20 a pop and for what...still no choice and paying more for something that initially would have been a free gift !
Think I will cut my losses and just put anyone off who thinks buyagift is a good idea - NOT !!!”
Hi Julian
Thank you for taking the time to leave your review. We are so sorry to hear things have gone wrong on this occasion.
We are the largest gift experience provider in the UK and our customers successfully book and redeem hundreds of thousands of fantastic experiences each year.
Surcharges are sometimes applicable especially during peak periods but we’re here to help whether that’s finding an alternative within the value of the voucher or providing dates outside of peak periods. We also a guarantee the best price and will not have our customers paying any more than what they might find online.
We pride ourselves on delivering memorable experiences but when things do go wrong, we will do all we can to put things right. Any feedback we receive are automatically logged on our system, this is then flagged to the Buying and Marketing teams to ensure future improvements. Please rest assured that your comments have been logged and will be helpful in this review process.
Kindest Regards
The Buyagift Team
“Misleading information about choice of available helicopter flights. Very reluctant to refund my money when they weren't able to deliver what they advertised. Eventually refunded me the £79 for the voucher but not the £2.99 delivery charge.”
Good Afternoon
Thank you for taking the time to leave your review. We are so sorry to hear things have gone wrong on this occasion.
We are the largest gift experience provider in the UK and our customers successfully book and redeem hundreds of thousands of fantastic experiences each year.
Any feedback we receive are automatically logged on our system, this is then flagged to the Buying and Marketing teams to ensure future improvements. Please rest assured that your comments have been logged and will be helpful in this review process.
Kindest Regards
The Buyagift Team
“Just read the reviews below. Buy a buyagift voucher is great, however, trying to use the gift card is a completely different matter. The hotels I have been trying to book, no longer accept buyagift vouchers (even though they are in the book which come with the voucher).”
Good Afternoon
Thank you for taking the time to leave your review.
We are the largest gift experience provider in the UK and our customers successfully book and redeem hundreds of thousands of fantastic experiences each year.
The guide inside the box is pre-printed in advance and due to the long validity period of these vouchers sometimes locations or experiences are removed from this. We know this can be disappointing which is why there are so many other great locations to pick from. For the current up to date list we always recommend logging into our website as this is kept regularly updated with the current information.
Any feedback we receive are automatically logged on our system, this is then flagged to the Buying and Marketing teams to ensure future improvements. Please rest assured that your comments have been logged and will be helpful in this review process.
Kindest Regards
The Buyagift Team
“I booked a stay for Christmas eve via this company but unfortunately came down with Covid 3 days before and they refused to cancel or move the date of my trip. Their response was 'go to the hotel and infect people, you don't have to care nowadays' when I asked what I should do.
AVOID THIS COMPANY AT ALL COST BECAUSE ILLNESS COUNTS FOR NOTHING TO THEM AND SAFEGUARDING OTHERS IS IMPORTANT”
Good Afternoon
Thank you for taking the time to leave your review. We are so sorry to hear things have gone wrong on this occasion.
Any feedback we receive are automatically logged on our system, this is then flagged to the Buying and Marketing teams to ensure future improvements. Please rest assured that your comments have been logged and will be helpful in this review process.
Kindest Regards
The Buyagift Team
“Tried to book an experience for someone in the U.K. (I'm in Australia). No option for sending the voucher to the recipient and instead, it was emailed to me.
I've emailed the voucher to the person in the U.K. and I'm hoping they are able to redeem it.
Still waiting to hear back from Buy a Gift.
I am really wishing I'd read these reviews before I spent my hard earned on this website. I will be looking elsewhere next time.”
Hi Kerrie,
Thank you for your feedback.
I do apologise you were unable to send this direct to the recipient. We do have both a customer information box and recipient information box at checkout to ensure this can be sent across to either participant. I apologise if this was not made clear.
I have passed your feedback on to our team. Once again, thank you for taking the time to leave this feedback.
“If you want to gift someone an experience, just give them cold hard cash. We had a 2 night break given to us for our 10th wedding anniversary by my parents at the end of 2019, 3 months later we went into lock down so we were unable to use is. We finally started looking when the rules were lifted and hotels were finally opened again, we struggled to book a hotel straight away due to any of the hotels we liked the look of were fully booked until forever or were not the type of hotel we would like to spend our wedding anniversary gift in. We finally booked up in July for a hotel stay in Banbury for 16th December Whatley Hall, we also booked a spa day which was also given as a voucher by a different company to coincide with our stay which we were really looking forward to. On 29th November we received an email from Carson Senior Destinations Executive stating 'We have been informed and or instructed by our supplier that due to a system/booking issue unfortunately they will no longer be able to accept your recently booked hotel reservation with us. They have informed us that the booking will need to be cancelled as they cannot accommodate.
I have been authorised to either issue a brand new hotel break voucher for the amount of the original voucher paid for plus supplement.
Alternatively I can issue a credit for the full amount of the original voucher and supplement.'
I requested a full refund for the voucher and supplement back due to not being able to book an alternative hotel straight away with 18 days notice due to the lack of availability with the hotels this company deals with and I was hoping i could book an alternative hotel with the refund received so we could continue with our spa day treatment.
I received a response on the Thursday 01st Dec at 4:43
The cancellation of booking has been confirmed.
The supplement amount of £141.00 is able to be refunded, the original voucher was purchased via Debenhams so we do not hold the funds for this nor can refund that original amount.
How would you like to proceed?
So after advising i could receive full credit for the hotel voucher and supplement i am now informed they do not hold the funds, this company is not a non profit organisation and have a revenue of $73 million dollars but do not hold the funds!
We are now without a hotel and will loose out on our spa day also. My parents are upset as they feel they have let us down with a gift they thought was going to be a lovely break away for us. I do not recommend buying an experience from this company who are very unhelpful, go back on what they say even if it is in black and white and take over a week to respond to your emails as you are not able to contact them by telephone to resolve any issues directly!”
“After reading some reviews I have to agree with the ones who say that the delivery of the vouchers is good, that is where the good service ends I'm afraid. I bought several vouchers for 2 night hotel stays believing that they were good value, and something that we would use. Some deluxe and some Memorable breaks, because of Covid I had to extend the date, which was further expense, but I thought better than loosing the whole amount. Finding a hotel that accepts these vouchers has been a huge problem, owners telling me that they no longer accept the vouchers, and have told BAG but they are still advertised on the site. Eventually I found a suitable hotel, the voucher, and the website included one evening meal, but the hotel told me that when they put the code in my voucher didn't include the evening meal ????? It looks like the original voucher code of a deluxe break has been downgraded so not the good deal I thought it was. On reflection I will not be buying any more vouchers and will book direct with the hotels I want in future”
“I have tried to use our gift voucher for a two night hotel break in a wide range of places and dates across the Uk. The process is cumbersome and involves numerous repeat entries. There are very few options available with some areas of the country with no availability at all.
The ones which are available require at least a £200 - £300+ top up for some quite basic hotels. I feel it would be cheaper to book directly with the hotels and not use the voucher. We have spent hours trying to find a suitable hotel.
I feel that our relatives have been conned!”
“I purchased a two night stay for me and my daughter at Sand bay holiday park. Now the advert showed a swimming pool, children’s arcade and entertainment.
So I booked for half term as I thought would be nice to get away. On completion of booking I received confirmation from pontins only to find that you are not allowed under 18s. It’s an adult only site.
At no stage of the booking does it say adults only and my voucher said two person not 2 adults. So contacted buyagift immediately to be told they can’t cancel or change booking and advert USUALLY says if kids allowed.
The woman did admit that advert is confusing and offered me a bottle of wine as a pay off which I duly declined as I want the price of voucher back or a new booking.
I have sent a strongly worded e-mail but no reply as of yet. I believe buyagift have taken the booking under false pretences due to false advertising.i have contacted trading standards also.
Stay well clear of this company and products as it’s a con.”
“I could not find any availability for the voucher I had been given and eventually was advised there were problems with The Domes afternoon champagne tea and I should look at another option. I chose a tour of a vineyard and paid the requested additional £30. I didn't buy to extend as the voucher expires in march 2023. However, I have tried to book the new experience and yet again there is no availability and the website does not extend to beyond August 2023. It's ridiculous and time consuming. I would not recommend this company and I am left still trying to sort it out.”
“Bought voucher before covid, lasts 2 years, I’ve just managed to get away But! Doesn’t recognise voucher or pin, I want to put money to my existing voucher but can’t get any contact, no phone calls can’t get live chat none of the questions on page refer to mine. I’ve tried all week I think it’s disgusting that we can’t speak to someone, I believe this company doesn’t care but if I don’t hear after I’ve already sent 2 emails I will take this further! Disgusted customer no stars totally disgusted”
“I notice all the reviews with five stars haven't actually tried to use the voucher. I notice in my first try prices were add this or bank that. I added another voucher, then the prices had all gone up massively and no banking on the same places even though I had now put in more vouchers.No contact details...strange that. My friend has also had these vouchers, they offered a spa and lunch. No longer available unless you had the spa in Birmingham and the lunch in Devon.
What a scam, don't buy these vouchers.
No stars if I could have”
“We were delighted to receive the beautifully gift wrapped voucher. However- as others have stated- trying to book is incredibly time consuming and frustrating. Emails take 10 days to answer (because of covid?!) we still have been unable to book our two day break after trying for nearly a month”
“I bought a buyagift for my daughter, wife and a treat to myself for all our birthdays. Costing a few hundred £s.
It was meant to be a micro flight experience.
Finally we got a date to go with good weather conditions in Rochester Kent. But my family and myself were extremely disappointed when we got shown the aircraft. To our horror it was not a micro flight at all it was what I can only say was a small plane. Nothing like the picture advertised when I bought the experience online. We alll on took the flight individually and wasn’t even able to take control and described as well.
Now I have tried to contact buyagift 4 times and 3 times had a live chat with a member of buyagift staff, all this since 21st August and each time been fobbed off that someone will deal with this and get back to me.
It’s been 8 weeks now and still no reply.
The customer service is appalling and I would never recommend buyagift to any one.…….
I am still waiting a reply to this day. I’m not asking for a total refund but maybe some sort of compensation as it wasn’t what I bought and still have the documentation to show for it.”
“Do not buy the One Night Hotel Stay for Two with Dinner there is not a single hotel that doesn't require a financial upgrade of sort and on top of this most found require an upgrade that is MORE value than the voucher itself and more value than just booking the hotel through any other website and throwing the voucher in the bin!”
