Ugh. Fucking bastard scammers (nectar)

[Soubriquet]

Had an email saying thank you for spending your points today. Only…I hadn’t! Someone else has spent them. Luckily it was only 500 points (£2.50) but still. Contacted nectar and they have cancelled my card and are sorting out a new one with my points restored. But ffs

The same thing happened to me. Got an email saying I had spent £2.50. I called Nectar and they said they had been spent in Bradford.
I was in my home store at the same time. At first they refused to refund me as they said I was less than an hour from Bradford. I challenged them and they refunded the points. I have now locked them on the app

Do you remember when they used to give special offers where you could double your money using Nectar points? No wonder they never seem to do it any more; because they are effectively giving some scammer all the extra points.

They have now, as you can lock the ability to spend.

It wouldn't surprise me if eventually they stop refunding thefts if you'd not locked spending. They do need to advertise it a bit better though (apparently it is available on the web version, not just the app).

Mine won’t let me click that option.

Have you updated the app? Sometimes it fails to function without an update.

Done. Thanks. I save mine all year and I’d heard about them getting stolen.

I save mine for Christmas, but I spend them through the year on ambient goods, ingredients for the pudding / mincemeat etc plus lots of booze. Hopefully the locking facility works as planned.

Also when Sainsburys did these Nectar Double Up promotions, my friends that worked/work in Sainsburys had customers who thought the double up applied for everything!! It applied for things like clothing, homeware, electrical, toys. So they got spirits, steak, frozen turkeys. Then found out that nothing or very little could be redeemed on double up points. Cue the long time wasted on the Nectar number issued for staff to ring up on to get the points back onto the customers' accounts.

On Sainsburys staff pages, they use Yammer (company based FB) and most stores experienced customers thinking they could redeem points for everything. If that was the case, Sainsburys would made a loss as every customer would have redeemed their points.

How do customers who don't have access to the internet or smartphone able to lock their points?

Surely can't be (m)any people fitting that description? I'd imagine you'd call customer service in that case though.

ETA: don't know how you'd know you could lock it in the first place mind. 🤔

Sorry to hear that. Thank you for the heads up. I save the points for Mum and she uses them for her Christmas grocery shop so it would be a shame to lose them. I'll get them locked

My mum has no Internet access or smartphone (her choice, we've offered to set it all up for her). There are probably more than you think.

Do you not access her Nectar account online for her?

I don't use my online account to spend points. Every time I shop, it tells me I haven't set it up to do that anyway. I only ever redeem them in-store, and don't get emails about it. I do get Nectar offers though.

I’m pretty sure that years ago you could only spend the points in a store that you’d shopped in previously within a certain timeframe. It would make sense to reintroduce that.

When working at the supermarket, we had many elderly customers who had no internet or smartphone. They refused to use modern technology. My parents are on the committee for the local history society. Majority of members have emails so bulletins and other things are sent that way. Still about 15-20% of members have no internet. So the committee members’ homes are dotted around the area, they deliver the bulletins etc to their homes. I’m guessing that the customers and members are the same people!

Yet my DF’s cousin who turned 90 a few days ago uses her smartphone for everything. Probably her DC or DGDs helped her to start with.

Yes, that would be sensible. I can only think they dropped that requirement as people were complaining (maybe).

@Auburngal , strange, isn't it? I can understand people not having it who were elderly when we could first access internet in the 90s, but those who are elderly now weren't then!

My parents don't have smart phones (mum hasn't got a mobile), but they do both have tablets / the internet.

Even restricting the spending at stores you have scanned your Nectar card doesn't work for the fraudsters. They just buy one item - enter some random card details, get a receipt. See that the point balance on that card is £100. Wait the next day, then redeem the points.

They buy something under a quid so it doesn't show up on customers' transactions.

That was the case before the ability to lock the point balance.

thanks for tip re locking points - have just locked mine - did not know about that function.

I had £75 balance taken twice in a minute leaving me in negative equity about 10 years ago. Reimbursed but pleased to know I can prevent it happening again.

My dad lost a good few hundred and nectar wouldn’t help. They were spent on EBay by a random cunt

Ah yes, didn't consider that!

The locking feature says that your balance shows as nil in store when locked. To my mind this should extend to the receipt as well, but it doesn't.

I think now they don't show the point balance on receipt unless you spend a certain amount. The staff can do a points balance for you.

If spend below the certain amount, receipt says something like 2 points been added to Nectar card then the last 5 numbers

I used to save all mine and use the Double Up promotion which was complicated but amazing. I replaced loads of ancient kitchen stuff, Christmas presents, clothes etc. I also used to get lots of extra points because I had their credit card, utilities and insurances but I've stopped all those now and because I read so often about scams I keep the balance very low by spending it on odds and ends but it then doesn't really feel worth bothering with.

So, having seen about the locking thing on this thread I thought I'd do it even though my balance is only £2.50 but it won't let me "as you are not the main account holder". I bloody well am, I had it for years before I got one added for DH. Last time I had to ring the helpline it took ages to sort out - it was when they streamlined Sainsburys and Nectar logins and I had different email address on both and neither would let me change as "that email address is already in use". Maybe that's when they marked me as not the main account holder. I am really only bothering with it for the in store discounts now.

Never ended up getting a code so I just got myself a new nectar card instead. It was taking so long and at the end of the day, it was only 500 points. I’ve made a note of special words this time, and as soon as I get points, they will be locked down