Woolworths’ loyalty programme accidentally makes $15 voucher pledge to half a million members

Woolworths' loyalty programme Everyday Rewards has accidentally sent messages about $15 vouchers to nearly 500,000 of its members. Photo / Supplied

Human error has been blamed for a mistake where nearly 500,000 members of the Woolworths Everyday Rewards programme were told they had been gifted a $15 voucher.

After earning 2000 Everyday Rewards points through the programme, users can elect to receive a reward of their choice, including a $15 voucher to use in a Woolworths supermarket.

But in emails to customers seen by the Herald, news of the voucher has mistakenly been sent to users who don’t or no longer qualify.

The offer has now been revoked from members’ accounts, with an apology by Woolworths for any confusion it may have caused.

“We made a mistake! We know you’ve been using Everyday Rewards for a while now and earning rewards,” the email says.

“Earlier today, you received an email that we sent in error. It was supposed to only go to our newest members who have received their first reward very recently. We apologise for any confusion we may have caused!”

One member of the programme who had a voucher revoked was Jock Schoeller, who said the decision to rescind the offer “annoys the hell out of me”.

“Well, it came out of nowhere for me and I thought, oh well that’s nice, because I do use Woolworths and I buy my beer and wine there,” Schoeller said.

“For me, it’s like if you put a price on something and you make a mistake in the store, they have to meet the price they’ve got in the store, right? There’s just no three ways about it.”

Schoeller said the reversal was frustrating as a consumer and he questioned the legality of the move.

An Everyday Rewards New Zealand spokesperson said no issuing or cancelling of Everyday Rewards points or vouchers occurred because of the error.

“Yesterday, we mistakenly sent an email to around 500,000 Everyday Rewards members congratulating them for earning their first reward.

“It was supposed to only go to our newest members who earned their first reward very recently – human error meant it was sent much more widely,” the spokesperson said.

“We have contacted all of the members we mistakenly emailed to apologise for the confusion. We are investigating how this happened and will undertake a full review.”

Consumer NZ’s Sahar Lone said that while embarrassing, it’s not the first time this has happened, and it’s clearly a mistake.

“Although Woolworths is not legally obliged to honour the vouchers sent by mistake, doing so would buy it some goodwill but would cost it $7.5 million,” Lone said.

“Repeating the same mistake and retracting vouchers, especially against the backdrop of the cost-of-living concerns, won’t restore already diminishing trust in the sector.”

Tom Raynel is a multimedia business journalist for the Herald, covering small business, retail and tourism.