I'm no fan of Flybuys. I get three or four offers from them every week, but most either involve spending large sums of money or are so trivial that they're not worth responding to (and, frequently, both). But, two weeks ago, I took the bait, because one particular offer actually sounded like a genuinely good deal... spend $70 and have $15 deducted at the checkout. That's a 21.5% discount, much better than their usual five or ten percent.
Someone in at Flybuys must have been asleep at the wheel when they offered that one, because, I found soon after registering, the company swiftly geared themselves up for the inevitable "renege".
First off was a follow-up email, one day after registration: they hadn't explained the special conditions fully enough, they conceded (well, that was true.. the conditions they then went on to stipulate hadn't even been hinted at), and then proceeded to alter the deal so that you had to make TWO purchases, for more than $85 total, within seven days, to qualify. Well, that knocked the discount down to 17.5%, but I decided that was good enough and went ahead.
But the discount never eventuated. Not one cent. The Coles store didn't know why, and the poor checkout girl was only just out of school, so I just told her not to worry, and that I would contact Flybuys. That was my first mistake.
I couldn't get hold of Flybuys for three days; but when I finally did speak to someone, they had a very well-rehearsed set of responses as to why the rebate wasn't applied, assuring me that it was, in fact, all my own fault, that I hadn't registered in time, or I hadn't read the qualifying dates (the operator assured me that I had missed the deadline by a day; so confident was she in this assertion that I began to think that maybe she was right, and, until I found the email proof, was so contrite that I actually started to apologise to HER for my being a fool). Luckily, after some searching, I was able to disprove that charge, too; whereupon, they conceded that the problem was at their end, not mine ("I thought you were talking about a different promotion," she said easily, without a hint of contrition for having misled me)... but, still, that was my bad luck, as they didn't refund money!
More arguing, and they "generously" offered to give me some Flybuys points in lieu of the promised rebate. Flybuys points! Wow, who could ask for anything more? Well, myself, for one, and I objected to their whole attitude, especially blaming everything on the customer (have these people no shame?). A supervisor then came on the line with a "compromise": if I made a THIRD purchase, to bring my total expenditure to over a hundred dollars, she would authorise for the discount to be applied. So now the discount had dwindled down to just under 15%... hardly better than all their "regular" offers, and a far cry from what was originally promised. I declined to accept that, and told them that since they had my name, address, email address, and telephone number, I would expect them to come up with a more equitable solution and get back to me.
I understand what's going on here: someone in the company didn't get his sums right, and offered a discount which rang warning bells in the highest echelons of the company, and they then had to sit down and work out how to avoid actually going through with the deal. But they couldn't do the decent thing and just say, "Sorry, we can't do it, it was all a mistake, our bad". They had to work out ways to make the customer think it was HIS 'bad', which is exactly what they did to me... I was just about ready to give up and apologise to THEM (and I'll bet there are many customers who did), and they would have accepted that, I am sure, and gone away chuckling, having won again.... which is the only game they are interested in. I think that's a terrible way for a company to act, and I am very anti-FlyBuys.
Oh, by the way, after not hearing back from Flybuys by the middle of the following day, I followed up by ringing the Coles store and telling the manager that I was bringing the ninety-nine dollars worth of groceries back for a refund; he was much nicer, and quickly offered to do what Flybuys would not... send me the promised discount. A satisfactory outcome, after a lot of haggling and unpleasantness... small wonder that I've now decided to stick with EasyRewards!
Post script: Flybuys eventually did send me an email, but they maintained their stand about not adding the discount to my card unless I spent another fifteen-plus dollars, thus accepting a 15% discount instead of the promised 21.5% discount. Or, they said, they could add some Flybuys points: which did I choose? I told them neither, as the Coles manager, who was quite blameless in all of this, had agreed to pick up the tab on their behalf. I wonder if that made them happy? Bye bye, Flybuys!
Someone in at Flybuys must have been asleep at the wheel when they offered that one, because, I found soon after registering, the company swiftly geared themselves up for the inevitable "renege".
First off was a follow-up email, one day after registration: they hadn't explained the special conditions fully enough, they conceded (well, that was true.. the conditions they then went on to stipulate hadn't even been hinted at), and then proceeded to alter the deal so that you had to make TWO purchases, for more than $85 total, within seven days, to qualify. Well, that knocked the discount down to 17.5%, but I decided that was good enough and went ahead.
But the discount never eventuated. Not one cent. The Coles store didn't know why, and the poor checkout girl was only just out of school, so I just told her not to worry, and that I would contact Flybuys. That was my first mistake.
I couldn't get hold of Flybuys for three days; but when I finally did speak to someone, they had a very well-rehearsed set of responses as to why the rebate wasn't applied, assuring me that it was, in fact, all my own fault, that I hadn't registered in time, or I hadn't read the qualifying dates (the operator assured me that I had missed the deadline by a day; so confident was she in this assertion that I began to think that maybe she was right, and, until I found the email proof, was so contrite that I actually started to apologise to HER for my being a fool). Luckily, after some searching, I was able to disprove that charge, too; whereupon, they conceded that the problem was at their end, not mine ("I thought you were talking about a different promotion," she said easily, without a hint of contrition for having misled me)... but, still, that was my bad luck, as they didn't refund money!
More arguing, and they "generously" offered to give me some Flybuys points in lieu of the promised rebate. Flybuys points! Wow, who could ask for anything more? Well, myself, for one, and I objected to their whole attitude, especially blaming everything on the customer (have these people no shame?). A supervisor then came on the line with a "compromise": if I made a THIRD purchase, to bring my total expenditure to over a hundred dollars, she would authorise for the discount to be applied. So now the discount had dwindled down to just under 15%... hardly better than all their "regular" offers, and a far cry from what was originally promised. I declined to accept that, and told them that since they had my name, address, email address, and telephone number, I would expect them to come up with a more equitable solution and get back to me.
I understand what's going on here: someone in the company didn't get his sums right, and offered a discount which rang warning bells in the highest echelons of the company, and they then had to sit down and work out how to avoid actually going through with the deal. But they couldn't do the decent thing and just say, "Sorry, we can't do it, it was all a mistake, our bad". They had to work out ways to make the customer think it was HIS 'bad', which is exactly what they did to me... I was just about ready to give up and apologise to THEM (and I'll bet there are many customers who did), and they would have accepted that, I am sure, and gone away chuckling, having won again.... which is the only game they are interested in. I think that's a terrible way for a company to act, and I am very anti-FlyBuys.
Oh, by the way, after not hearing back from Flybuys by the middle of the following day, I followed up by ringing the Coles store and telling the manager that I was bringing the ninety-nine dollars worth of groceries back for a refund; he was much nicer, and quickly offered to do what Flybuys would not... send me the promised discount. A satisfactory outcome, after a lot of haggling and unpleasantness... small wonder that I've now decided to stick with EasyRewards!
Post script: Flybuys eventually did send me an email, but they maintained their stand about not adding the discount to my card unless I spent another fifteen-plus dollars, thus accepting a 15% discount instead of the promised 21.5% discount. Or, they said, they could add some Flybuys points: which did I choose? I told them neither, as the Coles manager, who was quite blameless in all of this, had agreed to pick up the tab on their behalf. I wonder if that made them happy? Bye bye, Flybuys!
