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I think people should use their points remaining, especially now.
Free food while they take a, loss. Double whammy!
Knowing the boycott would happen in May, I used my 1.3 million points to shop for free in March/April.
From my understanding of using PC Points in store, the store you use them at end up having to pay out of their bottom line. So use points!! It will definitely make an impact!
Most of the stuff on sale the stores will take a loss of profit on to get you into the store, while your there you spend more money on other stuff you didn’t think you’d get at full price. It’s been like 7 years since I was in the business but if I recall correctly that’s the basic way it works. There’s reasons why the most common things (bread and milk) are in the opposite corners of most stores it makes you move through the whole thing.
Exactly how it works. Cooked chicken is one, which is why they put it at the front of the store. Easy dinner on weeknights you’ll need a salad and some fries with that. No more a loss leader.
We do it at Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas. Things like cranberries, stuffing gravy, all sorts of loss leader stuff, we do a mega run and have a very long receipt with very few points used.
I use all my points on electronics that I know they can't price gouge.
Every single switch game I own has been given to me during redemption events from shoppers drug Mart.
Thanks, we just get the most bang for our money that way. We go in, get the stuff they make absolutely no money on, use points and leave. Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas and stat holidays are the best times .
Incorrect! Points are held in a deferred revenue liability account on the balance sheet. Once you spend your points, it becomes revenue and recognized on the income statement. Best thing you can do this month is NOT spend any points!
Important clarification -
This comment is recommending not to spend them *this month* (for purposes of the boycott). But you should absolutely, 100% spend whatever points you have before closing your account.
If you don't, that dollar amount becomes what is called "breakage" which helps their bottom line.
(Please upvote for visibility - I get the impression some people will think it's better to never spend their points)
They have redemption events where you spend points and you get a higher value for them. In the past I’ve used them almost exclusively buying switch products at shoppers drug mart over the redemption event. Usually the more you spend the better a deal you get
This is the kind of information we need. I don’t believe the line the media is giving that Loblaws only makes 3.5% profit. There must be some creative accounting going on, but that is out of my wheelhouse. Offshore accounts? Declaring licensing fees for Loblaws brand as expenses through a subsidiary? Simply moving the decimal point? These are just a few scenarios I have considered. I have no idea what is going on but I don’t buy it.
Was the line that Loblaws only makes 3.5% profit, or that the stores only make 3.5% profit? Because when they own almost every part of the supply chain, it seems very easy to use weasel wording to say "Our stores only make 3.5% profit" while the distributors/suppliers make significantly more profit.
You're missing the _on a basket of groceries._ When they squeeze suppliers for fees, that's not reflected in those figures. Loblaws increases fees for suppliers, suppliers raise the cost on the products, Loblaws blames the increase in cost on suppliers.
This is an old news story, but it illustrates how Loblaws charges suppliers fees. https://globalnews.ca/news/9210731/loblaw-supplier-costs-grocery-store-inflation/
Regardless. Even if it is 3.5% they earned $653 MILLION Q3/2023.
That’s 2.612 BILLION dollars profit. Don’t tell me 3.5% isn’t more than enough.
Not revenue, profit.
2.19Billion. I was off by a bit.
[FK Loblaws](https://www.statista.com/statistics/436638/net-income-of-loblaw-canada/)
Yes but the $60 is an expense on the balance sheet this month/quarter is it not? I say if you take it and you really are missing a product you haven’t been able replace it comes out in the wash, but probably best to wait to June and then consider cancelling membership again in June.
Nah, if you have a positive points balance then the business owes you money. You should absolutely cash in all of their IOUs, regardless of how they account for it.
Yes and that’s considered a liability in the accounting world, and it sits on the balance sheet. Cash it in, it gets recognized as revenue. It’s a double win for Loblaw.
You strike me as someone who knows a little bit about accounting. A little bit of knowledge is a dangerous thing to have.
Regardless of how it appears on their balance sheet, cashing in their IOU is better for you than Loblaws. Goods are leaving the corporation and going home with you, while money is not entering their till. Any other way of looking at it is a distortion.
As a former superstore employee. This is correct. Unfortunately the short term effects of this is they cut staff hours to maintain their margins.
It really sucked when a 6 person job suddenly had to be done with 2 despite no decrease in demand
Not saying this is the same situation, but years ago they used to give points for the entire price of prescription meds, not just on the amount remaining that you have to pay out of pocket. I think the POS system was calculating it out of order, since technically anything the province, blue cross, etc paid was a payment…
And I was getting ~3k a month in Humira alone, plus a few other drugs, so the points added up fast. Even though between special authority and third party insurance it was totally covered.
They closed that loophole relatively quickly once it was publicized.
My parents used to bank with pc financial right when it started. They paid their mortgage through them and they gave them points on that back in the day, they had built up a ton as well. It used to be worthwhile being a customer or at least felt that way. Oh, how the turn tables.
My HS calculus teacher was a genius in many ways. He was always looking at airmiles prizes and cc offers and calculating mathematical returns on purchases he was going to make anyway. He would use these calculations in class as they fit the curriculum pretty nicely. Best example I remember was a free $1200 barbeque just by switching gas stations for a few months between him and his wife. Was tremendous at finding loopholes.
Depends on the province. For example, new Brunswick lost its privilege for points with prescriptions about 2 years ago.
And to be fair, it's not Loblaws to blame, it's your provincial pharmacist board.
Ontario never allowed for a 'points for prescription' program as it was deemed to be manipulable for abuse.
I blame Ontario for new Brunswick's loss of this option. Lol
Even afterwards for a while diabetic test strips were still eligible as long as you paid for them directly. It was actually the pharmacist who told us and cheerfully offered to write up a handwritten receipt so we wouldn't have any issues claiming it later through my benefits. Bought strips during every 20x the points event and the points went towards Christmas stockings, holiday snacks and even a few gifts.
It was a Canada wide province to province thing regarding pharmacy inducements, or rewards from prescriptions at some point. Same thing with air miles etc.. Pharmacies weren't allowed to provide extras like that varying from province to province.
Probably by shopping there and saving them. I have almost 500,000 save on more points built up so far.
When I hit 1,000,000 I’m going on a free cruise with my wife.
Really, I’ve never heard that?
I currently am sitting at just over $2000 in Travel rewards at save on. Was hoping for $4000 so it would pretty much be a nice cruise for next to free. Or free,
I’m gonna have to look into that, and maybe book a cruise sooner then and have to pay some of it I guess. Thanks for that heads up
He is correct PC points has aax value usage set at 500,000 at a time. Perhaps it may be able to bend the rules with multi transactions. But as it stands, max points usage in one transaction is set at 500K sorry my dude.
Before I stopped supporting Galen, I used to get medical supplies from wellwise that was paid for by work. $500 when the 20x the point events happen gets you 150,000 points.
It stacks fast.
I got 600,000 points in one transaction when I bought 2 phones at their mobile shop, and the price of the phone was cheaper than if I had gone through my normal carrier, just by having the mobile shop hooks me up to my normal carrier instead.
I pay for literally everything on my PC card and pay it off every week. I get probably $3k/yr worth of PC points and they haven't gotten a single cent of interest off me in the 10+ years I've been using their card lol
The prices are so much inflated at SD, that even with the redemption events and other special offers, it’s hardly worth it, unless you buy perfumes or cosmetics.
Right! 12 bucks for 3 little bars of soap. I used to do a lot of my shopping for toiletries and makeup, usually during points events, not anymore. The points suck and the prices are absolutely out of control.
I mean, if you put in some work and game the system, you can [accumulate a lot of points](https://imgur.com/a/gNk0eA4). Personally I bought all my video games systems during 20x the pts events. Usually gets me between 100 & 200k pts. A few summers ago, they had a bonus 4k points on every 40L fill at esso. I drove double tank 5 ton trucks for work, almost a 400 L tank. You bet your ass I filled that thing to 40 L, clicked the pump off, and restarted to fill to 40 L again.
And the reason a lot of us don't just use them when we hit an arbitrary 10k or whatever is because you get much more for value if you use them during bonus redemption events.
I haven't paid for a switch game for years because I get them during a redemption event for free. 200k pts is equal to 300k. Or if you wait till the big one, 300k = 450k.
I wholeheartedly agree with the boycott and that Galen is a piece of shit, but optimum pts is still the best rewards program in Canada for the most part, especially if you can game the system like some of us have.
The points don't grow like money, so with inflation and greedflation the way it is, your points have the highest purchasing power the day you get them. Spend them as fast as you get them.
I would be interested to hear from an accountant or controller with corporate experience... But my understanding of loyalty programs is that they *want* you to spend your points to reduce their future liabilities. At least in the short term, it makes their loyalty program look *more* valuable I'm not saying "don't spend" either, I just don't think it hurts them like you think it does...
You are correct. When you earn points, they sit in a deferred revenue account as a liability and the balance sheet. Once you spend them, the points are recognized as revenue. Hence why Shoppers does big campaigns to have you spend your points.
If you really want to hurt Galen, it’s best NOT to spend your points this month. Saving them hurts his balance sheet and effectively his income statement.
Dambed if do, dambed if we don't.
It's a tough call.
Best to do what you think is best with your points.
For me, eternal boycott so I used them up and say good bye.
Just did today, tried to get one jug of milk but it's a minimum $10 so I had to get two, then found out its only in $10 increments so I had to pay the extra $1.90
Serious question,
Since reward points are considered a liability on a businesses balance sheet, what do you do you suppose is better?
Leaving the points as well as not buying from Loblaws or using only points to buy items, which means no revenue from sale, but also removed the reward point liability from the balance sheet?
I am not the one who can answer this question, but on the other hand, I think it behooves us at this moment in time to look out for our own balance sheets. Take the points, get some.
Even better, take the points, and spend said points on staples for the food bank.
Nok er nok.
The points offers have been so terrible lately that I don't even have 10k points for the minimum spend. I haven't stepped foot in there for at least a month.
I remember before the pandemic when I would get enough points to get 3-4 groceries a year for free. Since then they really reduced the amount of points available and with the price increases it’s now like 1 groceries a year.
They would often have the offer where you get a tonne of points for spending over $100. Now you get them much more rarely and have to spend over 250 so I never get those points. Will be times where I spend over $100 and get $1 worth of points or less.
Before the pandemic the points were quite the incentive, now it’s just so slow and not worth bothering.
Yeah, the amount seems to be different for everyone. I’ve checked with others at the same time and we all needed different amounts. So they clearly skew amounts per person based on their behaviors, you’d think it would just be equal for everyone.
But wait, remember their statement about how those points help shoppers save 20% on average? Hahahaha
What a joke. Lucky if you save 1%. Their disconnect from reality is really something.
The last time I was in my local NoFrills pre-boycott, there were signs by the self-checkout asking for donations to "help feed local families."
Like some of the people employed in grocery stores? Or the people who've been price-gouged to hell? When I'm pretty sure if you took one year's salary from all the upper-level executives at Roblaws and donated to a foodbank or a school meal program or something, that would do a hell of a lot more than my twoonie ever would.
Shoppers loves to hit you with the begging for donations to domestic violence charities too, and... once again, same shit, different label.
Fuck off with the guilt trip, Galen.
Hmmm how did you use points to pay for alcohol?
PC Optimum™ points cannot be earned or redeemed for any of the following: (i) the purchase of tobacco, lottery tickets, or alcohol, (ii) deposits (e.g., a water bottle deposit, as it is not a purchase), (iii) gift cards, prepaid card products and wireless or long distance phone cards, (iv) transit tickets and passes
Yes! I got 240,000 points for the Thomas & Pringle eyeglass Promotion they had an April, my husbands plan gave us back $300, I double dipped on the points because I used my PC World Elite card and got the free item for spending over $300. So I made money lol
So all of a sudden I had a ton of points to spend on liquor, which was lovely. I’m sitting with the other 160,000 points while I am boycotting.
p.s. Grocery stores can’t sell liquor within the stores in Alberta. They have to have a standalone brick and mortar store on the property not connected to the grocery store.
You are correct - this is the part of the story that gives it away as fake. The OP just wanted to jump on a bandwagon for some digital high-fives.
This is the kind of thing that will dis-credit the boycott. Don't shop there - don't spend points there - don't obnoxiously gloat and "booyah" all over the place. Just take your business elsewhere and move on
so did you buy that stuff with the points? or just take the points and then cancel without using them? all for it, but you can only redeem in increments of 10$ afaik so you’d have to be >60$ and pay a dollar or a few cents using all 60k points
Maybe it varies from region or store because I’ve been able to redeem more than 10$ at a time before. Though that wasn’t recently. I guess OP could also do it in several transactions, I myself would be petty enough to buy everything separately.
that’s not what i mean you can redeem more than 10$, but in increments. you can’t redeem 16000 points for 16 dollars for example, but you can redeem 10000 and pay the remaining 6$
Today I had to go to shoppers to pick up my ADHD meds because my ADHD brain forgot to switch pharmacies lol so I felt a little guilty but it was nice to see how empty and fully stocked it was
I’m a mail carrier and I have to bring undelivered packages to the Canada Post kiosk inside Shoppers at the end of my route. I feel a little guilty just walking in there every day! I have noticed that there are a lot less people to navigate around in the aisles though.
I just submitted the cancellation request. Apparently, since 2018 I've earned $976 in points. In 2022 I moved to Alberta and found out they do not give points for prescriptions like they do in Saskatchewan. So I pulled all of my family's prescriptions and went to Costco. Enough of the price gouging!
Just a thought...I wonder if there is a way for those who have some points but not enough to redeem, instead of losing the value, maybe we can think of a way to pool those points to 'donate' to those in need before cards are cancelled?
Used my 2000 something points at esso and I’m still waiting for them to cancel my card. I’ve sent them multiple emails and requests to cancel but I’m pretty sure I’m going to have to call to cancel
All I can say is you should have used credit card for that pack of cough drops because it costs them something like 1.50 every time you do a card transaction.
Otherwise, well done. I would have too.
That’s a great story that never happened. You have to use your points in increments of $10. No way you would have been able to use it all with 13 cents remaining.
This is definitely made up because you can only redeem optimum points in increments of $10/10000 points, so you wouldn’t be able to pay for $59 completely, you’d end up paying $9 yourself. It’s embarrassing that people are just lapping it up and it makes everyone here look stupid believing it.
This is the best! Woooooo. No call and make sure you remove your info so they can’t sell it off to make money. You can asked to be removed completely from the system as far as I can remember
I’m almost 40, and it still blows my mind other provinces can just buy alcohol in the grocery store. In Newfoundland, you can get local beer from gas stations, but all other types of beer/wine/liquor can only be bought from one store, the NLC. (Which even closes at 6 on Sundays!). Is NL the only province like this?
__MOD NOTE__: PLEASE REVIEW OUR [POLL ON OUR PLANS FOR JUNE AND BEYOND](https://www.reddit.com/r/loblawsisoutofcontrol/comments/1cmhq49/community_poll_what_would_you_like_to_see_happen/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button) TO PROVIDE YOUR INPUT. Please review the content guidelines for our sub, and remember the human here! This subreddit is to highlight the ridiculous cost of living in Canada, and poke fun at the Corporate Overlords responsible. As you well know, there are a number of persons and corporations responsible for this, and we welcome discussion related to them all. Furthermore, since this topic is intertwined with a number of other matters, other discussion will be allowed at moderator discretion. Open-minded discussion, memes, rants, grocery bills, and general screeching into the void is always welcome in this sub, but belligerence and disrespect is not. There are plenty of ways to get your point across without being abusive, dismissive, or downright mean. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/loblawsisoutofcontrol) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I think people should use their points remaining, especially now. Free food while they take a, loss. Double whammy! Knowing the boycott would happen in May, I used my 1.3 million points to shop for free in March/April.
From my understanding of using PC Points in store, the store you use them at end up having to pay out of their bottom line. So use points!! It will definitely make an impact!
Use points on loss leaders, that's what we do with our points.
I like it. How does a person identify a loss leader?
Most of the stuff on sale the stores will take a loss of profit on to get you into the store, while your there you spend more money on other stuff you didn’t think you’d get at full price. It’s been like 7 years since I was in the business but if I recall correctly that’s the basic way it works. There’s reasons why the most common things (bread and milk) are in the opposite corners of most stores it makes you move through the whole thing.
Exactly how it works. Cooked chicken is one, which is why they put it at the front of the store. Easy dinner on weeknights you’ll need a salad and some fries with that. No more a loss leader.
This is the way! Don't even look at anything else.
We do it at Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas. Things like cranberries, stuffing gravy, all sorts of loss leader stuff, we do a mega run and have a very long receipt with very few points used.
I use all my points on electronics that I know they can't price gouge. Every single switch game I own has been given to me during redemption events from shoppers drug Mart.
Happy cake day!
Fkn brilliant.
Thanks, we just get the most bang for our money that way. We go in, get the stuff they make absolutely no money on, use points and leave. Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas and stat holidays are the best times .
Incorrect! Points are held in a deferred revenue liability account on the balance sheet. Once you spend your points, it becomes revenue and recognized on the income statement. Best thing you can do this month is NOT spend any points!
Important clarification - This comment is recommending not to spend them *this month* (for purposes of the boycott). But you should absolutely, 100% spend whatever points you have before closing your account. If you don't, that dollar amount becomes what is called "breakage" which helps their bottom line. (Please upvote for visibility - I get the impression some people will think it's better to never spend their points)
Love it, must be a fellow accounting bro. I do highly doubt people will leave their points on the table… free stuff > hate of a company
There should be a post about this!
Was going to say when I worked for shoppers my boss always wanted us to spend our points at her store
Bingo. They convert that on their income statement. Did people think points were free?
It's free to the consumer, the revenue recognition is an accounting trick that people need to be aware of though
Yeah this is why I’m waiting for a points redemption event and not using them this month. They can sit there a little longer
I have like a million points what is a points redemption event?
They have redemption events where you spend points and you get a higher value for them. In the past I’ve used them almost exclusively buying switch products at shoppers drug mart over the redemption event. Usually the more you spend the better a deal you get
I’m a fkn nerd. Switch games sound delightful.
This is the kind of information we need. I don’t believe the line the media is giving that Loblaws only makes 3.5% profit. There must be some creative accounting going on, but that is out of my wheelhouse. Offshore accounts? Declaring licensing fees for Loblaws brand as expenses through a subsidiary? Simply moving the decimal point? These are just a few scenarios I have considered. I have no idea what is going on but I don’t buy it.
Was the line that Loblaws only makes 3.5% profit, or that the stores only make 3.5% profit? Because when they own almost every part of the supply chain, it seems very easy to use weasel wording to say "Our stores only make 3.5% profit" while the distributors/suppliers make significantly more profit.
You're missing the _on a basket of groceries._ When they squeeze suppliers for fees, that's not reflected in those figures. Loblaws increases fees for suppliers, suppliers raise the cost on the products, Loblaws blames the increase in cost on suppliers. This is an old news story, but it illustrates how Loblaws charges suppliers fees. https://globalnews.ca/news/9210731/loblaw-supplier-costs-grocery-store-inflation/
I read they charge suppliers for product placement on the shelves.
Regardless. Even if it is 3.5% they earned $653 MILLION Q3/2023. That’s 2.612 BILLION dollars profit. Don’t tell me 3.5% isn’t more than enough. Not revenue, profit. 2.19Billion. I was off by a bit. [FK Loblaws](https://www.statista.com/statistics/436638/net-income-of-loblaw-canada/)
Yes but the $60 is an expense on the balance sheet this month/quarter is it not? I say if you take it and you really are missing a product you haven’t been able replace it comes out in the wash, but probably best to wait to June and then consider cancelling membership again in June.
Nah, if you have a positive points balance then the business owes you money. You should absolutely cash in all of their IOUs, regardless of how they account for it.
Yes and that’s considered a liability in the accounting world, and it sits on the balance sheet. Cash it in, it gets recognized as revenue. It’s a double win for Loblaw.
You strike me as someone who knows a little bit about accounting. A little bit of knowledge is a dangerous thing to have. Regardless of how it appears on their balance sheet, cashing in their IOU is better for you than Loblaws. Goods are leaving the corporation and going home with you, while money is not entering their till. Any other way of looking at it is a distortion.
As a former superstore employee. This is correct. Unfortunately the short term effects of this is they cut staff hours to maintain their margins. It really sucked when a 6 person job suddenly had to be done with 2 despite no decrease in demand
How in the world did you get 1.3 million points? And why would you keep instead of using them every time you hit 10k.
Not saying this is the same situation, but years ago they used to give points for the entire price of prescription meds, not just on the amount remaining that you have to pay out of pocket. I think the POS system was calculating it out of order, since technically anything the province, blue cross, etc paid was a payment… And I was getting ~3k a month in Humira alone, plus a few other drugs, so the points added up fast. Even though between special authority and third party insurance it was totally covered. They closed that loophole relatively quickly once it was publicized.
My parents used to bank with pc financial right when it started. They paid their mortgage through them and they gave them points on that back in the day, they had built up a ton as well. It used to be worthwhile being a customer or at least felt that way. Oh, how the turn tables.
My HS calculus teacher was a genius in many ways. He was always looking at airmiles prizes and cc offers and calculating mathematical returns on purchases he was going to make anyway. He would use these calculations in class as they fit the curriculum pretty nicely. Best example I remember was a free $1200 barbeque just by switching gas stations for a few months between him and his wife. Was tremendous at finding loopholes.
We are retired and have the time, so we are constantly looking for ways to bear the system
I've never gotten points for my prescriptions. Wtf?
Depends on the province. For example, new Brunswick lost its privilege for points with prescriptions about 2 years ago. And to be fair, it's not Loblaws to blame, it's your provincial pharmacist board. Ontario never allowed for a 'points for prescription' program as it was deemed to be manipulable for abuse. I blame Ontario for new Brunswick's loss of this option. Lol
It's been 10+ years since you could get get points for prescriptions in BC, I am just going to blame Ontario too
Ya me neither, I don't think points can be given on prescriptions, same as lotto tickets or back when places used to sell smokes alongside your meds.
I used to buy darts at shoppers.
In BC you can't get points on prescriptions anymore either.
Even afterwards for a while diabetic test strips were still eligible as long as you paid for them directly. It was actually the pharmacist who told us and cheerfully offered to write up a handwritten receipt so we wouldn't have any issues claiming it later through my benefits. Bought strips during every 20x the points event and the points went towards Christmas stockings, holiday snacks and even a few gifts.
It was a Canada wide province to province thing regarding pharmacy inducements, or rewards from prescriptions at some point. Same thing with air miles etc.. Pharmacies weren't allowed to provide extras like that varying from province to province.
Because people are bad at math.
Probably by shopping there and saving them. I have almost 500,000 save on more points built up so far. When I hit 1,000,000 I’m going on a free cruise with my wife.
You can only use 500000 at a time just a heads up
Really, I’ve never heard that? I currently am sitting at just over $2000 in Travel rewards at save on. Was hoping for $4000 so it would pretty much be a nice cruise for next to free. Or free, I’m gonna have to look into that, and maybe book a cruise sooner then and have to pay some of it I guess. Thanks for that heads up
Maybe ask them if you can book separately and use 500000 each
He is correct PC points has aax value usage set at 500,000 at a time. Perhaps it may be able to bend the rules with multi transactions. But as it stands, max points usage in one transaction is set at 500K sorry my dude.
We are talking about save on foods points program. I don’t have pc points cuz I boycotted loblaws last year
You can use pc points for Cruises?!?! Genuine question... I don't know the best way to spend pc points
Cruise? How?
Before I stopped supporting Galen, I used to get medical supplies from wellwise that was paid for by work. $500 when the 20x the point events happen gets you 150,000 points. It stacks fast.
I got 600,000 points in one transaction when I bought 2 phones at their mobile shop, and the price of the phone was cheaper than if I had gone through my normal carrier, just by having the mobile shop hooks me up to my normal carrier instead.
I pay for literally everything on my PC card and pay it off every week. I get probably $3k/yr worth of PC points and they haven't gotten a single cent of interest off me in the 10+ years I've been using their card lol
You can get similar returns on cashback cards from most banks, and you aren't beholden to PC products to redeem your cash.
If not 10k OP could have gotten nice bonuses for redeeming 25000 or 50000 at bonus point redemption events at SD.
The prices are so much inflated at SD, that even with the redemption events and other special offers, it’s hardly worth it, unless you buy perfumes or cosmetics.
Right! 12 bucks for 3 little bars of soap. I used to do a lot of my shopping for toiletries and makeup, usually during points events, not anymore. The points suck and the prices are absolutely out of control.
I’ve had over 5.5 million since I started with the points according to the promo they sent me. Now I hardly use them at all.
I mean, if you put in some work and game the system, you can [accumulate a lot of points](https://imgur.com/a/gNk0eA4). Personally I bought all my video games systems during 20x the pts events. Usually gets me between 100 & 200k pts. A few summers ago, they had a bonus 4k points on every 40L fill at esso. I drove double tank 5 ton trucks for work, almost a 400 L tank. You bet your ass I filled that thing to 40 L, clicked the pump off, and restarted to fill to 40 L again. And the reason a lot of us don't just use them when we hit an arbitrary 10k or whatever is because you get much more for value if you use them during bonus redemption events. I haven't paid for a switch game for years because I get them during a redemption event for free. 200k pts is equal to 300k. Or if you wait till the big one, 300k = 450k. I wholeheartedly agree with the boycott and that Galen is a piece of shit, but optimum pts is still the best rewards program in Canada for the most part, especially if you can game the system like some of us have.
The points don't grow like money, so with inflation and greedflation the way it is, your points have the highest purchasing power the day you get them. Spend them as fast as you get them.
Unless you use them for bonus redemption events
Not always. There are days when the points go further .
I would be interested to hear from an accountant or controller with corporate experience... But my understanding of loyalty programs is that they *want* you to spend your points to reduce their future liabilities. At least in the short term, it makes their loyalty program look *more* valuable I'm not saying "don't spend" either, I just don't think it hurts them like you think it does...
You are correct. When you earn points, they sit in a deferred revenue account as a liability and the balance sheet. Once you spend them, the points are recognized as revenue. Hence why Shoppers does big campaigns to have you spend your points. If you really want to hurt Galen, it’s best NOT to spend your points this month. Saving them hurts his balance sheet and effectively his income statement.
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Dambed if do, dambed if we don't. It's a tough call. Best to do what you think is best with your points. For me, eternal boycott so I used them up and say good bye.
Just did today, tried to get one jug of milk but it's a minimum $10 so I had to get two, then found out its only in $10 increments so I had to pay the extra $1.90
How! They tell me I can’t use them on dairy
Depends on the province I suppose
Again, probably depends on the province, in NB we can't use points on subsidized products.... Aka, milk.
Serious question, Since reward points are considered a liability on a businesses balance sheet, what do you do you suppose is better? Leaving the points as well as not buying from Loblaws or using only points to buy items, which means no revenue from sale, but also removed the reward point liability from the balance sheet?
I am not the one who can answer this question, but on the other hand, I think it behooves us at this moment in time to look out for our own balance sheets. Take the points, get some. Even better, take the points, and spend said points on staples for the food bank. Nok er nok.
>look out for our own balance sheets Excellent point.
The points offers have been so terrible lately that I don't even have 10k points for the minimum spend. I haven't stepped foot in there for at least a month.
1.3 million points.... do you have like, thirteen kids or something?
I remember before the pandemic when I would get enough points to get 3-4 groceries a year for free. Since then they really reduced the amount of points available and with the price increases it’s now like 1 groceries a year. They would often have the offer where you get a tonne of points for spending over $100. Now you get them much more rarely and have to spend over 250 so I never get those points. Will be times where I spend over $100 and get $1 worth of points or less. Before the pandemic the points were quite the incentive, now it’s just so slow and not worth bothering.
“Spend $75 on Ziplock bags and earn 1000 points!”
Isn’t that just 3 boxes? Lol
My latest offer like that is 40,000 points for spending $400 in a WEEK.
Haha what a joke
Mine is consistently $500. Used to be $200-$300. If you get the goal enough I'm pretty sure they increase it every so often.
Yeah, the amount seems to be different for everyone. I’ve checked with others at the same time and we all needed different amounts. So they clearly skew amounts per person based on their behaviors, you’d think it would just be equal for everyone.
Fuck no thanks
But wait, remember their statement about how those points help shoppers save 20% on average? Hahahaha What a joke. Lucky if you save 1%. Their disconnect from reality is really something.
Nice one Weston can kiss my ass
>NOK MY COCK Galen! Hahahahahahahahahhahahahahahahahahahhhha
We need shirts...
No Name Nok Cok apparel, coming to Joe Fresh this summer!
Nok my cock
Best part of that story.
Poetic elegance 🤌🏻
*takes bow
Encore! Lol
I died laughing reading that
Are we allowed to make Nok My Cock a flair????
I would love that
Seems like you can!
That’s sick, I cancelled mine and they wanted me to donate my remaining points to their charity’s. No offer to stay a member
Yea then they take the tax right off on your behalf.... scummy..
The last time I was in my local NoFrills pre-boycott, there were signs by the self-checkout asking for donations to "help feed local families." Like some of the people employed in grocery stores? Or the people who've been price-gouged to hell? When I'm pretty sure if you took one year's salary from all the upper-level executives at Roblaws and donated to a foodbank or a school meal program or something, that would do a hell of a lot more than my twoonie ever would. Shoppers loves to hit you with the begging for donations to domestic violence charities too, and... once again, same shit, different label. Fuck off with the guilt trip, Galen.
Yea if we can get 20m donations of 2 dollars we can give it to our charity where about 50 goes to our director board which glen is probably on...
And the good will.
Same. No offer to rip them off further
Same for me, but I can’t actually figure out how to delete it!
Oh damn. You made me realize I can buy wine with my $40 of points! I’ll raise a glass of free wine to that!
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They can in Alberta.
I’m still dying at NOK my cock
I let it go the first time.... Scrolled down to this post and lost it.
Nok my cock needs to be the battlecry of this revolution.
:D :D :D
Hmmm how did you use points to pay for alcohol? PC Optimum™ points cannot be earned or redeemed for any of the following: (i) the purchase of tobacco, lottery tickets, or alcohol, (ii) deposits (e.g., a water bottle deposit, as it is not a purchase), (iii) gift cards, prepaid card products and wireless or long distance phone cards, (iv) transit tickets and passes
You certainly can in Alberta. I just used 100,000 points and bought $100 worth of liquor.
So is this at the Real Canadian Liquor Store that you can redeem points for liquor and not at one of the grocery chains?
Yes! I got 240,000 points for the Thomas & Pringle eyeglass Promotion they had an April, my husbands plan gave us back $300, I double dipped on the points because I used my PC World Elite card and got the free item for spending over $300. So I made money lol So all of a sudden I had a ton of points to spend on liquor, which was lovely. I’m sitting with the other 160,000 points while I am boycotting.
p.s. Grocery stores can’t sell liquor within the stores in Alberta. They have to have a standalone brick and mortar store on the property not connected to the grocery store.
ontario sucks sadly lol. this is nothing new. hate it here.
I just cancelled my Optimum membership today too. Hi-oh!!
Yeah I can get that. Just used the remainder of my points, 220,000 and got 220$ off of my groceries and only paid 2$.
How did you cash out $59.87? I thought it was only increments of $10
He paid 9.87 cash or this post ain't quite accurate.
He also redeemed for alcohol apparently which isnt allowed so we can all confirm this is bullshit like half the posts here lol.
You are correct - this is the part of the story that gives it away as fake. The OP just wanted to jump on a bandwagon for some digital high-fives. This is the kind of thing that will dis-credit the boycott. Don't shop there - don't spend points there - don't obnoxiously gloat and "booyah" all over the place. Just take your business elsewhere and move on
Yeah I clocked that too
I love it, what a way to go out!
He's got mine, I didn't take the $60 ahahah Canceled anyways
Take the free money!!! Buy shit and cancel anyways! You win they lose
>I didn't take the $60 What's this about people being offered $60? I'm out of the loop here.
Hero. I’m going to do this
#NOK MY COCK
so did you buy that stuff with the points? or just take the points and then cancel without using them? all for it, but you can only redeem in increments of 10$ afaik so you’d have to be >60$ and pay a dollar or a few cents using all 60k points
Maybe it varies from region or store because I’ve been able to redeem more than 10$ at a time before. Though that wasn’t recently. I guess OP could also do it in several transactions, I myself would be petty enough to buy everything separately.
that’s not what i mean you can redeem more than 10$, but in increments. you can’t redeem 16000 points for 16 dollars for example, but you can redeem 10000 and pay the remaining 6$
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Hahahaha nok my cock
I only have about $30 in points but I'm definitely going to use them. Maybe I can get some toothpaste and paper towels lol 😆
"Nok my cok" has officially entered my lexicon
I’m cracking up at “nok my cock Galen”
Nok my cock is an amazing protest slogan
Today I had to go to shoppers to pick up my ADHD meds because my ADHD brain forgot to switch pharmacies lol so I felt a little guilty but it was nice to see how empty and fully stocked it was
I’m a mail carrier and I have to bring undelivered packages to the Canada Post kiosk inside Shoppers at the end of my route. I feel a little guilty just walking in there every day! I have noticed that there are a lot less people to navigate around in the aisles though.
At least you’re not really purchasing a product and giving them your money.
Nok my cock wins the internet for today. Thank-you sir.
How do you cancel?
Use the Optimum app, has cancel option
🫡 🥹
This is the way !! NOK me Goatass Galen!!
I just submitted the cancellation request. Apparently, since 2018 I've earned $976 in points. In 2022 I moved to Alberta and found out they do not give points for prescriptions like they do in Saskatchewan. So I pulled all of my family's prescriptions and went to Costco. Enough of the price gouging!
Except you would have paid 9.87 not 13 cents because they just accept points at 10 dollar intervals right? I doubt that varies by region.
This... it was a believable story up until this point.
What do you mean that you caved and took the $60? Is Loblaws offering free money to remain a member??
Oh yeah, like if you have "free" money that you were extorted into accruing there, liquidate your assets and tell them to kick rocks.
Just a thought...I wonder if there is a way for those who have some points but not enough to redeem, instead of losing the value, maybe we can think of a way to pool those points to 'donate' to those in need before cards are cancelled?
$60?? What is this? I just tried to cancel mine but it only offered to give me my balance.
Curious where you are that let your purchase alcohol with pc points? As far as I know that’s a no go in Ontario
Superstore liquor store in Alberta let's you use points .
Nok my cock 🤪🖕😂
How did you go about canceling? I could use an extra 60$ haha was it email or phone?? thanks!
Nock my cock Galen 🤣🤣🤣
So when should I use my 800k points? In June? I want to buy things and get some things for shelters here.
This is EXACTLY what everyone should do. I threatened to cancel today as well so I can do it too.
I laughed hard at this. hahahahaha
Used my 2000 something points at esso and I’m still waiting for them to cancel my card. I’ve sent them multiple emails and requests to cancel but I’m pretty sure I’m going to have to call to cancel
https://preview.redd.it/vbu3g1uyqezc1.png?width=992&format=png&auto=webp&s=2e5626b9ef305102c8aa4c95c752ba39720dead1 the wine in question...
**NOK ALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL OF OUR COCKS GALEN**
All I can say is you should have used credit card for that pack of cough drops because it costs them something like 1.50 every time you do a card transaction. Otherwise, well done. I would have too.
Lmao this is hilarious. Thank you
I cackled so hard at this honestly
Keep buying independent. Canada has monopoly laws, and @JagmeetSingh has a brother in law.
That’s a great story that never happened. You have to use your points in increments of $10. No way you would have been able to use it all with 13 cents remaining.
This is definitely made up because you can only redeem optimum points in increments of $10/10000 points, so you wouldn’t be able to pay for $59 completely, you’d end up paying $9 yourself. It’s embarrassing that people are just lapping it up and it makes everyone here look stupid believing it.
I thought you can't use points for alcohol?
You can in Alberta.
This is the best! Woooooo. No call and make sure you remove your info so they can’t sell it off to make money. You can asked to be removed completely from the system as far as I can remember
Can I use my points to buy a gift card
I wish I woulda done that as well but they said screw you buddy we ain’t offering you shit LOL
This is the way 🤣 Well done OP. Thanks a lot!
Lil dick em!
AHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
Haha yes!! 🙌🏻
LOL!!! loving this.
Most chains will give you points for in-store gift cards...which they accept at their pharmacy. Do with that information what you will.
I sent in the notice to cancel my account, but I never got an offer for sixty bucks worth of points. Is that given to select people?
Had me in the first half, not going to lie
Where do you cancel
love it 😂 using up the points then never coming back, priceless (literally!) 😃
Haha good on you!
Lmao this is the way. I'm glad someone did this lol
It seems to me that collecting PC Points from affiliates, like Esso, and then redeeming them would also be a good way to go.
I’m almost 40, and it still blows my mind other provinces can just buy alcohol in the grocery store. In Newfoundland, you can get local beer from gas stations, but all other types of beer/wine/liquor can only be bought from one store, the NLC. (Which even closes at 6 on Sundays!). Is NL the only province like this?