I donated something to to Value Village (Canada) and they gave me a coupon. I had to input my purchase date and time, then do an online survey for a small discount. Unfortunately the online experience was flawed at best.
There are many different types of people that shop at Value Village, many of them over the age of 50. These people often do not carry nor rely on their smartphone for their existence. In other words, they are normal.
Besides the survey stalling and not responding half way through the survey, at the end of the survey I was presented with a screen with a long bar code, which I was supposed to take a picture and keep on my phone, or presumably keep a browser tab open on my smartphone and simply stay on the Value Village survey site. What? The coupon given to me said “Please write your Thank You code here”, whereas the web site gave be a bar code. I had to print the bar code and now need to remember to take this printout with me to claim my very small discount. What a pain in the ass.
Doing an online survey is doable for older people. Writing down a survey code on the coupon is doable for older people. Taking a picture of the bar code on their smartphone is not doable. Printing out the bar code and remembering to bring that piece of paper is also not doable. Not everyone carries a smartphone with them at all times. This is more for the younger generation that are addicted to their phones. The clientele for Value Village also includes a lot of people without a lot of money, whom may not have a smartphone. Where does it leave these people?
I’d say that the Value Village feedback site is a failure not form a technical standpoint, although the server not responding was bad, but from a system process aspect. Value Village is excluding a large proportion of their clientele. Along with their terrible return policy, which allows no refunds but offers a credit for that day’s shopping, and can only be done within 2 weeks of the purchase, this is a huge disincentive to shopping there. Frankly unless I am certain that I will not return the product, very similarly to a no return policy, it is too much trouble to shop there.
In summary I’d rather donate goods somewhere else, and shop somewhere else.
Value Village feedback coupon requires you to do an online survey, which then gives you a bar code that you must store on your phone or print out. What a terrible policy for older folks. I truly hate it.
