BITE card - discount card for use at railway station outlets

[whole diary]

[Ollie]

Fair point.

However, the BITE card already seems to cover most of the Select Service Partner Ltd UK^▸ (United Kingdom) railway station catering outlets - Camden food co; Millie's Cookies; Upper Crust; nam-po! noodles & sushi; Pumpkin; Bars on stations; The Pasty Shop; Delice de France; Burger King and Caff^ Ritazza.

Are there any others? 

At Paddington, Yo Sushi and McDonalds?

SSP don't run them.

[ellendune]

Fair point.

However, the BITE card already seems to cover most of the Select Service Partner Ltd UK^▸ (United Kingdom) railway station catering outlets - Camden food co; Millie's Cookies; Upper Crust; nam-po! noodles & sushi; Pumpkin; Bars on stations; The Pasty Shop; Delice de France; Burger King and Caff^ Ritazza.

Are there any others? 

They operate some M&S Simply Food, WH Smith outlets and even a Harry Ramsdens presumable it is not as easy for them to accept Bite as the brand owner is also involved. 

[grahame]

Pumpkin are advertising a breakfast bitty for ^1.25 at Swindon "when you buy any hot drink".   No small print.

So I bought an Americano coffee on my Bite Card and asked for the butty at ^1.25 ... but apparently the offer only applies to drinks not bought on a Bite card.   "I can ring both up then discount, or not apply the discount".

Misleading advertising.  And how to p*ss your customers off.

[ChrisB]

You would need to buy both in one transaction (to get the offer), then use BITe to get 10% off he total.

Definitely misleading if that's not the case

[grahame]

You would need to buy both in one transaction (to get the offer), then use BITe to get 10% off he total.

Definitely misleading if that's not the case

Yep, I bought both in one transaction.  Offered either the coffee at full price and the bacon roll at an extra 1.25 - OR the coffee with a bite card discount and the roll at 10% off whatever its standard price would have been which "will work out more".   Had to feel sorry for the woman behind the counter who had been put into the position of having to explain / defend a misleading advert, and after making it clear I felt it was misleading in what it said - false advertising - I bought the coffee and the darned roll anyway.   But I'll take a packet of biscuits next Saturday!

[grahame]

... and checking even through their terms and conditions ...

Exclusions
Holders of a Bite Card are eligible for a 10% discount (or such other discount percentage as may be notified to all or any BITE Card holders from time to time) off purchases of food, hot and cold drinks and alcoholic beverages when they present the BITE Card at any of the following branded outlets located at mainline UK^▸ (United Kingdom) railway stations:
Upper Crust, Pumpkin Caf^ Shop, Bonapartes, Caff^ Ritazza, Camden food co. Delice de France, The Pasty Shop, Sloe Bar caf^, Burger King and Millie's Cookies.
Alcohol is sold at participating outlets during licensing hours only to customers aged 18 years or over.
The 10% (and/or any other notified) discount offer does not apply to the following product categories: confectionery, crisps, ice cream, newspapers, magazines, books, cigarettes, tobacco, telephone cards, The National Lottery and associated lottery products and such other product categories notified to BITE Card holders from time to time.
Please note that Burger King in Marylebone station is not part of the Scheme so the BITE Card will not be accepted at this outlet.
BITE Card offers are not available in any shopping centre outlet operated by Us and cannot be used in conjunction with any other offer.

There is no exclusion on "other special offers" or anything line that.    Naughty!

[JayMac]

"These promotions already offer a significant saving over the retail prices of the individual items"

So said the response I received from SSP some three years ago when I complained that I wasn't getting the (then) 20% discount on two canned beers bought together when they had a "2 cans for ^5" promotion.

Thing was, at that time, cans were around ^2.75 each, so the promotion wasn't significantly better. I started asking to pay separately. Pumpkin Taunton once refused to do so, so I bought one then queued up and bought another!

I imagine if you were to complain to SSP they will say similar today. That is that the multibuy promotions already offer a saving and they can't be combined with BiTE.

Naughty indeed. But probably not illegal. Invitation to treat and all that.

[grahame]

I imagine if you were to complain to SSP they will say similar today. That is that the multibuy promotions already offer a saving and they can't be combined with BiTE.

I have asked very nicely ... and we'll see!

Naughty indeed. But probably not illegal. Invitation to treat and all that.

Yeah - maybe.

Yet if the Ts and Cs included "special multibuy promotions" or something like that in their list of exclusions, and they stated "10% off regular prices / multiple discounts don't apply" they really wouldn't look so naughty. They seem to needlessly raise the prospect of a discount on something like this - a very good own goal!

[ellendune]

What are the T's and C's on Bite?  Do they exclude that with any other offer?

[Adelante_CCT]

... and checking even through their terms and conditions ...
BITE Card offers are not available in any shopping centre outlet operated by Us and cannot be used in conjunction with any other offer.

To me that seems to suggest it can't be used with any other offer.

Buying a butty for ^1.25 when bought with a hot drink sounds like an offer to me.

Just my personal opinion anyway, and agreed perhaps the ad should say 'not valid with bite card' in small print

[grahame]

... and checking even through their terms and conditions ...
BITE Card offers are not available in any shopping centre outlet operated by Us and cannot be used in conjunction with any other offer.

To me that seems to suggest it can't be used with any other offer.

Buying a butty for ^1.25 when bought with a hot drink sounds like an offer to me.

Just my personal opinion anyway, and agreed perhaps the ad should say 'not valid with bite card' in small print

You're probably right .. I'd missed that bit on the end of the small print.

Mind you ... what I had initially expected was 10% off the drink (which was NOT a special offer) and then ^1.25 for the bacon roll - as that was a special and I had fully anticipated no discount on it!

I have asked ... let's see what they say!

[grahame]

Bite card not working today - "till software updated and not accepting them at the moment".   Good on the chap serving - found a way to provide something agreeable and proportionate.

Solitary experience at one place, or a general problem?

[bobm]

It worked at Bonapartes at Bristol Temple Meads yesterday but to be honest it was about the only thing that did. No lemonade, no orange juice, no draught beers and no china cups.

(Actually it wasn’t yesterday it was Wednesday - this short week seems very long for some reason!)

[JayMac]

I've just tried to update my details on the website and request a replacement card.

Both efforts resulted in redirection to a page saying "whoops, looks like something went wrong".

[Surrey 455]

It's now not possible to apply for a card if you've never had one before according to their FAQs^▸ (Frequently Asked Questions).