Frequent flyer & Loyalty points - are they 'worth it'?

MythDefied
41

Could you post images of the front and back please?

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42

@MaryS, I moved your topic into this older more inclusive one as it seems related to the potential and actual value of points.

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43

Thanks Phil. I am technologically ignorant so don’t know if this works. Should be 4 different photos.
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44

Thanks Phil. I read the posts which were very interesting and even found one which reflects my usage of the card only on the basis of buying what I would have bought anyway and stocking-up if a very good price. Takes months usually to get the minimum $10 which immediately goes back into my groceries.

My case is the front says 2500 points and the reverse side in very small print says 500 points.
As a computer generated voucher, there would have been many such sent to consumers?

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45

The latest garbage offer from Coles is for “FREE MasterChef Knives”, but the small print is revealing.

The cheapest knives are ‘free’ with 20 credits. How much is that credit you ask? $20 of spending in Coles - so you need to spend $400 just to get one knife. If you want to ‘collect’ the set of six knives you will need to spend $3,500 at the local supermarket - although you can earn one bonus credit per transaction so you may be able to get them for ‘only’ $1,750 if you plan your shopping well.

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46

For me, its cheaper to just buy the damn things. I only want a santoku knife anyway and I didnt know that you could get small ones so I’ll buy it. Do not care to spend more than I need to, for these “rewards”

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47

We just let the Woolies points roll over into cash credits on the shopping. It doesn’t encourage us to use their businesses over a competitor.

Accrued points from CC usage and when we were able to travel airline points have always accrued many times faster.

That’s a lot of steak to put in the trolley.
Especially if you go for the more economical cuts suitable for slow cooking. But then cooked properly to fall apart tender would there be any real need for the steak knives?

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48

Thanks for the photos. You did OK. 1 is linked and 3 are inlined so all good.

It appears to be an error at Flybuys/Coles. My suggestion is you first contact Flybuys and make your case that the front of the voucher is misleading regardless of whether it was a misprint, system error, or whatever reason they may provide, and that you want 2,500 points.

If they call attention to the reverse most of us only look at the front anyway, but how were you to know whether the front or back was the error, and request the 2,500 point as goodwill if for no other reason, and own up to their production error in the mailing if that is what it was.

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49

It appears the voucher may be part of a bigger sheet/booklet. I wonder if the 2500 is the cummulative total of bonus points over previous weeks and if one had used all the preceeding vouchers, this would the how much one would receive in total.

Do you have any information on whether this is a standalone voucher or part of a multiple week voucher redeeming program. If it is the later, is it possible to get a photo of all other vouchers, as one voucher may not be able to be read in isolation?

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50

I bought both our large and small santoku knives from Robins Kitchen.

I just happened to be walking past and saw thay had a sale.

It must have been my lucky day.

image

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51

Thanks Phil for the advice which I needed as a second view on whether it was reasonable to pursue this with them. I wrote to them via their website then by email on Monday with no response so far. How long is a reasonable wait time? Though I cannot think of where to go next. Will let you know. Thanks again.

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52

Thanks php. Your point is interesting, I never would have thought along those lines. Yes it was the LAST voucher, but as the vouchers are taken by the staff at the checkout, I cannot check that. A new batch of vouchers has been sent to me so I will see what the small print there says! Will let you know. Thanks again.

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53

I would go 5 business days and then ring them on on 13 11 16. You expected 2500 points and got 500 so are effectively ‘out of pocket’ of your expectations for $10 points value. Flybuys/Coles should reasonably be amenable to invest that much for a customer relationship, especially considering their actual costs (retail less profit) is even less.

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54

A complaint to your Office of Fair Trading and to the ACCC (and CC Coles into your complaints) would also be options now for you. Misleading Claims are not well looked on by the ACCC particularly when they can be seen as “Bait” advertising. I don’t know that they will take up the issue but it appears to have merit (your claim) and this is a very large Business so it should make it more appealing to the Consumer Protection Bodies.

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55

Thanks grahroll. For such a pathetic (singularly but not if applied to their millions of customers), amount, but the principle is important. So maybe it was NOT a discrepancy? But phb’s comment is certainly worth looking into. Going to the OFT and ACCC seems reacting. Will go for Phil’s 5 days first. Thanks.

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56

I would have expected that the 2,500 points had an asterisk or similar applied if the intent was to show what could be earnt over a period of days, weeks or other period. That asterisk would then mean someone needs to look for an explanation. But if I was seeing that docket as is, my take on it was 2,500 points for spending $40 in the noted period.

Reacting yes, it is probably so, but none the less how many others have been caught out? If not pulled up on it then will it be repeated? Waiting 5 days is a good idea to see what response you get but I’d still fire a complaint off to the ACCC just so they can have some idea of what has happened and if they need to touch base at the least with Coles to remind them of their obligations.

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57

It would then suggest that it may be a cumulative total of points which could be earned (or a bonus if all weekly offers were taken up), rather than the points per voucher.

I recall a few years ago Woolworths did a similar thing and the weekly points were X and if you spent the required amount each week and all the points were obtained, there was a doubling of points on the last week. The last week voucher showed the doubled amount and it was clear when looked at the whole offer (all vouchers), yet by itself it could have been as confusing.

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58

Thanks phb.In future I will certainly watch these such offers closely.
BUT, WHOOPEE, just received this:
From: Member Help memberhelp@contact.flybuys.com.au
Date: Thu, Nov 5, 2020 at 12:47 PM
Subject: Re: FAQ Contact Form
To: xxxxxxxx@gmail.com
Dear Stephanie
Thank you for your email
The Week 15 coupon had a misprint, incorrectly showing you would receive 2500, as opposed to the correct amount of 500
Affected members will have the missing points credited to accounts within 5-10 days.
We apologize for any inconvenience caused.
If you have any further queries, please call us on 13 1116 Monday to Friday, 9am to 7pm, AEST (excluding national public holidays).
Kind regards,
The Flybuys Team
flybuys.com.au

VERY MANY THANKS to ALL you Advisers out there, you don’t know how much I appreciate having such invaluable help which I could not have obtained anywhere else.(Sorry no Cartier watches available! :-))

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59

You are so welcome, and thanks for posting the outcome. It is always good to see a business doing the right thing when it has an ‘oops moment’ and as a result also their happy customer.

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60

Back to Coles shopping now! :-))

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