PYE Pajamas- Free gift coupon. But it is NOT really free!
 

Went today to the Pacific Place PYE shop, to quickly redeem my coupon for their ‘gift’. Upon arrival, I was greeted by a most unpleasant male shop assistant (A rarity in service-orientated Hong Kong). Who insisted that I look around and when I bought anything he would take HKG$500 off the cost of the item (The value of the coupon is HKG$500) NO mention of any free gift. Upon questioning and re-questioning about the so-called free gift (handkerchiefs); he begrudgingly agreed, but then started to make me fill-in a long form. I was in a hurry and very late for a lunch appointment, at this time; so I declined and left. I didn’t even bother to retrieve my coupon. Be warned! Such a waste if time.

You were offered the chance to exchange the coupon for handkerchiefs without payment so it sounds free to me.

Are you based in Hong Kong? It doesn't sound like it. To be honest, this is absolutely what I would have expected! These "offers" (of all kinds) in Hong Kong are NEVER as easy as they sound. For example, I was in Discovery Bay a few weeks back and saw a sign on a restaurant that if you ate there you got a free ferry ride (or in our case, bus ride). You "just have to show your reciept" said the server. Well, no. You actually had to go and queue up at some booth somewhere inconvenient, and get a voucher which you could then redeem (only if it was a certain number of minutes since you ate, or something stupid). I tried to hand over my receipt on the bus and got pretty much laughed off the bus.

I got a voucher from (I think it was) American Express for a HKD2000 "free gift" for a leather shop in IFC. So I made the effort to go there (because in my mind HKD2000 is a lot of money, and so would be worth it) and I found there was NOTHING, absolutely NOTHING, in the shop of that price. Meaning that to redeem my "gift" I would have had to buy something unwanted for a huge sum of money.

And so on and so forth. HK really knows how to give gifts that are not gifts. These days I try to ignore them!

I think that you have a misconception about HK. Efficient indeed, But with smiling, friendly sales force ? Maybe you should ask Mainland Chinese what they think of HK shop assistants.
Anyway, this is a real gift of a beautiful top-quality handkerchiefs. You should not fault the shop assistant for trying to get you to rather buy some other expensive stuff at a 500 discount. Nor should it be unexpected that they ask you to fill a form for their database which will send you commercial emails.

Maybe we have a different understanding of the term "handkerchief"? For me they are things to blow your nose, wipe your hands, mop the sweat from your brow, or, (hopefully not too often, and obviously not when they have been used for any of the above!) offer to a lady to dab the tears from her eyes. I would expect HK$500 to give several lifetimes' supply! I still have plenty of plain white cotton ones that my grandparents gave me back in the 1970s, and they're doing the job just fine.

I am sure that there are many clothing items that "do their job just fine". And I admire you for having retained all your plain white cotton ones; I keep losing them.

Each of us have different clothing tastes and appreciation of luxury. PYE is an expansive brand. Their box of six different-style top-quality chiefs is beautiful, and I find them both elegant and useful. And certainly worth 500. Having earned several dozens of the PYE "gifts", I have used some of them to buy expensive shirts or T-shirts at a discount, but many of them for the handkerchiefs! I have several boxes everywhere I reside and offered a few to my male friends. I love them.

I'm going to have to defend for them. Their service is excellent. There is a reason why they want a customer profile. Every time I go, it is a seamless experience! And i LOVE their shirts!!!

I would get 10 for EUR 5, without having to go into HKG town.

These hankies last long and either get lost or end up stuck in bicycle chains .......

I have probably bought 50+ shirts at PYE in the last several years, and have used about 20 of the Cathay coupons to get $500 off of each. However, depending on the price of the shirt my 15% discount at the store gave a greater dollar off than the $500 cert (you can use either offer, but not both). I have also redeemed half a dozen of these coupons for the free handkerchiefs, and I find these to be of good quality as well.

So, in sum, I have found the Cathay PYE coupons to be of good value to me. I'm still holding onto six coupons, and am just waiting for the spring release of the new fabrics at the store; then, I'll order some new shirts.

If I read that right you sometimes spend HK$3000+ on a shirt???

Wow!

I feel we must be talking about different things here. What, to you, is a "handkerchief", and what do you use it for?

I recently attended a show in Macau - "Dancing Waters" or something like that. They offered a free photo if you were in the higher priced seats. So we posed for the photo and after the show went to pick it up. There were selling sets of souvenir photos, or you could just pick up your free photo. The free photo was about 1/2 inch by 3/4 inch, worth a good laugh.

But back on topic, PYE sells expensive shirts (and expensive pajamas). I went there with my 500 HKD coupon, looked at the shirts, and found that they cost way more than I have ever spent on a shirt. So I happily took the box of handkerchiefs as a consolation prize. It was "really" free, I paid nothing.

PYE shirts are very cheap for the quality of their fabrics and I have around 50 pieces at home - their casualwear is great too. I go through 15-20 CX vouchers a year with them. They frequently do special offers (but you cannot use the CX voucher) - spend $3800 and get a free robe, or a free sweatpants + hoodie combination.

We all have different spending patterns and so don't criticize a brand for offering shirts that are higher than your budget. We assume people who are CX F customers to have a higher appetite for luxury spending!

But judging from what many F passengers wear and bring on board, I wouldn't be surprised that many find PYE to be expensive.

Personally I don't have any work shirts cheaper than PYE (and many more expensive than PYE) and I wouldn't go to work (or holiday) with a bag that isn't Hermes or Berluti ...