Boots lost points and no refund on my order

Dylayla

Title: Need advice: Boots froze my Advantage Card points (£400+), refused refund, and used misdirected email — what are my options

Hi all,

I’m posting anonymously because I’m currently involved in a dispute with Boots and I would really appreciate some neutral advice.

I’ve had two problems with Boots recently:

1. Advantage Card points (£400+ total) frozen without explanation

• I had around £400+ in Advantage Card points across two account numbers.

• Both accounts were suddenly placed “under review” and then frozen.

• Boots has not clearly explained why, despite multiple requests.

• I have never had any issues with loyalty schemes before, and this is the first time anything like this has happened.

• My SAR (data request) is ongoing, but they have still not provided a clear, full explanation.

2. A Boots representative used a misdirected, private email thread

• An email was accidentally sent to Boots that was not intended for them, and it contained personal information.

• The email had a notice saying not to read it if you’re not the intended recipient, but they opened it anyway.

• They then used information from that private email in communications back to me.

• They also took a screenshot of a comment I made on LinkedIn (on a public post), referenced it back to me, and suggested it was relevant to my case.

• I found this very intrusive, as it felt like my social media was being searched.

3. Missing refund for an online order

• I placed an online order which was never refunded.

• Boots initially said it was being processed, but months have passed and I’m still waiting for the refund.

• I expressed discomfort with the tone used by the representative (felt intimidating and overly aggressive).

• I asked Boots to assign a different representative to my case.

• They refused and insisted I continue speaking to the same person.

• I haven’t received any updates since last week.

• I raised a complaint with Boots’ Executive Office.

• I reported the data-handling issue to the ICO, who are reviewing it.

• I am preparing a potential Small Claims Court action for the frozen points + missing refund.

• Has anyone experienced something similar with Boots freezing Advantage Card points?

• Is it normal for retailers to search customers’ social media during a dispute?

• What steps would you recommend next?

• For anyone who has gone through a small claim with a retailer: did you succeed, and how long did it take?

Any general guidance would be appreciated. I’m trying to understand my rights and the best next 

Many thanks 

Ergates

Dylayla said:

2. A Boots representative used a misdirected, private email thread

• An email was accidentally sent to Boots that was not intended for them, and it contained personal information.

• The email had a notice saying not to read it if you’re not the intended recipient, but they opened it anyway.

• They then used information from that private email in communications back to me.

• They also took a screenshot of a comment I made on LinkedIn (on a public post), referenced it back to me, and suggested it was relevant to my case.

• I found this very intrusive, as it felt like my social media was being searched.

Many issues with what you're written here.

1)  When you (or whoever) sent the email to Boots, it was no longer private.  Because you sent it to them.
2)  Such notices on emails are utterly meaningless.   Firstly, you can't see them until you've already opened the email (and as they're generally at the bottom, read the email).  Secondly, how is the someone *you* sent a mail to meant to know that you did so by accident and they're not the intended recipient?
3) Why would they *not* use that information in communication back to you?  You sent it to them - what did you expect them to do with it?
4) LinkedIn is a public platform, comments you make on there aren't private and you should take that into account when making them.  As to whether or not it was relevant to the case in question - obviously we can't know that given we don't know what it was.
5) That's not intrusive because - again - LinkedIn is a public platform.  Things you say on social media are in the public domain.  Whether it's normal or reasonable for Boots to be searching your social media in relation to a dispute would depend entirely on the nature of the dispute.   That Boots blocked two of your Advantage Card accounts, suggests they *think* something untoward is happening with them - in which case, checking the social media profile of the account holder would seem a reasonable step.

mjm3346

You should have spent the points long before they reached £100 worth

born_again

2 separate accounts to same person See 7
Maybe 8 is part of their thinking given to accounts?

1. The Boots Advantage Card scheme and Boots Advantage Card associated clubs and benefits are operated by Boots UK Limited, Nottingham, NG2 3AA. Registered in England & Wales: company no. 928555. Please do not send correspondence to this address.
2. To get the latest terms and conditions or for general enquiries please call 0345 124 4545*, write to Boots Customer Care, PO Box 5300, Nottingham, NG90 1AA or visit Boots Advantage Card.
3. Boots can cancel, withdraw or alter the scheme at any time, including these terms and conditions or any individual Boots Advantage Card account.
4. All Boots Advantage Cards belong to Boots.
5. The UK Boots Advantage Card scheme is only valid in UK Boots stores and at boots.com.
   
6. We do not issue additional cards for the same account.
7. If we identify that you hold two or more Boots Advantage Card accounts, we may merge them into one account at our discretion.
8. The Boots Advantage Card scheme is for personal use only; business use is strictly prohibited and constitutes abuse. Boots reserves the right, at the point of purchase or retrospectively, to determine whether a transaction constitutes business usage.
9. Boots can take any action it considers appropriate, including removing or suspending a Boots Advantage Card account and points accrued if we have reason to believe you are abusing the scheme or associated clubs and offers.
10. Use of additional offers and benefits associated with your Boots Advantage Card account are subject to store and online network availability.
11. Boots will remove Boots Advantage Card points from registered Boots Advantage Card accounts that haven’t been used for one year or have been closed. 
12. All physical plastic Advantage Cards should be registered with Boots. After one year, Boots will remove the Boots Advantage Card points on unregistered cards.
13. To benefit from the Boots Advantage Card scheme you must be a United Kingdom resident aged 13 years or over. Boots will not communicate with a customer until an appropriate age of consent is reached.

Ergates

born_again said:

2 separate accounts to same person See 7
Maybe 8 is part of their thinking given to accounts?

1. The Boots Advantage Card scheme and Boots Advantage Card associated clubs and benefits are operated by Boots UK Limited, Nottingham, NG2 3AA. Registered in England & Wales: company no. 928555. Please do not send correspondence to this address.
2. To get the latest terms and conditions or for general enquiries please call 0345 124 4545*, write to Boots Customer Care, PO Box 5300, Nottingham, NG90 1AA or visit Boots Advantage Card.
3. Boots can cancel, withdraw or alter the scheme at any time, including these terms and conditions or any individual Boots Advantage Card account.
4. All Boots Advantage Cards belong to Boots.
5. The UK Boots Advantage Card scheme is only valid in UK Boots stores and at boots.com.
   
6. We do not issue additional cards for the same account.
7. If we identify that you hold two or more Boots Advantage Card accounts, we may merge them into one account at our discretion.
8. The Boots Advantage Card scheme is for personal use only; business use is strictly prohibited and constitutes abuse. Boots reserves the right, at the point of purchase or retrospectively, to determine whether a transaction constitutes business usage.
9. Boots can take any action it considers appropriate, including removing or suspending a Boots Advantage Card account and points accrued if we have reason to believe you are abusing the scheme or associated clubs and offers.
10. Use of additional offers and benefits associated with your Boots Advantage Card account are subject to store and online network availability.
11. Boots will remove Boots Advantage Card points from registered Boots Advantage Card accounts that haven’t been used for one year or have been closed. 
12. All physical plastic Advantage Cards should be registered with Boots. After one year, Boots will remove the Boots Advantage Card points on unregistered cards.
13. To benefit from the Boots Advantage Card scheme you must be a United Kingdom resident aged 13 years or over. Boots will not communicate with a customer until an appropriate age of consent is reached.

Good thinking.   Advantage cards earn points at a rate of 3%.  Accruing over £800 in points represents nearly £27,000 in spending!

That's a very very large amount for an individual to have spent at Boots.  Especially given that not everything earns points.

OP - 2 questions:

1)  Have Boots indicated they believe you were using the cards for a business?
2)  Were you using the cards for a business?

Aylesbury_Duck

How are you operating those accounts, and why?  Presumably you're doing something - or Boots suspect you of doing something - that's prohibited by the terms of the accounts.

All the stuff about emails and LinkedIn sounds like irrelevant fluff.  LinkedIn is a strange place for a consumer to be complaining about something like this (although I have seen it before).  Maybe @born_again is onto something and Boots suspect you're using these cards in a business capacity?

I suspect there's more to this than you're not letting on.  If you're not providing us with all the relevant information, you can't expect to get proper advice.

Ergates

Dylayla said:

3. Missing refund for an online order

• I placed an online order which was never refunded.

• Boots initially said it was being processed, but months have passed and I’m still waiting for the refund.

• I expressed discomfort with the tone used by the representative (felt intimidating and overly aggressive).

• I asked Boots to assign a different representative to my case.

• They refused and insisted I continue speaking to the same person.

• I haven’t received any updates since last week.

• I raised a complaint with Boots’ Executive Office.

• I reported the data-handling issue to the ICO, who are reviewing it.

• I am preparing a potential Small Claims Court action for the frozen points + missing refund.

• Has anyone experienced something similar with Boots freezing Advantage Card points?

• Is it normal for retailers to search customers’ social media during a dispute?

• What steps would you recommend next?

• For anyone who has gone through a small claim with a retailer: did you succeed, and how long did it take?

Any general guidance would be appreciated. I’m trying to understand my rights and the best next 

Many thanks 

To respond to this:

You say "which was never refunded" - what happened?   
Did the order never arrive?
Did it arrive and it was faulty?
Did it arrive but you returned it within 14 days because of a change of mind?

In terms of next steps
The first would be to contact the CEOs team - which you're done and see if they can expedite matters.   How long ago did you do that?

If that doesn't work, then a Letter Before Action could be the next step.   However, I'd advise against merging the refund the the Advantage Card points into a single claim as they appear (from what you've written) to be totally separate issues.

Alternatively you could try a S75 claim against your card supplier (if you paid by credit card).