SDM GC can only be used for "Shoppers product" only?

[yuki-bunnie]

I saw this on facebook and wondering what was going on for using SDM GC.

I know many people purchased quite a lot of SDM GCs from last promote. If the following claimed by shoppers customer service representative is true, it will be chaos.

"*** SDM refuses to accept SDM gift card for any purchase except "Shoppers products".

I went to Woodbine/16th Markham Ontario SDM and purchase lottery tickets, customer service rep Anthony refuses me to use SDM gift card. His supervisor Moe answered "we do not accept SDM gift card for any items except Shoppers products", and said "this is verbal rule among all shoppers drug mart stores". I never heard of that I had used SDM gift cards for regular purchases for last 3 years.


What does he mean for "Shoppers products" refers to Life brand items only. He said we cannot use SDM gift cards for any purchase that is not "Shoppers" brand, such as Tide detergent, Vicky brand cosmetics and so on.


I'm upset from the term "Shoppers products" only and "verbal rule" from Moe and Anthony's speaking."

[cookiemonster]

No, that has got to be wrong. I've never had that issue, and I highly doubt it would be legal. It would have to be clearly stated in the fine print on the card. I would call their CS line and complain. 1-800-746-7737

[CrazyQT]

I'm pretty sure what he meant was you can not use SDM gift cards to pay for items that are "third party". I could be wrong but I'm thinking that's what he meant. Third party items such as stamps, lottery, bus tickets, other gift cards etc.

[YOU AND ME]

I went this morning to buy a birthday card and some lottery ticket the girl would not take my SDM GC on lotteries.I was in a hurry no word from her why this was when i asked her she would not give me an answer.I have always bought other GCs with my SDM GC

[Dealfinder07]

I went this morning to buy a birthday card and some lottery ticket the girl would not take my SDM GC on lotteries.I was in a hurry no word from her why this was when i asked her she would not give me an answer.I have always bought other GCs with my SDM GC

It makes sense that they would not take the GC on any lottery, stamp or bus ticket purchase.(These items not being shoppers drug mart products, and they make very little money off them if any). If they did, I literally would buy $5,000-$10,000 worth of gift cards each month just to use at the post office. It also would be illegal as they cannot give any bonus incentives to buying lottery at their store, it would be an unfair advantage to all others selling lottery.

However if you try to buy a chocolate bar and they refuse because its not a shoppers drug mart branded item, that is not allowed and you can report that.

[momof3heathens]

My girls buy their monthly bus passes using Shoppers Gift Cards(the ones on the rack). Was it one of those promo cards you receive when wub $50 - $75 worth of products? Maybe those as they are time limited.

[FLA]

My girls buy their monthly bus passes using Shoppers Gift Cards(the ones on the rack). Was it one of those promo cards you receive when wub $50 - $75 worth of products? Maybe those as they are time limited.

Some stores accept GC for bus passes and some don't.

[Kelzor]

I'm pretty sure he's wrong. I work for Shoppers in AB, so the rules maybe change throughout the provinces but our rules on GC's don't say that you have to buy only life brand items. Now, saying that, we are not allowed to sell third party gift cards, lottery or transit with a gift card. Not only do you get points for buying a shoppers drug mart gift card and not any other gift cards/lotto/transit, but in AB I know there is a big issue with fraud as well. Especially around Christmas time.
Hope that helped.

[canpip1]

Some stores won't even accept credit card when buying GC, especailly in an area where there is a big issue with fraud. I have to pay with debit card. Although some stores accept GC for third party gift cards, lottery or transit pass, they were not suppose to.

[joandstef]

This must be store specific. Some will let you use GC for TTC tokens but others won't. Or rxs but others don't. I just wish they were consistent.

[Ciel]

That sounds very odd that Shoppers does not allow use of its branded gift card for purchases made in its store. If individual stores are having different policies, I'd avoid buying the gift cards entirely. It's one thing if the card tag itself lists the exceptions on what the card cannot be used to buy, but to have to deal with a store that likely does not have that card policy posted ('tis the season to get store policies out in the open or in writing) is not worth the energy/emotions spent.

The cards that are being given out during their weekend promos are a different kind of gift card and the chain is not the only retail brand providing time-limited cash/gift cards connected to minimum level of purchases with specific redemption dates.

Ontario's rules on gift cards:
http://www.sse.gov.on.ca/mcs/en/Pages/Gift_Cards.aspx

[EvilTofu]

I went this morning to buy a birthday card and some lottery ticket the girl would not take my SDM GC on lotteries.I was in a hurry no word from her why this was when i asked her she would not give me an answer.I have always bought other GCs with my SDM GC

It is due to legal issues. A lottery ticket is legally owned by the person who pays for it. When you buy a lottery ticket with GC, SDM would actually the one who is paying for the ticket. It's a bit weird, but the law is to protect you. For example, you ask someone to buy a lottery ticket and pay back afterwards. Turns out that is the winning ticket. Can you pay her just $2 for a million dollar ticket? What if your friend bought several tickets, one of which won. Can you claim the winning ticket is yours rather than another one? What if your friend owed you $10, in which you claim he used "your money" to buy the tickets? Which one would the OLGC grant the prize to? It is therefore established that whoever pays for the ticket with legal tender at a licensed olg dealer is the owner of the ticket.