Disappointed that Longleat no longer accepts Blue Light Card.

[Dietcokeimonmyknees]

Longleat safari park no longer accept blue light card.. I’m so disappointed. They only accept emergency service ID now. I work in education and can’t only assume I no longer fit the bill 😒

Sounds like your immune system is very low. To work around children and be that poorly still is unusual

This. Not buying it that public sector workers are low wage in general. Better pay rises than most in the private sector and a healthy pension, with cast iron job security.

It's not some altruistic reward for being a better person, it's a commercial marketing scheme where businesses joined in because they thought they'd make enough in increased sales/footfall to make it worthwhile - and it was extended to try and pull in more commission/income for the business itself as a result.

People complaining that they are the real workers deserving of this referral scheme with very little difference between it and using Quidco for clickthrough commission or using an affiliate link from an Instahun are gatekeeping being used as a product.

It's not some altruistic reward for being a better person

Except that they market it as exactly that.

From their front page

"We want to show real appreciation for your service, bringing together a community of frontline workers that feel valued and supported."

Exactly - marketing.

It's how to get people to buy into something they may not ever use - to appeal to them as being part of a special group of special people and the way to be recognised as this special person is by buying into the scheme so that the company gets a cut from their purchases.

I don't think it's gatekeeping. Nobody would care about the Blue Light scheme if it was coming out of the retailers' profits but it isn't. We are subsiding it.

I don't even think most people would mind subsidising actual blue light workers like paramedics.

I don’t understand why one group are deserving of discounts yet others also front line, also working with vulnerable people aren’t - I’m in that second category. I get those in really dangerous positions getting help with certain things eg my dc is military and can book me a hotel at a good discount to visit, but when teachers got blue light it did aggrieve me because I’m just as front line

Who is 'we'?

It's a marketing scheme. The company make money from people signing up and through deals with various brands to give them a cut in exchange for a discount designed to imcrease sales. Same as any other.

To think that it's taxpayer funded shows how effective-misleading the advertising is. People think it's something to be protected from others getting recognition when its not deserved - when it's actually them being the product - blue light's product is people. Well, people deciding where to spend their money in the belief that they are being acknowledged and rewarded rather than being sold to.

We is the other customers, not taxpayers.

Again, it's not about recognition. It's about other customers subsidising the discounts for the individual retailers.

If you think the retailers absorb the cost of giving these discounts then it shows how well the marketing has worked on you...

The companies that provide BL with their commission? It's not a bunch of random HCAs' and Call Operators' fivers that props it up, it's the massive fucking companies that pay shitloads in return.

You don't seem to understand what I'm saying but I can't put it any more clearly.

They have affiliate partnerships and receive commission based upon the numbers that buy through them because of the discount. The members aren't funding discounts for bluelight to pay the retailers the difference.

With the BLC scheme, isn’t the discount in effect subsidised by the other customers who are paying full price?

This. Nothing to do with Covid. As soon as they let teachers get one, tons of companies withdrew from the scheme.

Private dentists can’t get a blue light card - only those that do NHS work

My colleague who's senior to me and paid a lot more seemed to have use of her husband's card. He was an electrician for the local NHS estate. It was slightly galling when she bragged that the same shoes we'd both bought from Clarks were £20 cheaper for her.

Most dentists do both, so you can be earning a fortune and seeing some nhs patients, and getting the card.

Your average self employed practice dentist earns £75k-£100k. Why do they deserve a discount card? Is their work more deserving than the people who clean their patient rooms? Than the lecturers who trained them? The people who serve them in shops? The whole thing is nuts.

“Whether working in the NHS or private practice, dentists contribute significantly to patient wellbeing and preventative care. Blue Light Card recognises their commitment”

I think earning £100k is enough to "recognise their commitment"!!

Yes they can. All dentists on the register can get it, regardless of if they do NHS work or not.

I used to work in a private practice as a dental nurse.

Then how come I’ve always had to provide proof of my NHS income?