Sam’s Club has sent out an e-mail to Sam’s Club Mastercard & Sam’s Club Business Mastercard letting them know that effective 11/01/2017 tobacco and smoking related products (including electronic cigarettes) 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). These cards only earn 1% on Sam’s Club purchases anyway, so you’d be better off using another card that earns up to 3%. The only reason I can think of this change is because the cards are currently earning 3% via Scan & Go.
Thanks to reader Eric L
Kudos to the large corporations that take a stance for the public good, however minor this move is. Compared to the rotating reward categories direct cash flow arbitrarily, these changes intended for direct and indirect health improvements are better to rally behind.
Buy Sam’s gift cards and go get your “immoral, harmful goods” from the morality store….
i guess there are different kind of churners out there abusing sams rewards for cheaper smoking items. i didnt know.
+1. Marlboro Man was the original churner.
Thanks CVS! What’s next, certain sodas/foods or furniture/clothing (harm to environment)? Certain cards in certain places at certain times? This has nothing to do with public health, and everything to do with screwing consumers out of incentives and obfuscating terms/rewards/timelines to the point its “be thankful for whatever we decide to give you”. Never have, and never will smoke. Just calling it like it is.
Oh…and get ready for “bars and grills” not to get dining cashback. It starts with the smokers…..
They sure don’t have a problem selling the product however.
It has little to do with screwing customers and everything to do with pleasing customers. The free market (CVS, now Sam’s Club) is reacting to the will of the public – they have decided it is in their best financial interest to move away from tobacco.
I reject the slippery slope argument. Although as an ER doctor cigarettes are wonderful for my business (COPD patients who come to the ED unable to breathe provide a hefty % of my salary) I am happy with corporate America’s movement away from cancer sticks.
Actually, I’m referring to CVS declining to fill prescriptions for opiates for the prescribed length of time as directed by doctors because they “know better” and want to “take a moral stance” on them. Of course, this also means the customer will simply pay 4x as much for a 30 day prescription week by week.
Im currently MSing 2ppd and liquidating them via my lungs. Purchased with Chase Ink Ive earned 200,000 UR points and metastatic lung cancer
You’re better off not using tobacco products at all. Smoking kills!
You are right but you can probably go across the street and buy your cancer sticks at the gas station and get 5%.
Indeed, at their prices you’ll be saving 5% of an even larger amount – so you’ll be saving more! *sly wink*
It’s 2017, everybody knows this. Quitting is incredibly difficult. Every time I see those ridiculous TV ads, I wonder how many Chantix scripts and nicotine patches that money could’ve bought. Scolding accomplishes very little; most smokers want to quit, and many can’t afford the tools to make it easier.
Ditched my 17 year, pack a day habit four years ago. Still have dreams about smoking a couple times a week, and driving past a gas station after particularly busy shifts, I have to make a direct, concerted effort to think about something else.
To the topic at hand: a lousy card gets a titch more restricted. Oh well.
You forget that those ads aren’t just to tell people to quit, but to prevent people from starting in the first place.
Oh please. Find a person who doesn’t know cigarettes are dangerous and addictive. In most states, the ad buys are mandated by the tobacco lawsuit settlements from the 90s and 00s.
I’ve always been surprised that there are folks born after 1985 who smoke, since like you said the anti-smoking ads and education in school are so pervasive. Unfortunately, they do still exist 🙁 I had several friends/acquaintances from childhood who smoked.
Anyway, congrats on quitting, and keep up fighting the urge when it arises!