Diner sparks debate after ‘cheeky’ restaurant refused to offer change when she spent £76 of a £100 gift voucher – but some insist it should be used in one sitting
- Woman on Mumsnet revealed a restaurant ‘initially refused’ to give her change
- Read More: Woman sparks debate over asking guests to take their shoes off
A disgruntled diner has sparked a debate after a restaurant was reluctant to give her change when she used only £76 out of a £100 gift voucher.
Taking to British parenting platform Mumsnet, the woman explained the restaurant ‘initially refused’ to reimburse her for the amount she hadn’t spent.
She said she wasn’t expecting cash but felt she should be given another voucher for the outstanding amount, adding that it did not state on the restaurant’s website or on the voucher itself that it has to be used in full and no change would be given.
Eventually staff gave her change in cash as a ‘goodwill gesture’.
Commenters were left divided with some claiming it was ‘cheeky’ of the restaurant not to offer another voucher for the remaining amount, while others insisted there’s an expectation that you spend the entire amount during one visit.
A woman sparked a debate on Mumsnet after revealing a restaurant ‘initially refused’ to give her change after herself and her husband only used £76 out of a £100 voucher (stock image)
Explaining the situation, the woman wrote: ‘Husband had a £100 voucher for a local restaurant. We went tonight and ate/drank £76 on food and drink.
‘They initially refused to give us change (fine, I wasn’t expecting cash change), or a smaller voucher for what we hadn’t spent/annotation on the original voucher for what we had left.
‘They did finally give us cash change as a goodwill gesture since we were unaware (doesn’t say anything on their website or on the voucher).
‘Is this normal? They’ve been paid £100 for the voucher, they were essentially planning on pocketing £24 that they’d been paid.
‘Or should we have forced ourselves to have had another bottle of wine?
‘I’ve never had a restaurant voucher before, but a local bookshop just writes on their vouchers how much you have left to spend if you don’t spend it all at once.’
Many said they wouldn’t have expected a cash refund, but said they would definitely want another voucher to use at another time.
One person said: ‘I wouldn’t expect cash but I would expect a voucher for the remainder. Very cheeky not to, I’m glad you got it sorted.’
Taking to British parenting platform the woman explained the restaurant eventually gave her change in cash as a ‘goodwill gesture’
Many said they wouldn’t of expected a cash refund but definitely another voucher to use at another time
Another wrote: ‘In my eyes, a £100 voucher is a gift to enjoy £100 worth of food and drink in the restaurant. If I didn’t use it all in one visit I’d expect to be able to use the rest on a return visit.
‘If someone gave you a £20 Costa voucher you’d expect to be able to use it for a coffee on a few different days right?’
Someone else said they wouldn’t expect cash, but insisted the restaurant should have ‘offered a smaller voucher/credit for the remaining amount’.
A fourth wrote: ‘I’ve never heard of any place giving change on a voucher. Normally they would just deduct the amount and you could spend the balance left at some other time.’
However others believed that the restaurant has a right to keep the difference if the whole voucher isn’t spent.
One person said: ‘I’d have expected to have to spend the whole voucher and any refund would have been a bonus, although obviously this should be clear in the T&Cs.
However others believed that the restaurant has a right to keep the difference if the whole voucher isn’t spent
‘What would £100 typically cover in this restaurant? We normally have 2 courses and only one or two cheaper drinks and it’s still typically £50-60, so if you’re the type to have 3 courses and a bottle of wine, plus coffees and water, I can see how you’d go over the £100 in a lot of places anyway.
Another wrote: ‘You could have asked for another bottle of wine and taken it home with you?
‘In my eyes, the voucher is the gift. It’s for you to enjoy food and drink up to the value of the voucher and if you don’t spend the lot then the restaurant keeps the difference.’
Someone else agreed saying: ‘Usually you don’t get any change with vouchers, either in voucher or cash form.
‘They say on the back of them that no change will be given.
‘If I have a voucher I usually go over and pay the difference or buy something to make it up to the correct amount.
‘I’ve never had a food voucher though, but I’d expect it to have the same rules as a normal voucher.’
The original poster went onto clarify a few points that people in the comments had brought up
A fourth wrote: ‘Restaurant vouchers are a one transaction deal.
‘At most I would expect to be able to use the smaller amount next time. Never have I heard of cash being refunded.’
The original poster added: ‘Thanks all. Sounds like we weren’t being that daft. Just for clarity: I didn’t expect cash. I did expect a smaller voucher, or annotation on the original.
‘There was nothing on the voucher/website/menu to indicate that vouchers could only be used in their entirety.
‘I’ve never had a restaurant voucher before. Other vouchers I have had, have generally allowed you to keep the outstanding credit if you don’t use it all at once.
‘We couldn’t take home a bottle of wine, as the restaurant is not licensed for selling alcohol for off premises consumption.
‘They did, after a bit of discussion, give us cash change (their idea) as a goodwill gesture.
‘We’d had 3 courses, wine, water, coffee. I’m not sure we could have spent it all at once!’
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