Vouchercloud is one of the more impressive and slickest apps I’ve downloaded for my iPhone so far, as it solves a problem I normally find with discount vouchers – finding relevant, valid voucher codes is often a frustrating and time-wasting process.
By offering discounts for a wide range of local retailers and restaurants, Vouchercloud gives you on-the-go access to some great deals, and can even be used even if you’re already sat at a restaurant table.
Finding deals
On start up, the app looks for local offers, and categorises the deals so you can narrow down the choice to just restaurants, casual dining (such as pizza shops), bars & pubs, leisure & entertainment, or one of several other categories, should you wish.
You can also browse the deals in alphabetical order, or see where all the deals are located on a map. In the app settings, you can also specify a radius for how far away from your location you want it to look. Plus, you can search for specific vouchers too – so pretty much all bases covered when it comes to finding the voucher you’re after.
Redeeming vouchers
Once you’ve located a voucher, to redeem it, you need to have registered an account with Vouchercloud. Luckily, the sign up process is pretty simple:
Unfortunately what isn’t made quite so clear is that to redeem some of the better vouchers, you need to subscribe to Vouchercloud, and there are various subscription levels available.
The top subscription level costs £34.99 for a years total access to Vouchercloud, whilst at the other end of the scale you can pay £1.79 for a single use. Personally, I wouldn’t want to hand over £20-£30 for 6 to 12 months worth of vouchers, but it could be worthwhile paying the odd £1.79 for a one-off voucher when the saving from the voucher is going to be more than that:
Not all vouchers require a subscription though, but whether it’s a premium voucher or not, once you’ve logged in, you can go through to redeem the voucher using the code or barcode shown when paying at the retailer/restaurant.
Merchant coverage
One problem with locally-based services such as these is the amount of offers available in smaller locations.
The big cities such London, Birmingham and Manchester are normally well catered for, but come to a small town or city such as Wolverhampton (which isn’t exactly a hive of good eateries, nightlife or shopping), and suddenly the coverage disappears. However, I’ve been very impressed with the merchants on offer through Vouchercloud, finding a variety of deals in the locality for places I’d never have thought would be offering such discounts.
Conclusion
All-in-all, this is a very slick app and it’s clear that a lot of work has gone into the production of the app, and probably more importantly, the network of merchants supplying the discounts. The one drawback is the poor communication of the need for a subscription which simply isn’t clear enough (and it’s impossible to find on the Vouchercloud website too). But it’s a free download, and there’s no obligation to use the premium vouchers, so I’d still recommend you give it a go.
Vouchercloud is available for the iPhone right now, with other platforms likely to follow soon.