Autozone Rewards - anybody still sticking with the program?

[7T2]

I've used this program to my advantage to the tune of probably $100 in free parts, but it's getting so cumbersome I'm about to throw in the towel. Seems like Advance Auto is on to them and is starting to offer lower-hassle discounts.

Here's a brief summary of my experience with the program:

-Started out as a punch-card deal with no restrictions, 5 $20 purchases, 5 punches, $20 gift card. Awesome.

-Went to a bar code card due to abuse of the punch card system. Still no restrictions, no problem.

-Added time restrictions, must make purchases in a certain amount of time (6 months I think) or points "drop off". Also must use reward within certain time period or you lose it (90 days I think). OK, not as convenient as before, but I can deal with that. Just have to keep close track of when I get points and when I have to use rewards by.

-Now you can't get more than one point in a 24 hour period. This is more than an inconvenience, but I can STILL use it to my advantage by buying parts for, say, a brake job during the week $20 at a time, and usually have enough points for the discount by the weekend.

Here's where it gets interesting:

-I made a purchase, we'll say for $28 before taxes. Earned one point. Discovered that one of the belts I bought for $9 is wrong. Correct belt costs $10. Rather than just doing an exchange and charging me a dollar, they take the $9 off my previous purchase, which brings the total to $19, and subtracts the point I earned from my card! THEN they ring up the new belt as a $10 purchase, so I don't get a point for that either! I don't know this is happening until I get my receipt and see that the point total is one less than the day before. I was told nothing could be done by the kid behind the counter. Not only does this piss me off and make me not want to shop there ever again, it prompts me to go to their website to voice my displeasure to somebody higher up. It is then that I discover there is a separate website that you can sign up for that tracks all your reward points and purchases, and also allows you to request points for situations like what I just described, or even if you were just in the store but didn't have your card with you. OK, that's pretty cool, get my point back and decide to press on, since I only needed one more point to get another $20.

-So yesterday I go in because I needed brake calipers, and I have a $20 credit on my card. Buy the calipers for $24, and pay the $22 core charge, using the $20 credit on my rewards card. TODAY I go in to return the cores and get my money back, and when the guy scans it he says "did you use your rewards card when you purchased these?" "Yes." "Well, the $20 will be added back to your rewards card, and you will get $2 in cash." WTF? Whatever, I need more than $20 worth of stuff anyway. So I get some tranny fluid, and have the girl behind the counter cut me off some vacuum line, and it ends up being $24. I hand her my rewards card and tell her it has $20 on it. She scans it, and it says it is not available for use. The guy who took care of my refund says sometimes it takes up to 24 hours for it to appear back on my card, even though the receipt for my return clearly shows it is there. He suggests I come back later. "Well, I kinda need this stuff now." The girl (who knows I come in there a lot, and is way cool) offers to ring the stuff up later for me and I can take it now. So I left my rewards card there and my CC number, and that's where I'm at now.

What a crock! There was even a time when I bought a caliper for $19.99, and I had to buy a candy bar to get my bonus point. It's a good deal, but you really have to stay on top of it anymore to make it work for you. Advance Auto now offers $20 store credit for $100 store purchases, so it seems like that will be the way to go in the future for things like brake jobs and such. For purchases just over $20 I guess I'll still do the Autozone thing, but I'll just have to make sure I do 5 of them within 6 months. With my discovery of the website, I think it will remind you if you have points expiring.

Getting off my soapbox now...