... to be FED UP to my back teeth with store cards and loyalty points?

[PacificDogwood]

Just reduce your fecking prices FGS!

I received a Boots delivery yesterday. Nothing fancy, some emollients for DS2's skin, some deodorant, some shampoo, some san-pro - you get the picture.

£89 .
But apparently I "saved' £43 by taken them up on their '2 for 3' offer on some things and I 'earned' 1200 points.

We get buttered up by good sounding rhetoric of what we've 'saved' and what a 'bonus' the points are. When really all we're doing is do their market research for them.

TESCO is just as bad - I never spend vouchers in time (I clearly don't shop enough...).

I have a wallet full of store cards, yet when I am in a store I rarely have the one I 'need'. I don't shop anywhere consistently enough to every take advantage of their 'offers' (yep, I am a shop whore, but feel a deep and meaningful relationship with Lidl's coming on - what you see is what you get).

Big Shops, stopp your stupid schemes and Reduce Your Overheads, then pass those saving on to us!!

I have no 'brand loyalty' at all btw; I shop at Tesco because it's the closest shop.

Every now and then I do have a major cull (I feel on coming on - scissors at the ready ), but then I get sucked in again.

I would love to start a 'Cut your Cards Up' boycott - even without Tee

IME a lot a the big employers have horribly restrictive sickness absence policies that get implemented with more or less heavy-handedness by the managers on the ground. Call centres must be the worst...

I use all the cards but dont go out of my way to shop anywhere. I have no loyalty to any store. The best offer is the waitrose one. Spent nothing get free coffee or tea. Spend 5 pounds get free mail, telegraph etc even on a sat or sunday. Dont understand why anyone buys coffee or papers now....

Pacific, thats true, its just not nice around fresh produce, 48 hour rule is there to stop just things spreading, just no one seems to take notice of it.

What if an employee had a symptom all over the shop floor, ugh.

I just got a free stereo system with our tesco points...

But I don't shop in order to get points. I buy what I need at the price I'm willing to pay and hardly notice the points until I get my statement.

I very much like McDonald's coffee cards

SP....iirc the co op share out any end of year profits with members.
Due to the issues with co op bank (still no buyer afaik) there aren't any profits to distribute this year (unless you have used a co op partner like co op travel)
Although apparently they are doing a voucher between one and Xmas eve when you spend a certain amount and you can save all your vouchers and spend in one go (Xmas eve for example)
I use my co op quite a big for bits and bobs.

Think I have about £3 on my card

radiator, but your stereo was not free - you paid for it. With every shop.
This is what I mean: some clever marketing allows them to gather valuable market research information AND make us think they are doing us some kind of favour .

If the shop of your choice said "For every pound you spend, we'll credit you with 0.01p for you to save up and spend which ever way you want in order to allow us to keep information on how and what you shop" would you still think your stero was 'free'?

SP, don't go spending it all at once

Due to the issues with co op bank (still no buyer afaik) there aren't any profits to distribute this year (unless you have used a co op partner like co op travel)

I wonder if we will get points next year, as im a member of East of England Co op.

Along the same lines, I find the vouchers that Tesco do to be so frustrating when they are so short-dated. I know they are trying to force your repeat custom, but I don't have a particular day when I shop and a voucher that was valid for 8 or 9 days would be much more useful to me than one which expires in a week. Bit faced with £5 off voucher I can't resist making things fit their timetable.

Boots put such a massive mark up on everything that the advantage points don't always cover the difference.

Meant but not bit

It's the paper voucher shite and bit of plastic that pisses me off.

I never pay cash, only debit or credit card. Why the fuck don't you flag me on your system and apply the points and discounts as I pay ffs.

Tesc isn't so bad as it has a bar code so you can add it to a virtual key ring on a smart phone but boots is shite, you have carry the fucking thing. Mind you the tesco virtual one won't work in their petrol stations. Which is where I spend most money. Fuckers.

I love the way boots bleat on about having the most generous loyalty scheme on the high street. Yeah that's because you are by far the most expensive fucking shop on the high street. Have you seen the cost of spectacles there jeez.

Yy to everything you've said, DifferenceEngine.

And the whole '2 for 3' shite - Boots is annoying me big time with all their Christmas tat.

Just reduce your fecking prices and allow us buy 1 or 3 or 17 presents as required at a realistic price.

Feckers!

Points remind me of the tickets you get at the seaside. Spend a shit load of money to get these tickets to only afford a pencil

'Tis like glass beads to the 'natives'

Ooooooh, sparkly, free stuff

Well, I'm going to spend the money at Tesco (cheapest in my area) regardless so I may as well get something out of it.

Tee My points mean I pay £4 for a scooter. In my eyes its free as the who £20 isn't coming out of my bank so I'm happy with that. I have £1.50 saved already now for next Christmas

Oh, I spend my points too.
It just irks me. Big time.

I'm confused by co-op. Does that mean I own a tiny bit of them? Oh, I hope so. It sounds powerful

Nandos give you free chicken but I only have one stamp. I had a superdrug one but no idea where it is. I have an ikea one yet never go.

I think I just like having purse full

But what about the cases where they are the cheapest anyway, you might as well get points too.

We bought our car seat for DD, I shopped around and waited for the best deal. This just so happened to be from boots. Their they were cheaper than anywhere else, plus I had a 20% off voucher, then I got 10 points per pound on the price before the voucher. So about £10 in points.
In that case I didn't pay for my own points with the price being higher, boots were the cheapest.

Fatima, yes, on that one occasion you were quids in.
I suspect that the stores are looking at the Bigger Picture and are not helping us to shop more cheaply.

Tesco's 'Every little helps' jars with me every single time I hear/see it.

Yes, exactly Fatima.

I'm going to buy those things regardless. I need food and things to wash myself and others and so why not get a 'bonus' from it?

They're worthwhile if you spend the points. My son's getting a 'free' Innotab (bought with Clubcard points), I've got a 'free' £25 top on the way (some other points) and we've £150 of Nectar points we are looking forward to spending. Also £50 Boots points, I might treat myself this Christmas.

My mother gets thousands of Clubcard points and uses it on household appliances, a new hoover, a window vac and at Christmas she has enough to get herself something from Goldsmiths. She also got all my son's presents on it last year, so he had an expensive Lego set for nothing. And it is nothing, seeing as she earns the points for having a Tesco credit card, which they buy my dad's building supplies on. Everyone's happy.

Why would you complain about free stuff? Have it or don't have it. They aren't doing it to boost their prices, they're doing it so if you need something like bog roll or shampoo that can be bought anywhere, you're more likely to go there.