Discounts for blue light cards

[Desperatetimes2020]

This possibly makes me incredibly mean spirited, but I am getting really cross at seeing so many retailer - both national and local falling over themselves to give discounts to all blue light card holders. My friend is in the police and has been working from home the entire time with less work do do than normal. My BIL is a senior doctor who again is the quietest he has been in years. They both agree they should not be singled out for these privileges. So effectively retailers are giving discounts to those whose incomes have not been affected and are in the most secure jobs for the future. When probably about 20% of those are deserving. It's all just for PR..

Am I just a miserable cow?

Yeah, YABU and miserable. These blue light schemes have been around for years.

my bil is not allowed to just decide he wants to change his role - that's not how it works!

I think you’ll find that’s just how it works. An orthopaedic surgeon worked in ITU at our local hospital when admissions were at their peak. He said if he did some relatively unskilled work it took pressure off his specialist colleagues.

I left the NHS 30+ years ago, we got discounts back then. One retailer had a special evening in December just for NHS staff. We could get theatre tickets too.

Some local authorities have discounts for sports facilities to teachers.

While there are some well paid people in the NHS nost are not and it would be too difficult to make it just certain grades of staff.

It makes sense for businesses to offer discounts to repeat customers.

There are several discount cards around and I don't hold any as they are a bit of a con and merely a marketing tool.
People that I know that use them live in large urban areas so use them at restaurants etc.Not a lot of use ATM.
There are all sorts of 'discount' schemes like Groupon that anyone can join.

Yes, my job is secure. I know I will always have a job. Covid has made a difference to my job, I have cared directly for people who are infected although yes, I am not as busy.

I am a newly qualified midwife earning £6000 less than 6 years ago when I was a call centre team leader as well as now having student debt and credit card debt to get is through the 3 years. I will take every discount I can get!

I also use my NHS pass to get to the front of Tesco.

I will use all the perks I possibly can and I know all my midwife and nurse friends will too. I am sure lots of other professions too will feel the same!

I think I understand where you're coming from op, but it is just the businesses advertising themselves by jumping on the we love the NHS bandwagon. As pp's have said often this is not a new discount and no more than other available offers. My DH receives similar discounts when showing his football season ticket he also went to the supermarket just as the NHS hour ended and he said the shelves were empty as the staff were only just restocking for the day, he said they've just opened the shop early to pretend they were doing their bit for the NHS but really they were just opening the door whilst they restocked as usual.

The blue light and NHS discounts are a year round offering of a thank you for working for "us" nobody is forced to use it though, yes you are being mean spirited but not unusual you are just another I resent the police poster.

Wiaa, thank you for the well thought through reply trying to look at it from another angle.

I work in a specialist role in health care that hasn’t required me to be physically in and I’ve been working full time at home since lockdown (next week I can finally go back in). If it makes you feel any better I have felt horribly guilty that whole time because many of my colleagues have been in, and they have been really scared as they shifted roles and grappled with issues around PPE. I haven’t used any bluelight discount because I felt I didn’t deserve it.

I thought those schemes, well some of them have been knocking around for years? Many employers have discount schemes of some sort.

My company provides a service that is exclusively for key workers and we haven't given a discount. We can't afford to, and they CAN afford to pay us the normal rate.

It's all marketing really.

They have been going about years discounts for this or that place it isn't a huge deal well apart from the op " friends" who don't think they are deserving

Blue light card holders often work with some of the darkest and most horrific situations known to humankind.
Just because a copper is currently mostly working from home doesn't mean that at some point in their career they haven't been exposed to something devastating and with long-term potential for trauma.
As well as many of the essential services being chronically under funded, undermined, under supported and staff being subject to abuse and high risk daily, not just since Covid-19
many many jobs subject to pay freezes which will be even more rife now that the non essential workers have been propped up to do nothing for months whilst on a slightly reduced pay packet
Why should only students get discount when only the richest kids from elite backgrounds can afford to go to college.
Damn right emergency workers should get some perks.
Yes you are mean spirited op.

I always found better deals by shopping around than what you get with the card!

Police officers are not working from home they are on shift as normal.

I am surprised your police friend has been working at home the entire time with no work , unless you mean they are admin or something rather than a police officer?

Most detectives need to do a lot of desk work.

Most public sector jobs are low paid and we get no other perks, i.e. Christmas bonus

And not everyone in the private sector is a banker.

However the scheme has been around for ages sure my friends get Nando's discount

I'm an admin NHS worker. I am low paid and I work full time. I've worked every bank holiday this year except new years day. I've had no annual leave since November. I'm happy to take any blue light perk I can.

I have one of these cards and do use it although I agree with others, most of the discounts are available to all through other discount sites.

There are no bonuses or company cars etc in the public sector and our like for like salaries are usually lower too although but there are often other perks to being in public sector so you win some you loose some depending on which sector you work in. Of course you always have the choice which sector you work in so if you think the perks are better than you currently get you are more than welcome to apply for a blue light job.

You are of course very unreasonable for suggesting blue light workers have job security though. I've been at threat of redundancy three times in the last 10 years due to the last recession with spending only just beginning the increase in the last 12 months or so. It looks like the next recession is just around the corner...

You are being mean spirited. I'm a nurse and have been working 50 hour + weeks throughout this, stressed to the eyeballs with increased workload and not enough staff.

Yes, some NHS and other emergency staff have been working form home but a large number have been working their arses off I. Their place of work and Potentially exposing themselves to covid19 to keep others safe and get them well.

I think I deserved my 20% wool discount thanks very much. Oh and I got 20% off a parasol.

I think I deserve a bonus and decent payrise personally but have to settle for a discount.

I totally agree.

Especially at the moment when so many are on 80% wages or facing redundancy.

You are probably right to be sceptical of the motivation behind the blue light discounts being highlighted - it's currently being used as high-promenance 'virtuous' marketing for several companies who normally wouldn't be bothered offering this or it doesn't actually translate to anything which really inconveniences them in the slightest (empty gesture type stuff).

Even if it benefits some who have less work however, it also benefits those who are front line and working their socks off (often for shit pay!) so whilst it isn't the perfect way to target those working on the front line it's as good as they can do without a proper vetting scheme (which isn't really practical!). Do agree wish there was a way to truly benefit all those specifically risking their personal safety however whatever their profession.

I'm a 'key worker' (hate that phrase, surely everyone is key in their own way?) working behind the scenes in scientific / medical regulation. We are busier than ever, can't be furloughed, manic with childcare of a toddler etc. but I don't begrudge those with the discount. I am just grateful to be in my job, income safe, able to WFH as is my DH.

Wonder if hotel chocolat would let me get the 50% off though if I begged... 😂

The blue light scheme has been around for years and has nothing to do with Covid. You sound very mean spirited. The Police do a fantastic job as do all our emergency services. Stop concerning yourself with what others are doing.

Blue light cards have been around for ages, and as a PP has said, in reality most of the discounts for online stuff aren't much better than the discount codes you can find by googling anyway. How do you feel about student discount cards?