Woolworths’ popular loyalty programme has issued an apology after an email promising a $15 voucher was sent to approximately 500,000 members. However, it was soon revealed that the message had been delivered due to human error.
The message was meant for a select group of new members who had just earned their first reward.
“We are investigating how this happened and will undertake a full review,” a spokesperson for Everyday Rewards NZ said.
According to the spokesperson, every member who received the email by mistake has been contacted and offered an apology for the confusion.
In the email sent to customers, the supermarket acknowledged that they “made a mistake” and apologised.
“We made a mistake! We know you’ve been using Everyday Rewards for a while now and earning rewards,” the email said.
“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! ”
“Your points balance and rewards on your account have not changed.”
Consumer NZ’s Sahar Lone said the incident is embarrassing, but it is not the first time such a mistake has occurred.
Lone noted that while Woolworths is not legally required to honour the vouchers sent by mistake, “doing so would buy it some goodwill but would cost it $7.5 million.”
“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.”
The Everyday Rewards loyalty programme was introduced in February of last year, succeeding the OneCard system.
Members receive a $15 voucher every time they accumulate 2,000 Everyday Rewards points. This voucher can be used at Woolworths or bp.