Slickdeals is community-supported.  We may get paid by brands for deals, including promoted items.
Forum Thread

Has anyone dealt with Staples rewards Theft??

205 28 July 17, 2010 at 12:02 PM in Question
Ok, so I have been turning in ink cartridges to staples for a while now, and have received rewards since February I believe, and I have never been able to use them except one. I usually waited til the last day before they expired and then they wouldnt work when using them online or in store they wouldnt work, so i just figured i missed my chance, and would try again next month (i know, not the smartest approach, but thats a different issue).

Anyway, since I kept having non-stop problems with my rewards, I just logged onto my account to check my status on rewards.. Well apparently, EVERY single one of my rewards was redeemed in New York by somebody buying external hard drives both times. One was in Staten Island and the other in Selden... The problem here is that I am from Indiana, and have never been to New York in my life.. Now I dont know if 'New York' shows up if you buy online, or if someone guessed my rewards account number, because I keep my computer clean and scan it constantly for everything, and have never posted any information anywhere.. I cant call the rewards people til Monday to figure this out.. Do you think they will credit me with any of these rewards, or am I screwed?

So has anyone else had this happen, or did i win the unlucky lottery again? lol
Add a Comment
Reply

Community Wiki

Last Edited by tenderidol December 12, 2011 at 05:47 PM
Related Threads
Has anyone dealt with Staples rewards Theft?? > https://slickdeals.net/forums/showthread.php?t=2133000 (this thread) *You are Here*
Are the staples rewards you buy from like ejunkie safe? > https://slickdeals.net/forums/showthread.php?t=2224313
Buying Staples Rewards Check/Coupon does this work? > https://slickdeals.net/forums/showthread.php?t=2952689
Staples Coupon Use Awareness Thread > https://slickdeals.net/forums/showthread.php?sduid=0&t=2989055
SDer Club WARNING: Scamming people, not issuing credits after receiving PayPal funds!! https://slickdeals.net/forums/showthread.php?t=1897078
(Archive: Someone redeemed my staples rewards $$$.....any suggestions? http://archive.slickdeals.net/showthread.php?t=2071306)

Staples Premier Number: (888) 891-3787
Staples Office of the President Number: (800) 338-0252

676 Comments

View Forum Thread

Your comment cannot be blank.

Sign up for a Slickdeals account to remove this ad.

Joined Feb 2005
Io Sono Molto Bello
> bubble2 4,338 Posts
1,542 Reputation
JAXXBOSS
04-30-2012 at 06:53 AM.
04-30-2012 at 06:53 AM.
Here's an off topic/kinda topical story. Awhile back I had bought like 5 rewards coupons on ebay. Went to use a couple and they were already redeemed, so I told the seller he owed me a couple more rewards or refund. He sent a refund but the refund was for the whole purchase and not a partial refund.

Anyway, he starts threatening me to send him back the difference right off the bat. I laughed at first, then he got more threatening. I wasnt sweating it too much, but do have a family and u never know with these nuts, so I refunded the difference.

I then waited 3 months and had my way with his reward accounts. YES< it's that easy. Like was said above, all you need to do is try a maximum of 10 times to get the code, usually its less.

So I burgled the thief... I still can now if I wanted.......But i have enough prbs using my own legitimate ones since Im not doing what I was doing back in the day, since I have a new golden goose.
Reply
Joined Jul 2011
L2: Beginner
> bubble2 36 Posts
10 Reputation
stolat
04-30-2012 at 06:45 PM.
04-30-2012 at 06:45 PM.
Quote from JAXXBOSS :
Here's an off topic/kinda topical story. Awhile back I had bought like 5 rewards coupons on ebay. Went to use a couple and they were already redeemed, so I told the seller he owed me a couple more rewards or refund. He sent a refund but the refund was for the whole purchase and not a partial refund.

Anyway, he starts threatening me to send him back the difference right off the bat. I laughed at first, then he got more threatening. I wasnt sweating it too much, but do have a family and u never know with these nuts, so I refunded the difference.

I then waited 3 months and had my way with his reward accounts. YES< it's that easy. Like was said above, all you need to do is try a maximum of 10 times to get the code, usually its less.

So I burgled the thief... I still can now if I wanted.......But i have enough prbs using my own legitimate ones since Im not doing what I was doing back in the day, since I have a new golden goose.
There is a strong possibility the original five rewards coupons were generated by the ebay seller; i.e. stolen from unsupecting newcomers to rewards. The "couple" coupons were probably redeemed by the unknown, rightful owner(s) of the rewards coupons before the sale closed and, therefore, the seller would be prepared to refund the purchase price immediately to avoid attention by the so-called ebay security team.
Reply
Joined Feb 2005
Io Sono Molto Bello
> bubble2 4,338 Posts
1,542 Reputation
JAXXBOSS
05-01-2012 at 08:54 AM.
05-01-2012 at 08:54 AM.
Quote from stolat :
There is a strong possibility the original five rewards coupons were generated by the ebay seller; i.e. stolen from unsupecting newcomers to rewards. The "couple" coupons were probably redeemed by the unknown, rightful owner(s) of the rewards coupons before the sale closed and, therefore, the seller would be prepared to refund the purchase price immediately to avoid attention by the so-called ebay security team.

I know the rewards he sold me were prolly stolen, so I stole em before he could steal em and sell em. The orig will no doubt get reimbursed, so I just made it more of a pita for the ebay thief.
Reply
Joined Oct 2009
Shop smart. Shop S-Mart!
> bubble2 4,052 Posts
168 Reputation
ashcampbell
05-01-2012 at 09:29 AM.
05-01-2012 at 09:29 AM.
Thieving from a thief still makes it theft!
Reply
Joined Apr 2012
L1: Learner
> bubble2 7 Posts
14 Reputation
warren561
05-01-2012 at 01:09 PM.
05-01-2012 at 01:09 PM.
Wow. I just read through this thread. Wish I had found it before I started recycling ink! Thanks to all who have contributed. I'll share my story now:
I've been a long time shopper of Staples discount/clearance table. Never joined Staples Rewards because I didn't fully understand it and I figured that I only purchased stuff from the clearance/discount table.

Anyways, back in mid-February (2012) the clerk handed me a flyer with my receipt. The flyer was for ink recycling. So, I wandered around my office and found oodles of ink cartridges being thrown out. I recycled 10 in February. Then another 10 in March. And 10 more in April.

Based on the expiration date of the first $20 coupon I was issued, I figured I could gather $60's worth before they'd start to expire. So I printed the February coupon (issued mid-March) and stashed it in my wallet.

In mid-April, I logged in to print my March coupon. I noticed that my previous coupon for February was marked as USED! I was really confused so I called the Staples Rewards hotline and talked with a representative. I told them that the coupon was showing up on-line as USED but that I hadn't used it. The representative said that the coupon was used on-line for an order sent to NJ (I live in MA). The representative went on to say that "this is a known issue" and that Staples would close my rewards account, open a new one and replace the stolen coupon (earned for February recycling).

The representative also noticed that I'd already recycled 10 cartridge for the month of April, so they would issue my April recycling coupon in advance because the account was being closed.

Then I asked about the March recycling coupon in my account (that was to be closed). The representative told me that coupon was still valid and to "log in immediately to print it out before I close that account." I did so and stashed the coupon in my wallet.

About a week later, I received (in the US Mail), the replacement coupon for the February recycling and the coupon for April recycling. I now had $60 worth of coupons.

I went off the the Staples store to use the coupons. The clerk informed me that the March recycling coupon had already been used! The clerk told me to call Staples rewards. I phoned them from the parking lot and explained the situation. The representative said that my March recycling coupon (from the old account) was used online for an order shipped to CA. After a few more minutes "checking something" the representative said that they would issue me a replacement for the stolen March coupon.

In both cases, the Staples representatives said that they flagged the offending accounts that used my stolen rewards coupons. I really don't think this will solve the problem.
When they closed my old account, they should have also issued me a replacement coupon for the March recycling. They should have known that it was going to be stolen. Based on what I've read in this thread, once the thieves crack one coupon, they can easily crack new coupons in that same rewards account.

On the plus side, I did get to double-dip and recycle 20 ink cartridges in April. I was able to do 10 against the closed account and 10 against the new account. It was also nice to get the coupon early (for the 10 cartridges recycled against the closed account).
Reply
Joined Jul 2006
L5: Journeyman
> bubble2 569 Posts
669 Reputation
latenightboop
05-03-2012 at 06:46 PM.
05-03-2012 at 06:46 PM.
Wow three of my friends and I had our accounts hijacked for April rewards (first time for all of us). Ugh...
Reply
Joined Dec 2005
We are the POOR!
> bubble2 1,653 Posts
488 Reputation
shrimpsiumai
05-07-2012 at 12:59 PM.
05-07-2012 at 12:59 PM.
3 rewards gone as well.
Reply

Sign up for a Slickdeals account to remove this ad.

Joined Feb 2006
L10: Grand Master
> bubble2 19,976 Posts
8,937 Reputation
Pro
tenderidol
05-07-2012 at 01:05 PM.
05-07-2012 at 01:05 PM.
Quote from shrimpsiumai :
3 rewards gone as well.
Sorry to hear. All from the same account?
Reply
Joined Dec 2005
We are the POOR!
> bubble2 1,653 Posts
488 Reputation
shrimpsiumai
05-07-2012 at 01:08 PM.
05-07-2012 at 01:08 PM.
Quote from tenderidol :
Sorry to hear. All from the same account?
Nope, 3 different accounts from different family members.
Reply
Joined Aug 2005
L3: Novice
> bubble2 195 Posts
289 Reputation
gumby
05-07-2012 at 06:34 PM.
05-07-2012 at 06:34 PM.
When a reward is stolen, how long is it active before it is used? I'm thinking "spend it quickly" is one strategy to avoid problems, but not sure how much time I have.

Also, I'm curious why some rewards members seem to have multiple accounts compromised while others never seem to have problems. Are new account numbers issued sequentially, or in some sort of a predictable pattern?
Reply
Joined Mar 2006
L5: Journeyman
> bubble2 656 Posts
456 Reputation
frankk513
05-07-2012 at 07:15 PM.
05-07-2012 at 07:15 PM.
Quote from gumby :
When a reward is stolen, how long is it active before it is used? I'm thinking "spend it quickly" is one strategy to avoid problems, but not sure how much time I have.

Also, I'm curious why some rewards members seem to have multiple accounts compromised while others never seem to have problems. Are new account numbers issued sequentially, or in some sort of a predictable pattern?
Yes, it seems that new accounts are issued sequentially, so once an account is compromised, it seems there is a good chance the new account will be compromised as well.
Reply
Joined May 2007
L10: Grand Master
> bubble2 7,100 Posts
4,359 Reputation
GoHalos
05-08-2012 at 01:14 AM.
05-08-2012 at 01:14 AM.
Quote from tenderidol :
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.
I returned an item that was purchased with balance coupons and got "refund" coupons. They looked just like balance coupons but say "REFUND" coupon instead of "BALANCE" coupon.

Maybe you tried to return after the balance coupon was expired??????????
Reply
Joined Feb 2006
L10: Grand Master
> bubble2 19,976 Posts
8,937 Reputation
Pro
tenderidol
05-08-2012 at 01:20 AM.
05-08-2012 at 01:20 AM.
Quote from GoHalos :
I returned an item that was purchased with balance coupons and got "refund" coupons. They looked just like balance coupons but say "REFUND" coupon instead of "BALANCE" coupon.

Maybe you tried to return after the balance coupon was expired??????????
Interesting. Was this recent? I haven't returned anything that was purchased with balance coupons for a while; they might have changed it. I hope that's the case, because it makes no sense to lose the rewards amount due to a return [as long as the expiration date is not passed].

By the way, none of the returns were made after the expiration date of the balance coupon.
Reply
Last edited by tenderidol May 8, 2012 at 01:24 AM.
Joined May 2007
L10: Grand Master
> bubble2 7,100 Posts
4,359 Reputation
GoHalos
05-08-2012 at 09:33 AM.
05-08-2012 at 09:33 AM.
Quote from tenderidol :
Interesting. Was this recent? I haven't returned anything that was purchased with balance coupons for a while; they might have changed it. I hope that's the case, because it makes no sense to lose the rewards amount due to a return [as long as the expiration date is not passed].

By the way, none of the returns were made after the expiration date of the balance coupon.
It was on April 29th.

I had been on vacation and had a balance coupon for nearly my full rewards (used only a very small amt to prevent someone from stealing it) and I didn't have time to use the balance coupon, so when I came back I had to figure out SOMETHING to buy.

Bought a lamp which didn't fit well on my desk and returned it the next day (April 30th) which was the date the balance coupon was set to expire.

I got back the full amt with an exp date end of May.

Perhaps u used a balance coupon that already had an extended exp date (used the first part of the reward close to the exp date)???????????
Reply

Sign up for a Slickdeals account to remove this ad.

Joined Feb 2006
L10: Grand Master
> bubble2 19,976 Posts
8,937 Reputation
Pro
tenderidol
05-08-2012 at 10:48 AM.
05-08-2012 at 10:48 AM.
Quote from GoHalos :
It was on April 29th.

I had been on vacation and had a balance coupon for nearly my full rewards (used only a very small amt to prevent someone from stealing it) and I didn't have time to use the balance coupon, so when I came back I had to figure out SOMETHING to buy.

Bought a lamp which didn't fit well on my desk and returned it the next day (April 30th) which was the date the balance coupon was set to expire.

I got back the full amt with an exp date end of May.

Perhaps u used a balance coupon that already had an extended exp date (used the first part of the reward close to the exp date)???????????
Nope, that wasn't the case either. However, this was about 4-5 months ago. I'm hoping that they updated their system to give refunds on balance coupon purchases.

Furthermore, I also checked my current rewards/coupons, and some show "refund coupon" while some show "balance coupon" on top. Balance coupons were issued when I used a rewards check and received the remaining, while the refund coupons were issued when I returned something that was purchased with rewards checks (not balance coupons). I believe this was not the case before (i.e., everything was "balance coupons" regardless of what the original payment method was), which may indicate that the system is -hopefully- different now.
Reply
Last edited by tenderidol May 8, 2012 at 10:51 AM.
Page 36 of 46
Start the Conversation
 
Link Copied

The link has been copied to the clipboard.