Discounts for blue light cards

[Desperatetimes2020]

This possibly makes me incredibly mean spirited, but I am getting really cross at seeing so many retailer - both national and local falling over themselves to give discounts to all blue light card holders. My friend is in the police and has been working from home the entire time with less work do do than normal. My BIL is a senior doctor who again is the quietest he has been in years. They both agree they should not be singled out for these privileges. So effectively retailers are giving discounts to those whose incomes have not been affected and are in the most secure jobs for the future. When probably about 20% of those are deserving. It's all just for PR..

Am I just a miserable cow?

[BanginChoons]

Yeah you are mean spirited. Much of the NHS/essential workers are low paid. And also surely it makes sense for businesses to promote business from those with a secure income.

[Undomesticgodde55]

Blue light discount isn't new though, it's been around for years. It includes military, NHS and emergency services. The discounts have always been there it's just more highlighted at the moment.

[DurhamDurham]

I agree that many of the discounts have always been there, it's just good publicity for businesses to highlight it right now. If it doesn't make any difference to you I don't know why it bothers you.

[WaterOffADucksCrack]

It helps us working in care homes on minimum wage a lot. I don't know why people would begrudge us discounts on things we probably can't afford anyway! I haven't got mine yet as I haven't had a spare 5 pounds. Our employer is reimbursing it but I just don't have it in the first place.

[plunkplunkfizz]

It would be nice if retailers found a way to extend the benefit to other key workers. Carers are some of the lowest paid workers but don’t seem to be covered by the scheme.

[Undomesticgodde55]

Do you feel the same about student discount? Most of the discounts are the same just under a different name.

[BrokenBrit]

YABU.
Blue light isn’t a covid scheme, it’s been around for years.

I am surprised your police friend has been working at home the entire time with no work , unless you mean they are admin or something rather than a police officer?
Also many doctors are not super quiet. Maybe your BIL could volunteer to assist his juniors and colleagues if he’s got nothing to do.

I am getting sick of all these bashing threads at the min. Teachers/ police/ NHS oh yes all lazy and entitled .

[Alsohuman]

So your friend and Bil just don’t use their discount if they disapprove of it, OP. How bloody mean spirited to try and stop others having it. No retailer is being coerced into offering it.

[mumtumdocare]

Yes YABU. Blue light cards and schemes have been round for years. So lovely that they support those who are saving the lives of the public.

[C130]

You should be asking yourself why it bothers you.

[Desperatetimes2020]

Yes, I thought I was probably bring a mean cow - however it doesn't stop it from annoying me. Feels like they are all jumping on a bandwagon.

And btw my police friend is not admin - very senior and specialist work, and my bil is not allowed to just decide he wants to change his role - that's not how it works!

I shall carry on being a grump on my own

[Desperatetimes2020]

And where did I say lazy and entitled???

[Oopsydaisynotagain]

.... are you jealous? Surely that could be the only reason it bothers you?

[EmbarrassedUser]

@Desperatetimes2020 Yes you are mean spirited. These are people who are saving lives and deserve to be rewarded. Stop moaning about 20%.

[Lougle]

It's in the interests of the businesses to offer the discounts - the NHS is pretty much the largest employer in the country. They are securing business by offering a small discount.

[WaterOffADucksCrack]

plunkplunkfizz Carers are covered now.

OP your friend doing "senior and specialist work" is likely to be paid a lot more than officers on the beat who are very busy. Perhaps they could give some of their salary away?

[EnthusiasmIsDisturbed]

What bitterness

The card has been around years

Many will earn very low wages

Many of the discounts are a marketing ploy never have I got cheaper insurance etc from using these sites

[Doihavetogotoworkdotcom1]

Bravissimo is giving us 50% discount on any bra. I’ve used this discount and I’m very great full for it.

[GoodGirlGoneBadd]

Yabu. Most public sector jobs are low paid and we get no other perks, i.e. Christmas bonus.

[BrokenBrit]

It’s the implication OP. You are saying they have a discount which you don’t feel they deserve - entitlement. You say they are not doing any work and have nothing to do while being on full salary - implying they are lazy. Also I wasn’t just talking about your thread, but many that are cropping up insulting such professions at the moment. It’s a very difficult time for many of us without people moaning about a scheme that has been around for years.

Plenty of NHS staff have changed role during this crisis, surgeons have been working on medical wards.

If you want the discount card, loads of positions are going at the min, you could always retrain.

[foamrolling]

If it makes you feel any better, the blue light card is shit. I had one and I found most of the deals were similar to other deals companies already offered and you couldn't have both at the same time - for example you can't use the blue light card when buying a family cinema ticket because its already discounted. If you use the blue light card to just buy individual cinema tickets it brings everything down to the same price as the family ticket. I ended up never using mine. So all the people working for low or minimum wages in the emergency services aren't getting anything special. Hopefully that gives you a nice warm fuzzy feeling!

[Snoozysnoozy]

I told a military discount card. If you look hard enough the same discounts are available in various ways all over, think wowcher, groupon even just signing up for a shops email notifications will often give you a discount

[Undomesticgodde55]

I would suspect most companies have staff perks. Company cars? Shop discount? Gym membership? Discounted travel? That bike scheme that's been around a few years etc. Should the private sector stop doing this too to make everything "fair"?

[Wtfdidwedo]

We've used my husband's for a few years for new appliances and holidays through Eurocamp and Forest Holidays. I thought the discounts advertised have been worse than usual at the moment actually. Although I think more supermarkets are accepting them as ways of skipping the queues, which may explain the surge in applications that the BLC reported.

[Shelby30]

No j would say this is a discount I agree with. I get annoyed with student discount though.