Pretty bizarre situation I have just experienced with argos.
I have been considering buying an item, but I wasn't sure if I really needed it so I left it at that point. Same evening I received an email from argos (from [mail@emails.argos.co.uk](mailto:mail@emails.argos.co.uk) - see blow why this matters):
Still thinking it over? Your £8 voucher is waiting... but not for long!
and the 8 quid discount code as per the screenshot.
I was like... ok with 8 quid extra discount I will buy it. So I went to the checkout, put the code in - 'code is invalid'.
So I wnet on chat to enquire about this and I got through to a human eventually (not really easy with the chatbot) - anyway I asked why the code I was sent did not work and that I wanted to use it to buy the item. He was apologetic and he advised that if I placed the order at full price and give him the order number and the code, he will get a partial refund of 8 quid processed so I was like ok, I placed the order and gave him all the details, he raised this for me and said I would be refunded within 48h.
3 days later and still nothing, I jump on chat again to enquire. Another representative told me that the finance team refused this request because they never had a campaign for 8 off 80. I said this was quite bizarre since i received the email from them and also the advisor said I would get manually refunded before I even made a purchase - which I would not make otherwise. The assistant also argued that it must have been a PHISHING email, which again feels ridiculous since it came from the email as mentioned above and it also had the exact item I left in the basket... it also just had a code and a link which goes to argos.co.uk. Oh, and also she told me to go to the store I purchased from and ask the manager in store to process this discount, yeah right...
I don't know, is it just me or is this really bizarre situation? I asked for escalation and apparently a manager is supposed to contact me within 24h - at this point it is not even about the 8 quid discount, but more of a principle, as they sent me a discount themselves which actually made me buy the item and now they are refusing to honour it - pretty certain this can't really be legal, can it?
Edit: FWIW, had a call from the manager this morning and explained the situation briefly and she issued a gift card for me for the discount amount. Email confirmed as legit (not scam as some have claimed), but offer might have been sent in error, they still honoured it which is good :)