On the Internet, there were massive complaints about Sberbank, which does not list “Thank you” bonuses to its customers. The problems began in November and, according to customer reviews, continue to this day. The technical failure, as experts call it, coincided with the sales season, the so-called Black Friday, which in Russia stretches over the whole of November. According to market participants, it was the high purchasing activity that could cause the failure of Sberbank’s bonus program, which proved to be problematic to administer with too much data flow. The bank promises to restore bonuses, but only based on customer requests.
On various forums on the Internet, there were messages from Sberbank clients about the absence of bonuses under the bank’s loyalty program “Thank you”: only on Banki.ru and in the official group of the social network “VKontakte” for half a month there are more than a dozen of them. Citizens talk about the lack of bonuses for amounts calculated in thousands of rubles (if paid, 1 point gives 1 rubles), including for large purchases, when the accrual is easy to track. The bulk of complaints falls on the middle of November, when the sales season has already begun and Sberbank’s own bonus campaign, timed to coincide with its anniversary, has ended.
Customers complain about the very lack of bonuses and the sluggish reaction of Sberbank to the problem. “Bonuses” Thank you “are not credited or displayed since November 13. More than five days have passed, “one of the clients writes.” During this time, there have been many large purchases, points for which have not yet been received and it is not known whether they will be received at all. ” “Just orientate when the bonuses will be credited?” Another asks.
Sberbank stressed that in the program “a lot of promotional mechanics with different settings and features are launched every day.” “We try to respond as quickly as possible and solve such cases,” the bank assured.
However, Evgenia Lazareva, the head of the All-Russia People’s Front Project “For the Rights of Borrowers”, is sure that there are many more clients who have suffered from the non-accrual of bonuses under the loyalty program than those who have left complaints about this in the network. According to Mrs. Lazareva, clients are simply “not sure that they will be able to defend their rights in a dispute with the bank.”
Experts believe that the reason for the massive non-accrual of “Thank you” bonuses is a technical failure as a result of the high activity of buyers on the Internet during the November sales period. So, the manager of the RTM Group Evgeny Tsarev believes that the database of the bank’s system “overflowed as a result of the increased number of online purchases and an error occurred.”
The interlocutor of Kommersant in a bank from the top 40 noted that non-accrual of bonuses may be due to difficulties in moderation between the bank and partners during sales and other promotions. Lidia Kashirina, Deputy Director of the Department of Retail Client Solutions and Digital Business of Rosbank, adds that in addition to a technical failure in the bank, the payment of bonuses can be influenced by technical errors on the side of the partner providing processing of the loyalty program.
Market participants talk about high reputational risks for the bank in such a situation. So, Mrs. Kashirina is confident that Sberbank will now have to spend extra money to maintain customer loyalty.
The ONF believes that in addition to reputational risks and costs of restoring the system, the problem may arouse the interest of the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS). According to Yevgeny Korchago, managing partner of Korchago & Partners, a situation when a client fulfilled all the conditions of the loyalty program, but did not receive bonuses, can be interpreted as a violation of the Law on Consumer Rights Protection. The lawyer notes that the affected clients can contact the Central Bank and Rospotrebnadzor, and after receiving an answer, demand compensation from the bank in court.
However, as confirmed by the recent scandal with the bonus program of Vostochny Bank, whose clients suffered when it merged with Sovcombank (see Kommersant on October 19), while the regulator is trying not to get involved in disputes over loyalty programs. They emphasize that “this is the relationship between the bank and the client.”
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