Reward Cards: are they worth it?

Reward Cards are all the rage. Every store has one.  Most people use them. However are they really worth it?

Well that depends on how much you are willing to give up. Nothing is free.

First you give up privacy. Every time you swipe that card the store knows who you are. How much you spend. How often you shop. What you buy and if you are a creature of habit what days of the week you shop. Even the time of day!

So if don't mind them snooping around then the rewards are worth it.

Know your store and their policies. One store I shop at has the same price for everyone. It's the points you earn by being a card member. The other store offers discounts for it's members plus points.

Find out what their coupon policies are. Some stores allow the member discounts, the paper coupons found in  their weekly sale flyer, plus a manufacture coupon others do not. One store I used to shop at only allows their store coupon that I find in their weekly sale flyer or a manufactures coupon. But not both.

Always keep an eye on your account information. A mix up at my local Fred Meyers gave way to me losing my rewards points to someone else. Years ago I signed up for a rewards card. Over the years we have linked our current phone  number to the card. One day I lost my card. So I was using my alternate ID which is my phone number. Now almost three years later it came to my attention that some how some one else had that same number as their alternate ID.

So I spent two days trying to straighten things out to save my points (334) to be exact. To know avail. I was simply told I did not exist in their computer. Even though I had written my card number down they still could not find me. I was told that some one else had my alternate ID first so tough. Who in their right mine remembers a phone number 3-4 years old?

The end result is I will no longer shop there. First, rewards members should be ask to up date their account information from time to time. Especially if it is 12 years old. Second, people should never use an old phone number as their alternate ID. This is out of  respect to some one else that gets that number and pays the phone company for it.

Since it is recommended one use a number for your alternate ID that is easy to remember. What could be easier than your current phone number? When you change your phone number please update your alternate ID and release it for some one else.

Here is to lessons learned.