Waitrose to axe 'free tea or coffee without purchase' deal next month

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  • DCFC79
    DCFC79 Posts: 40,598 Forumite
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    edited 22 March 2017 at 10:06PM
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    This was going to happen at some point so Im not surprised they made the decision to make it so you have to buy something.
  • Anthorn
    Anthorn Posts: 4,362 Forumite
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    Wow! A coffee for 3p! No wait, I'll have to buy a bag for 5p so that's 8p. Ok I'll get the car out and go get one. No that's no good because the petrol will cost extra. So on my bike? Oh no, my bike will get nicked or the seat will get nicked, or the handlebars, or the front wheel. I could go walk to the bus stop and get a bus and then walk to Waitrose. No take too long. Tell you what I'll stay at home and make my own coffee ... damn I ran out of coffee beans. I'l have to go to waitrose and buy some.

    And all that for a 3p cup of coffee. MSEers really do amuse me.
  • GDB2222
    GDB2222 Posts: 24,671 Forumite
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    With the £10 minimum spend to get a free newspaper, adding in the free coffee helps get there. I don't think much of their coffee, so just get the cup and don't use the machine.

    I'm not the only one either, and the cash desk staff have started asking people whether they actually want the cup!
    No reliance should be placed on the above! Absolutely none, do you hear?
  • roddydogs
    roddydogs Posts: 7,478 Forumite
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    If you look a the bins, get an old cup & use that.
  • Mr.Generous
    Mr.Generous Posts: 3,379 Forumite
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    Anyone remember when B&Q offered free delivery on everything? Well they did. For quite a while too. It was really useful when you wanted heavy or bulky stuff delivered.

    The contractor still charged of course, about £5 per drop I think.

    Customers loved it. They had big timbers / wallboards / plasterboard / tiles / flooring / bulky gardening stuff delivered.

    Then the free loaders started to cotton on. Gro-bags were 99p, and someone discovered you could use them as cheap cat litter. Lots of deliveries of one gro-bag, one bale of compost, one tin of paint etc.

    Customers started telesales calling when they ran out of something. So a staff member would answer a call, fill in an order, pick the merchandise, schedule a delivery, process the payment, call customer to confirm etc. The cost of each sale BEFORE the cost price of the merchandise and the delivery charge often exceeded the sale value.

    Customer who thought it was clever to come into a store and ask for something to be delivered 200 miles away (yes it was arranged for local store to do it, but even more internal work to arrange).

    Customer complaints about deliveries went sky high, somehow the !!!!!!!!!!s were more demanding. "I wanted the gro-bag round the back through the gate and behind the shed and your delivery man refused" (while my three 16 stone sons lounged on the sofa watching TV) etc.

    Guess what happened to free delivery?
  • GDB2222
    GDB2222 Posts: 24,671 Forumite
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    Nice rant, Mr Generous! Very, very true.
    No reliance should be placed on the above! Absolutely none, do you hear?
  • Anthorn
    Anthorn Posts: 4,362 Forumite
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    Just a thought. Get a My John Lewis Card. Occasionally they give out a voucher for a free hot drink and cake. mmmm cake! :)
    https://www.johnlewis.com/our-services/my-john-lewis
  • tuffet1
    tuffet1 Posts: 15 Forumite
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    What a joke this site has become!

    Lets all queue up at a Waitrose checkout, sprout in hand, for a free mediocre coffee. I really hope that Megan French who wrote this 'article' isn't being paid for this crap!

    We then have to listen to 'Super Martin' talk about loopholes, cheats and tricks as if he is some weird modern day spiv!

    This used to be quality site full of genuine ways to save money. It is now just a cheap gimmick for spongers who want something for nothing no matter how stupid it makes them look!
  • phillw
    phillw Posts: 5,594 Forumite
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    edited 27 March 2017 at 5:53PM
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    robin58 wrote: »
    The!staff told me over a year ago people were just coming for the freebie and running.

    I think it depends on the area, I asked in Exeter and they said very few people did that.

    I'm surprised they didn't implement an "acceptable use policy", so you could get a free cup of coffee every day if you did your weekly shopping there. However that wouldn't be newsworthy enough.

    This is nothing to do with saving a few pence for a cup of coffee and all about letting their target customer know that they are doing something about the lower class riff raff that comes into the store.
    roddydogs wrote: »
    If you look a the bins, get an old cup & use that.

    Save yourself the embarrassment of going through the bins or buying a sprout and buy one of these and just keep taking it into the store. http://www.waitrose.com/shop/DisplayProductFlyout?productId=471365

    They'll start manning the coffee machines soon though.
  • ALIBOBSY
    ALIBOBSY Posts: 4,527 Forumite
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    I am actually quite surprised it took this long for Waitrose to do this.

    The lovely lady who is usually on our locals customer services in the day said they get a queue in the morning of builders an office workers just taking their free coffee everyday.

    This should reduce that, the MSE thing of buying a cheap item still won't work for alot of these folk as they won't want to spend the extra time selecting an item and queuing to pay and get the cup.

    TBH won't effect us as if we go in we are shopping, we both have my waitrose cards both because of the coffee and all the vouchers and offers which are great. Most times our shopping will be split over the 2 cards to max the offers, but we always buy something. Have already been taking advantage of the fact our store had been allowing you to pick up your cup at the checkout rather than queuing again at customer services by the machine.

    We like to have our coffee after the shop to have with our lunch when we get back-usually a nice salad or simular from W themselves.

    So for people who use Waitrose it won't be any different tbh but for the free loaders it will put at least some off and they others will be offsetting some of the costs for the stores.

    Our store also has a tub outside with the used coffee grounds you can collect for free to use in the garden. So I suppose if the free loaders are really desperate and can stand weak coffee......:rotfl:

    Ali x
    "Overthinking every little thing
    Acknowledge the bell you cant unring"

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