Shoppers furious over Myer Christmas Club card fiasco

MYER customers have labelled the department store’s annual Christmas Club a ‘debacle’ as their club cards fail to arrive on time.

Myer’s Christmas Club members are angry after their cards failed to arrive on time. Picture: Jack Atley/Bloomberg

SHOPPERS have threatened to boycott Myer following a “debacle” involving the department store giant’s popular Christmas Club program.

Members who sign up to the annual Myer Christmas Club scheme set up a monthly direct debit from their bank account, and are rewarded with a $10 voucher for every $100 saved.

They then receive their savings and bonus rewards in the form of a special card, which is supposed to be received “in November”.

However, last week many members were still anxiously waiting for their cards to arrive, with some taking to Facebook to voice their concerns.

Loyal client Zoe Orchard, who has participated in the program for five years, was particularly angry as her card was not delivered in time to attend her local Myer Christmas Shopping Event night — which meant she missed out on discounts offered during the event.

“Every year for the past five years my friend and I have contributed weekly to the Myer Christmas Club. The money is automatically taken from our account by Myer, we never miss payments and usually by mid November we receive our Myer Gift Card. Our annual Christmas shopping spree begins with the Myer Christmas Shopping Event night. We have a great night, get there early, don’t leave til the doors are closing ... and we spend up big!!! But this year it has all changed,” she posted on Facebook.

“There is no sign of our Myer Christmas Club Gift Card! So so-so disappointed. Tried several times ringing the helpline. They reply “it’s being processed”. Very very vague. We have now missed the shopping event night and therefore missed out on the discounts offered that night. Will not be using the Myer Christmas Club ever again, so disappointed and completely lost faith. Next year we’ll be going to David Jones.”

Ms Orchard told news.com.au she and her friend also missed out on the Myer Cyber Sale, which was held this weekend.

“We both work full time so make the effort to get to the shops in November to take advantage of these sales events and use our Christmas Club money,” she said.

“Using the Myer Christmas Club has been the worst financial decision we have made all year. The frustrating part is Myer’s lack of care. Whether you contact them via phone or email you get very generic replies and no clear solution or answer.

“At the weekend we received an email to say that our cards are on their way, but if we would like instead an e-card then that could be arranged. But I’m confused - if the cards are in the mail why would they be offering an e-card?

“The email also said that the issuing of cards has been delayed this year due to an overwhelming demand for them, but they would have known very early in the year how many consumers had joined the Christmas Club, so a very lame excuse I say. It is now Monday afternoon and there is still nothing in the letter box!”

Other users were also quick to share their concerns with Myer online and were told to send the company a private message with their Christmas Club details.

Myer has since confirmed that all cards have now been posted and that customers were given the option of an e-voucher if they did not want to wait for the physical card to arrive.

However, some Christmas Club members such Joanne Stanley said they preferred the real thing.

“I too have not received my gift card ... don’t like digital so I want a real card. My payments have not rolled over as I stop it through the site after I reach a certain amount and then set a start date next year.

“However, it seems this process has become a debacle and once I receive my card (better be this week) I will be ceasing my Christmas Club,” she wrote on Facebook.

A Myer spokesman apologised for the delays and urged concerned customers to get in touch.

“We can advise that all Myer gift cards have been posted or emailed to our customers,” he said.

“There has been strong demand for our gift cards this year and we have worked hard to distribute them as quickly as possible. Where customers have contacted us, we have offered eGift card delivery of their cards, so that they can have them sooner than they would receive them via the post.

“We want our customers to have a great experience with our gift card service, and apologise if this has not been the case.”

If you have concerns regarding your Myer Christmas Club card, call Myer customer service on 1300 398 226.