Are any parties proposing to look into this two tier pricing that supermarkets do?

[GordonBlue]

I know that it wouldn't be as much of a concern but for the wider issue of the tories bankrupting the country, but it still sucks ass.

I go to Ireland a lot, and my Tesco club card does not work there, so I have to pay significantly higher prices in Tesco there. I think that is shitty, and I think the whole arrangement is shitty, and brings no benefit to the customer (obviously) but exists purely to increase prices for the store (obviously) in a way that many people, as this thread proves, are foolish enough to be totally accepting of.

Alternatively follow the example of my elderly relative(90).
He doesn’t have a club card as no computer/mobile/email or ‘any of that new fangled stuff’.
He shops at Tesco and after goods are scanned he asks people behind if he can use their club card. He gets cheaper prices and they get points so it’s a win win.

I must point out he lives up north where people are generally friendly and helpful, so it might not work in other parts of the country.

They don't bump up the price of the item and then fake discount it to the normal price. There's strict laws about it, they have to prove they were selling that box of Frosties for £4 for quite some time and are now discounting to £3.50. if they were selling it at £3.50 non-doscounyed, just a couple of weeks ago, they're not allowed to claim that £3.50 is a sale price.

I can't recall the lead time but it's definitely there.

Also, everything is fucking expensive now, so it makes it worse. Because a box of Frosties never used to cost £3.50 let alone £4!

That would be a matter for Trading Standards and existing legislation

All that I’ve seen show both the standard full price and an alternative club/member price.
When using scan as you go the display highlights savings, and when at the till or self scan the higher standard price is displayed until the club/member card is scanned then reductions are highlighted

Why do mners seem to think that the elderly the poor and the vulnerable are unable to think for themselves? Many elderly people have smartphones, I have several Facebook friends in their 80s. They are perfectly capable of going about their daily business just like everyone else..
Why would 2 tier pricing penalise poor people? Are they not allowed a nectar card? Are they deemed too thick to work out how to get one?
"It penalises visitors from abroad " why would you worry about a loyalty card when you're on holiday?
Its the same with people who have started complaining about self scan. It's been around for donkeys years, it's quick and easy, yet all of a sudden its become a problem

That's true for some products but not for others. Cheese springs to mind, where there have been offers on certain types of cheese where often it is the only one of it's type available.

It isn't, despite always trying to work the systems myself, I've never been that happy with the whole loyalty card system in the first place. This just makes it even worse.

I'm surprised the government hasn't looked into it under the competions act, all stores have to be able to make a profit individually (this was brought in to help independent businesses so supermarkets can't run shops at a loss).

What I want as a customer is to go into a store feeling like what I'm paying (the standed price) is a fair and reasonable price for the item I need. I feel the same about everything I buy, clothing to as there are so many Sales now I honestly feel I'm being ripped off if I've had to pay full price for an item. But this is just how large stores marketing has gone over the years. They off course are still making a profit on reduced items most of the time.

Boohoo you can't save 30p on a pack of ridiculously overprocessed cheese strings... You're still welcome to go and buy actual cheese. Any other kind of cheese processed product

Nobody, not one single person, complained about the fact tourists weren't able to benefit from vouchers from club cards... But now? All of a sudden it's a human rights issue or something 😂

But loads of places do loyalty schi, even my local butcher has a stamp card for every £10 spent. Get 10 stamps, get a free pack of sausages...that kind of thing.
Is anyone complaining about that? No. Is anyone complaining about the fact that I can get a free portion of chips from McDonald's, because I use the loyalty app and tourist's can't? No.

So, yes, then - the point I was making, thanks.

Seems bizarre to me. This isn't for our (consumers) benefit, it's for the shops profitability so I don't understand why everyone would rather defend big businesses than their fellow shoppers. I can only think that it's because they think they are clever enough to see through the system and not be affected by it. They're wrong, as just about any study into this or human psychology will tell you.

https://www.gov.uk/cma-cases/loyalty-pricing-in-the-groceries-sector

But processed strings if cheese are hardly essential are they? If you're choosing to buy them, then great.
I fail to see what the issue is. you pay £2.50 for Cheesestrings 48 weeks of the year, but now it's incredulous and discrimination to not pay £2.20 for the other 4 weeks?

Just don't buy that junk food that week if you're really upset about it, or buy a different kind of processed cheese product that week .or just pay the £2.50 you are happily paying most of the year...

I could get worked up if they did it to things like...4 pints of Tesco milk, a 250g bag of generic carrots, or half a dozen own brand eggs ... But they don't do that, do they? 99% of CCP are on branded, luxury, ultra processed, non-essentials that have a readily available cheaper alternative sitting right next to it.

Well, of course it's not for the customers benefit... Why should it be? They're a business in the business of making money.
There's no obligation to do so.

They're not a charity.

99%? Did you know that 85% of statistics are made up on the spot?

You haven't really explained why you are defending this. Would it not be better if everyone paid the same price for stuff? Would it not be easier if we didn't have to sign up for loyalty cards just to get the same prices that we used to get before?

As I said already, none of this is for our benefit. Some people will like to believe they are winning, but they're wrong. Why are so many people willing to bend over just for the small rush of seeing a 30p discount on something that makes them feel clever or special, or that they are getting some kind of a bargain (when they really aren't in the bigger scheme of things).

I won't shop in a supermarket that has two tier pricing

Why are you banging on about cheese strings @WittiestUsernameEver ?

I don't know it they still have them in the Tesco stores as I've not been in one since before covid, but you used to be able to pick up a temporary club card at the till to swipe for your points and offers and then if you had a club card at home you just kept the receipt and took it to customer services to get your points the next time you were in. Or if you wanted to sign up then you'd fill the form in at home and using the number on the card send it off and they'd add the points to your new card and send it back to you. Don't they have them anymore? I was always offered one at the till if I'd forgotten mine

becasue some PP mentioned them as some sort of gotcha for the CCP "problem"... because for a few weeks of the year they are reduced and there's no other equivalent available...

My only issue is when I forget to scan my card and the checkout lady doesn't ask if I have one (because she's human and forgets occasionally like I do) then I get home and realise I've paid double for something, despite having a loyalty card.
Also, it's not always non-essentials at all! Just 30 mins ago I bought milk from the co-op and for co-op card holders, it was £1.50. Had the lady not reminded me about my coop card then it would've been £1.80. Ok it's only 30p more but it adds up when you're buying a lot of things

becuase..it doesn't matter that you cant; get 30p of a particular luxury/branded product for lack of a loyalty card. The shops are under no obligation to reduce food through sales. They're under no obligation to do anything other than make money for their shareholders.

Noone is going hungry because they can't save 50p on a tube of Pringles or Birds Eye Fishfingers or a 12 pack of Quavers - there are dozens of alternatives that are cheaper. And if there really isn't a genuine alternative.. it will be because it will be a ultra-processed junk food item that nobody is entitled to a discount to. There's no obligation at all from the supermarkets to open this offer to everyone. None.

People happily give their data away to Disney, Apple, Google in order to access premium products. People merrily have their loyalty card stamped at a local cafe and enjoy the benefits of a free cup of tea every few months or so ... This is the same thing, give your data away to access a discount on a premium product.
Don't want o give your data away? Fine, buy the cheaper item sitting next to the CCP item and move on.

the offers are only ever in branded non-essentials
Incorrect. Coop card holders get discount on milk, bread, salad etc. I was in my local coop half an hour ago

but you'd have had to pay £.180 if there was no loyalty scheme anyway, so what's the problem?

but you'd have had to pay £.180 if there was no loyalty scheme anyway, so what's the problem?

But there is a scheme and she's wise enough to be in it

You get discount without it too... buy 2 packs of Sausages for £6 instead of £6.90.

So, get the discount anyway - or get more if you want to sell your data... who cares?