Super_BQ
26th January 2007, 10:15 AM
Recently in the past few months, food retailers have been offering 'petro discount' vouchers nation wide in the area between 2 - 10 cents per litre discount at the pump. I would like to share my experiences between the differences what food retailers between NZ and Canada offer and show light to those in NZ that there is a better way.
While many food retailers advocate the more you spend, the more discount you get on the petro, I think this approach can be simplified with better efficiency. For eg. Pak N Save advertises that if you spend more than $40 on the food bill, you get 4 cents / litre discount, spend over $100 and you get 10 cents / litre off at the pump.
In Canada, the food retailer Superstore does it the opposite (and IMO a much better system for the consumers and has been doing this for over 20 years)The customer fills up petro FIRST and at payment, you get a printed (UPC machine readable) coupon. Though this may seem no different than here in NZ, I'd like to tell you the key differences:
1) It doesn't matter whether you fill $2 or $200 of petro in the tank, you're entitled to the advertised discount (typically 5 - 7 cents / litre).
2) Fully transferrable and cumulative. You could have 2 or 3 vehicles (a common case for most households in NZ) and everytime you put petro in your car, you can save these vouchers like saving cash. Upon the next visit to the grocery store, you can treat them as money to pay for the bill. In fact, the cashier can give you cash in return if your voucher exceeds what you're paying for.
3) 3 month standard expiration date and redeemable at any Superstore location across the country. I've found some Pak N' Save retailers vary on expiration date between 1 week -> 2 months. It is nice though competing petro stations are honouring competitor vouchers.
DON'T USE YOUR CREDIT CARD TO PAY AT THE PAK N' SAVE PUMP!!!
In a recent experience at a Pak n' Save petro station, we were billed an extra $150 on our credit card. A telephone to National Bank customer support insisted that the $150 was to be credited back on the card in 5 business working days. Their phone lines have been quite busy because of this type of practise where the retailers doesn't disclose an additional 'security fee?' charge on each person's credit card. Nevertheless, such a practise on credit cards would be illegal in Canada (or other places) without the consent of the credit card holder. After all, a resonable person would only assume they would be charge that exact amount shown on the petro pump. Is it fair for a retailer to 'temporarily' borrow $150 from each person's credit card for a week? Or is it just another way for the retailer to lock in free $ from credit card users every week.
Among many things in NZ, the business and practices here tend to undermind the consumers with gimmicks and puffery. Is it a way for them to needlessly squeeze more $ from the consumer? Countless of schemes like Flybuys, Credit Card Super points and air miles that are indeed quite effective in blurring exactly how much people really save? Is it a miracle that major retailers like Wal-Mart in N. America have become so successful? Don't bet retailers in NZ having an "Everyday Low Price". Katmandu being the biggest offender...
BQ
While many food retailers advocate the more you spend, the more discount you get on the petro, I think this approach can be simplified with better efficiency. For eg. Pak N Save advertises that if you spend more than $40 on the food bill, you get 4 cents / litre discount, spend over $100 and you get 10 cents / litre off at the pump.
In Canada, the food retailer Superstore does it the opposite (and IMO a much better system for the consumers and has been doing this for over 20 years)The customer fills up petro FIRST and at payment, you get a printed (UPC machine readable) coupon. Though this may seem no different than here in NZ, I'd like to tell you the key differences:
1) It doesn't matter whether you fill $2 or $200 of petro in the tank, you're entitled to the advertised discount (typically 5 - 7 cents / litre).
2) Fully transferrable and cumulative. You could have 2 or 3 vehicles (a common case for most households in NZ) and everytime you put petro in your car, you can save these vouchers like saving cash. Upon the next visit to the grocery store, you can treat them as money to pay for the bill. In fact, the cashier can give you cash in return if your voucher exceeds what you're paying for.
3) 3 month standard expiration date and redeemable at any Superstore location across the country. I've found some Pak N' Save retailers vary on expiration date between 1 week -> 2 months. It is nice though competing petro stations are honouring competitor vouchers.
DON'T USE YOUR CREDIT CARD TO PAY AT THE PAK N' SAVE PUMP!!!
In a recent experience at a Pak n' Save petro station, we were billed an extra $150 on our credit card. A telephone to National Bank customer support insisted that the $150 was to be credited back on the card in 5 business working days. Their phone lines have been quite busy because of this type of practise where the retailers doesn't disclose an additional 'security fee?' charge on each person's credit card. Nevertheless, such a practise on credit cards would be illegal in Canada (or other places) without the consent of the credit card holder. After all, a resonable person would only assume they would be charge that exact amount shown on the petro pump. Is it fair for a retailer to 'temporarily' borrow $150 from each person's credit card for a week? Or is it just another way for the retailer to lock in free $ from credit card users every week.
Among many things in NZ, the business and practices here tend to undermind the consumers with gimmicks and puffery. Is it a way for them to needlessly squeeze more $ from the consumer? Countless of schemes like Flybuys, Credit Card Super points and air miles that are indeed quite effective in blurring exactly how much people really save? Is it a miracle that major retailers like Wal-Mart in N. America have become so successful? Don't bet retailers in NZ having an "Everyday Low Price". Katmandu being the biggest offender...
BQ