Frank Zhang thought he was winning at the PC Optimum game — stacking up points on groceries, gas and gift cards by chasing bonus offers and swiping his PC Mastercard for extra rewards.

But his seven years of smart shopping didn’t pay off. Instead of cashing in on his hard-earned 43 million points — worth about $43,000 — Zhang found himself locked out of his account with no warning, no clear explanation and no way to access his points.

“That’s unfair,” Zhang told Go Public. “They can control my money. They can control my points, but I can’t do anything.”

  • woodchuckcanuckEnglish
    16·
    9 hours ago

    For a few years we collected points, simply a goal to see if we could reach 1 mil and then cash in for groceries at the local Real Atlantic Superstore. Reached the goal and then some, got to about 1.5 mill and then started using all the points for all grocery purchases in store. Once the points were depleted, the account would no longer tally points on purchases where points were offered. Tried the same methods of watching the sales, etc, and would buy the things on sale as needed. No points collected on purchase. Gave up trying, and now shop wherever is convenient. I was at the local store last week for a few things and the cashier said that now a person has to open the app and accept the offers, then buy the product during that sale period in order to collect the points. Yeah, no, not gonna do that anymore.

    Besides, holding on to points while grocery prices continue upward only devalues the points at a future redemption date. Might as well cash them in as you go.