Sainsbury’s customers furious as tech glitch stops them using Nectar points for Christmas shop
SAINSBURY’S shoppers were fuming after a system error RUINED their Christmas food shop.
Fans of the popular supermarket were shocked when they were unable to redeem Nectar points to pay for their massive food hauls.
Many customers had amassed vouchers worth hundreds of pounds across the year in a bid to be organised – and counted on them to buy their festive feasts.
One angry shopper told The Sun Online: “I was so annoyed as I had deliberately saved up enough points to cover the entire cost for Christmas this year.
“But the app wouldn’t let me redeem them. I tried dozens of times and nothing worked.
“I just ended up paying for it because I didn’t want to lose my collection slot – or everything in my basket.
“It was infuriating because it felt like throwing money away due to an error that wasn’t my fault.”
Meanwhile, other customers took to social media to vent their frustrations.
A user wrote on X/Twitter: “Sainsbury’s thank you for wrecking my Christmas budget.
“I redeemed £185 of nectar points to cover my Christmas shop, but they didn’t get credited.
“Nectar spoke to Sainsbury’s who issued vouchers, but cannot use more than £99.99 on an order. So now have to find £100 extra cash.”
Another furious shopper added: “Due to an error with your system, £90 of nectar points were NOT redeemed and this morning you charged my entire Christmas shop to my debit card.”
“Trying to check out my final Christmas order at Sainsbury’s and getting a technical error trying to use nectar points. Very unhappy,” penned someone else.
It appeared many customers were experiencing the same problem, with some claiming they had been trying “for days” to resolve it.
One person even threatened to boycott the supermarket giant altogether.
“So you spend all year saving up your Nectar points to use them for a Xmas order, just for the system to go down for days preventing people cashing them in,” they said.
“Might do wonders for your Xmas bottom line but it is a great way to ensure our Xmas shop will be with Asda next year.”
A Sainsbury’s spokesperson told The Sun Online: “A very small proportion of customers are experiencing technical issues redeeming their Nectar points on our groceries online service.
“We’re asking any customers affected to get in touch with our careline team so that we can help.
“We’re also working to fix this as quickly as possible and we are sorry for any inconvenience this may cause.”
Under the Nectar card scheme, customers collect points when buying certain products or goods, in-store and online.
You receive one loyalty point for every £1 spent.
And, the same applies to cash forked out on fuel bought at Sainsbury’s petrol stations.
Customers can even pick up points at hundreds of partners as well, including Esso and eBay.
You can register and download an e-Nectar Card by downloading the app on your smartphone.
Nectar card holders then swipe it every time they shop and the points are added to their account.
Sainsbury’s Christmas opening hours
Sainsbury’s opening hours are different over Christmas and New Year.
Times will differ from store to store and can depend on size and location so customers are urged to check their nearest branch using the locator tool on the Sainsbury’s website.
Shoppers will see that doors are closed at most stores on Christmas Day, Monday, December 25.
Hours may be reduced on Christmas Eve (December 24) and Boxing Day (December 26).
Hours and times for the days between December 27 and December 30 are expected to be as usual.
New Year’s Eve on December 31 and New Year’s Day could see reduced shopping hours.