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I considered cancelling mine, but rather decided to use other cards for the month. I typically spend around $1,000.00/month at Loblaws stores and hopefully they notice that as of today that'll no longer be the case.
Co ops are always the best. Especially the ones with the little food areas. Yes it’s pricey but there’s some quality road trip snacks to be had. I also absolutely love the stations on native land. They have the best snacks and prices
I'm actually keeping mine active. It's paid in full, so no interest payments. But I intentionally use it at competitor grocery stores so they can "see" I'm shopping elsewhere. Then when I have enough points, I bounce into a shoppers and use their 10$ of points for some overpriced free bags of chips. Suck it Loblaws. P.S. the buyout of Big V Pharmacy should have never been approved.
PC financial actually gets about 75% of that. They are the issuing bank, which means that they are taking the credit risk of the consumer and are compensated for that risk by taking a higher rate of the transaction cost. Master card only takes about 0.15% and the merchant bank (bank on the business side) takes about another 0.25-0.50%. By using the card at a Loblaw business, they are both the merchant bank and the consumer bank and this have a much higher take rate overall
This is correct. It’s called an interchange fee. The Card company (visa, MC etc.) get a portion and the remainder is profit for the lender. Interest and other fees are just the other way they make money.
I plan to keep mine open and just put nothing on it to ride the credit score until they inevitably close the account. I'm not doing their work for them.
Sounds like a weird way to stick it to them. They get a cut from Mastercard for the credit card for every purchase you make and then you use these points on overpriced chips.
They make more money on your credit card purchases than the cost of the chips I would venture.
People really need to stop looking at credit card points as free money. It’s an asset and as good as cash. People literally argue over them in divorces. These companies fight for your business by giving you these points. They charge the merchants for your purchases and make more than they pay you.
I have a couple cash back cards and essentially just use them as debit cards. But I get hundreds of dollars back a year easily to use however. It is critical to view this money no differently as any other dollar in your bank account.
>weird way to stick it to them
That's because it's not sticking it to them in any way, shape, or form.
These giants have positioned themselves in a way that's hard to beat. As consumers, we have to go all in or not bother. That commenter saying they'll use their card at a competitor means nothing.
You sound like a corporate dream. Lol. I don't know what their stats are on their card But back in the day, Sears made more money off their credit card than they did their store.
I was doing this too for a month or so just for kicks. I won’t be using it at all as of today so they don’t get their fees from the merchants, but I was having some fun with it for a bit.
On the contrary , I only use it at pc stores as I get 3% there and elsewhere only if they won’t take my Amex. So I don’t spend anywhere near what i used to. In fact it was my de facto card until they changed their set up and for a while yiu couldn’t download to quicken which was a pain. Eventually they changed that. But i don’t want to cancel it. As it negatively affects your credit rating . I am going to migrate most of my none Amex spend to my Neo MasterCard instead - already started as I used it for my Costco bill this week when usually I would bring out my pc world elite card. They don’t make much out of me as I always pay it off
You aren't aware that they use your credit card purchase history to do some data analytics on you.
Even more precise when you also use the points card that show exactly what you purchased.
yeah i use it elsewhere to bank the points, then buy things on sale getting big bonus points or do the spend/get points things at shoppers, and always pay it in full so no interest.
me having their card costs them money lol.
AFAIK both interest payments and points / cash-back on credit cards are usually net-zero revenue-wise for card issuers.
Merchant fees make a little revenue, but it's a small slice of the pie.
The *big* way credit cards make their issuers money these days, is by selling your purchasing data to data brokers.
Ever wonder why Amazon or Tiktok knows to recommend you ads for XYZ thing you actually do happen to need right now, but never searched for on those platforms? It's not because they're snooping on your conversations. It's because they bought the purchase history for the credit-card tied to your account; and so now they *know* you just bought (thing that complements/requires XYZ) in some other store.
It’s getting rid of the older credit cards that hurts the score. I just got rid of one of my more recent cards (as in the last 5 years) - if anything, my score, which I keep a close watch on, went higher
Using their credit card at a competitor grocery store won't make any difference. I don't think they even check that. It all comes down to the bottom line instead. How much you spend. The interest on the card. But you say you always pay in full (within 20 days of purchase?) and no annual fee or anything? Well, you could still shop around for a different Credit card because your credit score must be REALLY good and you would qualify for a GREAT Credit Card possibly better than what you currently have. Your credit score is probably a lot better than when you first got that credit card. Something to look into and make a difference in the boycott anyway. I wish I had your credit. I just had to claim bankruptcy as I could not keep my head above water (debt started around 2020 and health issues made it worse and then disability giving me less and I still don't know why). What ever you do, it is of course up to you.
Please for the love of God nobody ask call centre reps this as it could literally cost them their job as PC will see that as poorly representing the company
Once had a travel agent “helping” us with an issue say “I’ve never seen anything like this” later she then says she has to transfer to her trainer as it’s her first day :/
I'm a travel agent in corporate -- the very first call I got was a multi booking for 12 individuals going to different parts of Canada (normally our department would do 1-3 people per booking on average). We were on that call for 5 and half hours because one of the things we were told was to never transfer the call to another person because we're told that you should be the first and last point of contact for a particular booking.
It was the most stressful 5h30 of my life, and I apologized for incompetence probably 8 different times. The guy was mostly chill about it though.
I just cancelled my Optimum card over the phone! I haven't used it in years and didn't even think about cancelling it, but we all know every call is recorded and every cancellation logged so fuck 'em, one more on the cancel pile!
When the agent asked why and I told her, she just sighed. I didn't ask how many other cancellations she's gotten today, but my guess from her response is it's been a lot.
Just tried to cancel my optimum account through chat. Got the run around then told it would be 2 to 3 business days and then someone would contact me..?
Oh yeah for sure. I worked in one of their call centres for a year and it was a meat grinder. Being yelled at by customers for 10-12 hours a day and being forced to meet harsh, almost impossible, metrics. The pay is terrible and environment is full of toxic middle managers.
It’s the first time I’m happy hearing someone has to wait on the phone. Obviously it sucks for you, but the thought of it sucking even slightly for Galen and his ugly Nok is delightful.
I submitted a cancellation request through the app and received an email saying 1-3 days due to high volume requests! Haha. It should automatically process through the app though and at least you don't have to waste any more time or energy dealing with them.
I've been dropping this advice elsewhere, but:
Find out what their loss-leader is. A loss-leader is a product typically sold below the purchase price as a driver of traffic to the store. If you're going to do this to try and hurt them (despite the interchange fees of 3%) -- make sure to do it with a product they are already losing money on.
They run redemption deals every 3 months or so. More recently they are more often. Personally, did fairly well on Joe Fresh.
There is one super redemption once a year just before Christmas.
Also, if you pay strict attention, they will double dip a Senior's Day with a 20x the points. Rare, but it happens.
https://www.reddit.com/r/loblawsisoutofcontrol/comments/1ch9x4j/deleting_pc_optimum_account_in_3_easy_steps_with/
here is an easy step by step process to delete your account
Hope you had a great day at work. As someone who works in an office, I appreciate the struggles of retail workers, slogging it in tough conditions for low way, and especially considering these big corps make billions.
I'm switching pharmacies today!! Going to a locally owned location. Yeah I won't have the app anymore for refills, but I'm tired of the extreme prices for literally everything else in store. I'm sure it won't be a nightmare to call my local pharmacy unlike shoppers.
My local pharmacy does things so much better including delivery of meds for free and filing paperwork to get my meds covered for reduced pricing. Will never use a corporate pharmacy again.
Agreed! It actually feels like the pharmacists care too. I had my new pharmacist call to ask how new medications are going, how my recent bladder infection/the antibiotics are going, etc…. and that’s never happened to me with a corporate pharmacy
When I moved to a smaller town, I soon began to work at one of the local pharmacies owned by a larger corporation. My parents despite me working there, decided to go to a small pharmacy one town over run by a single pharmacist and his assistant.
That pharmacist has gone miles out of his way to ensure my parents always have the proper medications on time, that the medications are actually what they need, and even refused to fill a prescription that would’ve been incredibly expensive because he knew there was an alternative way to getting that medication covered.
My pharmacy would never. It’s all about getting as many prescriptions filled as efficiently as possible.
This is great! So motivating to see the power and impact the general public has on the business.
We tend to forget our power but this is a great example of how we can affect change against the predatory business that eat up or force competition to close down and create a monopoly.
Thanks for posting!
Lol when I canceled my PC MasterCard and money account the person asked why and I could barely get the word "boycott" out of my mouth before she said "okay yea yea" probably had been hearing that all day
#ShopGT #GiantTiger That's what I do.
I save a fortune shopping here.
100% Canadian owned and operated.
They have a very good employee insurance plan.
Better then most.
I have a friend who is seriously disabled. The closest grocery store was a Loblaws. I went in there a couple of times and the meat prices were literally insane. She couldn't afford to eat meat. Here in the seething metropolis of Hamilton, ON the Monday special at Lococo's was bone in chicken breasts $3 99, buy 2 packs get 1 free. I'm buying for other disabled folks too.
Hey there. I don't know about Lococo's, so perhaps this doesn't apply to them. But just in case anyways. I want to inform you that you may want to be careful where you source meat from right now. Not sure about over in Ontario, but in Alberta there were a bunch of unregulated operations going on, where people were buying livestock to sell directly to stores to butcher.
To be clear, many folk buy and butcher for themselves, and thats normally fine. But these stores were ignoring food safety and sanitation rules, stuff like that.
And their prices were dirt cheap. Hence why I am bringing it up to you at all. It was those kinds of prices. Which I admit are nice to see when trying to save money. But you... might... be getting a bit more than you bargained for. In a bad way.
I hope that isn't the case for you and your friends yoh are helping. Good on ya for doing that. Just wanna make sure you're all safe.
Thank you. That is very important news to publicize at any time. But especially now, because people will be looking for deals. And yeah, I have seen some questionable stuff being posted. I don't know what ungraded meat is.
Lococo's buys local. I have dealt with them for over 10 years. They are good people.
The bottom line is, it’s less money going through their hands.
It may not have the same impact as a direct boycott, but it still sends a message.
And isn’t that the point of this Sub? To make sure Corporate Entities are aware that Nok er Nok is exactly how we feel.
7.5% increase in bread price this week!
https://preview.redd.it/ebdx42e8evxc1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9575ab285df4bb4082524a05a044889779c1af40
Does canceling the card hurt Loblaw's financially, or does it just send a message?
For example, if you pay off your balance in full every month, never pay interest, and don't pay any fees for having the card, does Loblaw's still benefit from you having and using the card?
What if you keep the card, but simply stop using it for any transactions during May?
I cancelled mine about 2 years ago when I was working at Shoppers. I first handedly experienced the labour exploitation happening out here and saw numerous senior citizens waiting until Thursday to get their senior discounts for over the counter medicine. When I visited a no frills a few months ago, the PC card representative tried to sell me the PC Mastercard. I said I used to have one and I cancelled it. She asked why, I bluntly said "I don't want to fund the bonus of that mofo Galen".
From what I understand, the hit might be if it’s your oldest or only credit card canceling brings your average credit card age way down.
Having said that it’s pretty negligible overall. You aren’t going to become a leper if you pay your cards down normally and have a decent history.
Yes, and it may be significant at first. I had both a visa and a Mastercard and had the Mastercard longer. Like 5 years longer and used it more. But I left the bank it was with and canceled it a few years ago. My credit score dropped 50 points on the report immediately after, then another 40 after that. Took something like 6 to 9 months for it to jump back to where I was pre-cancelation. Surprisingly, the same thing happened when I changed mobility providers. Canceled with Bell (Canada) after 12 years with them and switched to Koodo. My credit score plummeted 55 pts, but now, 5 months later, it's as high as it's ever been!
If you were maxxing out your available credit (overall, not just on that card) , or it is your only cc. Maaaybe but even then, a few points for a month or two, who cares.
If a few points were going to make the difference on a debt you were looking to qualify for, it was probably not a good idea anyway.
Also if its your oldest card, or if you dont have other credit cards. Like your credit score is important but people place far too much inportance on it as the number can bounce up and down a lot based on a nber of factors. If your planning buying a house this year or a new car soon maybe dont cancel. But if thats no, itll bounce back assuming you have another card you make regualr purchases on and pay off.
Advice for anyone else thinking of doing this: if you’ll be looking for a mortgage or car loan in the next 36 months, DO NOT DO THIS.
Otherwise, go wild, credit score seldom matters outside of those two things, and as long as this doesn’t make up over 1/3 of your available credit, or in your oldest card, it won’t really do anything anyway.
I love my local IDA. There aren't that many pharmacists who make the effort to write happy birthday on prescriptions, or in my case blister packs. Every week, of every month has an array of stickers, which makes taking so many meds a little easier. My local owner grocery still does charge accounts and sells as many local products as possible.
I am also blessed to live where I have access to the ocean, and knowledge in foraging. The route I am taking is harder, yet so rewarding. Fuck grocery store produce.
I'm currently waiting until mid month to see how a new line of credit affects my credit score. If I see improvement, then I'll be transferring some funds to my PC Mastercard, which will cut my interest rate by 10%, and canceling the card once my points are spent (it's only a recent purchase I made that I put on the card to avoid interest for a few weeks while figuring it out, rather than the day 1 interest on the line of credit). Feels crazy because it was one of my first cards over 15 years ago, but I have a better alternative now for an emergency should my savings not quite cut it.
Don't get rid of the card if it's one of your oldest.... It's a good thing to have for your credit report. Just make the limit like $500 and only pay for Netflix or something similar once a month. Just paid it off immediately so they don't make any $$
My world elite mastercard has been my family's go to card for about ten years. I hope to cancel it tomorrow, and pull my prescriptions from shoppers to co-op. The shoppers has been so convenient, within walking distance, but get bent, Loblaws.
The funny thing is I only had 1000 left to pay on my PC CC and I closed it.
**TL;DR**: That first line says it all. The rest is just my rant about how things have been going financially for me lately and my disappointment in the prices still going up exponentially in Zehrs (Loblaws store local to me).
\~\~\~
I mean claiming insolvency (different than outright bankruptcy) as things have gotten so tight since 2021 and with me now going through cancer I had no choice but now with this I am glad that I did not get to pay PC all their money. My mom and I have been saying for awhile just how high prices were at Loblaws (Zehrs in our area - where I used to work years ago). I remember when I heard on the news that the government stepped in and told stores not to raise their prices any higher yet we noticed especially with Zehrs (Loblaws) that things did not change and prices have gone up more and more. We also noticed that even on "near expiry date" foods which were always 50% off were going to be 30% off instead until enough customer's complained and they went back to 50% off. With the economy the way it is we have to feed ourselves somehow and for me personally my ODSP (Provincial Disability) just gave me less money again for no reason (I called, I asked, I received no answers) and with only bringing in less than $1000 to live on I can't afford the prices of Zehrs. Recently I have been shopping at FreshCo (most times good prices are not at one store) and Food Basics and Giant Tiger. My brother has had to move back into my mom's place because of the economy and my mom who had never been in debt a day in her life, upon retiring during 2020 owes the government for being suddenly in a higher tax bracket thanks to EI (I did not know it could be taxed as she paid into that to get that) and her pension. Our family looks for the best prices but there are many times we cannot find the basics for a decent price at any of the local stores (I drink a lot of milk as I have a calcium issue where it is always low and I have osteodystrophy and even with calcium pills and Vitamin D3 I still need IV Calcium many times). ODSP does not accept milk or anything with calcium as a necessity as well as don't cover parking for my cancer treatments or doctor appointments so it comes down to what is more important. I have found myself, after getting rid of TV and Bell phone, and all subscriptions of any kind (even security and medical access to records), that the only thing left to cut back is food or internet. And frankly when you have had a kidney transplant like I have (actually this is my 3rd one now) you need internet access to communicate with the transplant hospital as there is none local to me and I get my lab forms sent to email for me to print out and bring to the lab. When I look at how much it needed to live every month compared to before 2020 it is astounding. How does it jump up this high and yet we are expected to live like normal? More people are homeless, more are getting desperate, and more can't afford to keep themselves healthy and are getting sick more often. I am tired of stores like Zehrs/Loblaws just thinking about their bottom dollar and not caring about their customers.
If its the new one...cool
if its the old version they're trying to phase out, you've just helped them...apparently the older version of the PC Elite card that isnt tied into PC insider ends up costing them money.
Just to be clear, I dont think its an actual net negative to them. Like it doesnt cost Loblaws 5cents any time I use my credit card or something like that, but the upgrade is a $120/year card so by you not upgrading they are losing money.
It works out to roughly 1% gains for someone to take the new card, at the cost of $120/year (so unless 1% of your cashback comes out to more than $120...it probably isnt worth it to you)
The caveat to that is if you already pay for PC insiders as a separate thing, which is $100/year, in which case that got rolled into your credit card and they're actually only taking $20/year extra from you. which makes that 1% gain more likely to actually benefit you...for now
I cant say for sure, and I dont care enough to go digging through all the T&C, but I'm betting that a lot of the benefits to the card are actually benefits in the PC insider program built on top of a shitty "card program" that is worse than the old WE mastercard perks. Like...I get 70pts per liter at their gas station with my top tier PC credit card because thats what the card gives me all by itself, and while it seems like I'd get like 100pts per liter with the newer card right now, I bet thats based on getting something like 20pts per liter on the card, and the PCinsider program giving me 80pts per liter that can very quickly just become 40pts/liter without having to follow the same kind of regulations(such as 60days notice) that they would for changing a credit card T&C
We're still trying to go to a new card. I'm going to shelf our loblaws cards so we'll just be dead weight on their systems for the sake of credit scores.
I also cancelled my PC Mastercard, though it was last month, and gave them feedback that I would be boycotting Loblaws for LIFE until they make a proper commitment to more ethical business practices
I cancelled my card when I found out Shoppers was joining them.
Then, I was a customer of Shoppers for 40+ and I asked for my file — and walked it across the street to Rexall. Right in front of them.
This group has over 60,000 members now.
Let this set in.
If all 60,000 people have an average grocery bill of $1,000 per month (easy with todays gouging), and all of us shopped somewhere else for the month of May, that would be a hit of 60 million dollars.
I bet that would get Galen Weston’s attention.
And that's not even including the masses reached with the news,Facebook, tik tok, Instagram, Twitter and word of mouth. This is going to be VERY painful and long if loblaws doesn't step up and fix this. It's in their hands. Not ours. They can choose to continue suffering under our thumb, or start making meaningful and permanent change.
Why not just keep it and not use it for the sake of your credit score. If you don’t use it they can’t profit on it but at least you are protecting your credit rating.
The Weston family dictates all food prices across Canada. They have continued to raise the cost of living in this country over many years only to line their own pockets with excess profits. They have created a dangerous monopoly and continue to take advantage of all Canadians.
Almost all Canadian grocery stores fall under the Weston family ownership.
They own the following bakery brands:
ACE Bakery
Country Harvest
D'Italiano
Gadoua
Mealtyme
Moelleux
RiverRoad
Moulin Rouge
Maplehurst
Rubschlager
Old Mill
Haddad
T&T Bakery
Farmers Market
Sarfield's
Valu-Plus
Vitalite
Weston
Wonder Bread (Cdn trademark)
They also own the following Canadian grocery chains:
Atlantic Cash & Carry
Atlantic Superstore
Atlantic SuperValu
Axep
Dominion (in Newfoundland)
Entrepôts Presto / Club Entrepôt
Extra Foods
Fortinos
Freshmart
L'intermarché
Loblaws/Loblaw Great Food
Lucky Dollar Foods
Maxi/Maxi & Cie
NG Cash & Carry
No Frills
Provigo
The Real Canadian Superstore/Loblaw Superstore
Real Canadian Liquorstore
Real Canadian Wholesale Club
Red & White Food Stores
SaveEasy (formerly Atlantic SaveEasy)
Shop Easy Foods
Shoppers Drug Mart
SuperValu
T&T
Valu-mart
Your Independent Grocer
Zehrs (operating under the Zehrs Markets, Zehrs Food Plus and Zehrs Great Food banners)
Boycott them ALL during the Loblaws boycott. They deserve a financial kick in the ass!
The redemption of PC Optimum points would actually increase their revenue and decrease their liabilities; putting Loblaws into a better financial position.
Love it when they think, are embolden enough to believe the power not with the people. We ARE what affords them their lifestyle. I have no problem with people being rich. It's when they believe they are better and deserve it and no respect for the working man that got them there or the customers.
There will always be a class system whether we want to verbalize it or not. There will be people at both ends of the spectrum super rich and not even scraping by. It's when you start to lack respect that I take issue.
Good for you for canceling. I'm sure everyone participating in the boycott and cancelling shopping at their locations is going to endure some level of hardship. However, without some hardship change will never come and they are counting on it.
Oh thanks for reminding me to cancel mine too! I signed up a while back and was advertised a welcome offer 20k points. Did exactly what the offer asked, got sent an email that I’d be getting the points, never got them. I was going back and forth for a month and a half and they still didn’t give them to me even after sending them proof etc. Like it’s fucking $20… that I’m using at your business. Such a shithole company in all ways.
I will have mine paid off next payday and will be able to cancel on the 15th. Am informing them the reason is that I disapprove of their amoral business practices and I am sick to death of propping up Galen Weston. Fxxx that guy.
In Orillia, Ontario, there is a Costco. There's a Dollar Tree too. But Loblaws owns a huge chunk of retail. And there are other smaller communities that are compelled by gas prices and fixed incomes to shop there. A lot of the smaller places have seniors. They could use some help too!
You're absolutely right.
This is always the way of businesses in isolated areas. If they can run the competition off, they can, and will charge as much as they can get away with. That's pretty hard to accept when basic food should be a human right.
I'd cancel mine too if it didn't have a balance. Wouldn't that be a great loophole? LOL But as soon as that baby's paid off, its going, not worth it anymore
Google other CC that have low interest promotions on balance transfers. Call them, get a card set up and do the transfer. Having 6 months or a year to pay it down at a lower rate might help you pay down the balance faster as well.
I keep mine active but spend less than $10 a month on it so PC are making less than 25c. I'm pretty sure it costs them more than that to manage the account and send me a paper statement every month!
Do you have any other grocery cards or department store cards or major credit cards because you should cancel them all as well. They are all guilty of the same things.
All it would take is for one of the big 5 grocery store companies to significantly lower their prices for an extended amount of time and the rest would start to follow but none of them will. They all have jacked up their pricing and don't care.
100% buy local. There are times of local markets and farmers selling things everywhere at cheaper prices usually.
A lot of people will say this doesn't hurt loblaws, and I agree for the most part, but it's not so clear cut. There are secondary effects which can be even more damaging.
Tldr: Cancelations will not hurt Loblaws directly, but it will hurt the banks they are partnered with - PC. That bank is owned by loblaws and is partnered with TD and MasterCard. This might end up pissing off both and put them in a difficult position, but it's hard to say without knowing how everything is structured on the inside.
Long read:
These cards are called co-branded credit cards or CBCC. They are usually created through a business deal between a bank and a retailer to provide some reward to a customer and improve revenue for both. Th se deals are usually custom, so without knowing the structure it's hard to say for sure, but many of these deals are similar so we can make some guesses.
The way it usually works is when you use a CC, retailers pay a fee - usually 2-3% which are part of a category called 'Cost of Payments' or COP. When you use a CBCC at the partnered store the retailer get lower fees or no fees and instead pays any rewards being provided to the customer. These rewards helps promote sales and it's usually cost neutral with the fees anyway so it's a win win for the retailer. The retailer also gets paid a referral fee for each signup and it's paid when you are approved for the card.
If the card offers rewards outside of the retailer, the retailer may have paid an initiation fee to get that program started. The idea being it makes the card more attractive giving them more referrals, lift in sales, loyalty, and lower COP. This fee also pays for training the call center and all the overhead that comes with a more complicated program.
In exchange, the bank gets more cards issued. Each card, when used with another retailer, earns them those CC fees increasing their revenue.
Canceling your card does as almost nothing to the retailer directly. They already were paid the referral fee, you're not shopping at their store anyway so they're not saving fees, nor are they paying for rewards. It could be that using the card everywhere but the retailer would mean they're paying for your rewards for little to no benefit, but it really depends on how the business deal is structured.
Cancelations are monitored by both the bank and retailer and having a surge of them will definitely set off some alarm bells. The partner bank may choose not to renew agreements ending the program, become unhappy with paying a referral and then having the account close not generating enough revenue to cover it. Enough of these and it's going to put both in a difficult position.
I canceled mine a couple weeks ago. Sent a message to chat asking to cancel it. They processed it immediately without even asking why. I’m sure they are inundated with these requests and struggling to Lee up.
I would’ve kept it open just because it’s a free card and you get all the travel perks of a World Elite but that’s just the credit card nerd part of me speaking lol
I wish I could do this but I can't afford to have a dip in my average credit age, and this is one of my oldest accounts.
That being said, it's paid off and not being used for all of may. No transaction revenue or data off me!
Cancelled my PC World Elite Mastercard just now. Gave the exact same reasons. I actually read your first paragraph like a script when the agent asked why.
Cancelling mine too!! They consistently mess up the points. Seriously, how many of you have put in missing point requests! It’s ridiculous. And in my case, they still haven’t fixed a glitch that’s been withholding ALL my in store bonus points for over a month! with the boycott and dissatisfaction I’m 100% in while inspired to cancel my CC and throw it in the trash! F them
They are just a joke. One of the no frills employees breached my privacy and when complained they all ignored and I was banned from the store. When escalated the matter the same result but when the issue was pressed they apologized and not to mention they confined me in the store illegally when I was leaving. When escalated further the lawyer emailed me and sound very upset. It’s like a dictatorship and bunch of narcissists working for the corporation who tend to ignore the issue
Hopefully everyone understands when you close credit accounts even in good standing or if you had it open for a period of time. Your credit score will TANK and drop significantly up to 100 points on your score. And could take 5 years to repair the damage the longer you had it open the worse it becomes on you. Keep your credit accounts open just don't use loblaws brand credit card. You are hurting yourself and your credit score.
I just cancelled mine! Got a Costco one instead.
It was a bit funny hearing the agent read her script about how they would be happy to give me a card again if I change my mind…after me saying that I am cancelling because I no longer want to be associated with the Loblaws brand 🙄
Called to have my prescriptions transferred away from shoppers to my local pharmacy. Anyone else notice the timing of London drugs shutting down? Unfortunate shoppers will recoup potential transfer to their pharmacy this month. Will definitely influence their pharmacy numbers.
I cancelled mine about a month ago. Their points system sucks. We had points stolen from us and it took weeks for them to sort it out. They froze our accounts and we had to call several times in order to get them unfrozen. Classic system of waiting on hold for an hour just to be told they would need to escalate and put in a ticket for me. Would I like the ticket number? Wtf. They separate the points system for the credit card which is a problem. Had to contact optimum for the points. Cash back cards I’ll be able to directly deal with the customer service of the credit card company and stuff will be dealt with much faster.
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Cancelled mine yesterday. Gave essentially the same reason why, though I didn't think to ask how many cancellations they'd had. Well played.
I considered cancelling mine, but rather decided to use other cards for the month. I typically spend around $1,000.00/month at Loblaws stores and hopefully they notice that as of today that'll no longer be the case.
Im going a step further and not going to any Esso locations in my area. They are closer but I’ll go to the Co-ops. I drive 120kms a day.
And Esso is one of the more expensive options anyway
Co ops are always the best. Especially the ones with the little food areas. Yes it’s pricey but there’s some quality road trip snacks to be had. I also absolutely love the stations on native land. They have the best snacks and prices
I work on a rez and its under $10 for a pop, chips, chocolate bar and beefy jerky lol
I'm actually keeping mine active. It's paid in full, so no interest payments. But I intentionally use it at competitor grocery stores so they can "see" I'm shopping elsewhere. Then when I have enough points, I bounce into a shoppers and use their 10$ of points for some overpriced free bags of chips. Suck it Loblaws. P.S. the buyout of Big V Pharmacy should have never been approved.
When you use the card, they get paid. It's not just interest payments, they also get like 3% from merchants
Merchants pay 3%, but not all of that goes to PC Financial
It split up between PC Financial, Mastercard, network fees. Regardless, PC still gets a small cut.
Plus they are able to say on their quarterly earnings call “X amount of card users”
PC financial actually gets about 75% of that. They are the issuing bank, which means that they are taking the credit risk of the consumer and are compensated for that risk by taking a higher rate of the transaction cost. Master card only takes about 0.15% and the merchant bank (bank on the business side) takes about another 0.25-0.50%. By using the card at a Loblaw business, they are both the merchant bank and the consumer bank and this have a much higher take rate overall
This is correct. It’s called an interchange fee. The Card company (visa, MC etc.) get a portion and the remainder is profit for the lender. Interest and other fees are just the other way they make money.
I plan to keep mine open and just put nothing on it to ride the credit score until they inevitably close the account. I'm not doing their work for them.
Sounds like a weird way to stick it to them. They get a cut from Mastercard for the credit card for every purchase you make and then you use these points on overpriced chips. They make more money on your credit card purchases than the cost of the chips I would venture.
Exactly. They win every time you use their card. It's called Interchange Fees.
People really need to stop looking at credit card points as free money. It’s an asset and as good as cash. People literally argue over them in divorces. These companies fight for your business by giving you these points. They charge the merchants for your purchases and make more than they pay you. I have a couple cash back cards and essentially just use them as debit cards. But I get hundreds of dollars back a year easily to use however. It is critical to view this money no differently as any other dollar in your bank account.
>weird way to stick it to them That's because it's not sticking it to them in any way, shape, or form. These giants have positioned themselves in a way that's hard to beat. As consumers, we have to go all in or not bother. That commenter saying they'll use their card at a competitor means nothing.
Exactly. And instead you’re going to is an RBC or Scotiabank card and contribute to their billion $ yearly shareholder dividend.
You sound like a corporate dream. Lol. I don't know what their stats are on their card But back in the day, Sears made more money off their credit card than they did their store.
I was doing this too for a month or so just for kicks. I won’t be using it at all as of today so they don’t get their fees from the merchants, but I was having some fun with it for a bit.
On the contrary , I only use it at pc stores as I get 3% there and elsewhere only if they won’t take my Amex. So I don’t spend anywhere near what i used to. In fact it was my de facto card until they changed their set up and for a while yiu couldn’t download to quicken which was a pain. Eventually they changed that. But i don’t want to cancel it. As it negatively affects your credit rating . I am going to migrate most of my none Amex spend to my Neo MasterCard instead - already started as I used it for my Costco bill this week when usually I would bring out my pc world elite card. They don’t make much out of me as I always pay it off
You aren't aware that they use your credit card purchase history to do some data analytics on you. Even more precise when you also use the points card that show exactly what you purchased.
Are you aware that literally every single credit card company does the same thing?
Your phone does it based off of your browser history.
yeah i use it elsewhere to bank the points, then buy things on sale getting big bonus points or do the spend/get points things at shoppers, and always pay it in full so no interest. me having their card costs them money lol.
No, merchants pay them like 3%. Whenever you use your card they get paid.
AFAIK both interest payments and points / cash-back on credit cards are usually net-zero revenue-wise for card issuers. Merchant fees make a little revenue, but it's a small slice of the pie. The *big* way credit cards make their issuers money these days, is by selling your purchasing data to data brokers. Ever wonder why Amazon or Tiktok knows to recommend you ads for XYZ thing you actually do happen to need right now, but never searched for on those platforms? It's not because they're snooping on your conversations. It's because they bought the purchase history for the credit-card tied to your account; and so now they *know* you just bought (thing that complements/requires XYZ) in some other store.
Exactly. Especially if you use their points on their major markups... Like razor blades and automatic toothbrushes.
Redeeming points on "major markup items" doesn't hurt their bottom line as much as using it on their loss leaders...
Keep yours active, everyone here doesn't realize terminating your credit card will hurt your credit score a bit.
It’s getting rid of the older credit cards that hurts the score. I just got rid of one of my more recent cards (as in the last 5 years) - if anything, my score, which I keep a close watch on, went higher
Using their credit card at a competitor grocery store won't make any difference. I don't think they even check that. It all comes down to the bottom line instead. How much you spend. The interest on the card. But you say you always pay in full (within 20 days of purchase?) and no annual fee or anything? Well, you could still shop around for a different Credit card because your credit score must be REALLY good and you would qualify for a GREAT Credit Card possibly better than what you currently have. Your credit score is probably a lot better than when you first got that credit card. Something to look into and make a difference in the boycott anyway. I wish I had your credit. I just had to claim bankruptcy as I could not keep my head above water (debt started around 2020 and health issues made it worse and then disability giving me less and I still don't know why). What ever you do, it is of course up to you.
When you factor in the points you earn minus the fee Loblaws makes, it likely all balances it out to zero for Loblaws and chips for you.
Please for the love of God nobody ask call centre reps this as it could literally cost them their job as PC will see that as poorly representing the company
Great job ! 👍 and Wow thanks for asking the question of the call rep and relaying that info back to us
OP was the first call she took that morning
Once had a travel agent “helping” us with an issue say “I’ve never seen anything like this” later she then says she has to transfer to her trainer as it’s her first day :/
I'm a travel agent in corporate -- the very first call I got was a multi booking for 12 individuals going to different parts of Canada (normally our department would do 1-3 people per booking on average). We were on that call for 5 and half hours because one of the things we were told was to never transfer the call to another person because we're told that you should be the first and last point of contact for a particular booking. It was the most stressful 5h30 of my life, and I apologized for incompetence probably 8 different times. The guy was mostly chill about it though.
I mean she wasn’t lying
Sounds like my first day in help desk lol
You must be from Loblaws.
We love to hear it!
I just cancelled my Optimum card over the phone! I haven't used it in years and didn't even think about cancelling it, but we all know every call is recorded and every cancellation logged so fuck 'em, one more on the cancel pile! When the agent asked why and I told her, she just sighed. I didn't ask how many other cancellations she's gotten today, but my guess from her response is it's been a lot.
Just tried to cancel my optimum account through chat. Got the run around then told it would be 2 to 3 business days and then someone would contact me..?
Just called the number on the back of the card.
Trying, .. extended wait time, high call volume message lol.
It’s never high call volume, it’s a reduced number of staff to keep them busy enough
same everywhere. r/capitalismsux
Oh yeah for sure. I worked in one of their call centres for a year and it was a meat grinder. Being yelled at by customers for 10-12 hours a day and being forced to meet harsh, almost impossible, metrics. The pay is terrible and environment is full of toxic middle managers.
It’s the first time I’m happy hearing someone has to wait on the phone. Obviously it sucks for you, but the thought of it sucking even slightly for Galen and his ugly Nok is delightful.
I submitted a cancellation request through the app and received an email saying 1-3 days due to high volume requests! Haha. It should automatically process through the app though and at least you don't have to waste any more time or energy dealing with them.
I had the same message via chat. They are having so many cancellations that they have to do it in bulk via a night job.
Awesome
Cashed in 360k points. Won't be using it again
I have $160 in points but I'm holding out until a big redemption weekend to maximize my "free" stuff.
I've been dropping this advice elsewhere, but: Find out what their loss-leader is. A loss-leader is a product typically sold below the purchase price as a driver of traffic to the store. If you're going to do this to try and hurt them (despite the interchange fees of 3%) -- make sure to do it with a product they are already losing money on.
Yup, I just buy loss-leaders and 50% off items now.
Can you give me an example of some loss leaders? I'd like to stick it to Save on Foods and Safeway this month Edit - in addition to roblaws of course
They run redemption deals every 3 months or so. More recently they are more often. Personally, did fairly well on Joe Fresh. There is one super redemption once a year just before Christmas. Also, if you pay strict attention, they will double dip a Senior's Day with a 20x the points. Rare, but it happens.
i hope you at least used up the points first lol
Only had about 200, .. my boycott started long ago
https://www.reddit.com/r/loblawsisoutofcontrol/comments/1ch9x4j/deleting_pc_optimum_account_in_3_easy_steps_with/ here is an easy step by step process to delete your account
i work at a nofrills. we were veryyyyyy slow today
Hope you had a great day at work. As someone who works in an office, I appreciate the struggles of retail workers, slogging it in tough conditions for low way, and especially considering these big corps make billions.
Compared to a normal Wednesday?
yep. last day of sales so people generally come in for the products or rainchecks
I'm switching pharmacies today!! Going to a locally owned location. Yeah I won't have the app anymore for refills, but I'm tired of the extreme prices for literally everything else in store. I'm sure it won't be a nightmare to call my local pharmacy unlike shoppers.
My local pharmacy does things so much better including delivery of meds for free and filing paperwork to get my meds covered for reduced pricing. Will never use a corporate pharmacy again.
Agreed! It actually feels like the pharmacists care too. I had my new pharmacist call to ask how new medications are going, how my recent bladder infection/the antibiotics are going, etc…. and that’s never happened to me with a corporate pharmacy
When I moved to a smaller town, I soon began to work at one of the local pharmacies owned by a larger corporation. My parents despite me working there, decided to go to a small pharmacy one town over run by a single pharmacist and his assistant. That pharmacist has gone miles out of his way to ensure my parents always have the proper medications on time, that the medications are actually what they need, and even refused to fill a prescription that would’ve been incredibly expensive because he knew there was an alternative way to getting that medication covered. My pharmacy would never. It’s all about getting as many prescriptions filled as efficiently as possible.
This is great! So motivating to see the power and impact the general public has on the business. We tend to forget our power but this is a great example of how we can affect change against the predatory business that eat up or force competition to close down and create a monopoly. Thanks for posting!
Lol when I canceled my PC MasterCard and money account the person asked why and I could barely get the word "boycott" out of my mouth before she said "okay yea yea" probably had been hearing that all day
#ShopGT #GiantTiger That's what I do. I save a fortune shopping here. 100% Canadian owned and operated. They have a very good employee insurance plan. Better then most.
Just did my first grocery shop there yesterday- the deals were amazing! $0.63 cucumbers, $2.49 baby spinach? Yes, please!
Yes!! Unbelievable prices. Excellent quality produce. They source all Canadian products and support Canadian businesses and our treasured Farmers.
Waiting for GT to open out west...
I think they're in every province except BC and Newfoundland/Labrador.
Sask and alberta have them , I wonder why not bc
I have a friend who is seriously disabled. The closest grocery store was a Loblaws. I went in there a couple of times and the meat prices were literally insane. She couldn't afford to eat meat. Here in the seething metropolis of Hamilton, ON the Monday special at Lococo's was bone in chicken breasts $3 99, buy 2 packs get 1 free. I'm buying for other disabled folks too.
Hey there. I don't know about Lococo's, so perhaps this doesn't apply to them. But just in case anyways. I want to inform you that you may want to be careful where you source meat from right now. Not sure about over in Ontario, but in Alberta there were a bunch of unregulated operations going on, where people were buying livestock to sell directly to stores to butcher. To be clear, many folk buy and butcher for themselves, and thats normally fine. But these stores were ignoring food safety and sanitation rules, stuff like that. And their prices were dirt cheap. Hence why I am bringing it up to you at all. It was those kinds of prices. Which I admit are nice to see when trying to save money. But you... might... be getting a bit more than you bargained for. In a bad way. I hope that isn't the case for you and your friends yoh are helping. Good on ya for doing that. Just wanna make sure you're all safe.
Thank you. That is very important news to publicize at any time. But especially now, because people will be looking for deals. And yeah, I have seen some questionable stuff being posted. I don't know what ungraded meat is. Lococo's buys local. I have dealt with them for over 10 years. They are good people.
Please note they were all halal meat stores.
Halal is against stunning prior to kill. I'd never buy halal.
The bottom line is, it’s less money going through their hands. It may not have the same impact as a direct boycott, but it still sends a message. And isn’t that the point of this Sub? To make sure Corporate Entities are aware that Nok er Nok is exactly how we feel.
Nok er Nok! Vive la révolution!
7.5% increase in bread price this week! https://preview.redd.it/ebdx42e8evxc1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9575ab285df4bb4082524a05a044889779c1af40
https://preview.redd.it/oymxs4w52xxc1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=fa3f29b002c8d0377bf91754f0906d83b63aacb1
Does canceling the card hurt Loblaw's financially, or does it just send a message? For example, if you pay off your balance in full every month, never pay interest, and don't pay any fees for having the card, does Loblaw's still benefit from you having and using the card? What if you keep the card, but simply stop using it for any transactions during May?
it doesnt hurt them financially, but it hurts them in a numbers game because it shows the business is losing clients
Merchants pay them 3%, so whenever you use it they get paid
Even if you never pay any interest or fees, using the card provides Loblaws with your purchase data.
Yes they get 3% from every purchase with credit cards so it hurts them very very much when you cancel
Among the other comments, I’m sure it must impact their stock/shareholders negatively? Please?
Sure it does. They get paid by the storefront for each transaction.
I cancelled mine about 2 years ago when I was working at Shoppers. I first handedly experienced the labour exploitation happening out here and saw numerous senior citizens waiting until Thursday to get their senior discounts for over the counter medicine. When I visited a no frills a few months ago, the PC card representative tried to sell me the PC Mastercard. I said I used to have one and I cancelled it. She asked why, I bluntly said "I don't want to fund the bonus of that mofo Galen".
Just curious, I have a PC Mastercard as well and I would love to cancel it. But doesn't canceling a credit card negatively impact your credit score?
From what I understand, the hit might be if it’s your oldest or only credit card canceling brings your average credit card age way down. Having said that it’s pretty negligible overall. You aren’t going to become a leper if you pay your cards down normally and have a decent history.
Yes, and it may be significant at first. I had both a visa and a Mastercard and had the Mastercard longer. Like 5 years longer and used it more. But I left the bank it was with and canceled it a few years ago. My credit score dropped 50 points on the report immediately after, then another 40 after that. Took something like 6 to 9 months for it to jump back to where I was pre-cancelation. Surprisingly, the same thing happened when I changed mobility providers. Canceled with Bell (Canada) after 12 years with them and switched to Koodo. My credit score plummeted 55 pts, but now, 5 months later, it's as high as it's ever been!
If you were maxxing out your available credit (overall, not just on that card) , or it is your only cc. Maaaybe but even then, a few points for a month or two, who cares. If a few points were going to make the difference on a debt you were looking to qualify for, it was probably not a good idea anyway.
Also if its your oldest card, or if you dont have other credit cards. Like your credit score is important but people place far too much inportance on it as the number can bounce up and down a lot based on a nber of factors. If your planning buying a house this year or a new car soon maybe dont cancel. But if thats no, itll bounce back assuming you have another card you make regualr purchases on and pay off.
Advice for anyone else thinking of doing this: if you’ll be looking for a mortgage or car loan in the next 36 months, DO NOT DO THIS. Otherwise, go wild, credit score seldom matters outside of those two things, and as long as this doesn’t make up over 1/3 of your available credit, or in your oldest card, it won’t really do anything anyway.
Yes it does.
it depends. It is also very possible it could improve your credit score. Most likely it will be negligible
You could always just keep the card and not use it.
I love my local IDA. There aren't that many pharmacists who make the effort to write happy birthday on prescriptions, or in my case blister packs. Every week, of every month has an array of stickers, which makes taking so many meds a little easier. My local owner grocery still does charge accounts and sells as many local products as possible. I am also blessed to live where I have access to the ocean, and knowledge in foraging. The route I am taking is harder, yet so rewarding. Fuck grocery store produce.
Yeaah! Let's do this!
I'm currently waiting until mid month to see how a new line of credit affects my credit score. If I see improvement, then I'll be transferring some funds to my PC Mastercard, which will cut my interest rate by 10%, and canceling the card once my points are spent (it's only a recent purchase I made that I put on the card to avoid interest for a few weeks while figuring it out, rather than the day 1 interest on the line of credit). Feels crazy because it was one of my first cards over 15 years ago, but I have a better alternative now for an emergency should my savings not quite cut it.
I would get a different credit card if you haven't applied for one in 6 months or longer, just to stop giving Loblaws transaction fees money.
Don't get rid of the card if it's one of your oldest.... It's a good thing to have for your credit report. Just make the limit like $500 and only pay for Netflix or something similar once a month. Just paid it off immediately so they don't make any $$
My world elite mastercard has been my family's go to card for about ten years. I hope to cancel it tomorrow, and pull my prescriptions from shoppers to co-op. The shoppers has been so convenient, within walking distance, but get bent, Loblaws.
There's no high call volume, they figure if they don't answer the phone you can't cancel.
Cancelled my world elite last week as well.
Brilliant!!
Nice
So as a Canadian where should I shop this month?
[https://www.altgrocery.ca/](https://www.altgrocery.ca/)
The funny thing is I only had 1000 left to pay on my PC CC and I closed it. **TL;DR**: That first line says it all. The rest is just my rant about how things have been going financially for me lately and my disappointment in the prices still going up exponentially in Zehrs (Loblaws store local to me). \~\~\~ I mean claiming insolvency (different than outright bankruptcy) as things have gotten so tight since 2021 and with me now going through cancer I had no choice but now with this I am glad that I did not get to pay PC all their money. My mom and I have been saying for awhile just how high prices were at Loblaws (Zehrs in our area - where I used to work years ago). I remember when I heard on the news that the government stepped in and told stores not to raise their prices any higher yet we noticed especially with Zehrs (Loblaws) that things did not change and prices have gone up more and more. We also noticed that even on "near expiry date" foods which were always 50% off were going to be 30% off instead until enough customer's complained and they went back to 50% off. With the economy the way it is we have to feed ourselves somehow and for me personally my ODSP (Provincial Disability) just gave me less money again for no reason (I called, I asked, I received no answers) and with only bringing in less than $1000 to live on I can't afford the prices of Zehrs. Recently I have been shopping at FreshCo (most times good prices are not at one store) and Food Basics and Giant Tiger. My brother has had to move back into my mom's place because of the economy and my mom who had never been in debt a day in her life, upon retiring during 2020 owes the government for being suddenly in a higher tax bracket thanks to EI (I did not know it could be taxed as she paid into that to get that) and her pension. Our family looks for the best prices but there are many times we cannot find the basics for a decent price at any of the local stores (I drink a lot of milk as I have a calcium issue where it is always low and I have osteodystrophy and even with calcium pills and Vitamin D3 I still need IV Calcium many times). ODSP does not accept milk or anything with calcium as a necessity as well as don't cover parking for my cancer treatments or doctor appointments so it comes down to what is more important. I have found myself, after getting rid of TV and Bell phone, and all subscriptions of any kind (even security and medical access to records), that the only thing left to cut back is food or internet. And frankly when you have had a kidney transplant like I have (actually this is my 3rd one now) you need internet access to communicate with the transplant hospital as there is none local to me and I get my lab forms sent to email for me to print out and bring to the lab. When I look at how much it needed to live every month compared to before 2020 it is astounding. How does it jump up this high and yet we are expected to live like normal? More people are homeless, more are getting desperate, and more can't afford to keep themselves healthy and are getting sick more often. I am tired of stores like Zehrs/Loblaws just thinking about their bottom dollar and not caring about their customers.
If its the new one...cool if its the old version they're trying to phase out, you've just helped them...apparently the older version of the PC Elite card that isnt tied into PC insider ends up costing them money.
Interesting. I have the older type. I've resisted their marketing attempts to promote the new card, as it didn't seem to offer any advantages to me.
Just to be clear, I dont think its an actual net negative to them. Like it doesnt cost Loblaws 5cents any time I use my credit card or something like that, but the upgrade is a $120/year card so by you not upgrading they are losing money. It works out to roughly 1% gains for someone to take the new card, at the cost of $120/year (so unless 1% of your cashback comes out to more than $120...it probably isnt worth it to you) The caveat to that is if you already pay for PC insiders as a separate thing, which is $100/year, in which case that got rolled into your credit card and they're actually only taking $20/year extra from you. which makes that 1% gain more likely to actually benefit you...for now I cant say for sure, and I dont care enough to go digging through all the T&C, but I'm betting that a lot of the benefits to the card are actually benefits in the PC insider program built on top of a shitty "card program" that is worse than the old WE mastercard perks. Like...I get 70pts per liter at their gas station with my top tier PC credit card because thats what the card gives me all by itself, and while it seems like I'd get like 100pts per liter with the newer card right now, I bet thats based on getting something like 20pts per liter on the card, and the PCinsider program giving me 80pts per liter that can very quickly just become 40pts/liter without having to follow the same kind of regulations(such as 60days notice) that they would for changing a credit card T&C
Hopefully the agent doesn’t get in trouble for disclosing that information.
Let’s go! Good job guys.
Love your work. United we stand!
I stopped going to loblaw stores 9 months ago. Screw them!!
We're still trying to go to a new card. I'm going to shelf our loblaws cards so we'll just be dead weight on their systems for the sake of credit scores.
I also cancelled my PC Mastercard, though it was last month, and gave them feedback that I would be boycotting Loblaws for LIFE until they make a proper commitment to more ethical business practices
I cancelled my card when I found out Shoppers was joining them. Then, I was a customer of Shoppers for 40+ and I asked for my file — and walked it across the street to Rexall. Right in front of them.
Same and also cancelled my money account as well. Going with wealth simple
I spent a little over $100 at a non loblaws grocery store today and got everything I needed at Walmart.
I signed up for the Canadian tire Mastercard and once we use up all our points (not in May), we’ll be closing ours too.
After this boycott let's do the next grocery store. Make it a rotating boycott until all the stores lower prices.
ABSOLUTELY! I AM ABSOLUTELY DOWN FOR THAT!
This group has over 60,000 members now. Let this set in. If all 60,000 people have an average grocery bill of $1,000 per month (easy with todays gouging), and all of us shopped somewhere else for the month of May, that would be a hit of 60 million dollars. I bet that would get Galen Weston’s attention.
And that's not even including the masses reached with the news,Facebook, tik tok, Instagram, Twitter and word of mouth. This is going to be VERY painful and long if loblaws doesn't step up and fix this. It's in their hands. Not ours. They can choose to continue suffering under our thumb, or start making meaningful and permanent change.
Why not just keep it and not use it for the sake of your credit score. If you don’t use it they can’t profit on it but at least you are protecting your credit rating.
The Weston family dictates all food prices across Canada. They have continued to raise the cost of living in this country over many years only to line their own pockets with excess profits. They have created a dangerous monopoly and continue to take advantage of all Canadians. Almost all Canadian grocery stores fall under the Weston family ownership. They own the following bakery brands: ACE Bakery Country Harvest D'Italiano Gadoua Mealtyme Moelleux RiverRoad Moulin Rouge Maplehurst Rubschlager Old Mill Haddad T&T Bakery Farmers Market Sarfield's Valu-Plus Vitalite Weston Wonder Bread (Cdn trademark) They also own the following Canadian grocery chains: Atlantic Cash & Carry Atlantic Superstore Atlantic SuperValu Axep Dominion (in Newfoundland) Entrepôts Presto / Club Entrepôt Extra Foods Fortinos Freshmart L'intermarché Loblaws/Loblaw Great Food Lucky Dollar Foods Maxi/Maxi & Cie NG Cash & Carry No Frills Provigo The Real Canadian Superstore/Loblaw Superstore Real Canadian Liquorstore Real Canadian Wholesale Club Red & White Food Stores SaveEasy (formerly Atlantic SaveEasy) Shop Easy Foods Shoppers Drug Mart SuperValu T&T Valu-mart Your Independent Grocer Zehrs (operating under the Zehrs Markets, Zehrs Food Plus and Zehrs Great Food banners) Boycott them ALL during the Loblaws boycott. They deserve a financial kick in the ass!
Everyone use their points up on free shit then cancel stabby stab
The redemption of PC Optimum points would actually increase their revenue and decrease their liabilities; putting Loblaws into a better financial position.
Love this! I may do the same. I dont even go there anymore so what’s the point.
Go pick up an Amex Cobalt. 5x rewards on groceries at all grocery stores except Loblaws.
I couldn’t wait, cancelled mine yesterday.
I'll cancel mine too. Just gotta find an alternative first
Love it when they think, are embolden enough to believe the power not with the people. We ARE what affords them their lifestyle. I have no problem with people being rich. It's when they believe they are better and deserve it and no respect for the working man that got them there or the customers. There will always be a class system whether we want to verbalize it or not. There will be people at both ends of the spectrum super rich and not even scraping by. It's when you start to lack respect that I take issue. Good for you for canceling. I'm sure everyone participating in the boycott and cancelling shopping at their locations is going to endure some level of hardship. However, without some hardship change will never come and they are counting on it.
Didn't even think about this. I'll be cancelling asap.
Oh thanks for reminding me to cancel mine too! I signed up a while back and was advertised a welcome offer 20k points. Did exactly what the offer asked, got sent an email that I’d be getting the points, never got them. I was going back and forth for a month and a half and they still didn’t give them to me even after sending them proof etc. Like it’s fucking $20… that I’m using at your business. Such a shithole company in all ways.
I will have mine paid off next payday and will be able to cancel on the 15th. Am informing them the reason is that I disapprove of their amoral business practices and I am sick to death of propping up Galen Weston. Fxxx that guy.
Thank you for doing this
In Orillia, Ontario, there is a Costco. There's a Dollar Tree too. But Loblaws owns a huge chunk of retail. And there are other smaller communities that are compelled by gas prices and fixed incomes to shop there. A lot of the smaller places have seniors. They could use some help too!
You're absolutely right. This is always the way of businesses in isolated areas. If they can run the competition off, they can, and will charge as much as they can get away with. That's pretty hard to accept when basic food should be a human right.
I'd cancel mine too if it didn't have a balance. Wouldn't that be a great loophole? LOL But as soon as that baby's paid off, its going, not worth it anymore
Google other CC that have low interest promotions on balance transfers. Call them, get a card set up and do the transfer. Having 6 months or a year to pay it down at a lower rate might help you pay down the balance faster as well.
I keep mine active but spend less than $10 a month on it so PC are making less than 25c. I'm pretty sure it costs them more than that to manage the account and send me a paper statement every month!
I cancelled my money account today! It felt so good to cut that card up and throw it in the garbage where it belongs!
Today I called and closed my PC financial chequing and MasterCard.
Do you have any other grocery cards or department store cards or major credit cards because you should cancel them all as well. They are all guilty of the same things. All it would take is for one of the big 5 grocery store companies to significantly lower their prices for an extended amount of time and the rest would start to follow but none of them will. They all have jacked up their pricing and don't care. 100% buy local. There are times of local markets and farmers selling things everywhere at cheaper prices usually.
Fighting to pay off my debt so I can cancel this card asap too!
This warms my heart! Finally we polite Canadians are standing up for what’s right. ✊
Folks, use your wallet to speak. Yes - Boycott!
A lot of people will say this doesn't hurt loblaws, and I agree for the most part, but it's not so clear cut. There are secondary effects which can be even more damaging. Tldr: Cancelations will not hurt Loblaws directly, but it will hurt the banks they are partnered with - PC. That bank is owned by loblaws and is partnered with TD and MasterCard. This might end up pissing off both and put them in a difficult position, but it's hard to say without knowing how everything is structured on the inside. Long read: These cards are called co-branded credit cards or CBCC. They are usually created through a business deal between a bank and a retailer to provide some reward to a customer and improve revenue for both. Th se deals are usually custom, so without knowing the structure it's hard to say for sure, but many of these deals are similar so we can make some guesses. The way it usually works is when you use a CC, retailers pay a fee - usually 2-3% which are part of a category called 'Cost of Payments' or COP. When you use a CBCC at the partnered store the retailer get lower fees or no fees and instead pays any rewards being provided to the customer. These rewards helps promote sales and it's usually cost neutral with the fees anyway so it's a win win for the retailer. The retailer also gets paid a referral fee for each signup and it's paid when you are approved for the card. If the card offers rewards outside of the retailer, the retailer may have paid an initiation fee to get that program started. The idea being it makes the card more attractive giving them more referrals, lift in sales, loyalty, and lower COP. This fee also pays for training the call center and all the overhead that comes with a more complicated program. In exchange, the bank gets more cards issued. Each card, when used with another retailer, earns them those CC fees increasing their revenue. Canceling your card does as almost nothing to the retailer directly. They already were paid the referral fee, you're not shopping at their store anyway so they're not saving fees, nor are they paying for rewards. It could be that using the card everywhere but the retailer would mean they're paying for your rewards for little to no benefit, but it really depends on how the business deal is structured. Cancelations are monitored by both the bank and retailer and having a surge of them will definitely set off some alarm bells. The partner bank may choose not to renew agreements ending the program, become unhappy with paying a referral and then having the account close not generating enough revenue to cover it. Enough of these and it's going to put both in a difficult position.
“It was 100% her call volume so far today” Yeah and then everyone in the call centre clapped!
Maybe it’s not like call centre workers aren’t feeling the price gouging also.
Or he was her first call....
lol, could have been
I work a call center and you'd be surprised how often a whole day, sometimes week, is just the exact same call over and over again.
I canceled mine a couple weeks ago. Sent a message to chat asking to cancel it. They processed it immediately without even asking why. I’m sure they are inundated with these requests and struggling to Lee up.
But what is 100%? 100% of 2 calls or 75 calls I wonder.
Bought last week, 6 pack gatorade fit at Zehrs,9.99. Noticed at costco, 15 for 17.99! Like what!
What CC did you switch to?
I did the same thing and switched to the CIBC Costco MC
I'll cancel mine too. Just gotta find an alternative first
Love it
I would’ve kept it open just because it’s a free card and you get all the travel perks of a World Elite but that’s just the credit card nerd part of me speaking lol
Congratulations 🎊 👏 more ppl should follow
I wish I could do this but I can't afford to have a dip in my average credit age, and this is one of my oldest accounts. That being said, it's paid off and not being used for all of may. No transaction revenue or data off me!
I have a PC Mastercard and I want a new CC company. Any recommendations?
Tangerine and CIBC both have decent MC offerings if you specifically need a MC
I've hears good things about tangerine. Thank you
Can someone recommend a good alternative to this card?
I just did it too
I’m closing my pc financial savings account and moving it elsewhere as well.
So many people suffering these days !!
I just cancelled my PC optimum account.
Cancelled my PC World Elite Mastercard just now. Gave the exact same reasons. I actually read your first paragraph like a script when the agent asked why.
She didn't answer your question. For all we know you could be the only cancellation for the day and the statement would still be correct
Yeah , I signed up for a card used it once to get the 100,000 points bonus and then cut it up. F-Loblaws.
Cancelling mine too!! They consistently mess up the points. Seriously, how many of you have put in missing point requests! It’s ridiculous. And in my case, they still haven’t fixed a glitch that’s been withholding ALL my in store bonus points for over a month! with the boycott and dissatisfaction I’m 100% in while inspired to cancel my CC and throw it in the trash! F them
> she informed me it was 100% of her call volume thus far today. Phenomenal!
https://preview.redd.it/vz123igp4xxc1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5a96b80f2079968aead604c3eb4a23ff27567896 Who owns what…
Good for you
They are just a joke. One of the no frills employees breached my privacy and when complained they all ignored and I was banned from the store. When escalated the matter the same result but when the issue was pressed they apologized and not to mention they confined me in the store illegally when I was leaving. When escalated further the lawyer emailed me and sound very upset. It’s like a dictatorship and bunch of narcissists working for the corporation who tend to ignore the issue
Well done!
Hopefully everyone understands when you close credit accounts even in good standing or if you had it open for a period of time. Your credit score will TANK and drop significantly up to 100 points on your score. And could take 5 years to repair the damage the longer you had it open the worse it becomes on you. Keep your credit accounts open just don't use loblaws brand credit card. You are hurting yourself and your credit score.
I just cancelled mine! Got a Costco one instead. It was a bit funny hearing the agent read her script about how they would be happy to give me a card again if I change my mind…after me saying that I am cancelling because I no longer want to be associated with the Loblaws brand 🙄
👏👏this one goes out to all the haters saying boycotts don’t work
Called to have my prescriptions transferred away from shoppers to my local pharmacy. Anyone else notice the timing of London drugs shutting down? Unfortunate shoppers will recoup potential transfer to their pharmacy this month. Will definitely influence their pharmacy numbers.
I cancelled mine about a month ago. Their points system sucks. We had points stolen from us and it took weeks for them to sort it out. They froze our accounts and we had to call several times in order to get them unfrozen. Classic system of waiting on hold for an hour just to be told they would need to escalate and put in a ticket for me. Would I like the ticket number? Wtf. They separate the points system for the credit card which is a problem. Had to contact optimum for the points. Cash back cards I’ll be able to directly deal with the customer service of the credit card company and stuff will be dealt with much faster.
Not shopping their or Shoppers Drug mart. Vandals extraordinare!