An airport shopper sparked online backlash after saying a store highlighted a "VIP voucher" on the receipt only once the sale was already finished.
The catch was that the discount was marked "for today only" and did not apply to the local liquor most customers were there to buy.
What happened?
In a post on Reddit, the traveler said they had spent about 70 euros on local products at an airport shop before an employee informed them that the receipt came with a voucher.
The original poster noted in a comment, "It also wasn't good on alcohol, which is pretty much all anyone was buying in that shop."
For the OP, the main issue was that the promotion appeared only after they had already paid for the items they actually wanted.
"It's such a manipulative and disgusting thing to do," they said in the caption. "Anything you really wanted you have already bought."
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In the replies, people suggested handing the voucher to another shopper or seeing whether the purchase could be redone with the discount.
Why does it matter?
What upset readers was how the store used urgency to encourage extra spending that was never part of the original plan.
That approach can feel even worse in an airport. Travelers are often hurried and distracted, and they are shopping in a place where prices are already high and alternatives are limited.
Labeling something "VIP" can also make a weak deal seem exclusive, even when the restrictions leave it with little real value.
When stores push impulse purchases this way, shoppers may end up spending more on things they do not need, while extra packaging, waste, and transport resources go toward products that might not have been bought otherwise.
From the way the post described it, the voucher seemed aimed at nudging people toward less popular items rather than helping them save on what they came to buy.
Over time, tactics like that can erode trust in retailers and make overconsumption seem normal.
What can I do?
One way to make these promotions less effective is to decide in advance what you actually need, especially in high-pressure settings like airports.
It can also help to read the exclusions before acting on any discount. "Today only" offers may sound generous at first, but the limits can make them far less useful than they appear.
If a voucher shows up only after checkout, it may be worth asking whether the store can apply it to the purchase retroactively, though that will depend on the policy.
And if the voucher can be transferred and you do not want it, giving it to another shopper may stop it from pushing you into an unnecessary extra purchase.
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