Some Sainsbury's shoppers have been left angry and confused after a change to the way Nectar Points can be traded in. Nectar Points are earned every time you shop at Sainsbury's and can be used to get discounts on your future shopping.
Last year Sainsbury's announced that its popular Double Points promotion, where the value of Nectar Points is doubled for a short period, would be scrapped and replaced with a new system. But shoppers have been left disappointed by the new Big Points Swap offer that has been put in its place, reports MEN.
The swap is being tested with a number of shoppers - but some have said they are not getting the value they expected, or they are disappointed with how little time they get to use the extra points. Some are also disappointed that all the vouchers have to be used in one shopping trip.
When Double Points was scrapped Nectar said: "Fewer customers have been using Double Up over the last few years and so it’s only benefitted a small minority of our customers. We know some people will be disappointed to see it go, but we hope more customers will be able to take advantage of our new My Nectar Prices offer. This gives customers access to lower prices and personalised offers year-round."
The new offer works like so:
- Customers will be able to swap their Nectar points for enhanced money off vouchers which, for some, are potentially worth up to twice their usual monetary value when they shop with Sainsbury’s.
- Customers will need 2,000 points to be eligible and can redeem up a maximum of 10,000 points.
- Customers will see the different vouchers available to them within the app, based on their currents point value – so different customers will see different voucher values.
On Twitter, @Matthew36906162 said: "@sainsburys @nectar @GlosTSS Your new BIG points swap is a BIG Con and hugely misleading, the email sent to me showed I would get double the value, in the app I'm being offered only 50%, you can't get anymore misleading than this!!!"
On the Extreme Couponing and Bargains Facebook group, shopper Becka Harris wrote: "Don’t know if it’s been posted but Sainsbury’s are doing the big points swap instead of double up this year." Darshika Mehta Agrawal replied: "Please be careful when opting for it though. We converted our points to coupons yesterday and were given only two-weeks validity plus you have to spend the entire voucher amount in one go. You can't use it for multiple shops. Sainsbury's confirmed to us that the Big Points Swap is not a replacement for the Double Up offer. It is currently on trial to a select number of shoppers."
Lauren Hawkins wrote: "I’ve got 24445 points but it makes me nervous to spend them. Equally not sure what I am saving them for." Dionne Marie Porter wrote: "Fuming!!! Used all mine at Xmas when they said they were no longer doing it!"
A Sainsbury’s spokesperson said: "We regularly test new ways to offer our customers great value on their Nectar points. We’re currently trialing a points swap offer with a small proportion of customers and look forward to receiving their feedback.”
