Waitrose Doubling Weekday Spend For Free Newspaper

[smurfchops]

£10 minimum spend weekdays as well as weekends for 'free' newspaper from 1st November.

[Neveracrossword]

Seems very fair to me.

[ladybirder]

I don't have a problem with that.

[Baldric]

Very rarely go there during the week, and on Saturdays it's a £90-100 shop so not really a problem.

[Old_Geezer]

Well as Firefox maliciously threw away my comprehensive answer and I have no desire to type it all again, I'll just point out that it has nothing to do with being fair. Either their marketing department want to entice more folk to come to the store, and to reward those who shop there, or they don't; and rules about £10 just confuse and possibly annoy.

[Postdog]

I don't read papers, but if I did, I'd shop elsewhere and just buy them.

[jno]

it'll be a calculation: will the money we save on newspapers be more than the money people spend in the shops in order to get the newspapers free? As it's for people with loyalty cards, they'll be able to track their spending and work out whether it's worth it.... except of course they may get their calculations horribly wrong, which does happen.

[johnny37]

Its quite satisfying working out how to beat the system. Yesterday my bill came to just over a fiver but with various discounts and vouchers was charged £2.90. On Sunday it was was even better. Just received my latest loyalty voucher(£10) for using my JLewis credit card. I wondered when they were going to cotton on that they are making no money out of me! Or indeed how many other clever *** like me are out there trying to beat the system. I never take free coffee but that is no longer free.

[Tilly2]

Johnny, if you have received a £10 voucher you have spent a lot of money.

How are you not spending money?

[johnny37]

I have previously paid £1 to the Times for the Sunday Times subscription voucher which has a face value of £2.50.

I need to have goods worth £10 in my basket.

There is an offer on an item I buy which is £3 + 1 half price. (£4.50).

In my basket I put the above 2 items for £3 each plus 1 Sunday Times £2.50, plus Waitrose cooking magazine (£1.20), plus two bananas (£0.30)
TOTAL £10.

Against this I am credited £2.50 newspaper voucher, £2.50 free paper, £1.50 half price offer, £1.20 Pick your own discount (on the two £3 items),
£1.20 magazine. TOTAL £8.90

Add back the original £1 cost of the newspaper voucher.

ie i have paid £2.10.

That is an extreme example but it keeps me off the streets!

In addition I get the benefit of a 2 mile walk to the shops and back.

[Smowball]

That confused me just reading it Jonny!

[237SJ]

Are people really so desperate for a newspaper that they will go to Waitrose and pay inflated prices just to get something for free?

[ladybirder]

Me neither show.

237 I mostly shop on line through mysupermarket.co.uk which lists the price of your basket of goods on the right of the screen as you shop from Waitrose, Ocado, Asda, Tesco and Sainsburys. 9 times out of 10, Sainsburys is the most expensive basket and that is without the delivery charge. Waitrose doesn't charge for delivery. Sainsburys does.

[Prudie]

I suppose I should count my blessings but I'd never pick my supermarket for something so paltry as a free paper and a coffee.

[gingejbee]

^^^ I doubt that many people choose Waitrose for their free coffee and newspaper (or 20% off their own choice of ten products etc) but it's an extra bonus....just like Clubcard points at Tesco, Nectar points at Sainsburys.

[diddlydo]

I shop at Waitrose because it's my nearest supermarket. However, there are many things I don't buy there as they're much cheaper in Lidl which is further away. I'm happy to spend £10 per trip (usually only once or twice a week) to get the free newspaper. The coffee is c*** so after giving it a couple of goes I stopped even trying it. I do think you should have to buy something to get the free machine coffee (as opposed to the cafe coffee for which you now have to buy a cake or biscuit from the bakery counter) - there are far too many people who just pop in on their way to work just for the free coffee who don't buy a thing.