Sainsbury and Tesco have both been hit by the discounters and over the next few months will need to put plans in place to compete at a wider level than the traditional supermarkets. That will probably mean that "Brand Match" and Nectar will go, or in Nectar case change dramatically. Sainsbury do have plans to launch their own discounter in partnership, I believe.
Nectar have always been awful value, even at the best of times. It's like that Sean Lock joke; I've been saving Nectar points for years, I've finally got enough to buy a small jar of honey. Personally, I use their marketing literature as a checklist of shops to avoid, because they are always ones that charge premium prices for bog standard products.
I have £105 worth of Nectar points. Took me about 8 months to get them. I live with my girlfriend, so just 2 of us. If you take advantage of their bonus deals, you can get a lot of nectar points very easily.
Does your girlfriend award nectar points then?
I like that idea - I wonder how many points I'm worth (apart from half what I was worth yesterday).
We all know that loyalty cards and points are a marketing wheeze but when you get them anyway for shopping the way you choose to, there's nothing lost in taken them. However, Sainbury's have managed to make my blood boil today. In a moment of unaccustomed weakness I recently fell for taking a Sainsbury's Mastercard. I already have a Mastercard but the incentive was "triple Nectar Points for Life" if you used the card to pay for your shopping. The card duly arrives and I have spent over £700 on it in less than a month. This evening I received a throwaway marketing letter from Sainsbury's telling me that "Nectar is changing." Go on, guess? The piss-takers are only halving the number of points you get for every pound you spend! For every £500 you spend you currently get 1000 points worth £2.50 in credit to be spent in store. From April you will only get 500 points for £500 spent i.e. £1.25. so my triple points for life is suddenly worth only 50% more. Talk about scamming your Customers. Sainsbury's can stick their credit card. Just thought I'd share that and get it off my chest
Out of interest, did you apply for the credit card in-store or online?
Judging by the number of top of the range motors trying to squeeze into the Aldi car park every weekend, Salisbury's and the rest should stop trying to shaft their dwindling customer base at every turn and start offering good value and service for a change.
They were queuing round the block at Morrisons this morning, then I found out Sainsbury's had a power cut. Early Christmas present for the manager. :-)
They were queuing round the block at Morrisons this morning, then I found out Sainsbury's had a power cut. Early Christmas present for the manager. :-)
Love Amex, particularly good if you transfer the points to Airmiles (or Avios as they're called these days). Their introductory offers are generally pretty good as well - spend X amount in the first 3 months and get enough points for a return flight to Europe. If you can be bothered to change every year, say from an AMEX Preferred Rewards to a British Airways then you can rack up a shed load of points on the introductory bonuses alone.
We all know that loyalty cards and points are a marketing wheeze but when you get them anyway for shopping the way you choose to, there's nothing lost in taken them. However, Sainbury's have managed to make my blood boil today. In a moment of unaccustomed weakness I recently fell for taking a Sainsbury's Mastercard. I already have a Mastercard but the incentive was "triple Nectar Points for Life" if you used the card to pay for your shopping. The card duly arrives and I have spent over £700 on it in less than a month. This evening I received a throwaway marketing letter from Sainsbury's telling me that "Nectar is changing." Go on, guess? The piss-takers are only halving the number of points you get for every pound you spend! For every £500 you spend you currently get 1000 points worth £2.50 in credit to be spent in store. From April you will only get 500 points for £500 spent i.e. £1.25. so my triple points for life is suddenly worth only 50% more. Talk about scamming your Customers. Sainsbury's can stick their credit card. Just thought I'd share that and get it off my chest
If you have the time and the inclination, I think you should consider raising a formal complaint with the card issuer (Sainsbury's Bank?) (If only because they are required to undertake specific tasks to comply and it will piss them off and cost them money). They appear to be in breach of the FCA's over-arching "treating customers fairly" requirement and more specifically "have not communicated with customers in a clear, fair and not misleading" manner and have, presumably, issued a misleading financial promotion: that is whatever advert/flyer/letter that persuaded you to sign up in the first place. It may be that they cannot rely upon whatever the small print might say as anything which suggested that the value of the offer might change should have been at least as prominent as the triple points for life promise.
If it is Sainsbury's Bank here is the person to contact:
Susan Wilkinson Sainsbury's Bank plc Haston House Redheughs Rigg South Gyle Crescent Edinburgh Midlothian EH12 9DQ Phone: 0131 338 2995
If you're going to complain, let me know and I'll provide you with the actual rule breaches to quote to piss them off even more.
Cafcfan - I will do that and let you know how I get on - thanks.
They were queuing round the block at Morrisons this morning, then I found out Sainsbury's had a power cut. Early Christmas present for the manager. :-)
Wrong thread ? ;0)
Please accept my apology and direct me to the correct thread - I will try to be more careful in future.
These are free to enter loyalty schemes not major contractual arrangements.
Exactly. You're getting something for nothing. These schemes cost a lot of money to run. Asda's stance is generally "why waste money on these schemes when we can reduce prices instead?"
These are free to enter loyalty schemes not major contractual arrangements.
These schemes cost a lot of money to run. Asda's stance is generally "why waste money n these schemes when we can reduce prices instead?"
Whereas Tesco & Sainsbury's stance is data are very valuable indeed and these schemes allow us to obtain information on our customers which we can use to carry out targeted promotions.
If I remember correctly, Nectar halved the value of their points a few years ago and if they halve the value again, I will probably use Sainsbury's less than the other supermarkets, despite their branch being closest to where I live.
I don't have any particular loyalty and shop at Tesco, Sainsbury's, Asda and Aldi and I find that Sainsbury's customer service is the worst of all the supermarkets. They never seem to have enough manned tills open and it isn't always practical to use the self service tills if you have a lot of shopping.
Although I like Tesco's scan as you shop system best, I also like the Aldi system of putting goods into a trolley and packing them away from the tills. It always seems to take longer to pay for my shopping at Sainsbury's.
Cafcfan - thank you for the Sainsbury's Bank contact and the advice. They have now upheld my complaint and credited me with £50 against the balance on my card (which I have now returned). In fact, the contractual offer with the credit card was only double not triple points, so even worse and deliberate mis-selling by the agent as well as misleading by Sainsbury's.
Cafcfan - thank you for the Sainsbury's Bank contact and the advice. They have now upheld my complaint and credited me with £50 against the balance on my card (which I have now returned). In fact, the contractual offer with the credit card was only double not triple points, so even worse and deliberate mis-selling by the agent as well as misleading by Sainsbury's.
Well, that's not bad - better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick. And real money rather than nectar points is good anyway! Now, I just need to invoice for my 20% fee...... ;-) (Or a "like" would do - I come cheap!)
Comments
I don't have any particular loyalty and shop at Tesco, Sainsbury's, Asda and Aldi and I find that Sainsbury's customer service is the worst of all the supermarkets. They never seem to have enough manned tills open and it isn't always practical to use the self service tills if you have a lot of shopping.
Although I like Tesco's scan as you shop system best, I also like the Aldi system of putting goods into a trolley and packing them away from the tills. It always seems to take longer to pay for my shopping at Sainsbury's.
Now, I just need to invoice for my 20% fee...... ;-) (Or a "like" would do - I come cheap!)
Noticed a lot of stuff being a fair bit cheaper.