Has anyone dealt with Staples rewards Theft??

Just found out that my 2 x $20 ink rewards were stolen. This is BS.

Quote from Wittgenstein : Just found out that my 2 x $20 ink rewards were stolen. This is BS.

Same here, went to the store on Sunday to pick up 2xphoto paper for $20 with ink rewards from Feb on my wife's account and it came up as used at Bloomfield,NJ (I am in NH) on 3/17. They were available online in her account only on 3/13!!!

Called Staples Rewards today to complain about it and they said her March $20 ink rewards have also been used on 4/21!!!

They created a new account and confirmed that they would send the $40 in rewards which expire on 6/23 and also maintain the premiere status.

Read earlier on the thread that we need to create a diff customer num to link with the rewards num, has that not worked anymore?
Guess will try recycling 1 less cartridge from now on and keep my fingers crossed

Quote from jayz27 : Same here, went to the store on Sunday to pick up 2xphoto paper for $20 with ink rewards from Feb on my wife's account and it came up as used at Bloomfield,NJ (I am in NH) on 3/17. They were available online in her account only on 3/13!!! Called Staples Rewards today to complain about it and they said her March $20 ink rewards have also been used on 4/21!!! They created a new account and confirmed that they would send the $40 in rewards which expire on 6/23 and also maintain the premiere status. Read earlier on the thread that we need to create a diff customer num to link with the rewards num, has that not worked anymore? Guess will try recycling 1 less cartridge from now on and keep my fingers crossed

Same here - they were used in Bloomfield NJ (im in WV)
I also called and they will reissue my rewards under a new account number.

Quote from jayz27 : Same here, went to the store on Sunday to pick up 2xphoto paper for $20 with ink rewards from Feb on my wife's account and it came up as used at Bloomfield,NJ (I am in NH) on 3/17. They were available online in her account only on 3/13!!! Called Staples Rewards today to complain about it and they said her March $20 ink rewards have also been used on 4/21!!! They created a new account and confirmed that they would send the $40 in rewards which expire on 6/23 and also maintain the premiere status. Read earlier on the thread that we need to create a diff customer num to link with the rewards num, has that not worked anymore? Guess will try recycling 1 less cartridge from now on and keep my fingers crossed

You need an entirely new Rewards number. Your Rewards number essentially is your monthly coupon code for Rewards, with 6 other digits thrown in there, the leading 5 being the same for everybody who recycled $20 that month, or a different leading 5 for everybody who recycled $40 of ink, or a different leading 5 for those who did $18, etc, etc. Yes, it is that stupidly simple. Way to go Staples.

Once you've had Rewards stolen, it's a certainty that next month, one of their scripts will generate a $20/$40 ink Reward coupon using your Rewards number on the day that Staples releases them, and if it comes back valid (which it will be if you recycled $20/40 that last month), it will be up for sale immediately. And because your number is known-good to them now, if an attempt at generating a $20 ink coupon fails, you have to assume they would try $18, $16, $14, etc. It would be trivial to do so. You *need* a new Rewards number.

Staples system for issuing and spending Rewards is completely idiotic. There is no elegance to what these thieving a-holes are doing, all you need is enough computing power and time. Staples was even gracious enough to set up a validation server (Staples.com) for them to throw coupon codes at, all day long. If internal Rewards information has been (or is continually being) hacked/stolen/leaked from Staples, it's obviously even more straightforward than that.

I also would guess that brand new accounts are more likely to be pinged first for ink Rewards theft than established ones that didn't pay off in the past. That's the way I would do it. I have a feeling that on top of all the other incompetence in this system, there is a pattern to the generation of Rewards numbers that allows thieves to narrow down at least a couple orders of magnitude on the potential pool of 10-digit Rewards numbers that they actually have to focus on pinging. That's assuming they're having to brute-force this and don't just already have access to internal Rewards info.

Quote from scb435 : You need an entirely new Rewards number. Your Rewards number essentially is your monthly coupon code for Rewards, with 6 other digits thrown in there, the leading 5 being the same for everybody who recycled $20 that month, or a different leading 5 for everybody who recycled $40 of ink, or a different leading 5 for those who did $18, etc, etc. Yes, it is that stupidly simple. Way to go Staples. Once you've had Rewards stolen, it's a certainty that next month, one of their scripts will generate a $20/$40 ink Reward coupon using your Rewards number on the day that Staples releases them, and if it comes back valid (which it will be if you recycled $20/40 that last month), it will be up for sale immediately. And because your number is known-good to them now, if an attempt at generating a $20 ink coupon fails, you have to assume they would try $18, $16, $14, etc. It would be trivial to do so. You *need* a new Rewards number. Staples system for issuing and spending Rewards is completely idiotic. There is no elegance to what these thieving a-holes are doing, all you need is enough computing power and time. Staples was even gracious enough to set up a validation server (Staples.com) for them to throw coupon codes at, all day long. If internal Rewards information has been (or is continually being) hacked/stolen/leaked from Staples, it's obviously even more straightforward than that. I also would guess that brand new accounts are more likely to be pinged first for ink Rewards theft than established ones that didn't pay off in the past. That's the way I would do it. I have a feeling that on top of all the other incompetence in this system, there is a pattern to the generation of Rewards numbers that allows thieves to narrow down at least a couple orders of magnitude on the potential pool of 10-digit Rewards numbers that they actually have to focus on pinging. That's assuming they're having to brute-force this and don't just already have access to internal Rewards info.

Thanks for the reply. I do have a new rewards number setup.

So knowing how dumb the Staples system is and with these a-holes ready to get your rewards when they are issued, what would you suggest:
1. Recycle a cart less each month and hope they don't look for $18/$38 checks
2. Run to the store and buy a 50 cent item as and when someone here posts that rewards are up (is this foolproof? in the sense they will not look for a decimal based check)
3. Both

Quote from jayz27 : Thanks for the reply. I do have a new rewards number setup. So knowing how dumb the Staples system is and with these a-holes ready to get your rewards when they are issued, what would you suggest: 1. Recycle a cart less each month and hope they don't look for $18/$38 checks 2. Run to the store and buy a 50 cent item as and when someone here posts that rewards are up (is this foolproof? in the sense they cannot look for a decimal based check) 3. Both

IIRC, have yet to see a post of balance rewards being stolen or those who recycle less than their allowed quota. Only problem with balance coupons is that you have to spend the entire amount but your Reward's # is not contained in the balance coupon nor is it an even dollar amount. So one shot versus 2 with original rewards. The easiest thing to do with rewards IMO is to spend them on FAR downloads as soon as you get them. That assumes there is FAR software to do that the week they are issued.

Quote from mathfaster : IIRC, have yet to see a post of balance rewards being stolen or those who recycle less than their allowed quota. Only problem with balance coupons is that you have to spend the entire amount but your Reward's # is not contained in the balance coupon nor is it an even dollar amount. So one shot versus 2 with original rewards. The easiest thing to do with rewards IMO is to spend them on FAR downloads as soon as you get them. That assumes there is FAR software to do that the week they are issued.

Thanks for the info Math. FAR deals (full rebate instead of $5/$10 less) have been hard to find since mid April and there is nothing in the next 2 weeks either. I would not a have problem using the balance coupon at one shot knowing that i have 6 months (with premier) to plan/combine and use them, instead of jumping on something immediately just to not have them stolen. But for now i think i will settle for 1 less cart recycle and hope i am not the guinea pig to report it when they start stealing those too

Quote from jayz27 : 1. Recycle a cart less each month and hope they don't look for $18/$38 checks 2. Run to the store and buy a 50 cent item as and when someone here posts that rewards are up (is this foolproof? in the sense they will not look for a decimal based check) 3. Both

I am doing option 1. To this point, it seems like only the $20/$40 ink Rewards are getting ripped off. I would imagine it's a full time operation just running all those iterations to steal at the $20/$40 level. But I am still uneasy about holding onto $38 ink Rewards for several months. I intend to monetize them sooner rather than later.

Option 2 also works, but it's a pain, you're worried about running to the store before you lose your monthly Rewards (and your account), and you lose the flexibility to only spend a portion of your ink Rewards once you turn it into a balance coupon.

Quote from scb435 : I am doing option 1. To this point, it seems like only the $20/$40 ink Rewards are getting ripped off. I would imagine it's a full time operation just running all those iterations to steal at the $20/$40 level. But I am still uneasy about holding onto $38 ink Rewards for several months. I intend to monetize them sooner rather than later. Option 2 also works, but it's a pain, you're worried about running to the store before you lose your monthly Rewards (and your account), and you lose the flexibility to only spend a portion of your ink Rewards once you turn it into a balance coupon.

... and don't forget the return option. While you'll get a balance coupon when returning something that was purchased with your rewards, you'll get nothing if you return something that was purchased with a balance coupon, which makes the sale "final".

Quote from tenderidol : ... and don't forget the return option. While you'll get a balance coupon when returning something that was purchased with your rewards, you'll get nothing if you return something that was purchased with a balance coupon, which makes the sale "final".

Ah, I did not know that. Thanks!

Quote from tenderidol : ... and don't forget the return option. While you'll get a balance coupon when returning something that was purchased with your rewards, you'll get nothing if you return something that was purchased with a balance coupon, which makes the sale "final".

I don't think this is true... I have got balance rewards and infact sometimes Instore coupons back.

Quote from sap283 : I don't think this is true... I have got balance rewards and infact sometimes Instore coupons back.

Well... If you don't believe me, go ahead and return something that was purchased with a balance check (NOT with rewards). The receipt will show "coupon cannot be returned" under the balance coupon line. I've verified this many times when trying to get a post-purchase price adjustment, when they need to do return-rebuy. In few occasions, the manager provided in store coupons for the difference, since they can't do anything about this. If they have changed something recently, I'd love to hear your experience.

Was browsing my rewards and noticed my April ink rewards have just been used. The strange part is that no account or transaction # was associated with it when compared to all my legitamate purchases. Did they do a "guest" checkout to remain anonymous?

I just glanced on Ebay and ofcourse there's SOBs whos selling dozens of these coupons. I doubt they have that many rewards accounts. It's really stupid and idiotic for Staples to have such a simple coupon generation system. Don't they realize how much they're losing and pissing off legit customers?

Quote from pharmerken : Was browsing my rewards and noticed my April ink rewards have just been used. The strange part is that no account or transaction # was associated with it when compared to all my legitamate purchases. Did they do a "guest" checkout to remain anonymous? I just glanced on Ebay and ofcourse there's SOBs whos selling dozens of these coupons. I doubt they have that many rewards accounts. It's really stupid and idiotic for Staples to have such a simple coupon generation system. Don't they realize how much they're losing and pissing off legit customers?

Whoever used your March ink rewards (issued in April) possibly made a small initial purchase and got a balance coupon that they used subsequently. In my experience, such a transaction will only show "See Receipt" or something similar in the account.