I haven’t logged in to my JCPenney Rewards account in a while — sidetracked with personal concerns — but in planning a trip to the mall this weekend, I decided to log in and cash out my $10 award for the month. I knew for a fact that last month I had spent at least the $250 minimum to receive it. But when I logged in, I had zero points earned since March!
Curious and more than a little irritated, I poked around on the site some and realized the problems:
1. Clearance purchases don’t count. I knew this at some point but forgot about it.
2. My debit card number changed when I was issued a new card, and I hadn’t updated it on the site.
3. One of my credit cards had expired, and I hadn’t been prompted to update the expiration date by two years. (The card number didn’t change, mind you.)
Further, if you don’t remember to log in and print the reward…you lose it. Since joining the program in fall of ’08, they issued me five $10 rewards…and I only used one.
Plus, I would have earned probably enough points to get the $10 reward every month since March had I been vigilant enough to check in and see that my credit card expired and my debit card number was outdated.
I’m not faulting JCPenney, mind you — their rules are pretty clear. But I wanted to offer this up as a reminder to those of you who may have signed up for JCPrewards and like me, haven’t been attentive to your account history: it’s your responsibility to keep your info updated and to stay on top of your account to be sure that points are credited when you shop, and rewards are printed and used before they expire. Don’t miss out on your rewards like I did! Log in now at JCPrewards.com and make sure your information is up to date!
