Do you think this fair, blue light discount?

[MrsWaltonGoggins]

I tried to use my blue light card in a restaurant today, and they say they only accept it now if you have an nhs or military id. They said this is because they have teachers using the blue light and they believe it should be for healthcare workers only. I said that I am a nurse, I just don’t work for the nhs and don’t really think that’s fair.

Has anyone else come across this? Surely if you offer blue light discount it should be for anyone with a blue light card.

It’s for anyone who has it, who are they to pick and choose the people who are allowed the discount?

Of course it’s unfair if they advertise offering a Blue Light discount. If they only want to offer a discount to NHS or military staff then just say that & require work ID instead.

i work for the police and i have a Blue Light Card, imagine how i feel when my card is not accepted because they only give discount to NHS!

That’s unreasonable of them. Bluelight set the discount criteria themselves, not the individual restaurant! Bluelight is for social care workers also.

Blue light card is for a range of front line professionals and the blue light card itself has a rigourous application process

Mmm. My sister passed the 'rigorous application process'. And her, me, my mum, our other sister and several of her friends all use the discounts.

It's a load of nonsense really. BLC is just a money making corporation with a couple of millionaires at the head, like any other.

I have a blue light card and didn’t know teachers etc got it. I work for the police. It would go against our standards of professional behaviour to show my work ID to validate the blue light discount.

Whole thing is ridiculous IMO

Exactly. It's just a business.

If the company accepts customers who are part of the Blue Light Card scheme then that includes all members who qualify for that card.

If a company just wants to offer discounts to something like veterans or paramedics only and no one else then they shouldn’t be part of the blue light scheme and just state that they offer discounts to veterans and paramedics only.

You can complain to the BLC scheme and report the company. You are paying a £4.99 yearly membership fee for the scheme so are entitled to a discount as a customer if available if a company has signed up to that scheme. As someone said above, it would be akin to a company offering a Student Beans student discount for its customers but only letting students who attend Russell Group unis only to get the discount.

Walk a day in my (primary teacher) shoes and tell me I’m not front line.

I used mine to get a small discount on a week long holiday that I am forced to take during the school holidays.

I think the problem is with the blue light company itself for widening the criteria of who can now get a blue light card. The name blue light implies emergency services but now practically anyone can get one. For example, teachers, nursery staff and childminders can now all apply for such a card and although all worthy professions, they are not what I would consider blue light.

I also believe a lot of the big discounts have been diluted because so many people can now get a blue light card.

Where did I say that we did that?
I said it’s not a fair scheme.
It doesn’t reward the most in need of discounts who work full-time.

Doctors don’t need a discount. There are plenty of low paid workers who do incredibly important jobs who do.

I said we just have to suck it up. It’s not an entitlement. It’s a nicety afforded to SOME.

Hope I’ve explained it well enough for you to understand this time

Many offers on the scheme have either been withdrawn or heavily reduced since teachers were allowed to join. I feel like a new, ‘real’ blue light scheme is needed!

Yep. They widened the criteria for their own ends, to get the extra business so that they can 'sell' the membership to the businesses that join, as well as to those that now qualify.

Companies like that are data driven, and they needed the numbers.

I don't have mine anymore, I usually just ask if places accept NHS cards.

How is that an abuse of the discount?

I'm a teacher who has a blue light card. Why can't I buy gift cards with the discount and give them as gifts to non blue light card holders?

If they're advertising that they accept a BlD then they should accept it, surely?!

I get it as a counsellor for a private mental health care organisation.. I don't use it often. Sometimes forget that I have it.

I’ve noticed a few companies are no longer signed up, Hush and Baikjen for instance

And people need to stop tying themselves in knots about needing to justify the public benefit or morality of their particular job role to get the discount or lament about not getting this discount.

It’s not that deep. The Blue Light Card Scheme is simply a private company offering a discount scheme to as many people as they can to maximise their profits and get more customers. It includes such a wide umbrella of jobs now, it will possibly be rebranded soon. It’s a private business, not an altruistic or philanthropic enterprise despite the feel-good name. They are not the morality police. It’s a discount card. A teacher or social worker getting 4% off a pair of trainers at JD sports is not coming out of anyone’s taxes.

It’s a fair point that the discounts will be diluted the more people sign up but it was always going to go that way anyway. All things eventually do. Companies want more profit and retailers are begging for more customers. They want as many people through the doors to buy their products or services. They couldn’t care less what you do or don’t do.

I’ve had it before - they ask for ID as people allow friends/family to download the app and use their log in on their phone to get discounts

I'm not sure fair or unfair is the right word really - its a private business so they can set what criteria they want - but if you feel the advertising or promotion is misleading, you'd be more than justified to leave some bad reviews or post on their socials to that effect.

Im a teacher, I tried to use mine at Nandos and was told I couldn't unless I'm NHS.

It's ridiculous, teachers work incredibly hard for basically minimum wage once you include all the unpaid work they put in. TAs are paid pennies.

Consultants in the NHS can receive triple figure salaries yet still get a blue light discount.

I really don't get the whole NHS superhero thing. Yes a few people are amazing but generally it's just people doing a job like everyone else.

TBH this has put me off Nandos.

Report them to the blue light scheme for not complying with what they signed up for and review them on trip advisor. They’re cheeky fuckers if they think they can benefit from the advertising they get from being part of blue light while imposing their own rules about who qualifies.

Front one NHS worker here. If you can get a blue light card under their criteria then you should be able to use it. It shouldn't the for individual businesses to say teachers can't use a discount they are entitled to. Businesses should stop using blue light if they have an issue who can access it or do their own discount for the police or NHS.

The blue light scheme covers quite a large chunk of the population now with so many employers & voluntary jobs covered that I can see how it can become unaffordable to some businesses. It's also off putting to the few customers that do pay full price & watch a whole queue of people getting a discount - they then go elsewhere leaving some businesses offering a 'discount' to virtually everyone.

However, it is wrong of them to sign up to the blue light scheme but then not honour the discount. Instead they should offer 'NHS & military/veterans' or whatever they want to offer.

I'm eligible for one (for a voluntary job) but don't bother as I think it's become a bit of a scam & you end up spending more at the businesses that offer it. There's much better offers & discounts outside of the scheme.