Shopper's plays their dirty games again

[tiffanyhungry]

I really hope they dont take my points away I bought 20 :s now im kinda worried and i dont want to spend my points yet I have enough for my first ever mega redemption

[Tabby40]

Tiffanyhungry I don't think that 20 would be considered more then normal household usage so I don't think you have anything to worry about.

[walkonby]

Thanks for the update. I'm really sorry to hear this. It seems not fair when SDM did nothing to those who bought 400 chocolate bars and more than 200 Huggies wipes, as we all know most of them ended up on Kijiji

In my opinion, if you haven't spent your points you better get out there and do it. They are going through transactions, freezing cards and taking points away. You either agree to abide by their reasonable household limit (which they won't tell you how many is btw), or they won't even give you back your other points. Basically they will hold you hostage until you agree to abide by their terms. I am so done with them. They'll let you keep the product, but they are taking away your points you earned which they are being paid for by the company. So they are keeping the 'points profit' for themselves. BTW the guy on the phone told me today they are going to be reviewing the chocolate bars as well... So if you haven't spent your points you might want to get out there and do it. And don't try to transfer to another card because they will freeze that one too (so they told me when I asked). Like I said, I was treated like a criminal when everything I did was up front and with the full knowledge of the Manager. The Manager called me today and apologized for everything and said I could return the items for a full refund. But I still loose my investment of my initial points and don't get that back, as well as any points I earned. So it's been a pretty upsetting time and I lost 50,000 points (my investment). So please be careful. This company is not forthright and honest in its points system in my experience.

Wow!



I haven't been reading the latest about SDM M.O. in recouping all the points from you guys. Well it is a huge lesson learned I guess......hmmm, Problem is I am not sure what the lesson is. It sure is one sided, with them raking in all the benefits.

BE AFRAID.....BE VERY AFRAID.......STEP AWAY FROM THE SDM COUNTER NOW. HIT THEM WHERE IT HURTS. STOP GIVING THEM YOUR BUSINESS.

[PinkLincoln]

I have protested Shoppers Drug Mart this year. I still shop there, but only for 20x the points, milk and lottery tickets. I don't use coupons as much anymore, but when I do it's at WM or other grocery stores. My family has cut back this year too.. And I know I'm just a small fish in a big pond, but from us alone I know it's several thousand less in profits/sales from us they are not getting. If more and more people try to restrain themselves and shop at other stores- hitting em where it hurts (their pockets) is the best way I think to show your dislike for their behavior. When they wouldn't reimburse the people who lost their points last year, I had no interest to support them much anymore. They may not like coupons, but it makes them more money than if someone spent nothing at all.. or used their coupons at WM hassle free.

[Tripsplanner]

Ok, now that I have caught up with all the chatter, here is my experience with having my card frozen....

About a year or so ago, my card was frozen with no prior notice. It took several phone calls over 3 weeks before I was able to speak to someone who could give me more information (calling regular CS was useless!). I had the store manager call HQ as well to complain when I was given the run-around.

They accused me of running a convenience store because of the amount of toiletries (t-paste, t-brush, soaps, deodorants etc) and canned soups I was buying. I bought them mostly from one store at clearance (the same store manager who batted on my behalf) or with coupons. The SDM lady said my Optimum card history kept on showing bulk purchases since I joined the program. To which I laughed (truly amazed how stupid SDM is kind-of-laugh). I said that my convenience store must be the most pathetic one ever - 3 years ago it only sold diapers and formula and now only toiletries and Campbell canned soup. I told her that I have triplets and I donate a lot to shelters (my TO downtown SCers can attest to that!). I challenged her to call the store manager and check it out (the store manager has a friend who work in one of the shelters that I donate to). Well the "fraud investigation" lady called my manager to check my story out. Meanwhile, my store manager also complained to her district manager and I wrote a complaint letter to the VP of Operations (who gave me his business card when I was introduced to him while shopping at one of the store).

Long and short is, they unfroze my card and I retained all my points. From my apology conversation (they called back to let me know it's been unfrozen), I was told that their system is now able to identify and alert "excessive purchases" for each individual items they carry in the stores and the threshold varies by each item. They would then go back to the purchase history before freezing an account. Unfortunately for me, I had history of "excessive purchases" of diapers and formula So since that incident, I no longer buy things in bulk from SDM anymore (for donation, Metro gets my business now) and generally don't accumulate a lot of Optimum points anymore. SDM loses my business.

While I agree "excessive purchases" limit is relative and subjective, just keep them in mind when you are putting through a large number of same items in one transaction. Especially when you cannot legitimately explain why you are buying X number of the items at once when you don't usually buy them.

[Tabby40]

Ok, now that I have caught up with all the chatter, here is my experience with having my card frozen....

About a year or so ago, my card was frozen with no prior notice. It took several phone calls over 3 weeks before I was able to speak to someone who could give me more information (calling regular CS was useless!). I had the store manager call HQ as well to complain when I was given the run-around.

They accused me of running a convenience store because of the amount of toiletries (t-paste, t-brush, soaps, deodorants etc) and canned soups I was buying. I bought them mostly from one store at clearance (the same store manager who batted on my behalf) or with coupons. The SDM lady said my Optimum card history kept on showing bulk purchases since I joined the program. To which I laughed (truly amazed how stupid SDM is kind-of-laugh). I said that my convenience store must be the most pathetic one ever - 3 years ago it only sold diapers and formula and now only toiletries and Campbell canned soup. I told her that I have triplets and I donate a lot to shelters (my TO downtown SCers can attest to that!). I challenged her to call the store manager and check it out (the store manager has a friend who work in one of the shelters that I donate to). Well the "fraud investigation" lady called my manager to check my story out. Meanwhile, my store manager also complained to her district manager and I wrote a complaint letter to the VP of Operations (who gave me his business card when I was introduced to him while shopping at one of the store).

Long and short is, they unfroze my card and I retained all my points. From my apology conversation (they called back to let me know it's been unfrozen), I was told that their system is now able to identify and alert "excessive purchases" for each individual items they carry in the stores and the threshold varies by each item. They would then go back to the purchase history before freezing an account. Unfortunately for me, I had history of "excessive purchases" of diapers and formula So since that incident, I no longer buy things in bulk from SDM anymore (for donation, Metro gets my business now) and generally don't accumulate a lot of Optimum points anymore. SDM loses my business.

While I agree "excessive purchases" limit is relative and subjective, just keep them in mind when you are putting through a large number of same items in one transaction. Especially when you cannot legitimately explain why you are buying X number of the items at once when you don't usually buy them.

Thank you so much for sharing.

[screamy]

I remember that soup shop Trips! Long time no see!

[nothingsweeterthanadeal]

wow, im a bit worried about my points, can't wait for mega to do my redemption and i hope sdm stops this behavior

[Tripsplanner]

I remember that soup shop Trips! Long time no see!

Yes, been meeting to make it to the monthly meeting but more often I have to rescue hubby from the kids (or is it the other way around)? Hopefully when I changed department, I can get away earlier (my work hours will change slightly). In the meantime, still want to babysit triplets?

As for the soups, I think in total I bought about 900+ cans in various transactions over half a year period. It is SDM's own fault - they sent soups to a store that neither ordered them nor carries groceries (no shelf space). So off they go on clearance. The manager would then call me for first dibs (save her the efforts of stocking the shelves). The SDM manager was happy I bought them all at once and the Food bank was happy to receive them (Yonge Street Mission couldn't believe how many cans I brought). In the phone call, the SDM manager gave the "fraud" lady an earful. She was really pissed - she said something about not giving the store manager enough credit for knowing their clients (duh, did they think I can buy 100s+ cans of soup without the manager noticing?).

As an apology, they offered to give me bonus Optimum Points but I refused. I told them point blank that the way they treated a loyal member is a disgrace, the lack of information amongst the CS is an embarrassment and if they do that to me another time, they'll be finding themselves front page on the newspaper.

I've been on SDM diet ever since...except for the chocolate and now GC promo

[thien_nga]

Yes, been meeting to make it to the monthly meeting but more often I have to rescue hubby from the kids (or is it the other way around)? Hopefully when I changed department, I can get away earlier (my work hours will change slightly). In the meantime, still want to babysit triplets?

As for the soups, I think in total I bought about 900+ cans in various transactions over half a year period. It is SDM's own fault - they sent soups to a store that neither ordered them nor carries groceries (no shelf space). So off they go on clearance. The manager would then call me for first dibs (save her the efforts of stocking the shelves). The SDM manager was happy I bought them all at once and the Food bank was happy to receive them (Yonge Street Mission couldn't believe how many cans I brought). In the phone call, the SDM manager gave the "fraud" lady an earful. She was really pissed - she said something about not giving the store manager enough credit for knowing their clients (duh, did they think I can buy 100s+ cans of soup without the manager noticing?).

As an apology, they offered to give me bonus Optimum Points but I refused. I told them point blank that the way they treated a loyal member is a disgrace, the lack of information amongst the CS is an embarrassment and if they do that to me another time, they'll be finding themselves front page on the newspaper.

I've been on SDM diet ever since...except for the chocolate and now GC promo

I want triplets lol!!! But really I always love to have more than 1 at once!!! :D

[kidsteph]

I got myself another Optimum card and in future will start accumulating points on the new card - with the Gift Card promo, the upcoming 20x promo.

I got many points on the Cadbury promo - most since spent on the last bonus redemptions (and funnily enough, one cashier learned from my purchase and earned over $1K in chocolate and points and he spent them right away) - but will earn much more with the gift card promo and the 20X promo with my next diabetic supply purchase. I don't trust them to not take the points away JUST BEFORE the mega redemption like last year.

[thien_nga]

I got myself another Optimum card and in future will start accumulating points on the new card - with the Gift Card promo, the upcoming 20x promo.

I got many points on the Cadbury promo - most since spent on the last bonus redemptions (and funnily enough, one cashier learned from my purchase and earned over $1K in chocolate and points and he spent them right away) - but will earn much more with the gift card promo and the 20X promo with my next diabetic supply purchase. I don't trust them to not take the points away JUST BEFORE the mega redemption like last year.

Good idea, I probably should spend all my points this year too and start a new one then, maybe force my husband to have 1 too!!

[peachies]

Just wanted to give everyone an update..Shoppers has informed me that they are not taking points back from the chocolate bar or the huggies promos and this is NOT the reason for peoples cards being frozen. I think its safe to say that maybe the people who have their cards frozen are purchasing large quantities which in turn are raising r.e.d. f.l.a.g.s on peoples accounts.

[dutchmama]

Just wanted to give everyone an update..Shoppers has informed me that they are not taking points back from the chocolate bar or the huggies promos and this is NOT the reason for peoples cards being frozen. I think its safe to say that maybe the people who have their cards frozen are purchasing large quantities which in turn are raising r.e.d. f.l.a.g.s on peoples accounts.

This does make more sense, instead of them just taking them back because they feel like someone got 'too many ' bonus points from a promo. I just wish they would keep an open dialog with their customers, and not leave us all feeling vulnerable. It seems like there is no 'standard' for the program and depending on the day, things could vary greatly. I hope to redeem my points, and change my shopping strategy for the next year.

[lessthannat]

This makes me wonder how large the quantities actually are, I have done my fair share of shopping at SDM, and my account has never been frozen nor have I had issues
And I sure hope that I do not, maybe I am not a heavy enough user *shrug*