Michelle

I visited the Harrods store at the airport this morning and had a wonderful experience. We were greeted by Julie Shiner with a warm smile and friendly conversation. Her service was absolutely top-notch and made our visit very pleasant. We left the store feeling happy and well looked after. Thank you, Julie, for such excellent customer service.

My husband and I got married in October 2024, and one of our closest friends gifted us a thoughtful cinema experience voucher. She even confirmed in writing with the company that the experience would be valid from December 2024 through to December 2025 — clearly a reasonable timeframe for an outdoor cinema.

Fast forward to this summer — when we actually wanted to use the experience — and we were shocked to find the voucher marked as expired.

Nowhere on the letter that came with the voucher code did it state a 6-month expiry or any need to “redeem” it within that time. Our friend was explicitly told it would be valid for a full year, and she has the email proof to show it.

We reached out to the company expecting them to honor what was promised, but instead, the manager Michael showed zero concern — and then had the audacity to ask us for a £20 admin fee to “extend” a voucher that was never clearly explained in the first place.

To make things worse, he then told us the experience itself had actually been discontinued and nothing could be done — despite reassuring our friend at the time of purchase that it was valid for 12 months.

This has been incredibly disappointing. What was meant to be a special, personal wedding gift has been completely ruined by poor communication and an unwillingness to take responsibility.

I’m now escalating this to Trading Standards, because this feels like nothing short of a con. A lovely gesture from our friend has essentially been stolen, and others should be warned before purchasing from this company.

Here’s the great customer service response! ……….

Good afternoon Michelle,

Thank you for getting back to me.

I can only apologise if you feel our terms are unfair.

I’d like to clarify once again that our Terms and Conditions are not intended to mislead. Not only are they included in the fine print, they are also presented clearly online at the point of sale and printed on the voucher itself, as shown in our earlier correspondence. We do this to ensure transparency and consistency for all customers.

Regrettably, the experience in question has now been discontinued, and we’re unable to honour vouchers for experiences that are no longer available, so even if I was to provide you with a complementary extension, this would not help. I appreciate that this is not the outcome you were hoping for, and I’m sorry we can’t offer a more satisfactory resolution on this occasion, however your voucher is void and there is nothing we can offer to assist.

Best wishes,
Michael

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