M&S feeling the pinch ?

I'm viewing the silver lining on that as upgrading sizes when I need to rather than playing guess what the DCs will need to bulk buy at a discount ahead of time. I will buy what I need there anyway in due course. I'll stick with them for their fit options and quality.

They aren't doing their usual 20% off school uniforms this year. I think they have had a really bad year and are just trying to keep going.

On a tangent, but since we’re gathered here 😁. The best customer service from M&S was about 20 years ago when their tills stopped working for about 10m or so and when they finally sprang back into life (I think I hung around as I was buying my office lunch there), and I asked how much, they said it’s free because of the wait! For some reason I’ve always remembered that and now as a wrinkly 52 year old it just make me happy lol.

I can get into my sparks account but I can't use sparks pay to pay which is annoying

Yes. The offers are presumably subject to availability and terms subject to change. Given the entire company was in melt-down, I do think it was generous to address the fears of a handful of CFs panicking over a free Colin the Caterpillar.

That's your definition of "beyond generous"?
That people who happened to have their birthdays then weren't unfairly penalised for something that wasn't their fault?

Firstly big companies don't offer these "treats" to be generous at all - they solely do it to make more money, with the aim of enticing people in with a discount/freebie with the hope they'll spend more money.

Secondly honouring their own terms and conditions (i.e once they've advertised rewards including a birthday treat to encourage people to sign up for their loyalty card they have to then provide those rewards) for something that was their fault in the first place is the bare minimum I'd expect, hardly "generous" at all, let alone so exceedingly kind that it goes above and beyond all expectations.

Chip on your shoulder much?

I never said anything about M&S being “wonderful”. I don’t shop there. OP was asking a question relating to her expectations of an equivalent birthday “treat” from them to previous years and I simply pointed out that the recent cyber attack is likely to be a significant factor in why that hasn’t happened.

Yes, I got the prompt to change the password, changed it and then nothing worked.

I have received a £10 gift card and a three month extension on my delivery pass. I didn’t expect either so am pleasantly surprised. Normal online customer, no insurance or credit card with them.

They stopped it years ago, apart from customers that already had it, I had the one with travel insurance originally then they did a new card which was the same but no insurance. As we didn't go abroad much, I chose to have no insurance for a cheaper monthly fee.

In any well organised business, heads would have rolled for being so unprepared for a cyber attack and causing such major problems. After all, when anyone queries the huge salaries for ‘management’ they always trot out “we have to pay that for the best people”.

From reading the computer press articles, I gather that the top management dealt with the hackers by telling them to eff off. (or words to that effect) Not the brightest way to deal with a huge threat. The threat was very real as it turned out. As far as I know, to date, nobody has been sacked.

If you personally feel that M&S are so wonderful, keep putting money their way. I feel they lost the plot many years ago, and now spend very little with them compared to ten years ago.

I can find an M& S credit card that offers free travel insurance?!

Aside from branding and a few tie up promotions it has very little to do with M&S. The M&S Bank has been a wholly owned subsidiary of HSBC for more than twenty years. They pay for the branding to fool customers into associating their goodwill towards the shop towards the bank and its products.

So M&S Bank won’t be feeling any pinch.

I think you have to have the right card, there are a few different one, mine is a rewards card which you pay £10 a month for and you get vouchers, a birthday voucher and hot drink vouchers, no travel insurance, OP probably has a different one with this and also travel insurance included, probably a higher fee, there will also be one with no monthly fee but no vouchers, gifts, drinks etc.

I have had a marks card for 11 years, never got posh birthday goodies.

The first time I tried to log in after the attack there was a prompt to reset my password. Took about 2 mins in total. Everyone that I've spoken to has had the same. Have you tried to log in and click where it says reset password?

They’ve missed out on millions in sales in the cyber attack. Surely they need to make savings elsewhere to offset some of the damage - like not doing the uniform discount this year.

I wondered if they’d even survive.

It’s a bit like losing your job for something 6 months and your mate complaining you can’t come to the fancy restaurant for a while.

I received a £5 gift card last week as a thank you because my online order got messed up when the cyber attack hit. I was happily surprised by this and very grateful.

Although it doesn't help my account is working. Also I've never got anything for my birthday and have been an account holder for over 40 years, 😥

Wah.

Why doesn’t your account work? Mine does. Did you change your password when advised?

Are we sure they’ve suffered huge losses? Wouldn’t they be insured to some degree to cover the losses?

i do think margins are tighter across the board.

Newcastle shop is chockablock with clothes…both summer and autumn styles. When the cyber attack first started there was quite a few food item not in stock but they seem to have all come back now.
Had lots of useful sparks offers on my card last couple of weeks.

All hail M&S…I personally love the place!

YABU and a bit grabby. It's a business not a charity. What other business gives away stuff like that in this day and age?! You've already said you're getting your money's worth from the travel insurance, surely anything else is a bonus?

They have suffered huge losses this year due to the cyber attack. So yes I expect they are feeling the pinch.

No online sales for months and less stock in stores too - i love M&S and hope they manage to get back on track without closing stores and, therefore, losing staff.