‘Pret Perks’ launches today – how does it work?

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• Gavin says:

  30 Nov30 November 10:27

  Harry / squills as Mr X?

  • Anna says:

    30 Nov30 November 10:30

    Never struck me as a grass, plus the reference to the person being a whistleblower suggests that it’s an inside source.

    • Gavin says:

      30 Nov30 November 10:50

      Yeah that’s true!

  • BP says:

    30 Nov30 November 10:58

    My money is on JDB.

    • Char Char says:

      30 Nov30 November 12:07

      “They got you!”*
      *David shouts over to JDB on the other side of the office in a Birmingham accent

      • Anna says:

        30 Nov30 November 12:22

        Whoever it was clearly believed they were in for some recognition and possibly promotion for uncovering some sort of large scale criminal activity and now looks a bit silly.
        Where I used to work, when you were interviewed for another post you were always asked for an example of when you had challenged unacceptable behaviour, i.e. they liked you to demonstrate that you were capable of grassing on your colleagues. This is a laudable aim in itself but in reality led to hopeful applicants either inventing or wildly exaggerating perceived misdemeanours just so they could fill in the box on the application form. It makes me wonder if this is a similar situation!

  • Mike says:

    30 Nov30 November 10:58

    Harry a grass – never !

  • Bazza says:

    30 Nov30 November 11:40

    somebody did something similar previously. It was all on flyer talk though. He said he was going to report some MS route and he did, route shut down….

    But don’t worry about it, all this companies know what’s going on and are fine with it, right?

    • TGLoyalty says:

      30 Nov30 November 12:29

      And these people always wonder why they have no friends

      • Anna says:

        30 Nov30 November 12:59

        Indeed, there were instances of people being accused of wrong-doing on a very flimsy basis to boost someone’s promotion prospects. I’m not saying genuine misconduct should go unpunished but it’s well known how public sector witch hunts can escalate.

      • Super Secret Stuff says:

        30 Nov30 November 15:37

        Savage but true hahaha

  • Brian W says:

    30 Nov30 November 23:36

    Gavin………..that made me laugh, the real Harry was never a grass in a million years. Stupid comment 🤦🏼‍♂️

    • Gavin says:

      1 Dec1 December 01:02

      Obviously he wouldn’t, was just starting a fire. He’d have been a top 50. I wonder what points he was earning, maybe not hotels as he had his place in the sun.

• Soloflyer1977 says:

  30 Nov30 November 10:31

  Just got an email from the NHS to book my booster. I had my booster two weeks ago and is recorded on the COVID pass. Maybe they use the same IT as BA 🙂

  • davefl says:

    30 Nov30 November 10:43

    I had a total of 11 txts after booking my booster telling me it was time to book it. 6 of those came in the 10 days after I’d actually had it!
    Thankfully they’ve stopped now.

  • Aston100 says:

    30 Nov30 November 10:43

    Yeah same.

  • Tracey says:

    30 Nov30 November 16:34

    I suspect that the message was from your GP surgery and you had received your booster by booking through the national booking system.

• Richie says:

  30 Nov30 November 10:39

  BTW Re Pret Perks – the time between transactions for them to qualify for stars is 15mins, not that long if you’re not too busy.

• flyforfun says:

  30 Nov30 November 11:07

  RE Pret Perks, what a joke! Just like their food, a bland and over hyped offering.

  The French chain Paul is the real deal and they have a great loyalty scheme. Better food by far as well and their coffee and hot chocolate are better than the imposters.

  • Richie says:

    30 Nov30 November 11:27

    Has Paul closed many stores?
    How does Paul’s loyalty scheme work?

    • Mikeact says:

      30 Nov30 November 12:01

      Not ‘thee’ Paul ?

    • Chrism20 says:

      30 Nov30 November 12:32

      100 points for every £1 you spend. 1500 gets you a small cake and 15000 gets you a large sharing cake which is about £20 iirc.

      Also other promos on the app. They use the yoyo app which is also used by Nero and Bagel Factory

  • Aston100 says:

    30 Nov30 November 15:18

    I walked into a Paul shop recently; saw an éclair for a fiver; went to m&s instead.

• Anna says:

  30 Nov30 November 11:32

  Anyway – has anyone had a response from Creation to their complaint about their cards being closed?! Are we all going to get the same letter on December 4th or whenever they can afford to send out more mailings?

  • DJ says:

    30 Nov30 November 11:34

    Not heard anything from Creation regarding my complaints. I raised the compaint on 01/10/2021.

    I didn’t even get a letter explaining that it will be delayed etc…

    • LS says:

      30 Nov30 November 12:23

      Time to send to the ombudsman then. £750 cost for Creation

  • TGLoyalty says:

    30 Nov30 November 12:32

    You didn’t actually complain about it being closed though?

    You won’t get anywhere with a complaint about them evoking clause 14.

    The only possible reasoning for a complaint is handling of fees, lack of points and free night voucher.

    • stevenhp1987 says:

      30 Nov30 November 12:35

      Well, you can complain about anything you like. They just won’t uphold the fact it’s closed under Section 14.

  • EwanG says:

    30 Nov30 November 12:39

    The FCA is very clear about the timescales for complaint handling and I would expect them to take action that Creation are failing to meet them.

    As an aside, for those also doing subject access requests to Creation, failure to meet those timescales are a matter for the Information Commissioner (ICO).
    In either case, it’s worth keeping a note of dates for future use.

    • jj says:

      30 Nov30 November 12:56

      I chose not to complain until my annual renewal (I didn’t want to precipate any action from Creation before that date) so a final response is not due until 21 January. But it took them 5 days just to acknowledge my complaint and provide a reference number. The FCA’s rules require acknowledgment to be ‘prompt’, so this kind of delay suggests that their complaints team is swamped.

      If Creation has historically met the FCA’s timescales, I wouldn’t expect action to be taken if a pulse of complaints led to a temporary degredation in service. Creation would need to notify the FCA that service levels were being breached and explain the actions they were taking to improve the situation. Provided their remediation plan is creditble, they would probably have little more than an uncomfortable phone call with their supervisor.

      If they are repeat offenders, much firmer action would be taken by the FCA.

      • Chrism20 says:

        30 Nov30 November 17:02

        They are repeat offenders. Part of my complaint about them was their feet dragging on no less than three of the many occasions I complained. This was almost two years ago now. Each individual complaint over the course of a considerable period of time took almost a week to acknowledge and on several occasions they did not meet the stipulated deadlines whilst every other complaint the letter was sent on the deadline day. Not one piece of correspondence was sent before the very last date possible.

        At the time I suspected that they were dealing with the complaints but not sending out the correspondence until they really have to rather than them being being swamped on a regular basis.

  • memesweeper says:

    30 Nov30 November 13:28

    Nope.

    I sent a letter (snail mail) pretty much immediately after the account closure letter demanding inter alia the free night award is sent over before the account is closed. Marked ‘complaint’ and ‘letter before action’ to keep my options open.

    I sent another with the same markings when it became clear that the points weren’t going across to IHG.

    I’ll be MCOLing on Saturday if I find the time.

    • JDB says:

      30 Nov30 November 13:34

      @Memesweeper – before you MCOL, you need to read the MCOL guidance and it’s link to the Civil Procedure Rules which say litigation is the last resort and where there is a process (includes Ombudsmen) you need to do that first. Failure to do so may result in your case being thrown out or costs awarded against you. Also, if Creation has refunded your fee and you are just after points/voucher is it a money claim at all or is it a ‘loss of chance’ claim?

      • memesweeper says:

        30 Nov30 November 18:19

        Thanks @JDB

        The rules require parties to consider ADRs. To quote:

        If proceedings are issued, the parties may be required by the court to provide evidence that ADR has been considered. A party’s silence in response to an invitation to participate or a refusal to participate in ADR might be considered unreasonable by the court and could lead to the court ordering that party to pay additional court costs.

        I can provide my reasons for considering, and not using, the Ombudsman procedure. Top of the list of reasons would be Creation not providing me with a letter of response to my complaint with which I can commence Ombudsman proceedings.

        • JDB says:

          30 Nov30 November 20:20

          You are entitled to go to the FOS after 8 weeks if they haven’t replied, so that’s a non-runner. The FOS is a statutory body created to resolve financial services disputes (ie unlike CEDR that is a voluntary arbitration scheme). Even for litigants in person, the CPR is strictly applied and Creation will unquestionably ask for costs. I also mentioned the issue of your cause of action – is it a money claim or a loss of chance claim? Again the guidance says you are expected, even without legal representation, to know the legal basis of your claim. You must do what you wish, but as stated by you so far, you are stepping into trouble. There is no issue about going to MCOL after FOS – you can’t challenge the decision at MCOL (there is a different route for that which is not in principle costs free) so the decision will be renamed, but unless the FOS has made a mistake on a point of law, it is not particularly likely it would be a different outcome. I have no idea if you are involved in MS, but if you are no ombudsman or judge will be well disposed towards you if there has been obvious recycling and as fairness is a subjective decision, their view can fall either way, so if you have been playing the system, they won’t reward you.

        • Track says:

          1 Dec1 December 00:31

          What all of the above rubbish from JDB is relevant to the matter of the breach of contract. FOS does not rule on breach of contract and judges will understand that.

          Taking an annual fee, and not providing the service is a breach of contract.

        • JDB says:

          1 Dec1 December 00:48

          @Track you said this yesterday about FOS; it is totally incorrect – they can and do make decisions based on breach of contract. You can read the published decisions.

  • Graham Walsh says:

    30 Nov30 November 14:38

    No response via online messaging. I think emailed them from my contact email address asking where my points are and account closure etc, got a reply a few days later saying we can’t find your details, please provide address. How can they not find a customer by First Name, Last Name and email address? Are they using paper records?

    On another note, anyone else noticed that Paul Henry still is listed as working at Santander as Director of Audit and Compliance (unless NS&I outsource their work?)

• Lady London says:

  30 Nov30 November 12:31

  Accor Live deals tickets sold in pairs only. Discrimination. Some of us do actually go out on our own, you know

  • Now more informed says:

    30 Nov30 November 13:17

    I have to say, it’s not discrimination, it’s just a specific offer. You can still get it, but at half the value of your do not use it to the full by taking a companion.

    Your liking to go out alone, without a friend/companion is a personal choice, so the fact this offer is not of maximum value to you on this occasion is unfortunate instead.

    • Lady London says:

      30 Nov30 November 18:54

      Now More Informed do you say that when airlines like Qatar or Swiss run their “2 passengers only” offers?

    • Jen Preet says:

      2 Dec2 December 11:40

      Maybe not a choice, maybe not wanted

  • memesweeper says:

    30 Nov30 November 13:32

    If it’s at the Apollo, I would be delighted to accompany you. Unfortunately I have no Accor points so would have to compensate you with a purple drinking voucher or two.

    • Lady London says:

      30 Nov30 November 18:59

      Not the Apollo, though, sadly, @memesweeper, the Food tasting Festivals Accor offered a while back were a bit more my thing. Good idea though.

      I absolutely loved your comnent above about why you’re not bothering the FOS with a claim. Very noble of you to save Creation the £750 fee.

• The Urbanite says:

  30 Nov30 November 12:47

  Look on the bright side – you all had a good run with Creation. They shut down my cards with no notice in 2020 and wrote off a 4 figure balance. They withheld about 80k points from the month of closure and said they would not be crediting the free night for that year – though I got £150 compo because I suspect they misread my complaint and thought I said the previous year’s free night hadn’t turned up. Anniversary was in March and to my surprise the free night still turned up in June this year quite a few months after the account was closed.

  • Anna says:

    30 Nov30 November 13:04

    So you never got the points? Did you go to the FOS? What reason did they give? This could provide some valuable insight if you don’t mind sharing.

    • DanGK says:

      30 Nov30 November 13:21

      Not sure I’d FOS the 80k points if they wrote off a 4 figure balance!

      • The Urbanite says:

        30 Nov30 November 16:45

        There are certain circumstances the T&Cs state they can shut the account without notice and I’m not convinced any could reasonably be considered as triggered. Had they given 2 months notice in theory the points that I accrued would have posted and there’d be no reason for complaint.

        Nothing to lose but a few minutes submitting the complaint.

    • stevenhp1987 says:

      30 Nov30 November 13:26

      tbf, a four figure balance being written off is a great result as is!

      • Ghosty says:

        30 Nov30 November 16:36

        12.98 is a four figure amount

        • The Urbanite says:

          30 Nov30 November 16:40

          Four figures before the decimal.

      • The Urbanite says:

        30 Nov30 November 16:47

        It is, but they should still do things by the book where closures are concerned. If they aren’t held to account it paves the way for them to do the same to others.

    • The Urbanite says:

      30 Nov30 November 13:27

      Although I was well up from the whole Creation play I still complained to the FOS. The FOS don’t have the resources to deal with it – two investigators have dropped the case and the management have been kicking it into the long grass and said they might allocate the case to an investigator early next year, but can’t guarantee it.

      To be honest I did well enough from the whole episode to let it go.

      • Lady London says:

        30 Nov30 November 19:09

        These are exactly the hesitations I hace with the FOS. There are too many stories of complaints being handled poorly, or FOS judgment not providing justice when subsequently court does.

        Also Head of the FOS resigned this year and I’d like to know was there a story behind that

        • Track says:

          1 Dec1 December 00:36

          FOS are mostly postponing complaints down the road.

          For my 2 data points, complaints raised in March 2021, company responses received by FOS April 2021 and acknowledged. Last correspondence Sep 2021, still waiting for investigation at FOS.

• Josh says:

  30 Nov30 November 12:57

  IHG – my points normally transfer from the credit card to my IHG account between the 22nd and 25th of the month. Points didn’t transfer in October and haven’t transferred this month. I am also being closed down. Has anyone else had a similar situation? Anyone have any idea on the free night cert – if that is likely to be received? and lastly, will we be receiving a pro-rata refund of the annual fee? Sorry if this has already been discussed elsewhere.
  Appreciate any advice.

  • Anna says:

    30 Nov30 November 13:03

    Discussed at length, daily!

  • Mikeact says:

    30 Nov30 November 13:52

    Josh…where have you been.. .you should check in daily.

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