Gunwharf's Vue cinema voucher problem resolved after technical issue forced customers to pay for weeks

Vue cinema in Gunwharf Quays resolved the issue on Tuesday, January 30, nearly three weeks after it first occurred. January can be a busy time for cinemas with the awards season starting, the bad weather to avoid, and with many people receiving cinema vouchers for Christmas. Those looking to utilise their voucher at Vue in Portsmouth discovered that they were unable to.

Tracey Bowes, 60, from Hilsea, was one such customer. She said: "We have visited three times to redeem our Vue gift vouchers which were a Christmas present from a family member, on each visit we were told the gift voucher system is down and no one knows when it will be up and running.  We either had to walk away or pay full price for a cinema ticket. We tried to call Gunwharf Quays Vue Cinema in advance the third time before visiting but the phone wasn’t answered so we took a gamble to go down and assume the system was fixed - it wasn’t."

She added: "My husband called the Vue head office and spent 45 minutes on the phone. We said we were unable to call in advance of our visit to find out, there is nothing on their website and there is a car park cost each time and this is unacceptable to us on a tight budget. The reply was to just keep going down and trying."

As per their terms and conditions Vue gift cards can only be redeemed in person and may not be accepted in the "unlikely event of a failure of Vue's IT and communications systems."

Vue has confirmed that the issue arose following a system update on Thursday, January 11. A Vue spokesperson, said: “We are sorry to hear that some customers were briefly unable to redeem gift cards at Vue Portsmouth. This was due to a technical error which was swiftly resolved by our team. We apologise to those affected and hope to welcome them to Vue Portsmouth soon to immerse in great stories on the big screen."