Woolworths Rewards card rant goes viral

A FACEBOOK post “ranting” about the new Woolies Rewards card has gone viral as a backlash against the retailer grows.

SCOTT Mate really didn’t like the new Woolworths Rewards card — so he took to Facebook to let the supermarket know. It turns out, more than 50,000 customers agreed with him.

Mr Mate posted his thoughts about the revamped rewards card, which ditches Qantas Frequent Flyer points for “Woolworths Dollars” earned on orange-ticketed items, on the Woolworths Facebook page on Monday night.

“I’m probably just ranting,” Mr Mate wrote.

“I used to love your rewards card, until its so-called upgrade. I was an average spender of $200 to $300 per week for the basic fact I’d get weekly bonuses of $20 to $30 on my purchases to be spent on my next shop or some random midweek items.

“I’ve had the new upgraded ‘Rewards’ for now a few weeks and have earned a whopping accumulation saving of $4.80 on an amount of shopping in excess of $1000 (previous returns of $80+).

“Sadly your little orange tag sales items (that the new card now totally depends on) just don’t cut it, because they’re now less common than hen’s teeth, unicorn horns and rocking horse poop.

“Yet, I must thank you, you have opened up my eyes, enabling me to shop smarter and take my regular business to the local butcher and fruit and veggie bloke. Okay, end rant, gotta run, need milk and bread and Coles is just around the corner too.”

I'm probably just ranting,I used to love Your rewards card,Until it's so called upgrade...........I was an average...

Posted by Scott Mate on Sunday, 6 December 2015

The post clearly hit a nerve. By Thursday morning it had been ‘liked’ more than 50,000 times, shared nearly 4,500 times and attracted more than 7000 comments from equally frustrated customers.

“I don’t want the new rewards plan,” agreed Janet McWhirter. “I was happy collecting my Frequent Flyer points so I can take my family on a holiday. As for discounts ... Sorry Woolies but I’m not impressed at all.”

Others claimed products which had earlier been discounted were relabelled at full price with the rewards tickets. “My personal favourite was a loaf of bread that one week was on special for $3.00 then the next it was its at its ‘normal’ price of $5.50 with a woolworths reward of $1.50,” wrote Terrie Kelly.

Donna Bain pointed out that the orange-ticketed products are often soft drinks and high-sugar items. “I don’t like that everything with the mysterious orange tag is not the best item to be buying for a family,” she wrote. “I spend around $200 a week and want the healthier options for my kids but there’s no bonus on that.”

Many said they would take their business elsewhere once they stop earning Qantas Frequent Flyer points on December 31. “Very disappointed, Woolworths,” said Dianne Lofts.

“Been shopping with you for many years and in different Australian States, but after December 31, I will be shopping at Aldi and getting meat and veg from local butcher and fruit and veg store. You’ve lost me and many other customers by the looks of things here. Was it worth it, changing your rewards program? I think not.”

In response to Mr Mate’s complaint, Woolworths said: “Hi Scott, we appreciate you reaching out and sharing your feedback, we’re very sorry to hear that your love is past tense and we do hope we can turn that around!

“Firstly we want to assure you that we understand now all members have been earning their fair share of Woolworths Dollars and are taking this feedback very seriously. This, among other feedback, is guiding us to make a number of program enhancements — so stay tuned to see them over the coming weeks.

“We do understand there needs to be an increase in orange ticket offers across the store, to ensure members are earning without changing their shopping behaviour. This is certainly happening. We’re also working on more personalised email offers to ensure your Woolworths Dollars quickly add up.

“We do appreciate you reaching out and hope you continue shopping with us to see more value from the program. Thanks.”

The backlash against Woolworths has been steadily growing as customers voice their dissatisfaction with the six-week-old program. A spokesman told news.com.au: “Woolworths Rewards is still only weeks old, but there are already more members and more customers scanning their cards when they shop.

“The nature of the program is that the number of Woolworths Dollars will differ from shop-to-shop, but over time customers will experience superior rewards when compared with our competitors’ programs.

“It has always been our intention to listen to our customers and refine it over time. We are looking at ways to ensure we increase the earn rate for less typical shoppers, including increasing the number of orange tickets in store on fresh and high demand products.”

The retailer is also leaving the door open to continuing the relationship with Qantas.

“Woolworths Rewards members previously linked to Qantas continue to earn Qantas Points on their shopping in addition to Woolworths Dollars,” the spokesman said. “We remain in discussions with Qantas on what part Qantas Points could play in the Woolworths Rewards program once our existing agreement concludes on 31 December.”

As of last month, there were only around 500 orange-ticketed products out of an estimated 44,000, or around 1 per cent of all stock. An analysis by comparison website RateCity, which sampled 36 common items on a budget of roughly $150, put Woolworths slightly ahead on $145.91, compared with $151.46 at Coles.

The Coles shop would earn you 151 Flybuys points with an actual value of 75 cents, while the Woolworths shop would earn you $1.55 worth of rewards points, according to RateCity, which pointed out the value of savings was minuscule compared to simply shopping by price.

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