Hundreds of BP customers wrongly given receipts showing they had won points worth £2,000

Hundreds of BP customers have been wrongly handed receipts showing they’d won reward points worth £2,000 and the oil giant will pay out.

Some customers say they received a receipt after shopping telling them they had won 400,000 BP reward points, which are worth £2,000, as part of its ‘Fuel Your Year’ promotion.

Initially, BP said this was a glitch with customers saying they were denied prize wins and offered 10,000 points worth £50 as a ‘goodwill gesture’ for the mistake.

However, the firm has since changed its position and began telling winners they will get the full amount.

BP wrongly gave receipts to customers that claimed they had won £2,000 worth of points

BP wrongly gave receipts to customers that claimed they had won £2,000 worth of points

Customers must submit a claim to get the points meaning those who haven’t complained should do so, according to MoneySavingExpert, who contacted BP about the issue.

The reward points can be spent at a number of retailers, including Amazon and M&S.

The issue occurred ‘for a short time’ on the first morning of the promotion when some customers were given receipts showing they had automatically won the prize rather than simply being entered into the draw.

Around 400 people have so far contacted BP after wrongly being told they had won although the actual number could be much higher and it is worth checking any old receipts if you use its BPMe rewards card.

BP, one of the most familiar petrol station names, says the mistake was caused by a third party and that it was stopped as soon as it was detected. 

The promotion will still continue until March, with one daily winner, despite the initial problems.

The points are part of the BP Fuel Your Year promotion which offers customers who swipe their BPMe rewards card or app while making a purchase in a BP store the chance to win a daily prize draw worth 400,000 points.

The promotion started on 5 January 2021 and is set to run until 2 March 2021, with one winner each day – a total of 57 winners.

Some customers took to social media to vent their frustration about the gaffe. 

This customer was one who had received a receipt saying he had won the 400,000 points

This customer was one who had received a receipt saying he had won the 400,000 points

Another customer said he was waiting for the points to appear in his BP account

Another customer said he was waiting for the points to appear in his BP account

This customer said she was finding it hard to contact BP to claim her points

This customer said she was finding it hard to contact BP to claim her points

A BP spokesperson said: ‘Following an error in the setup of the BP Fuel Your Year promotion, a number of our BPme customers were wrongly informed that they had won the daily prize of 400,000 BPme loyalty points.

‘Despite this being a mistake by a third-party supplier, BP will honour this prize for all the customers who have a receipt informing them that they were a winner.’  

If you have already contacted BP, it said it will get in touch to honour the prize.

However, if you do not hear anything you can contact the company at [email protected].

Similarly, those who have not yet contacted BP should do so on the above email to claim your points.

Jeremy Stern, chief executive of PromoVeritas, promotional compliance experts, believes that BP acting quickly was the right thing and avoided any legal complaints.

He said: ‘In the terms and conditions there is bound to be a clause saying that in the event of circumstances outside of the promoter’s control, they reserve the right to amend the promotion or the prize. 

‘The terms will also state how many prizes there are in the scheme, so if it says 10 winners of £2,000, in theory they could stick to that. A judge is likely to look at two things: the intent of the promotion and the impact of the mis-communication on the entrants.

‘It would be clear from advertising and the terms that BP only intended to give away a certain number of prizes and any more was due to an accident. As the mistake was spotted quickly it is highly unlikely that much stress or or disappointment or inconvenience was caused to the additional winners.

‘There is no doubt that this was a big disaster for BP and will cost them dearly financially, but by acting fast, in the best interests of their consumers and entrants, and not relying on “weasel clauses” they have definitely done the right thing.’ 

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source: dailymail.co.uk