Waitrose free coffees

MawBroon
DH already has his own ' My Waitrose' card, but we usually shop together, and while he's loading our shopping back into the trolley, I pay using my debit card and my 'My Waitrose' card. I've always asked for a coffee to be put onto my card, then handed over DH's card for a drink to be put on that too.
I'm wondering now whether Waitrose will be willing to allow two drinks on one receipt, even using two cards, if they will, fine, if not, we'll split the shopping into two lots!

Free Coffee!!! hmmm is that after spending a fortune on your shopping?

juggernaut your DH can apply for his own My Waitrose card and presumably they will allow one receipt for the two of you?
Might be worth asking at the store.

With no car these days, only a shopping trolley, I spread out my shopping into manageable loads and go to W'rose most days as it's on the way to church and by spreading out the shopping I can have a free paper most days. For many items it's cheaper than my local Coop and the fruit and veg are always fresh. The staff are very helpful and there is no piped music. Also they don't keep moving stuff around so I can't find it. Why does everyone have to have portable coffee these days? What's wrong with a Thermos??

We shop in Waitrose every second week, and always get our coffee as we're leaving the store. We put the shopping in the car, then sit and have our drinks before driving home. Of course now we'll probably have to pay for the shopping in two lots, or DH won't get his free drink! We never spend less than £100 in there, so it'll be a tad annoying if we have to pay in two lots to get two drinks, but, hey that's life!
We're going to John Lewis tomorrow to use our latest 'free drink and cake' voucher, I recommend the banoffee cheescake!

You don't have to buy a cake Lillie.. There is fresh fruit, there are sandwiches, croissants, scones, biscuits, little packets of shortbread, mostbthings.
And the stipulation is that you consume food bought in the cafe , not altogether unreasonable.
If you "upgrade" to a LARGE size drink you don't have to buy anything to eat and only pay the difference on the drink (I think 30p)
The hot drinks are the same size they have always been BTW.

I think there coffee is brilliant but I do have a cappuccino not black!

The free newspaper is also great if you spend £10 which includes price of coffee and newspaper.

I also think the staff are particularly nice and no I'm not an employee an know noeone who is.

I think they started giving a free coffee or tea in cafes attached to their shops, and got complaints from customers whose local branches didn't have cafes. They then introduced the machines.
I've hardly ever bothered, as when I've finished shopping, I'd rather go home and have my coffee in comfort, but sure it suits many customers.

I am disappointed by this change because it saves me £2.50 per week!

I go there on my home from a one and a half lesson where I would pay £2.50 in the college restaurant or other local takeaway shops.

It will also make the queues at the checkouts longer!

I know retail is suffering from online shopping but I didn't think this applied to supermarkets as we all need to eat.

I think Waitrose should have some sort of loyalty arrangement instead where those who shop there regularly get the free hot drink, and those who got a card simply for the hot drink have to pay.

Many years ago I worked in a Glasgow department store called Goldbergs ,lovely shop ,I worked with Santa taking photographs.Christmas carols from the 1st of November until christmas eve.We used their free facility for regular customers ,a lovely wee restaurant called the G-club ,teas coffees ,cakes biscuits ,soups and snacks all served at the covered tables by uniformed waitresses,almost made the screaming kids worthwhile!Alas Goldbergs is no more ,seems like a lifetime ago and it was only mid seventies.Makes Waitroses free coffee seem a bit mean

Rosina I guess it's no worse than people jumping into tube carriages and going up escalators with their coffees. I'm surprised there aren't more accidents, but then I guess the younger generation are more nimble and more sure-footed.

I wouldn't dream of driving to my local Waitrose, finding a parking space and going in just for a free coffee! I do take up the offer when I have done a trolley/basket full of shopping though and am grateful for it. On Martin Lewis's website today he advises how to get a coffee for buying a 3p grape or other piece of fruit. I hope it was tongue in cheek as I would never sink so low!

Having done a google search Waitrose is not the most expensive supermarket. There seems to be no clear list of order. It is rather that some supermarkets are good for some items and some for others.

I shop in Waitrose because it is in the town centre and is not too large so that I can do my weekly shop in under half an hour, plus do anything else I want to do in town within the 1 1/2 hours free parking in the Waitrose car park. The only alternative is a very large out of town Tesco. Time consuming and irritating, plus I then need to make a separate journey into the town centre.

Our local Waitrose cafe was always full to bursting when the free coffee offer first arrived - people would flash the card, get a coffee, sit there and read the free newspapers and keep the tables occupied in a most unprofitable way! The next change came when they said if you want a free drink in the cafe you must buy something to eat - overnight the number of people in there was drastically reduced and you could get a seat if you wanted to eat too. A machine was installed at Customer Services and you then had to show the card and be given a paper cup to fill.This has been disastrous - people are wandering about the shop, pushing a trolley with one hand, and holding a large hot drink in a busy shop. A few weeks back a man at the checkout spilt his coffee all over the conveyor belt and the floor, narrowly missing the checkout operator. Not one of their best ideas, and as they keep revising the rules perhaps they are thinking this too.

Not all of the stores have a cafe so if they are offering a free coffee and newspaper then I suppose they have to have a coffee machine in store.

I am always surprised that my Waitrose bill is not any higher than anywhere else - I look for offers on things I would buy anyway and, with a Waitrose card, some things are cheaper. Added to that I had four vouchers sent to me last week each for £14 if I spend £70. I may not use them all, but one certainly came in very handy last week.

I took this change to be referring to the use of the machine as you go in..at least in my local store. People would get a free cup from it and take it straight out-off to work perhaps. Worse still, carrying it around alongside a trolley meant that it was often spilt. A friend who worked there, said it was a nightmare. Never was one of their best ideas I don't think.

I am sure you'd be able to eat something in the cafe which you had bought in the store - when I wanted a gf roll with my soup they said they didn't keep gf rolls in the cafe because of the risk of cross-contamination (why, if they are wrapped?) but that I could go back into the shop to buy gf rolls to have with the soup!

Can we share ideas that work for that small purchase?

So can I ask those of you with a Waitrose café. .... what happens if you don't like any of the cakes on offer in the café and would prefer one from the patisserie counter with your coffee? Surely they couldn't stop you consuming what you have bought in the store? Or is it all to do with VAT on takeaway food?

We enjoy coffee/tea in Waitrose and often see friends there to chat to. But it is a bit annoying that even if you've spent a large amount (eg £80) in the store you still have to spend a few pence IN THE CAFE eg on biscuits to get your free coffee. Also not good for the diet!

I think the prices in Waitrose are too high. They should be giving everyone a free coffee. Every time I have shopped in Waitrose buying more or less the same things each month, my bill has gone up. I am just about to switch to another supermarket. They are also skimpy on whether you get tokens to donate to a charity box too has anyone noticed that?

TBH I always thought you had to make a purchase to get a free coffee anyway- I'd never dream of asking for one just because I was passing through.
I notice they have got a lot smaller though.

Ours is a little Waitrose and right near the uni. It's crammed full of kids with their free coffees in the morning. There's only a little bar with stools to sit at, but I have to admire their economising when boutique cafe coffees are so expensive.

I guess buying a newspaper would qualify as a purchase?

Of course dizzygran and I do ( am sure many others do as well.)
But all these offered things are probably not gratis, as the cost may well be added into the prices, Waitrose is the most expensive supermarket , and they are marketing ploys every bit as much as vouchers/bogof bargains.
So, the least they could do is make a decent coffee.