Marks and Spencers Epic Fail

wheezy57

Popped into Marks to pick up some sandwiches before catching a train. My daughter was with me and she chose some bits as well. I was the traveller and the payer so wanted mine in a separate free bag. I asked for another small FREE bag and she said that we could only have one free bag per customer. We would have to therefore stump up 5p for another bag.

I honestly didnt think I had heard her correctly and she repeated what she had said. 'They charge 5p in Wales for a free bag' she said. I pointed out that I was in Skipton not Swansea. I was by this time absolutely raging. She couldnt have cared less and promptly gave me the look of 'I dont care so buzz off'. My daughter reigned me in and after I had paid we walked out with disgust all over our faces.

I call it mean and pernicious. I know they are having a bit of a knock but so are we - the hard pressed customer. PR is not now on top of their priority list and profit is all encompassing to them. Poor us (general public) being at their mercy - all for a free 5p bag that wasnt.

mynameistallulah

And you made all that fuss over a 5p bag ... I call that tight.

wheezy57

Times are tight in case you hadnt noticed. Or can you afford to pay that for a free bag....

leachyd

Get real, it was 5p, if you needed the bag that much, you'd have paid.

Well done for M&S for doing their bit for the environment by limiting the amount of bags people use and chuck away.

Before you whine about M&S making a profit out of it, read the link below that informs you of the charity that receives any profit from the scheme

http://help.marksandspencer.com/faqs/company-website/carrier-bags

pjran

wheezy57 wrote: »

Popped into Marks to pick up some sandwiches before catching a train. My daughter was with me and she chose some bits as well. I was the traveller and the payer so wanted mine in a separate free bag. I asked for another small FREE bag and she said that we could only have one free bag per customer. We would have to therefore stump up 5p for another bag.

I honestly didnt think I had heard her correctly and she repeated what she had said. 'They charge 5p in Wales for a free bag' she said. I pointed out that I was in Skipton not Swansea. I was by this time absolutely raging. She couldnt have cared less and promptly gave me the look of 'I dont care so buzz off'. My daughter reigned me in and after I had paid we walked out with disgust all over our faces.

I call it mean and pernicious. I know they are having a bit of a knock but so are we - the hard pressed customer. PR is not now on top of their priority list and profit is all encompassing to them. Poor us (general public) being at their mercy - all for a free 5p bag that wasnt.

I could be wrong and sure someone will correct me if I am but I was under the impression that the money raised through charging the 5p went to charity.

However, I do firmly believe if you are buying food in M&S then a bag should be offered FOC, it's up to us whether our money be donated.

They are trying to cut down with ALL the unnecessary plastic bags polluting our landfill.

Azari

You and your daughter should have bought your goods in separate transactions.

But it would be better (where possible) to take a bag with you. (I occasionally need a bag from a supermarket if I call in unexpectedly.)

zaksmum

When I visited M&S in Ireland they charged me 40cents for a carrier bag, which at the time was around 40p as 1 Euro was about equal to £1

browneyedbazzi

I don't think this is a 'fail' for M&S at all. A lot of their regular customers (myself included) carry re-usable bags with them and are happy to be doing their bit to reduce waste going to landfill and also happy not to be funding a never ending 'free' supply of plastic carrier bags for people who can't be bothered to bring their own. After all, in a commercial environment nothing is ever truly 'free'...the costs are just hidden somewhere else.

Also, if you allow yourself to get this worked up about something as little as a 5p carrier bag then you may want to consider looking into some stress relief/anger management or something. It really isn't healthy to get so worked up over little things. I dread to think how you handle bigger events that don't go your way.

wheezy57

Oh dear oh dear. It was a rant post. Not a political hot potato. I was ranting as I was p*ssed off. At the end of every day M&S sweep all the bags on the floor into a bin. I know I have worked there. Do you honestly think that M&S are totally altruistic. They do all this charity stuff because they get tax cuts. Corporate tax evasion is rife or do you honestly believe that M&S are in business for our benefit..FGS.

For heavens sake, dont you guys ever get really p*ssed off about minor stuff. No - you are all saints beyond reproach. I was on a very quick train journey, I dont carry plastic bags in my bag otherwise of course we wouldnt be having this conversation.

I feel better for having a rant but you lot out there just totally dont get what a rant is...

PasturesNew

Hardly an epic fail .... I shopped in M&S on Saturday and wasn't offered any type of bag at all.... and I wasn't even carrying one so they might have assumed I was sorted.

PasturesNew

wheezy57 wrote: »

For heavens sake, dont you guys ever get really p*ssed off about minor stuff.

Well, I was quite miffed on Saturday as I don't shop in M&S myself - and would have liked the recipients of my shopping to instantly realise I was the sort of quality person that shops in M&S.... I had to improvise with an Asda bag from my car in the end! I could have been socially ostracised for chav shopping habits, but I didn't start a thread.