When is a $100 voucher not worth $100

I received a $100 Medibank voucher which I decided to use to purchase a Fitbit fitness tracker as it would be useful recording my exercise whilst recovering from a back operation. I went online to Fitbit and found the model I wanted was $199.95. I then ordered it through the Medibank link only to find it was $229.95 less $100, so the voucher was worth only $70. I then found that the JB HiFi price was $179, so in fact the voucher was worth only $49.05. I’ve had similar experience where a discount is supposedly given if you belong to a particular organisation only to find a similar price can be obtained just walking in off the street.

8 Likes

I empathise and support your pain.

What you have reported is unfortunately increasingly common in these days whereby almost every insurance company and membership group (especially auto clubs and seniors organisations) have become little more than fronts to take membership fees and offer an ever wider range of products and services, often unrelated to what the group are supposedly about. Want solar or emergency home service plans? Would RACV be one of your top suspects? Most offer discounts, as you found, that usually are as good as they offer to anyone on the street, while often requiring a purchase be made on their own non-competitive RRP based website, or when a discount is offered it is more often than not a typical discount offered across a wide range of sources but if it is a ticket for an event you just decided to head to many require at least a day pre-purchase which makes it less useful if useful at all.

It is marketing at its finest, and a game some members win at, but most are probably unable to take advantage or clever enough to avoid the non-discount discounts such as you reported, and most who try can find better buys and better deals on the open market as you indicated.

7 Likes