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In 2020, Pandemic or not… How can the absolute best Home Theater System Company,  have a 1970’s system, when it comes to recognizing a gift card? Apparently if an item is back ordered, one cannot use a gift card during check-out? It’s surreal...Have over 3k invested in Sonos and the Envy of the only friends, that I haven’t converted yet, to SONOS. My better half gave me a gift card on our anniversary, yet I can’t even use it on the SONOS website? How is this possible?

Hi @Higz64, Thanks for reaching out, and welcome to the community. Sorry to hear about this issue about your Giftcard that you can’t use on the Sonos website. I’ll ask some questions to further check on this issue. 

  • Did she got the Giftcard from Sonos or where did it come from?
  • What is the error message that you’re getting when you're trying to enter the voucher code?
  • Is this a voucher gift card for how much or how many percent less for Sonos?
  • Have you tried it on multiple devices and get the same error?

Answers to these questions will help us check what could be causing this issue. 

Keep us posted on how it goes and we're here to answer any further questions you have.


Yes it’s true, Sonos’ eCommerce Team just responded to my email after 18 days and confirmed that gift cards cannot be used as a method for purchasing pre-ordered and backordered products. Ironic considering that their website is currently selling gift cards and advertising that they can be used on ANY purchase with no mention of these exceptions in their Terms and Conditions.

So yeah, your gift card is worthless on any product that is high demand. 
 

I ended up using my credit card to buy what I wanted and am now requesting a credit for the amount of my gift card, which I’ve had for multiple years. I can let you know what they say, though at this rate, it may be another 18 days. Woo-hoo! Go Sonos!


Hello there @Jdubster & @Higz64, thanks for the update. I apologize for what happened that your gift card is not working. May we know the exact error message that you’re getting so we can have it checked with our specialist? And what devices have you tried to enter these gift cards?

Keep us posted on how it goes and we're here to answer any further questions you have.


Yes it’s true, Sonos’ eCommerce Team just responded to my email after 18 days and confirmed that gift cards cannot be used as a method for purchasing pre-ordered and backordered products. Ironic considering that their website is currently selling gift cards and advertising that they can be used on ANY purchase with no mention of these exceptions in their Terms and Conditions.

So yeah, your gift card is worthless on any product that is high demand. 
 

I ended up using my credit card to buy what I wanted and am now requesting a credit for the amount of my gift card, which I’ve had for multiple years. I can let you know what they say, though at this rate, it may be another 18 days. Woo-hoo! Go Sonos!

Forgot to tag you… @Higz64. @Simon B - you’re completely missing the point. We are perfectly capable of navigating the Sonos website. The error is not with us, it’s with Sonos’ poor website interface that does not provide a way to use gift cards on backordered items. 


Hi @Jdubster, thanks for the information that you provided. I coordinated with our specialists and was told that you need to coordinate with our Sales team by calling them at 1-800-680-2345 so that they can assist you further on this issue. They might have it credited to your account or they’ll give options about this issue. 

Keep us posted on how it goes and we're here to answer any further questions you have.


@Simon B @Jdubster  @Higz64  Was this resolved? Having the same issue here. I want to use my gift card to buy a backordered item.


Did you follow the suggestion in the post from a Sonos rep that was immediately previous to yours?


Good afternoon Sonos community. I would love to give credit when it’s due, and it is. My first post on this topic was fueled by utter frustration and Jack Daniels. Without having to call a sales representative, as I work midnights and sleep during the day, the Checkout Screen, now allows the option of adding a gift card. 
 

I successfully purchased my dad a Sub for Christmas and used the gift card, without any issues. It will be here in the next day or so. I wasn’t sure if the issue was because of the Apple IOS/Safari browser, so I tried on a PC as well prior to the fix. As of December 23rd the option was working just fine. 
 

Thank you SONOS!


HIgz64 can you explain a bit more?  I still see no option to purchase a backordered item with a gift card.  Are you sure the SUB didn’t just come back in stock (it looks like it is back in stock currently).

I have 650 in gift cards that is unusable as I wait for the Arc to come back in stock...probably never gonna happen.  Extremely frustrating!


@Higz64 - Sounds like your item was no longer on backorder (since it’s arriving in the next day or so) which is why you were able to see the gift card option on the checkout screen.

@bkmerrick - I just tested the checkout screen and depending on whether the item I’m trying to check out with is backordered or not, the gift card option still won’t show up. I hadn’t tried calling yet because I did not want to deal with the pre-Christmas rush, but I did just call and the recording says “Note that the sales and fulfillment team is not currently available.” Don’t know if that’s just for the weekend or not but I can try on Monday and let you know if they credit me for my gift card that I was unable to use.

@Airgetlam - The phone number provided above is for Technical Support and not sales. 

@aaustinf - Agreed!!


@Jdubster thanks for the response. I called and only tech support is available on weekends. I’m going to give them a call on Monday. Something tells me they’re not going to honor the gift card for the backordered item based on past forum posts.

Pretty disappointing.


Jdubster...I think you are right...I am a SONOS fanatic and walking billboard for SONOS, have turned many friends on to the entire home theater system, followed up with them making a 2K purchase. It’s the little things that drive people like us, Nutz, like not being able to use a gift card, period. Pre-order or back order. 


For those waiting to Butt the ARC, do it. Much like my case, my gift card was given to me on our anniversary to purchase the ARC. I got tired of waiting and just purchased via Best Buy. Hence the reason I had a gift card...


@bkmerrick@Higz64, @aaustinf - I have an update! After calling Customer Support and waiting on hold for almost an hour for the Sales department, I was able to talk to somebody and request a refund for the amount of my gift card. They say it will take a couple weeks to show up on my credit card so we’ll see. But the agent confirmed that the best way to use a gift card on something that is pre-ordered or backordered is to call (or email). The agent could only chuckle when I told her that my email took 18 days for a response and I had to wait almost an hour to get to her.


@Jdubster Thanks for the update. While I was waiting on hold for sales I decided to check again, and all of a sudden the white five that was on backorder until February is now available to buy now, so problem solved… debated between getting a second five and the arc with my 20% coupon. Saving the arc for another day...


I’m just discovering this hurdle to using a gift card and I can’t figure out why Sonos hasn’t corrected this yet. I’ve seen comments dating back years. How much are they profiting by making it difficult to use gift cards? I will never recommend this company again.


Experiencing the same issue…. I wonder if SONOS is run by Robinhood.