M&S feeling the pinch ?

[HorsesAreRunningOn3LegsTonight]

I’ve had an M&S credit card for years ( mainly because the cost of my yearly fee is far out weighed by the incredible free worldwide travel insurance I get for myself and my husband)
Up until this year, when it was your birthday they would send you a gift.
In the past five or six years ago, it was a afternoon cream tea, then for the last couple of years it’s either being a £10 gift voucher or I’m sure at one time it was a £15 gift voucher.
Well, I received this years “birthday gift “ - 10% off my next shop!
Not the most exciting “ present “
Am I being unreasonable ?

YABU. Presumably you’ve seen the kind of year M&S are having so far, the recent cyber attack is estimated to have cost them around £300m in profits.

Yanbu!
I know M&S have had a blow, but so have Co-op etc and they have treated their customers far better, with an interest to retain loyalty and honest comms.
I'm cross because we often have coffee in the cafe and Sparks buy 6 get 1 free coffee offer hasn't worked since April, despite the card being wanded. I'd have been mollified by just 1 free coffee loaded onto Sparks as a thank you for your support, but nothing.
I suppose they have to fund Stuart Machin's £7m or thereabouts salary and bonus somehow...😡

This.
They also give freebies thru Sparks card, and were IMO beyond generous in confirming that people whose birthdays were in the disruption period could still get a free treat.

I asked an employee the other day, how I could access online shopping, since my account t no longer works, following the cyber attack. He said the only way was to contact head office. Knowing that it’s almost impossible to do so; phones and emails aren’t answered, it looks as though I’m no longer able to be an online customer. He said that they have lost a huge amount of customers since the attack and I think they will struggle to reclaim them.

I disagree re Co-op @Eaumyword they have removed all staff partner 10% discount cards plus staff would also get double discount on payday and the next day, that’s also been withdrawn. We used to get our dividend points but now only in store member offers like Tesco etc.
i think they’re all feeling the pinch tbh.

It's worked for me, I got my free coffee last week.

I used to have am M&S Mastercard. Then I forgot the pin and it got locked. It was such an almighty faff and palaver getting it unlocked that in the end I cut it up and got a John Lewis one instead.

They have suffered huge losses this year due to the cyber attack. So yes I expect they are feeling the pinch.

No online sales for months and less stock in stores too - i love M&S and hope they manage to get back on track without closing stores and, therefore, losing staff.

YABU and a bit grabby. It's a business not a charity. What other business gives away stuff like that in this day and age?! You've already said you're getting your money's worth from the travel insurance, surely anything else is a bonus?

Newcastle shop is chockablock with clothes…both summer and autumn styles. When the cyber attack first started there was quite a few food item not in stock but they seem to have all come back now.
Had lots of useful sparks offers on my card last couple of weeks.

All hail M&S…I personally love the place!

Are we sure they’ve suffered huge losses? Wouldn’t they be insured to some degree to cover the losses?

i do think margins are tighter across the board.

Why doesn’t your account work? Mine does. Did you change your password when advised?

Wah.

Although it doesn't help my account is working. Also I've never got anything for my birthday and have been an account holder for over 40 years, 😥

I received a £5 gift card last week as a thank you because my online order got messed up when the cyber attack hit. I was happily surprised by this and very grateful.

They’ve missed out on millions in sales in the cyber attack. Surely they need to make savings elsewhere to offset some of the damage - like not doing the uniform discount this year.

I wondered if they’d even survive.

It’s a bit like losing your job for something 6 months and your mate complaining you can’t come to the fancy restaurant for a while.

The first time I tried to log in after the attack there was a prompt to reset my password. Took about 2 mins in total. Everyone that I've spoken to has had the same. Have you tried to log in and click where it says reset password?

I have had a marks card for 11 years, never got posh birthday goodies.

I think you have to have the right card, there are a few different one, mine is a rewards card which you pay £10 a month for and you get vouchers, a birthday voucher and hot drink vouchers, no travel insurance, OP probably has a different one with this and also travel insurance included, probably a higher fee, there will also be one with no monthly fee but no vouchers, gifts, drinks etc.

Aside from branding and a few tie up promotions it has very little to do with M&S. The M&S Bank has been a wholly owned subsidiary of HSBC for more than twenty years. They pay for the branding to fool customers into associating their goodwill towards the shop towards the bank and its products.

So M&S Bank won’t be feeling any pinch.

I can find an M& S credit card that offers free travel insurance?!

In any well organised business, heads would have rolled for being so unprepared for a cyber attack and causing such major problems. After all, when anyone queries the huge salaries for ‘management’ they always trot out “we have to pay that for the best people”.

From reading the computer press articles, I gather that the top management dealt with the hackers by telling them to eff off. (or words to that effect) Not the brightest way to deal with a huge threat. The threat was very real as it turned out. As far as I know, to date, nobody has been sacked.

If you personally feel that M&S are so wonderful, keep putting money their way. I feel they lost the plot many years ago, and now spend very little with them compared to ten years ago.

They stopped it years ago, apart from customers that already had it, I had the one with travel insurance originally then they did a new card which was the same but no insurance. As we didn't go abroad much, I chose to have no insurance for a cheaper monthly fee.

I have received a £10 gift card and a three month extension on my delivery pass. I didn’t expect either so am pleasantly surprised. Normal online customer, no insurance or credit card with them.

Yes, I got the prompt to change the password, changed it and then nothing worked.