Red Letter Days - Muswell Hill, London Review

Overall Rating

None

* Short time to book considering value of vouchers
* Customer service is national rate - they make money from your call
* If voucher expires they take all your money (£150+) and give nothing back
* Experiences can be booked directly at lower price and greater flexibility

I received a present of a Red Letter Days "yellow" voucher, at a cost of £150, for my birthday in November last year.

Not knowing what "experience" I wanted to do, I put the voucher to one side and set a reminder in my Palm Pilot to book it later. My Palm Pilot stopped working in January so I never saw the reminder. They do not send out a letter or email to say the voucher is about to expire - a huge oversight for something so expensive.

I am a busy person and the expiry date passed without me realising. Recently, I remembered the voucher and decided to book my experience. I was amazed that it had expired so soon, and absolutely appalled that they would do nothing about it - they simply take the £150 and say its tough luck.

This company makes money from people not booking their vouchers and feels no obligation to send a reminder or provide any kind of replacement. I asked them what costs they had incurred to provide my voucher so I could pay the difference but they would not say. I was simply referred to their terms and conditions - 4 pages of small print that very few people will read.

The law is probably on their side, but I think the way this company does business is despicable and underhand. Do not give them your money because you might get nothing in return.

You might well find you can purchase an equivalent experience direct with the provider at much lower cost, as it cuts out a middle man who provides very little value.

Members' Comments onSalubritas's Review

• London2006 on 1st Aug 2006

  Expecting an email or letter reminder from a company that sells millions of products is asking a bit much. Do you expect a cheese company to call and tell you to eat your cheese before it goes mouldy? Thought not. Secondly, if the voucher was bought from a retail store Red Letter have no way of knowing who has purchased or received the voucher until you call/go online to register it. You don't expect a software company to know you've bought their game until you register it, right?

• LJ200 on 10th Mar 2008

  same thing happened to me!! i think they are thieving b@stards!
  
  i cannot see how they can justify keeping your money. i thought i had 12 months to book - only When I called they said it was seven months! I was fuming! All i want is to swap it over and for an experience that is the same price!
  
  The only reason they gave was - ''they think it is a reasonable amount of time to book'' i think they know they are onto something - if people put it to one side, forget about it or don't know what to chose, they can say the voucher has expired then keep their money!