Missing loyalty points prompt lowering of faith in humanity

Published 12:30 pm Thursday, July 31, 2025

I went to the grocery store the other day and got a few items. After the cashier scanned all of my items, and told me the total, I realized he had not scanned my points card yet. So I gave it to him and he scanned it. I paid by credit card. I tapped my card. My total was $95.

I thought nothing more of that interaction until the next day, when I opened up my email inbox and saw an email from the points company congratulating me on redeeming $110 worth of free groceries.

I was stumped. I didn’t redeem any points and I didn’t spend over a $100. I quickly rummaged through the garbage and found my receipt. My memory was correct, I didn’t spend that amount of money, and there were no points collected or redeemed on my receipt.

I looked back at the email and it said that I had redeemed those points at the grocery store where I was there, but the time stamp was two minutes after my receipt said I had checked out.

I went back into the grocery store to ask what had happened. They were also stumped and couldn’t help me. They were sympathetic but not helpful in discovering where my points had gone.

I contacted the company that handles the points. I had to submit an inquiry. It has been over a week and I have not heard anything back. I went to the store and tried to collect points but the cashier said my account appeared frozen. I can’t even collect points at this point.

After reviewing the initial transaction in my head again, I think I have a theory of what happened. I think the cashier totalled off my transaction by sending it to the credit card machine. And then scanned my card so the customer behind me got my points. That customer redeemed all of my points and got free groceries.

I really have no way of proving this. I was saving my points for Christmas. There are always bonus redemption events just before the holidays and I can buy fun things for that time of year.

I am extremely disappointed. A simple mistake by the cashier cost me over $100 worth of goods. I will keep trying to get them back, but I am not hopeful at this point. I just hope the person behind me needed those groceries.

I have learned a couple of things. People get ripped off or scammed out of their points all the time. There are multiple forums online with customers complaining. I have also learned that with certain points collection companies you can set your account to ‘earn only’ and not be able to redeem them without two-step authentication. I have since changed my password, set up my account to earn only and set my standards lower for humanity.

The person behind me should have questioned why he was getting his groceries for free. The cashier should have noticed my loyalty account was attached to the person behind me instead. There should be more checks and balances. I should have watched more closely. I know this now.

At the end of the day, I understand more people have been missing more points or scammed out of more money than me, it is just a crappy feeling when something is taken from you.