Every year, they find themselves under the fir trees. Gift boxes are ideal for pleasing anyone by offering original activities. For more than 10 years now, this type of gift has been fashionable and still delights many people.
For birthdays, Christmas or even Mother’s Day, this is an idea that appeals to many buyers looking for inspiration. A romantic trip, a relaxing weekend or even thrilling activities, the boxes are varied and allow you to aim for the right target each time, provided you make the right choice.
However, the brilliant idea can sometimes turn out to be less good than we thought. Indeed, these offers are limited in time and it is quite common that they end up being forgotten, until the expiry date is reached.
This is particularly what happened to Julien, a young Ile-de-France resident. “A few years ago, for my birthday, I was bought a discovery box which gave me access to a large number of activities, ranging from a flight in a microlight to rafting and hot air ballooning.”, recalls -he.
“At the time, I was quite fond of this kind of activity and I was therefore happy to receive this gift which would allow me to experience new sensations. But when I looked at the list of activities I discovered that all the ones I was really interested in were across the country. I thought it was a shame not to use it to do what I really liked, so I decided to keep it for more later, when I go on vacation,” says the young man.
Fortunately, companies offering this kind of activity such as Smartbox or Wonderbox generally allow the validity period to be extended. “After several months, I decided to extend my box to avoid losing it. However, as the years passed, I finally could never find the time to use it, and my gift ended up falling in the oblivion, until it becomes unusable”, regrets Julien.
There are many testimonials like this and many gift boxes have ended up lost, with no hope of being reimbursed. This is why when making this type of gift, it is important to check that the activities really appeal to the person but also that they are accessible. Without that, that gift might just turn out to be wasted money.
But in other cases, like for Catherine, it is by carrying out one of the activities that surprises slip into the box.
“My relatives tended to give me boxes for Christmas, dinner for two, romantic getaway or other,” says Catherine. If she confides that “most remained at the bottom of my closet for lack of time and forgetfulness”, she still found the time to be able to reserve one. However, not everything went as planned.
Indeed, at the time of the experience, the couple decides to extend for one more night, at their expense. “What we were not told, and which was not explained on the box, is that the friendly price of this night in addition did not include dinner, normally provided by the box. However, we had ate out of spite in the hotel restaurant rather than in town because we thought it was included in what we had paid in addition… We didn’t know until the next day that it wasn’t not the case,” she laments.
Offering a gift box for Christmas therefore remains risky even if many people appreciate their experience. One thing is certain, it is important to choose the ideal box to be sure to please.
As Pauline Corre, public relations manager at Wonderbox, explains to us, when you want to offer a gift box to a loved one, it is important to ask yourself several questions: “Is he in a relationship or single? How old is he? Do I know his tastes well or not really?”
This allows you to refine searches and choose the ideal box for your loved one. “If you know the tastes of the recipient well, choose the theme directly that will please him for sure!”. Finally, she adds “take the drama out of the choice of box, our Wonderboxes are exchangeable for free, so your recipient can opt for a box with another theme if they wish.”
