Both Walgreens and CVS have rewards programs that allow you to accumulate “cash” in your account that can be applied toward future purchases. But each program has unexpected redemption limitations that may mean you won’t get full value for your banked bucks.
| Walgreens – MyWalgreens |
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Last fall, Walgreens ran a promotion giving folks who got their vaccine shots there a $10 reward for each one. MrConsumer accumulated three $10 certificates and promptly had them credited to his account.
Unlike cash, Walgreens cash rewards expire if you have not used them in six months, and only have at most a one-year lifespan before they disappear from your account. That is nasty enough for “money” you’ve earned. But when it comes time to use the accumulated credit, Walgreens places unreasonable restrictions on it.
MrConsumer recently bought an item that with tax came to $1.58. I told the clerk to use my points. She then said, “that will be 58 cents.” I said “excuse me, I’ve got close to $30 of credit on my account.” She then explained that they only can apply whole dollar amounts of credit toward your balance. Crazy! The computer doesn’t understand the concept of cents, I thought?
Fast forward to later that week at a different Walgreens, where a purchase I was making came to $6.66. I said I’ll apply my points to that. The checkout clerk said he can only take $5 off. What? He showed me his screen and the only choices for deductions were whole dollar amounts from $1 to $5. And only one reward can be applied to a transaction. So I had to pay the balance in cash.
Looking at the terms and conditions for the MyWalgreens program shed light on the issue.
*MOUSE PRINT:
How crazy is that? You cannot use your full balance toward your purchases. You have to pay with real money when the total falls between these wide brackets. So someone making a $25 purchase could only use $20 of Walgreens’ funny money toward it.
We asked the company why they limit redemptions like this, and whether they would consider allowing customers to apply their full balance in the future. They did not reply to multiple requests for comment.
What do you think? Has Walgreens rigged the system in their favor forcing you to pay with real money in many instances even though you have enough of their funny money in your account?
Next week we’ll look at tricks and traps in the CVS ExtraBucks program.
