Airmiles had discontinued the Metro GC & PharmaPlus GC..

[happy_me24]

I just realized that my mom was going to redeem her miles (over 3000!!!) for the Metro GCs that she's been waiting for! We just talked about it a few days ago before I knew about this! Ugh....now all those hard earned miles are going to go to waste! Airmiles needs to make this right. At least some warning or something. How hard would it be to send out a mass e-mail? I get them all the time....it wouldn't be hard to say, "Oh, by the way, we're going to screw you over some more in the next few days, so if you want gas or food GCs, you might wanna redeem ASAP..."

[tobiwobi]

oh that's so underhanded!!!!

I used to use bmo airmiles mc as my regular card, but switched over to mbnA smart cashback mc when Airmiles undervalued their points recently. Gonna call and officially close bmo airmiles card now. And the only thing that kept me thinking I get some value out of my purchase if I get AM too is the Shell $20 certificate, and now they take that away too? Forget them.

[mickpalace]

I e-mailed Shell Canada and told them i WOULD GUARANTEE I WILL NEVER BUY GAS FROM SHELL AGAIN BECAUSE OF THE AIRMILES fiasco and they first e-mailed back talk to air miles. I said no i'm am talking to you. You are a sponsor in the air miles program so you are just as responsible as they are. I also told them how much in fuel we use as a family every month ( which will now go to any gas station like petro canada or esso) and they wrote back and asked for my home phone number to talk to me. PLEASE write and boycott any company associated with air miles. They will take notice when the companies call them or pull out all together.

[frugallady19]

what is the email for shell?!?! im sooo pissed...
1000 airmiles of my hubbys are wasted... we wanted to order many shell $20!!!!!

[mickpalace]

what is the email for shell?!?! im sooo pissed...
1000 airmiles of my hubbys are wasted... we wanted to order many shell $20!!!!!

Girl i have 2700 i have been saving FOREVER to help with toiletries and food to send my daughter to university. Go on Shell website and look up contact us and email them and american express and rona. I have been sitting thinking of sponsors to e-mail / contact. Then e-mail and call air miles. I also wrote a letter to the ombudsman i charge of ON as thats where i'm from so someone can police these people. Contact and Boycott ALL SPONSOR BUSINESSES INVOLVED.

[mickpalace]

Wrote Metro saying i will not be a customer of theirs due to the resent changes at the air miles program and that because of their association with the program until changes are made i will shop else where. There must have been others that wrote them because they wrote back saying that they have been directed to have any complaints go through air miles. We are not the only ones upset.

[operabob]

There must have been others that wrote them because they wrote back saying that they have been directed to have any complaints go through air miles.

They are just trying to pass the buck.

Tell them they are the sponsor and you're going to take actions against the.

Airmiles won't listen to you but they will listen to their clients.

NOTE: Shell is not innocent. Not long ago they awarded 1 AM for the first $20 then ! AM for every $10 after. Now it's 1 AM for the first $20 and 1 AM for every $30 after. That's a 60% reduction on a $50 purchase. Coupled with the recent 32% devaluation by AirMiles itself you're being treated as a commodity rather than a loyal customer.

Both Aeroplan and SDM have had class action lawsuits filed against them over recent reductions and changes to their loyalty programs. AirMiles should be next.

Also, if you're a Western Canadian complain to Safeway. They are the largest sponsor of AirMiles in the country. Not only had AirMiles cut back the value from $0.139 to $0.105 Safeway had been seriously reducing the AMs they awarded. The backlash seems to be gaining traction as the last 2 weeks Safeway seems to have increased bonus AMs on some items to previous levels.

You could also complain to Bank of Montreal as a sponsor.

[mickpalace]

They are just trying to pass the buck.

Tell them they are the sponsor and you're going to take actions against the.

Airmiles won't listen to you but they will listen to their clients.

NOTE: Shell is not innocent. Not long ago they awarded 1 AM for the first $20 then ! AM for every $10 after. Now it's 1 AM for the first $20 and 1 AM for every $30 after. That's a 60% reduction on a $50 purchase. Coupled with the recent 32% devaluation by AirMiles itself you're being treated as a commodity rather than a loyal customer.

Both Aeroplan and SDM have had class action lawsuits filed against them over recent reductions and changes to their loyalty programs. AirMiles should be next.

Also, if you're a Western Canadian complain to Safeway. They are the largest sponsor of AirMiles in the country. Not only had AirMiles cut back the value from $0.139 to $0.105 Safeway had been seriously reducing the AMs they awarded. The backlash seems to be gaining traction as the last 2 weeks Safeway seems to have increased bonus AMs on some items to previous levels.

You could also complain to Bank of Montreal as a sponsor.

I can only wish air miles would have someone take them to court.... A girl can dream. Only the sponsors can help change things at air miles.

[operabob]

Original EMail:


> >To Whom It Might Concern,
> >
> >For 10 years Shell has been my principal gas station for both my wife's and my
> >cars.
> >
> >Because of the recent devaluation of an Air Mile by Air Miles from $0.139 to
> >$.0.105, a 32% reduction we have switched to a different supplier. At the same
> >time Shell itself reduced the AirMiles it awarded on $50 fuel purchases by 60%
> >from 5 to 2.
> >
> >AirMiles has the worst customer service on the planet. If you read their
> >"Community" forums this is borne out as they choose to ignore all queries on
> >the topic. As they will not respond our only resource is to move our loyalty to
> >programs that do value their customers. As a result we will no longer shop at
> >Shell.
> >
> >To simply respond that I should complain to AirMiles amounts to nothing more
> >than passing the buck.


Shell's Response:



> Date: Wed, 4 Jul 2012 14:26:34 +0200
> From: [email protected]
> To:
> Subject: Re: Recent Change To Your Loyalty Program
>
> Dear Bob
>
> Thank you for contacting Shell Customer Service Center.
>
> We appreciate your feedback and it is vital to our Business. I would like to share some of the changes as you might already be aware of.
>
> " The benefit of AIR MILES Cash is that you can now redeem quickly and instantly at checkout
> o 95 miles from your AIR MILES Cash balance gets you $10 off at checkout
> o AIR MILES Cash makes savings within your reach - Collectors only have to earn 95 miles to begin instantly redeeming through AIR MILES Cash at a variety of participating Sponsors, including Shell and, coming soon, Rona.
> o Collectors no longer have to wait a few weeks for gift certificate to arrive in the mail - rather now they can redeem instantly, which makes it easy and flexible.
> o With the money that is saved through AIR MILES Cash, Collectors can use this savings and put that money towards buying gift cards and certificates directly in-store. AIR MILES also has more than 1200 rewards in our portfolio, which can be gifted for family and friends.
> o An engaged Collector can accumulate 50 reward miles in less than two weeks at thousands of Sponsor locations across Canada.
> o Overall, we have seen a downward trend in Collectors redeeming gift cards and certificates, as we now have this new convenient channel available through AIR MILES Cash
>
>
> Kind regards
> Patricia
> Shell Global Customer Service Centre (Pty) Ltd
> 10 Rua Vasco Da Gama
> Cape Town, 8001
> South Africa
>
> Shell GCSC (Pty) Ltd is registered in South Africa. Company Registration number: 2006/025281/07. VAT Registration number: 4590232544.

My Response:

---

Thank you but you have completely ignored my complaint and you are insulting my intelligence.

Yes, in theory you can get cash back at a rate of $0.105/AM ($10/950AMs) but until recently you could get a Shell $20 gift card for 1,750 which equals $0.1143/AM. That's a 9% difference.

At the same time you've reduced the amount of AirMiles you're awarding compounding the issue.

Overall, the reduction by AirMiles has been from $0.139 to $0.105 a 32% reduction.

The program sucks and the math bears it out.

Your form letter response is just trying to pull the wool over peoples' eyes that you assume are unintelligent.

My response remains the same. I'm buying fuel elsewhere now.

Add to that, AirMiles gave people a choice: Opt for Cash Back by a certain date and if you don't you will have previously accumulate Miles restricted. This amounts to gangsterism. Does Shell really want their name associated with this kind of activity.

PS: I own several oil & gas stocks so I am not anti Shell.
>
>


Further Response:

I'd also like to add the following:

1. At $0.1143/AM the Shell Gas Certificate was thelowest value of all Gift Cards and Gift Certificates up until a year ago when the average for all was $0.139/AM.

2. One year ago AirMiles announced they were adjusting all Gift Cards and Gift Certificates to match their most popular item the Shell Certificate at $0.1143/AM.

3. Shortly after AirMiles announced the "Cash Back" feature and cancelled the certificate bringing everything down to $0.105/AM a 32% reduction.

The evidence seems to support that this has all been done to please Shell.

Therefore, as a consummer if you punish me with a 32% increase, especially in this economy I and many other will shop elsewhere.

[Donna456]

Good response OB. I agree with you 100%.

[Poirot]

One time years ago I contacted Rexall Drugs to try to get them to get to be an Airmiles sponsor at Rexall Drugs in Alberta.The email from Rexall Drugs from what I remember basically said Safeway only wants to be the only Airmiles sponsor of pharmacy and food in Western Canada.The sponsors sets the rules that Airmiles follows.If there are no Metro gift cards it's because Metro isn't sending them to Airmiles.Sponsors trying to blame Airmiles for lack of items to redeem for is ridiculous.

[operabob]

Beating a dead horse I think but what the hey! (hay) My response appears above they're lastest as it wouldn't correctly:

Thank you Phumeza,

This is not a personal insult as I recognize you are a clerk acting as a wall for the people that make decisions.

I realize this is probably 80+% a form email response designed by those up the food chain but how stupid do they think I am to assume I haven't already contacted AirMiles. Hiow stupid do they think I am to think I have to be lead by the nose with the form letter instructions you've past on to me.

Had they bothered to read the original email they'd have noticed that I pointed out that AirMiles has not been responding to this issue.

Currently, both Aeroplan and Shopper's Drug Mart are facing class action law suits over this very issue. No doubt AirMiles is next on the list.

As AirMiles is ignoring people's queries in this regard, as a sponsor of the program I'm taking it out on you.

FWIW: I bought gas today at Petro-Can.

As to how I know it's a form letter? Your ending.

Thank you for choosing Shell.

Had you actually answered my query earnestly that salutation wouldn't have been included.

XXX XXXX

Contributing Editor
Canadian MoneySaver Magazine




> Date: Thu, 5 Jul 2012 18:11:27 +0200
> From: [email protected]
> To:
> Subject: RE: Recent Change To Your Loyalty Program, activity # 32803540
>
> Dear xxx,
>
> Let me fist of all appreciate the time you have taken to contact Shell Customer Service Centre. We do realize and acknowledge the concern you have regarding the airmiles program. We have locked this feedback on our records, however with regards to any airmiles related issues you need to contact airmiles. Please find the below details on how you can best contact airmiles.
>
> Step 1: Log On to www.airmiles.ca
> Step 2: Click on "Contact Us" located on the bottom left hand side of the home page.
> Step 3: Click on "Email Form" located under the heading "Email" near the top of the page.
> Step 4: Choose your topic, most likely "Ask us about missing reward miles" or "Questions and Inquiries".
> Step 5: If the collector signs in, using their 4 digit pin, there is no need to include their collector number in their message.
>
> If you choose not to sign in, please include all pertinent details in your message: collector number, promotion details, transaction details/dates
>
> Step 6: Fill in first and last name, email and email confirmation then click on submit
>
> If you prefer to speak to an agent, please call 1-888-247-6453 and select the language, enter your collector number and PIN, then press 0 at each of the next 2 menu choice prompts.
>
>
> Thank you for choosing Shell.
>
>
>
> Phumeza Adam
> Customer Service Representative
> Shell Global Customer Service Centre (Pty) Ltd
> 10 Rua Vasco Da Gama
> Cape Town, 8001
> South Africa

[mickpalace]

Tell shell and all sponsors you will not shop there and do just that. I will not shop at the sponsors of this program......period

[operabob]

I couldn't resist adding another comment:

Phumeza,

One last thing and definitely not directed to you personally. I recognize you are doing your job and it's the people up above that need to deal with this so please pass my comments on, specifically the following,

If Shell is not concerned that AirMiles is now gouging their customers then what incentive is there for Shell's customers to stay loyal.

Thiis not an AirMiles issue. It is an abuse of Shell customers and if Shell is not willing to stand up for its customers then they don't deserve our loyalty.