Shop loyalty schemes are getting out of hand and I'm wondering if they should be illegal

boxosox

I went to Superdrug to buy some moisturiser that was at its normal price of £3.49 but only if you were a member of their loyalty scheme.  If not, it was double the price at £6.99.

So I went to Boots where it was exactly the same - to get the normal price I needed an Advantage card, otherwise pay double.

The same seems to be true in Pret, Tesco, Morrisons, Starbucks and loads more I can't remember right now.

But it seems like they're not rewarding you for being in their scheme, but punishing you for not being in it.  Doubling the price of something purely because you don't want to hand over your personal details and get bombarded by marketing seems really underhanded.

TELLIT01

Most of the schemes are free, although from what I've read the Pret scheme is taking the proverbial with the cost of that one.

unforeseen

Doubling the price of something purely because you don't want to hand over your personal details and get bombarded by marketing seems really underhanded

Or is it halving the price if you hand over details?

booneruk

It's fun and games isn't it? Although I have Tesco, Sainsburys and Coop membership schemes and the only 'marketing' stuff I get is an email offering me two one-use discounts from the Coop each week (which I take advantage of since it's where I buy my lunches!)

Out of interest, I wonder what price the moisturiser generally sits at when looking at online (thinking Amazon), or other bricks and mortar stores stores. I wonder if the normal price is £3.49 or if Superdrug and Boots are actually discounting it.

p00hsticks

I can understand what the OP is saying, but the thread title in my opinion is OTT. 
 
As long as everyone is allowed to choose whether they wish to sign up to these schemes and there is no discrimination to prevent people from doing so then we'd be living in even more of a nanny state then we are already to make it illegal. 

user1977

boxosox said:

Doubling the price of something purely because you don't want to hand over your personal details and get bombarded by marketing seems really underhanded.

Why do you think you'll be "bombarded by marketing"? I get occasional vouchers posted to me by Tesco, similar (but once in a blue moon) from Boots, Sainsburys all I get are vouchers at the tills. They'll all have (optional) emails.

I think the powers-that-be are looking at it generally, but for the meantime it doesn't engage any consumer rights, so not really for this forum. You have the right not to sign up for loyalty cards, or simply to shop elsewhere.

Robin9

user1977 said:

boxosox said:

,....
.
You have the right not to sign up for loyalty cards, or simply to shop elsewhere.

I chose the latter - small town only Tesco Express and go to Asda, no Boots. By Don't think Asda Rewards is worth the hassle.

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

TELLIT01 said:

Most of the schemes are free

If something is free you are the product  

Voyager2002

p00hsticks said:

I can understand what the OP is saying, but the thread title in my opinion is OTT. 
 
As long as everyone is allowed to choose whether they wish to sign up to these schemes and there is no discrimination to prevent people from doing so then we'd be living in even more of a nanny state then we are already to make it illegal. 

Foreign visitors cannot sign up these schemes.

People who are unhappy about giving away their data are also paying a high price for their privacy.

RefluentBeans

Voyager2002 said:

p00hsticks said:

I can understand what the OP is saying, but the thread title in my opinion is OTT. 
 
As long as everyone is allowed to choose whether they wish to sign up to these schemes and there is no discrimination to prevent people from doing so then we'd be living in even more of a nanny state then we are already to make it illegal. 

Foreign visitors cannot sign up these schemes.

People who are unhappy about giving away their data are also paying a high price for their privacy.

But yet people willingly give their data away online to unprotected sites, and sites with proven track records of data breaches. 

Not saying people aren’t entitled to privacy, but just make up an email and say you’re John Smith or Jane Doe. Guarantee the cashier who is on minimum wage won’t care. 

You have no obligation to do business with a certain company, neither have these companies got to do business with you. As long as the company isn’t discriminating on protected characteristics, then I don’t see there’s much you can do.

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

Just to add the CMA is currently reviewing the schemes:

The review will consider issues such as:

whether any aspects of loyalty pricing could mislead shoppers, for example whether the loyalty price is a genuine promotion or as good a deal as presented

whether any groups of shoppers are disadvantaged by this type of promotional activity

whether loyalty pricing is impacting consumer behaviour, and whether this has an impact on how supermarkets compete with each other

https://www.gov.uk/cma-cases/loyalty-pricing-in-the-groceries-sector