WHSmith have always been a store I trust and use regularly, but my recent disappointment with the way they treated a reasonable request has made me question my loyalty to their 'big business' and the way they treat customers. As a result I will probably start buying my stationery, books and magazines elsewhere.

For my 21st birthday, my aunt in Canada said to my parents that I should receive £100 towards learning to scuba dive following the problems I had in Australia. My parents did a bit of research and realised you could buy various experience vouchers which offered scuba diving, so off they went to WHSmith to buy the one with the largest selection of things to do, reasonably expecting that scuba dive would be one of the experiences available.

The voucher pack contained an activation card which you had to send off to receive the list of activities and your £100 voucher, and when the box returned by post yesterday morning, I was disappointed to discover that scuba diving was not on the list. Fine I thought, I'll ring them up and have them see if there has been an omission in the brochure or, if not, collect a refund. After calling on their 0845 number (cheers) I was eventually informed (after they received my polite letter) that WHSmith operates a policy where they will not refund an activated voucher. Personally, I don't think that is very reasonable, considering you can't know the activities until you activate. I "could have phoned up and asked" according to the guy at customer relations, but honestly is that the first thing you do when you receive a present?

WHSmith; treat your customers with a little bit of respect, be honest about what you are selling, and don't be bullish about one lost sale. It's not like you couldn't have coped without it.

The voucher pack hasn't even been opened and there is six months on the voucher. To give them what credit they deserve, the experiences are actually really good, I am just stubborn; set on spending the money on my scuba lessons. Therefore, if you or someone you know who would like to buy a brand new, unopened £100 experience voucher for use on 50 different activities, please get in touch with me via comments, this form or phone. The voucher can be transferred into the name of any other person as an activity hasn't been selected yet.