AIBU to expect M&S 12 days of treats not to be this?

[Whatmeagain]

So I've been unlocking the M&S 12 Days of Sparks and after getting a bottle of bucks fizz on day 1 - pretty good compared to some others on another thread - I've had nothing but rubbish since. However today being the last day I hoped for something decent and instead got 20% of nightwear - which is a standard offer already available in store and online. Am I being unreasonable to think the offers through the 12 days of sparks should be something different to things available to everyone else already?

YABU.

All of this is available to anyone who shops at M&S, they just have to download a free app.

It's not like it's a special membership scheme that you pay for.

You got a free bottle of bucks fizz, that's nice, why are you expecting more for nothing?

Yes, I know that is the point. My point is how whiny people are because they didn't get free gin or something special.

Did everyone expect to get a free item every day for 12 days? I guess so as some people on here were saying on day 1 that they were going to wait until today and then go and get all 12 items at once! M&S would go out of business and they wouldn't have had enough stock of each item anyway.

The free gift on a day one was just a random computer allocation to each person. I got hand-cream, DP got Percy Pigs. The discounts were useful if you were planning to do some Christmas shopping in M&S in those categories anyway.

Give something to people for free and they still complain!

So you don't understand what everyone is talking about but here you are weighing in.

And it's hardly 'think of the poor company'. Times are tough for everyone, companies included. So imagine everyone gets a free bottle of gin. How is that going to go?

I wonder what the golden reward will be?!

I got free gin liquer (skips off smugly)

I got a free bottle of gin liqueur. One of those light up ones like a snow globe.
All the others have been rubbish (15% off loo roll 🤣) but I'm very happy with my free gin.

I didn't realise everyone got different offers! I got a free light up tin of teabags, I've stuck them in a hamper I've made for my mum.

I would have liked some money off dressing gowns if that was an option but got bras and socks instead. Oh well.

YANBU OP

We only have a foodhall near us so I only really buy food at M&S, but I do a regular shop both for me and my parents weekly (also used to do my grandparents shopping there) and only spend on food.

I wasn't expecting the Sparks Advent calender to be full of free foodstuffs every day but I assumed that the whole point of using my Sparks card meant that M&S gathered information based on my spending patterns and therefore would offer deals based on what I actually bought or just on specifically Christmas things.

Instead I got 20% off ladies clothing/nightwear/Jaeger/ Nobody's Child/ Light up candles/kids clothing; "up to 29% off" Samsung and 32% off a Tonies bundle.

Only a third of the offers I was given were either stuff I would buy (free shortbread on day 1; £1 off one of the light up shortbread lanterns) or were Christmas related (20% off Christmas trees/plants and 20% off Christmas gift wrap).

It is not entitled or bratty to think that if a store is doing a Christmas Advent giveaway then they should either ensure they are using the information they gather to tailor the offers to each person or make it generically Christmas stuff (maybe a couple of free Xmas things and then discounts across their Xmas range) rather than irrelevant stuff. I'd rather have had no Sparks Advent calender (as there is no expectation that companies must do a whole advent promo so it's not like anyone would be complaining they didn't offer one) than one that is totally useless as I feel like what is the point in using the program if I'm getting nothing from it?

They get all of my details/shopping info and I don't even get tailored offers based on my shopping pattern so what is the point? Sparks offers are few and far between for the rest of the year - I've had literally nothing for months - and it's not like they get you additional discounts like the Tesco clubcard or let you earn points/cashback like a Morrisons card or Asda's rewards app etc so I'm starting to wonder why I bother with it.

I got 20% off Nobody's Child today. I think it's a clothing brand but I've never heard of it!

I did get 20% off dressing gowns today!

Some people got free gin!

Free Percy bauble (not a Percy fan but would have passed it on) not in stock. Similar offers to you; Samsung, Tonies, etc. Today's offering was money off jeans and jeggings. Definitely wouldn't use. Not exactly tailored to my M & S shopping habits anyway.

The golden reward will surely make up for all -though rumour is that it might be a competition entry--

Mine are all shite. Just percentages of random stuff I don't want. The only free thing I got was a melting Percy pig chocolate thing and when I went it they didn't have them.

So I got 15% off dressing gowns in my 12 days and was a bit miffed to go in store and see 20% off all nightwear. That’s until I got to the till and found both discounts were taken off. Then I was pretty chuffed. So it looked like what was freely available was better, but then the 12 days was applied on top, giving me an advantage.
If it's extra then that is fair enough - just wish it said so. I wouldn't have posted here then. 😂Thanks for letting me know

My app updated last night, has now decided I missed day ten (I didn't) and had already opened day 12. Soooo no golden bonus for me then.

Because everyone has to be grateful for any old shite? Why?

The whole thing is a load of rubbish. A few random people can get a free gift, once in a while. Half the time they have run out of whatever it is. Nothing but a marketing wheeze, to generate more sales for them.

Beggars can't be choosers. If you're not paying for it then yes, you should be grateful for the free things you're offered. No-one is forcing you to take them if you think they're shit.

I got a pack of Percy pigs on day one and a variety of discounts that I’ll never use (Toni box for instance when they can see through my purchase history I buy teen school uniforms). Today, was a wee bit insulting - 20% off pants

But why offer people free things (or in M&Ss case 20% discounted things) they were never going to buy or are totally irrelevant? It doesn't increase their sales and makes customers think Sparks isn't worth using.

Like I said above 100% of my spending at M&S is on food and drink (well maybe 99.9% since I sometimes buy the odd birthday card while I'm there from the small selection by the tills).

Only 2 of the offers I got via the Sparks Advent were food related so the other 10 "offers" are useless - I'm not suddenly going to start buying clothes from M&S (and only within the next 10 days before the offer expires) just because they have given me a 20% discount, nor am I going to spend nearly £100 on a "Tonies" system just because it's 32% off RRP when I have no small children to give it too and have never bought child related things from M&S to make them think it is relevent to me ...

If, however, they had given me 20% discount for food and drink (eg 20% off bakery/wine/spirits/produce/ready meals/confectionary/Xmas range etc) and/or a few edible freebies (eg free Percy pigs, free Christmas chocs etc) every day then I would have definitely gone in to do my regular weekly shop and picked up a lot of extras I wouldn't normally buy so I could take advantage of the "rewards" and invariably spend more than the saving in the process.

In doing so they would have increased their sales and I would have felt like it was worth using the Sparks card (if I don't get tailored deals based on my shopping pattern, what's the point?) and so continue using it so they can gather more information on my shopping habits

Please remind me where I said that people should be grateful. It just seems like a weird thing to get annoyed over and moan about on a forum. If you get an offer and it doesn't suit you, move on ffs, not everything in life has to be tailored to what YOU want.

I got Bucks Fizz, a prize draw for some Snowman thing, and various discounts.

Not really worth it.🙄

I was super excited about the bottle of Buck's Fizz (love it) only to find out that they didn't have it in stock. The cashier actually laughed and said we haven’t had it for the last six weeks, never mind at least it's free.
All other offers were just minor discounts on stuff I don't buy

@melj1213

Totally agree with you

Whatttttttt.......?!