Advertisement

Tesco riles customers with Clubcard changes that sees rewards value drop

Tesco says the changes are simplifying its Clubcard scheme (Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Tesco says the changes are simplifying its Clubcard scheme (Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Consumer champion Martin Lewis has urged Tesco to review changes to its Clubcard scheme that will see tens of thousands of shoppers lose out.

Lewis, the founder of MoneySavingExpert.com, said masking the revision as “simplifying” its offers was a “slap in the face to loyal customers”.

Tesco came under fire for emailing news of the changes without notification to its army of Clubcard users.

MORE: Iceland vows to go plastic-free on own brands within 5 years

Shoppers are able to exchange Clubcard vouchers for Rewards ‘tokens’ worth up to four times as much with partner firms such as Prezzo, Cafe Rouge and London Zoo.

Customers have reacted with anger over the Clubcard changes (Simon Dawson/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Customers have reacted with anger over the Clubcard changes (Simon Dawson/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

But the changes see a number of higher bracket rewards dropping in value to three times.

One Twitter user calculated that he had lost out £100 in the changes.

Tesco pointed out that while some of the rewards will fall in “value” others will rise.

MORE: Big 4 supermarkets face rising threat from discounters as Christmas lunch eats into extra spending

However, Martin Lewis said: “The issue is that these changes have been made immediately without any notification.

“Many people save their reward points month after month after month, waiting to redeem on a big item. These changes leave many of those people missing out on £50 or £100 – not good when so many are struggling.”

He added: “This is a terrible policy implementation by Tesco. I call on it to urgently review its policy to give a window of opportunity to those who’ve already saved substantial points, and will lose out by these changes, to still redeem at the prior value.”

MORE: Christmas shopping: who were the winners and losers?

On its website, Tesco says: “We’re simplifying the Clubcard rewards you can collect through the majority of our Reward Partners. Previously, you could either get 2x, 3x or 4x the value of your Clubcard vouchers – but starting from 15 January 2018, we’re making everything 3x the value.

“So you won’t have to keep checking whether you’re getting 2x, 3x or 4x the value depending on which reward you’re claiming; everything will be 3x.”