Bag for Life

PHK

dealyboy said:

@PHK said:

I cannot believe anyone would get so upset over such a trivial matter. 

... breach of promise? ... trivial? ... principle? 

 It's cost between 10p and 50p. You've spent time worth far more than that on your principles. That's not money saving behaviour. But is a sign of a lack of proportionality. 

pushpull

RefluentBeans said:

Genuinely confused by this. The claim to equate this to a warranty on a tumble drier is a bit disingenuous- I assume that you were given terms of your warranty for your washing machine, and I assume you were not given the paperwork for the ‘warranty’ on the bag for life? Would sort of defeat the point of being greener - ‘here’s your bag for life, and here is the 25 page warranty document for your bag’. 

Ultimately, you complained and they gave you a bag. What’s the issue? To think a 10p bag would last forever is naive. Also, Red Bull doesn’t give you wings, even though their slogan says it does. 

I don't think that most people expected the bag to last the rest of their life but the terms were fairly clear.  "If this bag fails we will replace it."

I knew that they'd inevitably reneg on the deal, but I don't see why they shouldn't be taken to task for it, as irrelevant as some people might view it.

Money_Grabber13579

pushpull said:

RefluentBeans said:

Genuinely confused by this. The claim to equate this to a warranty on a tumble drier is a bit disingenuous- I assume that you were given terms of your warranty for your washing machine, and I assume you were not given the paperwork for the ‘warranty’ on the bag for life? Would sort of defeat the point of being greener - ‘here’s your bag for life, and here is the 25 page warranty document for your bag’. 

Ultimately, you complained and they gave you a bag. What’s the issue? To think a 10p bag would last forever is naive. Also, Red Bull doesn’t give you wings, even though their slogan says it does. 

I don't think that most people expected the bag to last the rest of their life but the terms were fairly clear.  "If this bag fails we will replace it."

I knew that they'd inevitably reneg on the deal, but I don't see why they shouldn't be taken to task for it, as irrelevant as some people might view it.

I agree. If they can’t honour the tiny promises they make, how can they be trusted to keep their promises in anything?

I had a related issue with the bags for life. The offer of free replacements for life got changed to “bring this bag back when it’s worn out and we’ll recycle it.” I tried that and they couldn’t have looked more puzzled as to why I was trying to give them worn out bags. I suspect they went to landfill.

born_again

pushpull said:

I don't think that most people expected the bag to last the rest of their life but the terms were fairly clear.  "If this bag fails we will replace it."

I knew that they'd inevitably reneg on the deal, but I don't see why they shouldn't be taken to task for it, as irrelevant as some people might view it.

Bags for life were started as the thin plastic bags were no longer given away for free & the BFL was just made of a thicker plastic, so to help the environment.
Over time it was realised the BFL were as bad as the thin ones on the environment. As people simply threw them away. So they stopped producing them.
So at that point they had reached the end of their life.

Money_Grabber13579

born_again said:

pushpull said:

I don't think that most people expected the bag to last the rest of their life but the terms were fairly clear.  "If this bag fails we will replace it."

I knew that they'd inevitably reneg on the deal, but I don't see why they shouldn't be taken to task for it, as irrelevant as some people might view it.

Bags for life were started as the thin plastic bags were no longer given away for free & the BFL was just made of a thicker plastic, so to help the environment.
Over time it was realised the BFL were as bad as the thin ones on the environment. As people simply threw them away. So they stopped producing them.
So at that point they had reached the end of their life.

But this is nothing to do with the life of the bag. It wasn’t a lifetime warranty on the bag. The issue is that they promised to replace the bag every time it failed and there were no limits on the period of time over which this might happen. And they do still produce them - they just aren’t called bags for life now.

What has transpired is that this was just a marketing ploy to encourage people to buy more expensive bags and they had no intention (long term) of actually honouring it.  However, I didn’t ever challenge them over this as using the bags for life rather than disposable bags was just the right thing to do anyway.

RefluentBeans

Money_Grabber13579 said:

born_again said:

pushpull said:

I don't think that most people expected the bag to last the rest of their life but the terms were fairly clear.  "If this bag fails we will replace it."

I knew that they'd inevitably reneg on the deal, but I don't see why they shouldn't be taken to task for it, as irrelevant as some people might view it.

Bags for life were started as the thin plastic bags were no longer given away for free & the BFL was just made of a thicker plastic, so to help the environment.
Over time it was realised the BFL were as bad as the thin ones on the environment. As people simply threw them away. So they stopped producing them.
So at that point they had reached the end of their life.

But this is nothing to do with the life of the bag. It wasn’t a lifetime warranty on the bag. The issue is that they promised to replace the bag every time it failed and there were no limits on the period of time over which this might happen. And they do still produce them - they just aren’t called bags for life now.

What has transpired is that this was just a marketing ploy to encourage people to buy more expensive bags and they had no intention (long term) of actually honouring it.  However, I didn’t ever challenge them over this as using the bags for life rather than disposable bags was just the right thing to do anyway.

Perpetual contracts are generally frowned upon by courts. We have seen this time and time again. Ultimately, there should be a way that either party can withdraw from the contract (or our great great great great great great great grandchildren can go back to a retailer in over a century and expect the replacement - not realistic right?). If this was a warranty agreement then there would be a way of contacting customers, but this is a very informal contract. Those particular bags for life, as confirmed earlier, have stopped being produced, thus there is no longer a replacement to offer. 

If people felt strongly about this, then take them to court. I think we all know that this isn’t the bill to die on, and in actual act a bag for life could be interpreted as the lifetime of the bag. Additionally, the court isn’t guaranteed to side with your interpretation of a very lax set of terms, where there is no exit for either party. Replacements no longer exist as the new bags are a different model (with the newer bags being 25p rather than 10p, so clearly different). 

Ultimately you may disagree. But there’s no point arguing over a 10p bag. If people feel so strongly, challenge it in court and reject any settlement offers. See how you’ll do - but for a 10p bag it’s legitimately just crying over spilled milk. 

Lorian

I'm not sure if Morrisons replace them if warn out or not now but they are charging 60p for their basic plastic bag and 40p for paper. 

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

born_again said:

pushpull said:

I don't think that most people expected the bag to last the rest of their life but the terms were fairly clear.  "If this bag fails we will replace it."

I knew that they'd inevitably reneg on the deal, but I don't see why they shouldn't be taken to task for it, as irrelevant as some people might view it.

Bags for life were started as the thin plastic bags were no longer given away for free & the BFL was just made of a thicker plastic, so to help the environment.
Over time it was realised the BFL were as bad as the thin ones on the environment. As people simply threw them away. So they stopped producing them.
So at that point they had reached the end of their life.

The actions of supermarkets with regards to bags doesn't have anything to do with the environment, to be blunt they could not care less beyond PR, like everything else, the way bags are sold is calculated to derive maximum profit and supermarkets are very efficient at doing this.  

If they stopped selling BFL it was because it was more profitable to do something else rather than concerns of people not getting the full life out of the bag because they threw it away after one or two uses.  

Ditzy_Mitzy

miser_3 said:

I am surprised that ambulance chasing lawyers have not latched on to fraud affecting millions of shoppers who bought "bag for life" bags.  I have bags from Sainsburys and Waitrose and, when the bags fail, they will not now replace them.

One law firm did try, however the accountants at Sue, Grabbit & Runne only allowed their crack ambulance chasers Dumpsey and Makegrease, to spend 50p - the expected profits from the 'Bags for Life' legal action - on petrol for the Litigation Express (a 40 year old BMW with broken indicators).  Unfortunately, therefore, they ran out of petrol 200 yards into their first ambulance chase and are presently conked in a layby off the North Circular.  A spokesman for Sue, Grabbit & Runne said: 'looks like it's back to the drawing board for this one.  We also understand that Makegrease has managed to walk to the nearest emergency telephone and has called motorway control to order a quarter-pound cheeseburger for herself and a jumbo saveloy and chips for Dumpsey.  Can any passing truckers help with making a delivery from Dave's Burger Van?'.  

born_again

https://www.morrisons-corporate.com/media-centre/corporate-news/morrisons-becomes-first-supermarket-to-completely-remove-plastic-carrier-bags-from-stores/#:~:text=Morrisons becomes first supermarket to completely remove plastic carrier bags from stores,-Corporate News chevron_right&text=Morrisons announces today that it,use plastic bags in 2017.


Plenty more on other supermarkets doing the same..