Sams Club Cash Back Rewards Changes

[CreditMagic7]

Ok, who is been bulk buying tobacco and especially stupid electronic cigs for resale to inflate their cash back.

I didn't even know they sold that stuff but i guess a bunch of someone's do

Notice of Changes to Your Current Cash Back Rewards Program

We are making a change to your Sam’s Club Cash Back Rewards Program. Effective 11/01/2017, tobacco and smoking related products (including electronic cigarettes) purchased at Sam’s Club® with your Sam’s Club® Mastercard® or Sam’s Club Business Mastercard account will no longer be used in calculating the amount of Year-to-Date Purchases under the Cash Back Rewards Program (and will no longer be eligible for Cash Back Rewards). The term “Eligible Purchase” under the Cash Back Rewards Program Terms shall be amended to now read as follows:
“Eligible Purchase” means net purchases (less credits, returns and adjustments) of goods and services made using the Card Account, other than purchases of tobacco and smoking related products (including electronic cigarettes) at any Sam's Club location or at Samsclub.com. You will not lose any rewards you have already earned.

Please Note, as we make this change, your monthly credit card statement may not reflect the actual Cash Back Rewards earned (and may inadvertently include tobacco purchase rewards for a period of time).
Regards,
Sam’s Club Credit Services

[Anonymous]

Ecigs saved my life.

People buy junk food that causes diabetes and obesity at Sam's Club and I'd rather see that stuff banned from cash back if we are going to debate vices.

[CreditMagic7]

That email didn't much apply to my Sams purchases at all but did seem odd they targeted a selected group to drop the Rewards Cash Back from and it happened to be those.

Frankly i didn't know they even catered to smoke products.

Shows how much i know about what all they stock in there.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:
Ecigs saved my life.

People buy junk food that causes diabetes and obesity at Sam's Club and I'd rather see that stuff banned from cash back if we are going to debate vices.

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I doubt that their motivation is the common good, as OP suiggested, maybe some people buy way too many and resell them.  Yes, could do that with snacks but less profitable (and usually more bulky)

[Anonymous]

I'll bite & raise my hand as a semi-retired health practitioner - junk food far outweighs tobacco in terms impact on population health, life expectancy & comorbidities. But that's neither here nor there.

You're likely correct in their motivation, however it could also be in relation to state/local laws on the discounting and or promotion of alcohol & tobacco products. You see similar riders in the fine print in a lot of store discount-cashback programs excluding certain products from discount or coupon eligibility.

[Anonymous]

Sam's should be paying out the rewards regardless of the fact that the cigarettes are potentially being re-sold by the buyer. There's zero reason to stop the accumulation of points on such as sale, and after the item(s) are no longer Sam's Clubs' items; thus, the consumer should be able to re-sell them if they want to. Once the cigarettes leave through the front door, it is no longer the merchant's concern what happens to them. 

[wasCB14]

Could there be some legal reason to exclude them, relating to pricing regulations? Or since the excise tax is being paid, it doesn't matter what the net cost to consumers is?

[MASTERNC]

Not unusual - BJ's rewards program excludes tobacco products and alcohol from earning rewards (though it appears you can redeem for them).  I don't think Costco has such a restriction, as I have received 2% back on purchases for alcohol purchased through separate registers.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Sam's should be paying out the rewards regardless of the fact that the cigarettes are potentially being re-sold by the buyer. There's zero reason to stop the accumulation of points on such as sale, and after the item(s) are no longer Sam's Clubs' items; thus, the consumer should be able to re-sell them if they want to. Once the cigarettes leave through the front door, it is no longer the merchant's concern what happens to them. 

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Well, it's like the issuers dislike of MS.    Issuers generally have an idea of expected rewards, and if you have some way (either MS or profitable resell) of cycling, you can get much more reward than they intend.   Yes, they could cap.....

[CreditMagic7]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

Sam's should be paying out the rewards regardless of the fact that the cigarettes are potentially being re-sold by the buyer. There's zero reason to stop the accumulation of points on such as sale, and after the item(s) are no longer Sam's Clubs' items; thus, the consumer should be able to re-sell them if they want to. Once the cigarettes leave through the front door, it is no longer the merchant's concern what happens to them. 

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Well, it's like the issuers dislike of MS.    Issuers generally have an idea of expected rewards, and if you have some way (either MS or profitable resell) of cycling, you can get much more reward than they intend.   Yes, they could cap.....

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It probably just made sense to them to nip it in the bud after auditing sales receipts on this and that.

Hard to say what might come next and there's always a next with rewards cards it seems.

After all the customer/cardholder is making money on those set ups not them