AutoZone Rewards Cards - Whatever

A few days ago, I invented a new word. Screwards. As in Screwed with a Rewards Card scheme from a well known company. (Please note: this is a re-post from my other blog.)

Lots of companies have some form of rewards gimmick for their “loyal” customers… gas stations, grocery stores, department stores, credit card companies, automotive parts stores… the list goes on. Today I developed a huge beef with one of these “Screwards Cards”.

It was a normal February day in the state of Ohio. Husband is outside tinkering around on his vehicle. I’m in the house with the adolescent son, working on homeschooling of a new breed, called Connections Academy. (Check it out if you’re interested in homeschooling and don’t know where to start, they have an awesome program.) Sorry, enough unintentional plugging. Husband discovers he needs a tool to finish something on his truck. It’s AutoZone loaner tool time. No problem. I need him to pick up a few things from there anyway… Fog light bulb for the Durango, and oil and a filter… so he takes the debit card, his AutoZone Rewards Card, and he’s on his way.

First I should probably explain a little about the AutoZone Rewards Card program for those who aren’t familiar with it. You sign up with AutoZone, get your wallet-size card, plus two little key-fob cards. With me so far? Good, not too complicated. Then, whenever you go to AutoZone and spend $20 or more on merchandise (excluding some items which are explained on their Rewards Card site located here), you give them your AutoZone Rewards Card and they scan it. Now, once you’ve collected 5 of those $20 or more purchases (giving you a total of $100 worth of qualifying purchases at their stores), they give you a $20 reward on your AutoZone Rewards Card that you can use to purchase anything in their store, except gift cards, according to their FAQ’s. So far, not a bad deal, right? Especially for those of us who do most of their automotive work themselves, whether by choice or by necessity.

Now, to explain the beef. The first trip to AutoZone and using his AutoZone Rewards Card, he purchased $31.97 worth of merchandise, which included a Duralast Tie Rod End, and 2 cans of Fix-a-Flat (this stuff ranks right up there with Duct tape!) This was paid for with our bank-issued check card. This made his 5th purchase of more than $20 worth of items at AutoZone. Great! He’s earned his $20 AutoZone Rewards Card reward!

Evidently, he was so excited about earning his AutoZone Reward, he forgot the original purpose of the trip. He suddenly remembers, “Oh, crap, I didn’t get the oil, and I forgot the loaner tool I originally came after!” So, he goes back into AutoZone, picks up 3 quarts of Valucraft 10W-40 motor oil for his Ford, a Fram oil filter, a gallon of Castrol GTX motor oil for my baby Durango, a Blitz 15 qt oil drain pan, and he does the famous AutoZone Loaner Tool program for a Tie Rod End Puller (deposit of $12). Grand total is $51.84. Oh, the joy! He redeems his $20 AutoZone Rewards Card balance, and our debit card is charged $35.47 for the balance (including taxes). He comes home.

Once home, it is discovered that the AutoZone Loaner Tool that he has will not work on his Ford truck, so he has to make another trip back to AutoZone. They cheerfully refund his deposit on the loaner, but he has to go to another AutoZone store nearby because they have the Tie Rod End Puller he actually needs. No problem, it’s only a few miles down the road. At the second AutoZone store, he again takes out a loaner tool, this time paying a $13 deposit, he remembered that he didn’t buy my fog lamp bulb and that he needs a funnel. Ok, now we have an additional $10.98 in actual purchases from an AutoZone location.

He works a while longer on the truck, but now, it’s getting dark, so he hangs up his Carharts for the night. I mentioned that I wanted to go to WalMart to pick up a few things, so while he’s cleaning up, I snatch up the receipts to write them down in the checkbook register, like any normal, responsible, adult US citizen. But WAIT! I’m looking at these receipts, and there’s purchases and credits, so I sit the dear husband down and have him explain his AutoZone adventures to me so I make sure everything is recorded correctly in the checkbook. That’s when I made the discovery…

AUTOZONE AND IT’S AUTOZONE REWARDS PROGRAM IS A SCAMMING BUNCH OF F***ING TRASH!!

He said, “The credited the Loaner Tool Deposit back on my AutoZone Rewards Card.”

WHAT?? THEY WHAT??

So, he has to explain this to me a few times, and then even started to get confused himself… “They put it back on my card… no, wait… it should have been on the bank card… no, it’s on the AutoZone Rewards Card, awww… shit… I don’t know.”

So, now I’m looking, and looking hard, at the receipts he brought home. Oh… those sneaky conniving little sons-of-…. THEY JUST CHEATED US OUT OF $12.84!!! They didn’t not refund it, but what they did do was very deceitful and underhanded.

Hopefully, everyone can follow me here, because I was very confused for a good while — and I had all the receipts right here in front of me.

First trip he purchases $31.97 in eligible items to earn his $20 AutoZone Reward. Now, it’s my understanding, that these AutoZone Reward Card rewards are used to PURCHASE merchandise at any AutoZone store. So, on his next transaction, my husband does just that. He goes up to the register with $39.84 worth of real, tangible, AutoZone merchandise. On top of this, he’s paying a $12 deposit on a Loaner Tool, which they will refund when he returns the loaner tool. Total, $51.84, excluding tax. So, he applies his $20 Rewards he’d just earned, and our debit card is then charged $35.47.

Third trip to AutoZone results in his returning the loaner tool and AutoZone refunding his $12.84 – straight onto his AutoZone Rewards Card!!!!! How is that right? Dear husband, being frustrated at this point, doesn’t catch on, because he now has to make the trip to another AutoZone store to get the right Loaner Tool he needs. The third transaction involves the $13 loaner tool deposit, and the $10.98 for the fog lamp bulb and the funnel. Now, they take his $12.84 back off his AutoZone Rewards Card and applied it to the $25.66 total. Once that is deducted, my debit card is hit again with the balance of $12.82.

Here’s the heart of the beef… and it’s beating loudly…

If they credited one loaner tool deposit back to his AutoZone Rewards Card, will they not also credit this last loaner tool deposit to it? If the purpose of the rewards you earn is to PURCHASE ITEMS, then WHY DID THEY TAKE BACK PART OF HIS REWARD, a reward he’d already spent on merchandise?? He didn’t return the merchandise!! They pretty much refunded the loaner tool deposit back onto his Rewards Card, so that $12.84 can only be spent at AutoZone stores… so, the way I look at it, they essentially STOLE our hard earned money from us!!

So, in my fury, I sent a “comment” to AutoZone using their Contact Us link. That little comment box is all of about 2″ X 3″ in size. I ended up typing my “comment” up on notepad and then pasting into their box.

This is what I wrote to them:

I was very upset after my husband returned from the last of several trips to your stores. I had sent him with our debit card to buy some parts from your store. On his first trip, he earned a $20 reward for all his recent purchases. On a later visit, he bought almost $40 in merchandise and rented a tool with a $12 deposit. He applied his $20 rewards he’d earned to cover the cost of some of the items purchased. When he returned the rented tool, instead of the $12.84 being credited back to our debit card, it was credited to his Rewards Card. This is an unfair practice in my opinion, as this shorted our bank account $12.84! His $20 should have been credited totally to the physical items purchased and the $12.84 refunded to our account. Instead, AutoZone “took back” part of the $20 reward he’d earned and had already redeemed on merchandise, and he basically ended up with a $12.84 gift card that can only be used at your stores. If this is the way returns of loaner tools and the associated deposits are handled, maybe you should give everyone their deposits back in the form of gift cards only good at AutoZone stores. I’m sure everyone would be absolutely thrilled, especially in the current state of the economy.

The information on the receipts is as follows:
1. Purchasing $31.97 in physical merchandise, paid for with our debit card, is on receipt # 007415 Str trans #911528 Store # 0706 (earning the $20 reward).
2. Purchasing $39.84 in additional physical merchandise, $12 tool rental deposit, and $20 credit from redeeming the Rewards, balance of $35.47 paid for with our debit card, is on receipt # 009993 Str Trans # 911543 Store # 0706.
3. Returned rented tool for refund of $12.84 deposit, which posted as a credit to Reward Card is on receipt # 582356 Str Trans # 911681 Store # 0706.
4. Yet another purchase of physical merchandise for $10.98 and renting another tool for $13. $12.94 deducted from rewards card balance, $12.82 charged to debit card is on receipt # 712732 Str Trans # 555585 Store # 0733.

Now, my question…. is this rental deposit going to again be refunded to the Rewards Card? I’m betting it will. In addition, I must ask if he would need to return any or all of the $39+ worth of items he purchased at the same time he redeemed his $20 reward (OR if he had to return any of the subsequently purchased items that are now tied to this Rewards Card credit/debit paper trail because of loaner tool deposits and returns) would any, or possibly ALL of these items, also be credited back to his Rewards Card? Because of this, we are seriously considering not returning to any AutoZone stores or shopping on the AutoZone website. Because in reality, you have so far managed to weasel $12.84 out of our bank account and onto your Rewards Card, thus ensuring that we will only be able to spend that $12.84 at your stores. I find this practice despicable considering we spent over $60 in purchases of tangible products, NOT INCLUDING any tool rental deposits or the redemption of the rewards he earned, at your stores today. We used to trust your company, and would deal almost exclusively with AutoZone. Today, however, with just a few transactions, that long-held trust and the respect we had for AutoZone and its affiliates is gone.

I’m hoping they make this right with us. It has been a very long time since I’ve been this upset with any company. I’ll be sure to update the blog when, and IF they respond to me and whether it’s an appropriate response.

Update: As of today, there has been no response from AutoZone. Go figure.