in suggesting that the Marks and Spencer Sparks card is the worst loyalty scheme ever

[JackandDiane]

1. YOu have to activate offers - requires WAY too much thought and planning
2. I just want money off things I buy fgs
3. that fucking ' have you swiped your sparks card' is surely mitigation for murder?

I don't even know where mine is.
I haven't even returned to the cafes after they stopped the coffee loyalty cards.
Costa or starbucks always get my custom now.

They sent me a card to my USA address and keep sending me emails about food offers. There are no m&s stores in the USA and they only ship clothes here

Cruzgal40

This was posted last April.

I must admit that i think they are missing a trick, and are probably too led by tight fisted accountants nervous aboyt free stuff.

The brilliant thing about M&S is that they have some really excellent food items and some good clothing items that could be used in conjunction with the card to get people to develop and reinforce an m&s habit. I would suggest free single high quality items for regular purchasers that are presented in store and show off high quality items..eg free small pressed cocoa bean bar with a lunch purchase or free gin bitters with £30 plus alcohol purchase, or free high quality cotton knicker pack etc They should be aiming for a 'fuck, these are good! no wonder I'm an M&S shopper' type reaction over and over again. This would reinforce brand, be distinctive and sought after and encourage use of the card. .which means more customer info.

once they have that customer info, good offer patterns will bubble up from behaviours. I think at the momemt the internal conversatio n is more like 'what have we got a lot of stock of? shall we get the card people to put it on offer' rather than the card people saying '60% of sparks card holders buy lunch once a week, and seek more fruit, we could get it to two or maybe four if we offer a health shake for sparks owners in Jan and Feb' and/or convert to clothes buyers if we offer a workout tee for buying more than 20 healthy lunches in Feb'

iyswim...!

and its still the shittest loyalty card out there

Someone from m&s needs to read this. The best one is nectar where eventually it equates to actual money off without waiting for a voucher.

I tactfully purchased some underwear the other day so managed to get 20% off. Otherwise it's a pile of crap the sparks card and I'm eagerly waiting for them to make a change in how they reward their customers!

This was posted last April.

And? Have all these problems magically resolved themselves?

People whinging about ''Zombie threads" make me stabby.

The electronic card in the app doesn't scan at the self service tills. I have way too many loyalty cards to carry them around with me in physical form.

They need one like John Lewis - I just scan my phone screen.

I love the Waitrose card - wander around on a sat, get nice food, pick up free paper, get a coffee for the walk home, lunch, paper, crossword, joy.
Nectar is good too as I can get money off shops or travel. Boots I like because sometimes you're about to spend £20 on wax strips and a stupidy expensive razor because the cheap ones wreck your legs and they're like - that's free!

SPARKS CARD SUCKS.

Yes the Sparks card is still shite.

I agreed with this thread when I read over 1 year ago...still haven't chucked my card out.

On the other hand, I do love my Waitrose card as Kittencatkins describes!

I only have the Boots one. The Holland and Barratt one I grew tired of and the superdrug one is crap IMO.

Dumped my Sparks card ages ago. It just seems symptomatic of M&S. Consider their customer surveys. I shop in the local Food store quite frequently and every now and again get asked to fill in an on-line survey. I did it the first couple of times because they get linked back to the staff member and the staff there are nice. But I gave up after it took longer to complete the survey than my actual visit to the store.

YANBU- was just talking about how bad sparks is today with a friend. WHAT AM I SAVING POINTS FOR CAN I ACTUALLY SPEND THEM??? someone please tell me

I have asked so many staff members what the points are for and they just don't know.

The last one I spoke to admitted she thinks it's really poor and people are totally confused by it.

Waitrose, Costa, Boots, Tesco, Sainsbury's I can make good use of, Sparks I just cannot understand so I've binned it.

The Sparks card is shite but annoyingly I can't quite get rid of it as I occasionally save money with it. It doesn't make me feel happy or grateful that I've managed to save money it just makes me very slightly less frustrated.

The amount of emails is ridiculoud and totally excessive and the 'personalised' offers are a joke. It's as though they are taunting me with useless offers.

I'd rather not have it and for M and S offer simply to use and simple to understand offers to everyone. (And while they are at it they should ban all the 3 for 4 and 2 for 1 but only on a Sunday if it's not raining type of offers. I DONT want to have to buy more than I actually want. The multi buy offers are restrictive.
I don't want my shopping trips to be a test of my observational and mathematical skills. It's all too bloody complicated.

ANNOYING X a million.

Absolutely the worst loyalty card ever! I feel like I have to keep collecting the points just in case it ever improves but right now there is zero point! Have 000's of points and the best offer they have is 5% off croissants?!?! I don't even like croissants!!! 😩 It's useless!!!!

Just got my Sparks card and thought I would take up the offer of the cream tea for 2, but can I find which branch actually does it ~ can I F*ck !

I just went and got measured and spent 50 quid on new bras. Got home and checked my email and in the 20 minutes it took to drive back they'd sent me a Sparks 20% off lingerie offer. They did the same thing for jeans shortly after I bought a pair of jeans a few months back.

It's not a loyalty card, it's a trolling device.

But they shall not win. I've accepted the offer and tomorrow I'm returning everything to rebuy it with 20% off.

Yes I know I'm petty and need to get out more but it's a chuffing tenner!

"The Sparks card is shite but annoyingly I can't quite get rid of it as I occasionally save money with it. It doesn't make me feel happy or grateful that I've managed to save money it just makes me very slightly less frustrated. "

This sums it up perfectly.

Got 20% of a watch the other day (emergency purchase) but I just felt grumpy about it as I'd grumpily handed over my card when asked by the cheery person at the till.

And I got £5 of £35 food that I forgot to use... so I'll probably never get given that again.

I got a sale preview and they couldn't fulfill my order - but waited 10 days to tell me!!

I chucked mine a few months ago, I don't understand how they could get it so consistently wrong.

Boots is great, as is Waitrose. Nectar was great but has become stingier.

Sparks, I swipe for the charity. No other reason. It's nonsense.

It's best to keep things simple. Money off without having to log in, or occasional freebies. Better still, points to spend.

Come to the conclusion the M&S sparks card is a way of mining data off its loyal customers for essentially fuck all back.

Unlike Sainsbury's - I got a whack of money off a Dyson vacuum cleaner @ Argos - thanks to Nectar. Tesco and Boots have also got it sorted.