Sainsbury's shoppers hit by Nectar scheme failure

Sainsbury’s shoppers are being urged to double check their Nectar accounts after the loyalty company admitted that some customers have seen inaccurate points balances due to a technical glitch.
Although the firm refused to reveal how many customers had been affected by the issue, Nectar said it was working to resolve the issue as soon as possible. It also ruled out that its systems had been hacked.
The issue was first reported by personal finance blogger Charlotte Burns, who said she had been contacted by one consumer who had been affected. When they spoke to Sainsbury’s, the customer service representative had said that “this has been happening to a lot of people.”
A Nectar spokesman said: “Nectar and Sainsbury’s recently became aware of a technical glitch which means that some point balances people are seeing on their Sainsbury’s till receipts have not yet been processed through the system, and do not align with their point balance. We are working on resolving this issue as soon as possible. We can reassure customers that nobody will lose their points.”
The Nectar card scheme allows some 19 million shoppers to collect and redeem points at over 500 retailers, online and in store, such as Argos, eBay and BP petrol stations.
The problem comes at a difficult time for Nectar’s parent firm, Aimia, following the loss of its main account with Air Canada. Earlier this month, the airline revealed that it will launch its own loyalty programme in 2020, when its current deal with Aimia expires.
By launching its own loyalty scheme, Air Canada said it hopes to strengthen its customer relationships and deliver a more consistent end-to-end customer experience.
The move comes as the company has only just recovered from a triple whammy of Sainsbury’s 2015 decision to rein in rewards, restrictions on energy suppliers and the loss of its main retail contract with Italian supermarket chain Auchan.

TOPICS:Aimia loyalty scheme Nectar Sainsbury's