A New Year and a new Toast thread 🎊

[IlovePond]

Welcome to the Toast thread where we talk about what we love, (and what drives us mad 😹), about all things Toast.

As usual, pictures are welcomed, as are comments, questions and info about Toastie topics.

It’s £595 not £695 on the website so £500 feels a lot to me. But one I was following on Vinted was listed for £480. I don’t know if it went for asking price though. It’s the latest colourway that I’m a big fan of!

Bright green (and it is bright!) would be no good at half the price then. If the one you want is still current season I think you might have to wait a year or so - setting up an alert on ebay works really well, I find.

I’ve just looked and Toast wool coats in good condition are not going for much less than RRP though, on the whole, which I know is frustrating, its why I don’t buy them second hand.

Used Toast in general is very expensive atm, I wanted another wrap apron dress from last summer as I love mine but the one I’ve bookmarked is on for £80 and it looks worn to death. Mine was £60 in the Toast sale and had never even been unfolded.

Keep me posted if you do put it up! Maybe I’ll change my mind. I agree, people are charging too close to RRP. I wouldn’t mind so much with cotton and linen but with wool I’m cautious because of moths.

I do wonder if Toast will reduce it, what with it still being in stock and spring coming up. Do they ever do this?

@Theteapotsbrokenspout I used the measurements S is 109 . I never measure myself though but I know things 105 up usually fit (there are exceptions) . It is not oversized on me , I don’t do very oversized but S is comfortable and it’s very slimming. Also it’s the sort of material I think gives in wear. My only slight annoyance is that it hasn’t French seams but not a deal breaker . I can see myself pulling it on on a spring or morning and out the door without too much thinking. I used my voucher towards it so it didn’t seem quite so spendy.

@Wtfdoidoplease I find its a PITA selling wool clothes - people are so worried about moths. For the record I absolutely 100% have not got moths here and never have had.

I’m hanging on to my Frankie for now - it makes me look like my nan in the 1970’s but its so cosy (cotton lining!) that I can’t quite part with it yet. Plus its February and I’ve noticed a drop off already in sales of Winter clothes on my page.

Having said that nothing’s shifting - I think the market is saturated, plus everyone’s on a no buy after the January sales.

Do you mind if I ask, have people here specifically been told that they are no longer Kindred or are folks are assuming because they have not received a renewal email?

@ThePieceHall I got this email this morning :

Thank you for being a part of TOAST Kindred over the past year. We hope you enjoyed any Kindred events you may have attended and made use of your complimentary 12 month Post Pass.

Your membership of TOAST Kindred has come to an end. However, it is possible to purchase a TOAST Post Pass, with free UK standard delivery at any time of the year, at a cost of £15 for a further 12 months.

Buy Toast Post Pass Here.

On a side note, I love your username. I’m from Halifax and worked for many years in the Piece Hall shops and museums service.

Thanks @Countmeout looking at the measurements I think I need my usual M.

Taking about TOAST coats, I bought this one for £70 on Vinted and am looking forward to it. I sold an old black and white one for a similar price on the weekend. I much prefer patch pockets though.

I got the same message as Thebogpeple this morning after having been Kindred for years 😳

Given how many people have lost Kindred this year, there’s no way I will be keeping mine in July when it’s up for renewal!

On an unrelated note: Does anyone know when/if/where there will be another sample sale?

Thanks

I’m not buying clothes until September because I’m doing ‘The Wardrobe Project’ for eight months to sort myself out.

I love fashion though so am still looking and when the A/W season hits next year I’ll be prepared and probably (for sure) spend a lot on new clothes. Without Kindred it won’t now be at Toast. I had it for five years, and bought pretty steadily until this last year. I won’t lie, it feels like a rejection.

Yes @TheBogPeople it seems very short sighted of Toast to take it away from so many.

Having or losing kindred and the feelings it causes is very interesting. Sending out a Christmas card gives the impression of a friend/someone who cares/ showing appreciation. Offering special benefits gives a similar impression. The likes of John Lewis have a little side benefit for those who sign up, no need to spend to receive it. That feels like a thank you. Kindred feels like a thank you. However, since kindred is taken away it then feels like a punishment, a rejection, disapproval in human terms, for what feels like not spending enough in their eyes. Plus we talk to each other, both good news and bad news travels fast. I, having received kindred for the first time, am happy on one hand but a bit nervous on the other, since I cannot keep up the sales that I have recently. I’m wondering what’s expected of me. However, I know that they are not my friend, that’s it’s a business making money. They should know people are human and like the idea of being appreciated, hence kindred should be for life, as an incentive. I had the postal pass as I did want to buy things under the threshold and I was mindful of how much was going out in postage.
Did Toast always give and take away kindred?

I was quite peeved when I lost my kindred membership last year. As @ScallopShellWalk says, rationally I know kindred membership is a marketing ploy, but emotionally it doesn’t feel nice having ‘privileges’ withdrawn when I’ve done nothing but spend my hard won cash supporting their business, it’s not been an insignificant amount.

I spoke with customer services about this twice. The first time was on the website chat function where I was told that membership was randomly awarded and did not take into account customer spend. The second time I emailed and they said;

‘Please note - that Kindred memberships are offered on a rotating basis to all of our customers. This ensures the benefits are shared fairly and that no single customer retains exclusive access while others never have the opportunity to enjoy the same advantages. The rotation is intentional and designed to keep the programme equitable for everyone.’

Randomly picked or intentionally rotated? Whichever it is, I think it’s a bit of an own goal in terms of establishing a sense of exclusivity or maintaining customer loyalty. And it doesn’t feel at all equitable if Toast doesn’t explain clearly how the memberships are distributed.

Completely agree @ScallopShellWalk !

The little gifts are nice and I really appreciate the sale previews and the free postage especially during the sale when I often make multiple orders because I don't want things to sell out while I'm filling my basket - also when buying homeware which is often under £150.

I do buy some things at full price but I also buy a lot of reworn (replacing things I already own) and sale items. I don't buy a lot of anything these days because I already have a lot but what I do still buy, I choose carefully and much of it is from Toast

They did renew mine this year but I don't feel comfortable knowing that people are upset when it's taken away. Yes they are a business but they also make a thing about shopping mindfully and I think they should give it to anyone who buys during the year. That's what Brora does for their VIP sale access and when it vanishes because you haven't bought anything they don't make a big deal of it, you just don't get the invitation anymore. Making someone feel small is completely unnecessary

Really good points @ScallopShellWalk and @HeilanMoosie totally agree. Mines been renewed but the idea that it’s rotated at random with intention (lol) feels a bit weird. It’s not often I even need the free postage as everyone has said due to prices, but the membership does breed a level of loyalty in me, and when I inevitably have it randomly taken away it will sting. Most especially as I nearly exclusively buy clothes from toast now.

I agree with the points raised above.

I don’t get the feeling that it’s rotated randomly. I’ve had it for many years without removal and usually spend a lot. It seems from the evidence here that it’s people who haven’t spent so much have had it removed. Can anyone contradict this?

It’s a bad move to alienate people who used to be good customers by taking it away. These are exactly the people that they need to attract back as they know they already like the brand. I believe attracting back old customers is what they are trying to do when some people are offered a 20% off code. I had an old email address that I stopped using years ago and when I looked a few months ago I saw they had sent me a code.

I think if they want to do it randomly then they should make that clear and have some sort of “lucky draw” or else state clearly that if you spend more than £x in a year you will get it. I think people could then understand why it had been taken away and not be so cheesed off about it.

The kindred gifts used to be much better I think.

You put that so well @ScallopShellWalk - While it does feel intensely personal at the moment and has put me off buying from them again, I can see that in September / October I may, as usual, want to spend a few thousand pounds across just a couple of shops, and one of them is likely to be Toast.

I know Kindred is purely business so I might ask for membership as a condition of doing so. It will cost them nothing (I had one gift years ago and don’t want another one) and take away from nobody but may let them know that playing games like this with their customers is perhaps not as great a business decision as they think - and asking me for £15 for a post pass with no fun extras at all now is surely a joke!

I was similarly aggrieved after I was booted out of Kindred last year. As you have all said, it’s really not good to take it away - really, they would have done better not to have given it to me in the first place.

Other retailers have tiers of membership based on your annual spend, and if you don’t spend enough in a year to maintain your current tier, then you drop down a level. Which is fine, it’s all transparent, and you know whether you are likely to move up or down a tier.

Whereas kindred is so shrouded in secrecy (but surely based on spend, because I don’t believe for a moment their story about rotating it between customers) that when you get booted off, all it does is cause bad feelings. What, my £500 (or whatever) spend with you wasn’t enough? Fine, I’ll take my money and spend it elsewhere!

And given that a big benefit is the free postage, for the sake of £15 it’s very short sighted and don’t add insult to injury by telling me on the “you’re binned” email that I can pay for something you had been giving me for free!

I completely agree with everything everyone has said about losing Kindred. Toast can be quite remarkably complacent and dismissive of customers’ concerns when it suits them.

Their continued use of Chinese cotton springs to mind - something I raised with the Chief Executive myself face to face a couple of years ago, but which is still ongoing. (I know I still buy from them, so I have no moral high ground to stand on, but I do try to look where the items I buy are made and choose accordingly.) Toast admitted that many customers are complaining/expressing concern about where the cotton is coming from/how it is produced, but they don’t seem to care enough to do anything about it despite their much-vaunted trumpeting of their commitment to this and that.

Sorry for going on - I’m feeling a bit grumpy at Toast’s de-Kindredding of people today 🙀

Exactly, @RockaLock , Kindred is so obviously based on spend but all this denial and ‘rotation’ nonsense is what gets me, and how strange it is. Anywhere else (shops, hotels, airlines) you get points and rewards you can decide to work towards, but what do Toast offer..a sense of belonging (sale access, events), unnecessary (for most orders as you’d get it anyway) free postage, and rarely, very random small gifts that are not worth the bother. Its weird when you think about it.

At the moment I’m enjoying House of Bruar, they don’t have a loyalty scheme and don’t do much by email but if you get their paper catalogue they send a lovely personalised, chatty letter with it. I didn’t buy from them for years as I thought their stuff was old fashioned (to be fair a lot of it is - hilariously so) but I was eventually charmed enough by their communications and catalogue subscribers discounts to give them my business, and I’ve had some lovely British made, well priced and yes, stylish, pieces from them this (last) year.

As I’m in Scotland I’m planning a visit to Perth when the weather improves. Hope its more fun than the 500 mile trip to visit Toast in York and Harrogate was.

I’m dreading losing Kindred. I’ll feel fed up when everyone has early access to the sale and I’ve just got to wait! Has anyone ever had Kindred withdrawn and then restored later? Or once it’s gone is it gone for good? I only really shop at Toast now, and don’t want to fall out of love with them.

@OrangeyLemon I’ve been left almost exclusively shopping at Toast since the demise of the Cabbages and Roses clothing line. The early sale access was one of the best things about Kindred, and apart from looking forward to the Christmas card (it was always the only one I got to display on my mantelpiece!) was the only benefit I ever actually had from it.

I have, as you say, now fallen out of love with Toast and have decided to try to move more toward British / European made brands, especially local ones like Bosie and The Crofthouse for knitwear.

Christi Anna Lomas now make all the old Cabbages designs on a made to order (they call it bespoke but it isn’t) basis for around the same price they always were so I might look into that, as well as exploring a ‘harder edge’ with shops like House of Valerie, who stock brands like Rundholz, Sort Aarhus and A. Manamis. Spendy, yes, but I always bought far too much from Toast and need to drastically reign in the number of items I bring in anyway.