Taste Card
by DannyUK
I was dubious about the Taste card when I first heard about it.
£79.99 for a twelve-month membership to something that offers half price meals? My initial reactions were that it was a lot of money, the restaurants would probably be few and far between and that given the relative infrequency that i eat out, I’d never make my money back.
Fortunately, Taste offer a free thirty-day trial their card, and also actively list which restaurants the discount is available at, meaning I could have a good nose around before deciding. Even better, I didn’t need to input any card details to set up the trial, which is a real bug bear of mine. (Which reminds me, I really must cancel that ongoing Xbox Live subscription.)
The Taste Card is a UK-wide card that allows the card owner to get 2 for 1 or 50% at thousands of different restaurants around the country.
How to use the Taste Card - taken from the official website.
The first thing I did was to look up my local restaurants. I did this on the website and immediately noticed two things. Firstly, the sheer number of restaurants I could use the card in locally - far more than the couple I had been expecting. In fact, there were 24 restaurants within 5 miles of Chelmsford City centre when I checked, and the vast majority of those were within a mile.
Secondly, my local pub, which I have been to more times than I care to remember, takes the card. If never seen it advertised there before and had never seen anyone use it, but sure enough, next time I was there, the window proudly displayed a Taste Card sticker. I asked the landlord about it and he said that the card was accepted but that it required a table booking to use it.
Given that the Fleece is not the kind of place you can book a table, this struck me as odd. Pressed for more information, he revealed that as long so the pub knew you’d be using the card fifteen minutes in advance they could cater for it. Simply put, when ordering the first pint, I can mention that I’ll be using the card to order food on the next round and the Taste Card can be used.
Armed with this information I decided to apply for the free trial and jumped online to complete my details. A few minutes later I had an email confirming my application and had jumped onto the App Store to download the official app, which subsequently was all I needed to get my discounts.
What more is there to say about the Taste Card? Well, it’s more widely accepted than you may realise. As I’ve said, searching in Chelmsford brought up more than twenty restaurants in a one-mile radius that accept the card. Try it in somewhere like London and results roll into the hundreds.
Taste card coverage in Chelmsford - August 2015.
Taste card coverage in Westminster - August 2015.
The annual membership seems expensive at £79.99, but you could save that with three uses of the card, which suddenly makes it much more reasonable, though there is a way to get it far cheaper, which I’ll go into below.
The mobile app is easy to use, and although you are sent a physical card for use when you have a full membership, I always found it easier to use the mobile app to get the code up, as it saves me carrying yet another card around in my wallet. Equally, the main website is well laid out and easy to search through.
There are a few downsides, though nothing that should prevent you from buying the card. Firstly, it’s worth double checking what food you’re getting discounted at your restaurant of choice. At some places it’s only the main, and doesn’t include sides or extras, and although it details this on the website, it isn’t so clear on the app.
You also have to remember that you need to book in advance, but I’ve done this at a steak restaurant and a pub, both within an hour of going there and it’s never been a problem.
Lastly, there can be a lot of restrictions on Friday and Saturday dining, as well as busy periods such as the lead up to Christmas. It has to be said that there are still plenty of places to choose from though.
You can get a 30 day trial of the Taste Card and there are no card details to enter, or subscriptions to cancel. Once the card expires, you just aren’t able to use it any more.
So, how do you get the Taste Card cheaper than the advertised price of £79.99? Quite simply, don’t sign up for it when the trial expires. I found that I generally only used the card when going out for meals with my girlfriend - who has a card of her own. I was planning to use my trial card with friends, and although I did use it a couple of times, forking out £80 was just too much in one go, so I decided not to renew.
Within a couple of weeks I had an email offering me a discount. Within a month of my free trial ending, I was being offered £50 off an annual membership, and most recently a £50 discount and a free corkscrew worth £23. It shows that it’s worth holding out for.
I have a review of Tastecard in my ‘pending’ folder to publish at some point. I too held out and now get it for £30 a year and love it. We have lunch out at least once a month and save £30 a time on average. I wouldn’t be without my Tastecard now!
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For £30 I think it’s well worth getting, I was definitely shocked at how quickly they dropped the price though!
I think I have to get a tastecard soon, it sounds like an excellent offer!
I also looked into the Taste card as I had heard so many wonderful things about it. Unfortunately the area I live in – near Exeter – didn’t have many places that I could really use it. The trial was good and now that it has dropped in price I might consider it again in the future as it would have been worth the money beforehand due to limited establishments.
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That’s pretty much how I felt – If I lived and worked in London, it’d be a no-brainer, but though there are a few restaurants around me, it’s more a case of not remembering to use the card when I visit them!
DannyUK recently posted…Virgin, monks, alcohol – Train travel to Liverpool
I think I have to get a tastecard soon, it sounds like an excellent offer!
It’s definitely worth investing in if you eat out a lot.
DannyUK recently posted…Can West Ham lower Season Ticket prices?
For £30 the tastecard is good addition to the wallet.
TBH when I first purchased the card at £50 I was disappointed.
Partly because there wasn’t enough restaurants around me that were onboard, and those that were regularly ran more or less the same discounts in promos that were available to everyone!
This total scumbag company sold me 4 cinema tickets after putting in my postcode to come up with a local cinema. Turns out, the tickets they sent can only be used in Birmingham(I live near London) and a few other places nobody would ever want to visit. Totally, totally mis-sold. How the scumbag company directors can live with themselves. I can only hope that Jihadi John serves an intefada(or whatever s**t they call it) on the morals of such people and puts them to the sword. If you are reading this review, you have been subject to a considerable shafting like me and we all have a moral and christian obligation to report the s**ts to Trading Standards,Which, all the Sunday papers etc until nobody will touch them with a bargepole. Mu wife called them today and an operator told het to F**k off. That is the standard of this company. I am calling for a lynch mob, will anyone join me?
I have used taste card or should I say I bought it and didn’t find it useful. Many of the places I went to eat at we’re offering a similar in house menu, as for taste card them selves the customer service is one of the poorest I have ever come across. Be aware of the automatic renewal, they will take your money and will refuse to give it back, I have put a complaint through to the trading standards.
Stay away from them there are better deals else where.
I definitely think that you’d get more use from a Taste cards in some areas than others. I must admit that I had also noticed similar in house menus on offer. After reading your comments, I’m glad that I never had to deal with their customer service team!
I’ve been using the Taste Card since 2014 and it is getting better and better as more restaurants are jumping on board. I live in London and dine out regularly and spend upwards of £40- £60 on a meal for two (and this doesn’t include alcohol). I remember vividly the very first time I used the Taster Card at my favourite eatery, Brown’s. My usual bills never go below £65 – £70 (and again, I’m not big on alcohol consumption) But when my final bill come up to £28.64 I was in shock. I even left a tener for a tip. I haven’t looked back since and now treat it like my American Express and i-phone…..never leave home without it.
Twitter: yoeydabvis
on December 8, 2015 at 12:17 am
I’d probably forget , then remember as soon as I got home!!
I remember getting a 30 day free trial tastecard but didn’t get chance to use it as I can’t go out alot as I have a chronic pain condition fibromyalgia.
Twitter: gouldie7
on December 8, 2015 at 8:05 am
Sounds like a good idea, bur we only eat out once or twice a year so it wouldn’t be worth it for us!
Great idea, as we love to eat /dine out.
It looks like more restaurants have signed up, I had the card a year ago and it was not that good in Brighton.
Twitter: Dunnster81
on December 8, 2015 at 10:04 pm
I love Tastecard, excellent value for money
Am still in my free trial period with tastecard and am always forgetting it’s in my purse to be honest!
The days we mostly go out for a meal is a Saturday and this can’t be used on a Saturday in most places. So I don’t think I’d use it.
I would definately remember to use the Tastecard when I can. Anything that saves on the price of a good meal is worth having.
Twitter: happyboonisbet
on December 10, 2015 at 10:58 pm
iv had a tastecard before, used it alot, luckily there are a few places where i live that take the card and have great offers.
I’m not sure this is something I would ever remember to use, although if you eat out a lot it is definitely worth it.
Twitter: BobSlipper
on December 13, 2015 at 11:11 am
You mentioned downloading ‘the app’. Is that available on Windows phones yet? It would have to be to get me on board. Given that, I would certainly give it a go.
Yep, the app is available on Windows Store!
Twitter: gin018
on December 13, 2015 at 6:18 pm
Great offer not sure if I would use it
I didn’t really get how a taste card worked until now… Sounds worth a try!
I ordered a trial Taste Card but never went to one of the restaurants that they are linked with but I might considering getting one if I become a regular at any of the chains.
Anyone thinking of getting one check the reviews online first. A lot of people being auto renewed despite cancelling. Hard to prove you cancelled too if you did it via the phone. No renewal notice so if you think you have cancelled the money goes out without any prior comms…. Unethical and quite scam like. Most of the restaurants are chain and not available fri/ sat. Please only take this if you are happy to pay for it after the trial because you can’t guarantee you won’t be… Better still just download a voucher from elsewhere to your phone.
Having personally worked at tastecard I can honestly say from an insiders point of view that the way they treat there staff and customers this is 100% a scam company. I would never recommend them to anyone. There training is shocking they speak to there staff like children most of them are too scared to even talk or move in there seats due to fear of just being sacked. They have templates for every possible argument you might have hence why people never win with them. Shocking company and ashamed I ever worked there.
I am extremely unhappy about the fact that they automatically renewed my membership, i have had the card for two years and never used it, i simply do not eat at the kind of places they sponsored. They claimed i had to agree to automatic renewal when i least renewed, but this clearly was not displayed clearly anywhere as i am one of the people who never accept automatic renewals on anything at all, not advertising from third parties, etc..
This kind of behaviour is disgusting and extremely shifty. I regret ever had contacted them. Be very careful please!!
ii
That doesn’t sound good – Have you complained to them and asked for your money back? If nothing else, they will be able to see that you have never used the card which should add weight to your argument!
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