Pret forced into refunds over subscription app chaos

PRET A Manger has been forced to refund subscribers who have been unable to use its app since it introduced a crackdown on subscription sharing.

The Telegraph reported this week that some subscribers to “Club Pret”, which allows a customer to order up to five barista-made drinks a day for a monthly fee of £30, were experiencing technical issues with the app and were unable to claim their free drinks.

Subscribers must use the Pret app in order to claim the free drinks rather than accessing a QR code in their Apple Wallet or on a smart watch, under rules that came into force on March 18 to stop people sharing their subscriptions.

Consumers have criticised the app as “terrible” and threatened to go elsewhere for their daily caffeine fix.

Pret told The Telegraph it has refunded some customers who struggled to log in since the changes came into effect. A spokesman for the company said: “Since we made this change in March, our team have either given refunds or applied the Club Pret discount as normal to any customers who have genuinely struggled to log in.”

Legal experts have said that customers who have been unable to use their subscriptions are entitled to a refund under consumer rights law.

“If Pret subscribers cannot access their QR this is in effect a suspension of their Pret subscription and should result in a refund for the period of suspension,” Gary Rycroft, a partner at Joseph A Jones & Co, said.

“Even if this was not explicit in the T&CS this is the correct outcome under principles of contract law,” Mr Rycroft, who is also a legal expert on the BBC One consumer affairs programme Rip Off Britain, added.

Scott Dixon, a consumer expert, agreed that subscribers should be able to claim a partial refund under the Consumer Rights Act 2015.