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Expired Tesco Clubcard vouchers?

Tesco's Clubcard voucher tracking system

Until a little while ago, there was still hope for anyone who thought they'd wasted their hard-earned Tesco Clubcard vouchers by letting them expire or by losing them. As long as they didn't leave it too long, Tesco was letting them have their expired vouchers back by recrediting the Clubcard points to their accounts, from where they would be reissued as crisp new Clubcard vouchers in due course.

Following negative experiences reported by some of our forum members, Captain Consumer today called Tesco's Clubcard helpline to seek clarification of the current policy.

The outlook, unfortunately, seems grim. Contrary to what we were told only a few weeks ago, it now seems that Tesco is declining to reissue points for ANY expired vouchers.

They WILL reissue points for vouchers that are still valid but that have been lost or damaged, but that now appears to be the extent of their flexibility.

At the time of writing, we're awaiting a return of call from Tesco HQ to clarify whether this situation will change, but it would seem that the axe has finally dropped on Tesco's goodwill policy.

About the Clubcard Voucher system

Tesco has a system that keeps track of individual Clubcard vouchers that the supermarket has issued to members under the Clubcard loyalty scheme.

New vouchers are issued with an expiry date of two years from the date of issue. So if your Tesco Clubcard vouchers are still technically valid but have been damaged or lost, you can still call Tesco's free helpline on 0800 591 688 and they will arrange for the points to be recredited to your account. Those points will then be used to comprise part of the value of your next set of vouchers.

Otherwise, there no longer seems to be a way for ANY expired Tesco Clubcard vouchers to be reissued - even those that were issued before the introduction of the new tracking system.

Reflecting on lessons learned

When we first reported Tesco's willingness to recredit customers for expired vouchers, we were delighted by their policy.

However, we also relayed the comment from Tesco that they weren't under any obligation to restore the points from expired vouchers. Usually, when any voucher (from anywhere) has expired, that's it - the opportunity to use it has passed. In which context, Tesco's willingness to reinstate expired Clubcard points was an unusual example of putting the customer first.

We observed that there was no guarantee that their approach would last - and recommended that immediate action was advisable in order to get any old points restored.

Sadly, this particular door of opportunity now appears to be firmly closed. Whilst we still have a callback outstanding from Tesco, we're not holding out much hope for any change in what seems to be a firm current policy.

Spending Clubcard vouchers wisely

As I'm sure you know, you can redeem your Tesco Clubcard vouchers for a discount off your shopping in Tesco, but that's really not the best way to use them. If you redeem them for an offer from one of Tesco's partners instead, you'll get four times more moneys worth than you would by using them for a discount at the checkout. You can check out the current range of Clubcard deals online at Tesco's web site or check the offer details in the catalogue and leaflets that you get in the post.

By the way, if you haven't used their home delivery service yet, why not give it a try? It's always nice to let someone else do the hard work for a change!

Captain Consumer, 11 Nov 2005.

Last updated 22 Sept 2008.

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