Shopper's plays their dirty games again

[tjthemanto]

If every single user of Smart Canucks stopped shopping at SDM, they wouldn't care. They would probably be happy. The users here are a tiny tiny percentage of SDM customers, and most people here buy products for close to or below SDM costs (with the bonus points, bonus redemptions, etc.).

Ofcourse they would care.

The people over here also use lot of cpns which are like cash for SDM and also fill prescriptions which are a cash cow for SDM through prescription fees etc.

SC'ers bring down their OOP through cpn use during SDM 20 x events , but for SDM it makes no difference as the cpns are like cash for them. Sure they have to give out points , but they do get $ 50 or $ 75 from you in form of cash and cpns.

No business likes to lose customers , however tiny percentage they might be , its really ignorant of you to assume that .

SC'ers are not the only ones who get bonus points or do bonus redemptions , lot of others do the same.

Should SDM ignore them too ?

The only people SDM doesn't want is the scam artists and abusers , and not SC'ers or any one else.

[sharkie]

i see the optimum program as a tool for SDM to note trends, habits amongst their most loyal shoppers, and turn around and build promos and incentives and marketing plans using that info. more of a general sales building tool.

now they are snooping and spying and trying to find loopholes and stealing back points, freezing accounts.

i understand that it is THEIR program and they have every right to protect themselves against fraud and misuse of the program (other retailers using a system that is meant for individual consumers)

the way they have gone about attacking customers leaves such a bad taste in EVERYONE's mouth.

Do they give a fliying hoot? i guess not. Do we? absolutely!

i really toned down my shopping at SDM since last yr's point theft, and i wasn't even one of the victims.

I firmly believe it is more than a small percentage of their customers that they lose when they act like this. they are constantly trying to find ways of getting us in the stores, play their online games, enter their contests and do their marketing surveys. they are desperate to have us spend our money their.

i keep hearing rumors here and their that they are struggling in some ways. i wouldn't be surprised. they spend a lot of resources with all their marketing, and their PR is despicable.

i believe that it is a badly run company, the evidence has presented itself time and time again. if they don't fix themselves any time soon, they will continue to lose customers.

sorry, a bit off topic, but it really peeves me off when i see this crap.

((umm, those who bought 500 choc bars, i don't really care if their cards were frozen. i bought 4 and thought i was being indulgent :p 500 is insanity, plain and simple. donating them? well i hope there were some toothbrushes donated along with the chocolate.))

wow very well said Anisa

[anastasia1009]

If every single user of Smart Canucks stopped shopping at SDM, they wouldn't care. They would probably be happy. The users here are a tiny tiny percentage of SDM customers, and most people here buy products for close to or below SDM costs (with the bonus points, bonus redemptions, etc.).

I agree with you. When I worked for a points card people would call and say they are closing it. And I would be like 'Ok, I can close your account give me a few seconds." The customer was like what aren't you going to send me to retention for me keep my card and we were all like no and continue on with the closure. I was a supervisor so they were surprised because one person closes the card and in less than an hour I already signed up 30 or 40 people. I was also in charge of ging card for over use or suspicious activity etc and it was random chosen by a program that was developed for a few point programs, You enter the criteria you want ged and it did it for you.

[RonBC]

Coupon is a form of legal tender, you should have the right to the bonus points regardless of the type of payment. Even if they don't allow it, they should have told you before you made the purchase.

Coupons are not 'legal tender'. Any store can chose to accept or not in what ever manner they see fit.

[tccl21]

I would tend to agree that SDM wouldn't care nor notice if we stopped couponing/shopping there. To be honest, I am not an asset to them as a customer. I ONLY shop there when I can get something free or almost free. When these deals hit, I hit too - I go in, get what I can, then spend all the points I accrued and I leave. Done. I make money shopping there, I do not spend money. Surely I can't be the only one who does this. Why spend money when I have coupons and points?

[anisa]

Coupons are not 'legal tender'. Any store can chose to accept or not in what ever manner they see fit.

Manufacturer coupons are to be treated as cash. According to revenue canada. I think that is what she meant. And sdm does accept coupons.

[anisa]

I agree with you. When I worked for a points card people would call and say they are closing it. And I would be like 'Ok, I can close your account give me a few seconds." The customer was like what aren't you going to send me to retention for me keep my card and we were all like no and continue on with the closure. I was a supervisor so they were surprised because one person closes the card and in less than an hour I already signed up 30 or 40 people. I was also in charge of ging card for over use or suspicious activity etc and it was random chosen by a program that was developed for a few point programs, You enter the criteria you want ged and it did it for you.

That one person does add onto a list of previously defected customers. To the ppl that are paid by the business to crunch numbers, every dollar, and customer, counts.

It might not matter to the operator who takes the call, but it does to the company.

They arent spending millions on advertising because they want to lose customers.

[Tripsplanner]

I'm going to have to go take a look at their FB page sometime. Sounds like there's alllll kinds of stuff going on there. I remember cushiebunny's Easter card debacle from a while back. You'd think they'd have learned by now.

What Easter Bunny debacle? That goes to show you how long I've been on an SDM "diet"

Because they have a very good idea of our shopping habits, bc of the cards, they can better understand what is normal for us. I agree they should just limit all promos, but then for someone like tripsplanner who was buying diapers and wipes for triplets - she may see it otherwise as buying 4 of something for her may have lasted days when it could last me months

Fallenpixels, you gave them too much credit. According to the fraud lady, I have a black mark against me because of my history of excessive diapers and formula buying; notwithstanding the fact that I went through 30+ diapers and a can of formula PER DAY just to keep my kids fed, clean and dry. I even pointed out to them that I initially also bought a lot of laundry detergent (Ivory Snow) until I smartened up and used a cheaper brand, and enough Aveeno lotion for her to grease her way up to the Executive office. Nope, as it stood, they think I am reselling those items (hence the convenience store joke). That's when I challenged her to call the SDM managers - I gave 3 names from 3 different stores who can personally vouch for the fact that I do indeed have triplets. Those managers have met my kids (so has Screamy!).

Nope, then she went on and on to my soups! I should have told her that I was so broke from buying all the overpriced diapers and formula from SDM, that I can only afford canned soups for my kids. And it they weren't full from the soups, I fed them toothpaste. Nope, still convenience store! I even gave the Yonge St Mission Food bank manager's name and number for her to check if indeed certain Mrs. T recently donated hundreds and hundreds of Campbell canned soup, in those pathetic few flavours. Nope, still convenience store.

After a while, I realized she was really daft so I hung up!

[sam786]

i would like to share one thing with all my sc's .from the last few weeks,getting bonus points and promos,, using with coupons,the shoppers drug mart cashiers are treating me like if i am stealing something or they stare at me like if couponing is a crime or is not allowed.so honestly speaking i already cut my shopping trips to sdm,and i am also not going to participate on 20x points event.

[FallenPixels]

well Trips, you were buying for a household AND a shelter which isnt normal, I meant on just the wipes

[FallenPixels]

No business likes to lose customers , however tiny percentage they might be , its really ignorant of you to assume that .

This is not true, as a business we have been happy to get rid of one of our slow paying clients so we can concentrate our efforts on the ones that live up to their end of the contract.

At work we have "let clients go" because they did not fit with us anymore or caused too many issues for us and had no problems doing it. It allowed us to spend our resources on the clients that matter to us. Yes, both of mine are specialized industries but SDM pays for those points, couponers who know the SDM system DO cost them money and at that point are a liability not a customer.

How many people do you think went and paid Nivea prices without coupon for the 150 bonus points (not to mention the possibility that the coupon is not valid on them and may not be reimbursed if they audit the receipts)

[anisa]

yeah, i think i might be one of those non-customer liabilities haha.

oops!

[sharkie]

yeah, i think i might be one of those non-customer liabilities haha.

oops!

apparantly so am I.....lmao
..I do not think I will be loosing any sleep over it though...

[screamy]

Ultimately, I think it's all in the customer service. If someone from SDM had bothered to CALL Sharkie or Trips before arbitrarily freezing their cards, and made a polite inquiry as to why they had bought so much/many whatevers, and THEN made a decision...that would be different.

They would have been made aware of the triplets issue, etc., and could have had an amicable, logical discussion about things.

It's the fact that people who are buying in good faith (and I'm willing to believe that's the vast majority of us), with expectations that the company has set (either explicitly or by omission, in the case of not setting specific limits, or both), and then decides for us what is reasonable for us and shuts things down...that's not cool. And having to chase after the answers is just adding insult to injury.

I also go out of my way to pick up stuff for people who are ill or, for whatever reason, can't get to SDM (or elsewhere) themselves. Just because I don't normally buy, say, Glucerna, is no reason to decide I'm defrauding them if my grandmother needs several cases to get through the week and my mom can't go grab them.

For family members, it's just what you do, because they're family; for your friends and neighbours, well, it's NICE / neighbourly to help them out. It's how I was raised, and I would hope that people would care enough about me to offer if I was the one who couldn't run the errand myself.

All they needed to do was call. Even with a pretext like "We noticed some activity on your Optimum card that seemed a bit unusual, and just wanted to check that you hadn't lost it," or similar BS...that would open the door for a conversation about whatever the circumstances were.

[kidsteph]

If every single user of Smart Canucks stopped shopping at SDM, they wouldn't care. They would probably be happy. The users here are a tiny tiny percentage of SDM customers, and most people here buy products for close to or below SDM costs (with the bonus points, bonus redemptions, etc.).

Agree - I was at SDM tonight (Friday night before the 20X promo) and there were many, many customers buying things - long line ups (behind me getting the gift cards) and them not getting many points (most not flashing their SDM card).

We are a small % indeed and likely hurt SDMs bottom line overall.