I have no idea if the title of this piece means anything in this part of England, but any Fifer should be able to understand. It means that I am not totally stupid, gullible or otherwise – despite any appearance to the contrary.
I have always detested ‘loyalty’ cards. The kind that large retailers hand out. You get points that you can exchange for any number of wonderful things – or even money off the price of your next purchase. They are a very useful (read ‘profitable’) resource for a supermarket chain. The information these cards provide is worth millions. Many millions! And like all ‘loyalty’ schemes, the last thing that you will receive is ‘loyalty’ from the retailer. If they suddenly double the number of points, you will find that you need twice as many to receive the same benefit. And they can be withdrawn at any time, leaving you with nothing. Please step forward Shell Oil. You been there and diddled us. Ditto cigarette coupons, various stamp schemes and all sorts of cunning wheezes.
The current ‘Mug’s Game’ doing the rounds is the supermarket ‘If your shopping is cheaper elsewhere scam’. Shop at Tesco/Sainsbury/You name it. Buy your usual weekly grocery list, and if you could have bought it cheaper elsewhere, they will give a little ticket which saves you money on your next shop. Note! Not money off – only money back if you buy from them again. In the not too distant future. Wait too long, and you have lost your money. You can actually buy the same things from two supermarkets and they will both claim to refund the difference the next time you shop with them. And not a trivial amount. Recently £5 on a £40 purchase, in one case. As long as I went back to the same supermarket.
I’m sorry. I don’t believe you Mister Supermarket. You have obviously jacked up your prices, overcharged me, and you refuse to give back the money if I do not shop with you again. You could call that extortion. Just keep the price low, and I just might shop there again. Like Aldi. Not as middle class as Waitrose – just cheaper. And I don’t have to wait for my refund.
On the subject of gullibility …
The (current) government tells me that the average family is now better off (inflation-wise) than they were last year. No go, Mister Cameron. No wage rise. Lots of price rises. The pound is high, oil prices are lower, so why is petrol only a penny cheaper over the past few months? Why is petrol much more expensive in one town than another? Could be that ‘competition’ means that a supermarket keeps the price up to compete with some small petrol retailer? I live halfway between two towns where this is exactly the case. Guess which way I go to fill up? (Same supermarket, different towns, up to 5 pence a litre difference). The benefit of ‘competition’, eh?
And don’t forget the supermarkets that advertise ‘8 pence a litre off petrol if you spend £60 on groceries’. A lot of these supermarkets do NOT have a petrol station attached! Now that is what I call an incentive scheme!
For the truly gullible!