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MSE News: Tastecard 'misleading' restaurant vouchers ad banned by ASA

Former_MSE_Guy
Former_MSE_Guy Posts: 1,650 Forumite
I've been Money Tipped! Newshound! Chutzpah Haggler
edited 23 March 2011 at 9:51AM in Discount codes & vouchers
This is the discussion thread for the following MSE News Story:

"Taste Marketing wrongly issued an email stating its plastic entitles users to a 'whopping 50% OFF at all our UK venues' ..."
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Comments

  • nooney
    nooney Posts: 166 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 100 Posts Home Insurance Hacker!
    When I clicked the link it says the page doesnt exist!
    Im interested because I have a Taste Card. when I tried to use it in London at Christmas it was refused at two restaurants because it was "December"
    it was a Birthday present and I havent used it since.
  • nooney wrote: »
    When I clicked the link it says the page doesnt exist!
    Im interested because I have a Taste Card. when I tried to use it in London at Christmas it was refused at two restaurants because it was "December"
    it was a Birthday present and I havent used it since.

    To be fair - the site clearly uses icons to show when the card can and cannot be used. There is an icon with a Christmas tree and when you hover over it, it says "not in December" which is fair. I think the clarification on what each restaurant gives is perfectly clear.
    Working in Marketing for one of the big four supermarkets.
  • purpleducky
    purpleducky Posts: 174 Forumite
    Near me it's impossible to use the card anywhere on a Fri or Sat, or ever if there are more than two people going for dinner - I've long felt annoyed that you are rarely able to get the advertised 50% off.
  • You cant use the card on Fridays or Saturdays in most places.
    You cant use it on any Bank/Public Holidays.
    You cant use it in December in most places.
    Places can restrict its use on 'special days'.
    You cant use it in the O2 in London.
    Certain branches of Gourmet Burger Kitchen and Pizza Express refuse to accept the card at all, despite the other branches accepting it.

    Plus being a single person the 2for1 deals are useless for me. Pizza Express a classic example, used to be 50% off total bill, now its 2for1.

    It was great when it first started, but it is now starting to have a lot of hidden terms and conditions.
    I welcome the ASA decision.
    Ex-Employee of a Train Operating Company.
    Ticket routing and rules expert.
    Been Penalty Fared on the Railway? PM me and Ill try to help you win your appeal.
    Been sent a summons on the Railway? PM me and Ill try to help you.
  • I say, speak as you find. I have been a member for a year; have used the card lot's of times and been very happy with it every time. THIS NOT A CHARITY - Who in their right mind expects an eatery to give half priced meals on a Friday or Saturday when the eatery is crammed full! Common sense - if you owned an eatery, you wouldn't.

    The main reason eateries will buy into this kind of card is to give them a marketing advantage when they want more market share on a day when they want more bums on seats. It's not about giveing cut priced food for them, it's about cutting margins for turnover and cashflow including habitually creating a loyalty factor in the minds of the consumer.

    Having said all that, I'm renewing my mebership today for about £30 and I haven't the slightest doubt I will get my money's worth during the next twelve months!

    It is voluntary: really - no one has to pay to be a member if they don't like the deal.

    I believe Taste (was Taste London) are straight, honourable and offering a great club service and it annoys me when people can't get absolutely everything for nothing.

    Happy Birthday Taste! Here's to another five years!
  • Tastecard is OK but agreed with the ASA decision
  • RCWG
    RCWG Posts: 1 Newbie
    Tastecard was ok but they have started turning nasty (as you will see if you google 'taste london scam' or similar).

    The auto renewal that you apparently sign up to for life is outrageous! Even if you contact them to cancel the card, they will continue to debit the money from your account every year, claiming that an order confirmation email (of the sort that is highly unlikely to pass through the average junk mail filter) was not responded to! Don't think that they won't keep charging you because the card has expired or that you've called them to cancel. They take the attitude that if you don't regularly inform them to the contrary, then you definitely want the thing and are willing to pay for it... presumably for the rest of your life!

    They refuse to refund even if you have no use for the card and are dogged and aggressive if you complain. It seems to me that this is the 'nice little earner' that was behind the company's very inception. They got us all hooked with a year's worth of decent deals, then promptly lowered the quality of offers and started annually lifting cash from our bank accounts despite our efforts to escape!

    I must say, I'm surprised that MSE is still - apparently - endorsing this product in spite of news stories like the one above and the company's current practice.

    Oh and before anyone says 'it's all legal so lay off good old Taste London'; I don't care if it's legal - using loopholes and confusion to extort money remains decidedly tasteless.
  • gregmac666
    gregmac666 Posts: 532 Forumite
    Not been on here for a while so have missed what's been going on withthis. I have read in the past that some people have been unhappy withtheir experiences, and I have been thinking of re-newing my membership since it expired, so this thread is very interesting.

    I have generally had a very good experience with the Taste card since it was Taste London. I work in london & found that if I wanted to celebrate a special occassion that didn't fall on a Friday or Saturday, then this was an ideal way of keeping costs down. I was lucky to join with a £29.95 deal & the card paid for itself on the first use. Every visit to a restaurant after that was money saved.

    On the dowside I did find out that I had been automatically renewed last year when my first card came to the end of it's life. I thought this was a mistake but didn't bother chasing it as the renewal cost was once again at the £29.95 rate & I knew I would use it.

    I really did think that the auto-renew was a mistake, but since reading someof the posts here, perhaps it was not, although I do not remember agreeing to a direct debit agreement when I originally signed-up.

    Having said the above, it seems as though I have NOT been renewed this year. There would be 2 reasons for this - 1 is that the previous years renewal was indeed a mistake, or 2, that they did not want me to renew at the discounted rate & so let my membership come to an end, thereby hoping I would call & request a reweal, which would then most likely set me back the full cost.

    I have been waiting to see if a reduced rate offer appears in the press or online as I don't want to pay around £60 for a new card, especially as many places now are not letting you use the card for parties of 3 or more (when I first used the Taste London card many eateries accepted the card for parties over 2 people). My birthday also feel on a Friday this year, so there was no point in renewing in time for that date.

    I might see if my better half wishes to sign-up for a trial & then we'll get to see the new T&Cs in full.

    I'm happy to purchase the card again at a good price, but not if I have to auto-renew. Surely that has to be an error?
    No signature here. Move along please.
  • russell07
    russell07 Posts: 59 Forumite
    edited 21 July 2011 at 6:06PM
    I was slightly concerned today with the receipt of an email thanking me for my tastecard "order" and that my card was in the post.

    Strange... I didn't order that...

    Anyway I checked the website and realised I'd been suckered into allowing TasteCard to take money without even telling me. The main surprise is how I've actually been caught out with one of these auto-renewal scams - I'm usually so careful and would never sign up to such a scheme usually.

    Anyway, I noticed in the terms that they should have sent me a 3 week reminder prior to the renewal notice allowing me time to cancel the auto-renewal if I didn't want it. Phew I thought - I definitely never got that so I should be able to cancel no problem - If they've not kept their side of the bargain then surely that's them in the wrong and I have a valid claim to a refund...

    So after a call to their helpdesk I got the refund - no questions asked.

    OK I'm living in a dream world.

    The response was - The "system" says we send the reminder email on the 25th June at 10am. Therefore you did get it and therefore you had time to cancel.

    I got no such email. And I always check my Gmail spam folder (mainly for a giggle at the supidity of the emails in there). Definately never ever got the reminder.

    Then it dawned on me - why would they send this reminder? That would only reduce their income stream. Just say we sent it then it's down to the customer to prove it. We're in the clear. So I'm (quite rightly IMHO) rather annoyed right now.

    Rant over.

    So my questions are:
    - With the direct debit guarantee we are obliged to be informed of certain things. Why doesn't a similar requirement exist for continuous authority which IMHO are inherently more dangerous for the customer since the amount is effecetivly unlimited, the burden of proof lies on the consumer, and it can be linked to a credit card (not just bank accounts) potentially leading to significant personal debt accumulating without even knowing about it.
    - How can tastecard so blatantly not fulfil the terms and conditions it agrees to and then expect you to do so?
    - Soes MSE continue to support this "company" and if so on what basis? Surely this is a recipe for disaster rather than a "money saving" scheme. I'm totally serious - I am an accountant, and consider myself a very savvy shopper and I was caught out. I cant be the only one.
    Russell
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