Lego trialling digital VIP cards

LuLego · July 2019

I got through to live chat who basically said just to be patient. I did get her to check that my points still exist though! (They are still there!)

I suppose it’s more like Tesco Club Card now where it’s not just money off and that you have to log in separately.

560Heliport · July 2019

I just don't understand why they're taking away the ability to redeem points on-the-spot on an in-store purchase. It seems to me that helps encourage impulse purchases: "Well, I have VIP points I could use, so I'm not spending as much "real" money." I know that has influenced my spending in the past.

Lego_Star · July 2019

I'm not wound up about being unable to access the reward centre in the slightest, though thanks for your concern @dmcc0. I tried something different out this morning, uncovered a different error and recorded it. I certainly wasn't constantly trying to login either. I've made a total of seven or eight attempts, between launch and now, at different times, across more than one device and browser with different erroneous responses. Also, once I do get into the rewards centre, there won't be anything there for me. My points are worthless to me whether I've got £1000 equivalent or a £5. No vip system bug fixes are going to fix that.

---

What I do feel really strongly about doing right now is speaking up about the direction the new scheme has taken, and sharing the realisations I'm having, aswell as the direct impact it has had and is going to have. I have found in the past that if you don't do so right away at the time, it's much harder to be heard or make a difference later. I might well compile from my posts a more direct communication to LEGO about the new vip program, we'll see. It's been about 30 hours or so since it went "live" and things are still occurring to me.

Sometimes the world we live in is more than a bit crap, and LEGO is my escape. Yes, there are bigger things happening in the world right now but this small piece is impacting my escape in quite a negative way. There have been other things that have done that too but I have chosen to speak up about this because it seems significant enough and I feel it's within the power of LEGO to put it right.

Speedman29 · July 2019

I currently have zero points and zero orders in my history. Yesterday I had zero points and loads in my history. I'll log off, have a beer and build a polybag and try again tomorrow!

CCC · July 2019

Speedman29 said:

I currently have zero points and zero orders in my history. Yesterday I had zero points and loads in my history. I'll log off, have a beer and build a polybag and try again tomorrow!

I'd get a bigger set than a polybag and wait a week :-)

Russell844 · July 2019

A message to our valued VIP customers

We are currently in the process of upgrading our VIP Program to give our fans more benefits and more rewards.

To do this, we need to move to a new online Rewards Centre in order to provide you with more opportunities to earn and redeem LEGO VIP points.

This involved migrating all of our existing LEGO VIP Rewards accounts from our old platform to the new centre. We have millions of accounts, and unfortunately during this process not all VIP points information was successfully migrated. As a result, some VIP accounts are not showing the correct points balance.

Please don’t worry. No one has lost points. We have a backup of all points information, and are in the process of fixing the issue. It will probably take a day or two, but we will make sure everyone’s account is showing the correct points balance.

We apologise for any inconvenience and also want to reassure you that no personal data has been impacted by this migration, only VIP points data.

If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to reach out to our awesome consumer service team. https://www.lego.com/en-us/service

Thank you for your patience and understanding. We’re working as fast as we can to fix this!

LEGO VIP Team

Lego_Star · July 2019

@Speedman29 For me, it's the tall ice cold glass of Coca Cola I've just poured. Lovely. 😎

hoodaddy · July 2019

@Lego_Star I’d be happy to take those worthless points off your hands.

Basty · July 2019

Lego_Star said:

@Speedman29 For me, it's the tall ice cold glass of Coca Cola I've just poured. Lovely. 😎

Sugar free I hope!

Fizyx · July 2019

So, currently trying to repopulate my wish list, and it looks like the functionality is smoother than it was... with the exception of the fact that as soon as I tried to add the 101st item, it started giving me errors and refused to add anything else.

I mean, I understand that most people aren't going to have that much stuff on their list, but it was a useful tool for tracking sales where you MIGHT get something for the right price... guess they wanted to cut down on that -.-

jnscoelho · July 2019

Fizyx said:

So, currently trying to repopulate my wish list, and it looks like the functionality is smoother than it was... with the exception of the fact that as soon as I tried to add the 101st item, it started giving me errors and refused to add anything else.

I mean, I understand that most people aren't going to have that much stuff on their list, but it was a useful tool for tracking sales where you MIGHT get something for the right price... guess they wanted to cut down on that -.-

I use it for the same purpose, but now the price doesn't show as discounted in yellow, it only shows the reduced price with a regular aspect. Thus, unless you know the rrp of all that you have in your wishlist, tracking for sales on items of interest has gotten harder. Yet another money-grabing technique by TLG.

Lego_Star · July 2019

hoodaddy said:

@Lego_Star I’d be happy to take those worthless points off your hands.

@hoodaddy That was my first thought actually yesterday, to give them away so someone else could have the use of them but it's not allowed under the scheme. Even that's in the faq's. 😁

And trust me when I say with my [email protected] experiences you wouldn't want me ordering something on your behalf!

Basty said:

Lego_Star said:

@Speedman29 For me, it's the tall ice cold glass of Coca Cola I've just poured. Lovely. 😎

Sugar free I hope!

@basty Only original coca cola will do, I'll have none of that fake sugar sweetener cr*p thankyou! 😉😎

monkyby87 · July 2019

560Heliport said:

I just don't understand why they're taking away the ability to redeem points on-the-spot on an in-store purchase. It seems to me that helps encourage impulse purchases: "Well, I have VIP points I could use, so I'm not spending as much "real" money." I know that has influenced my spending in the past.

This really is the biggest issue people are having. This new VIP system really discourages people from buying directly through Lego, as it's just not as easy to use those points. I've often bought directly from Lego knowing I could easily use my points. I'm definitely less likely to do that now. I still will buy a Lego set, just not from them directly. And I'm sure they'd rather have you buy directly from them rather another retailer.

klinton · July 2019

monkyby87 said:

560Heliport said:

I just don't understand why they're taking away the ability to redeem points on-the-spot on an in-store purchase. It seems to me that helps encourage impulse purchases: "Well, I have VIP points I could use, so I'm not spending as much "real" money." I know that has influenced my spending in the past.

This really is the biggest issue people are having. This new VIP system really discourages people from buying directly through Lego, as it's just not as easy to use those points. I've often bought directly from Lego knowing I could easily use my points. I'm definitely less likely to do that now. I still will buy a Lego set, just not from them directly. And I'm sure they'd rather have you buy directly from them rather another retailer.

I dunno. At first I was annoyed at all of this runaround to redeem the points for store credit. The little flat 5% discount from before was nice after buying D2C sets, but wasn't really ever an incentive to buy or not buy a set. It was just a nice little bonus when there was a balance on hand. I don't imagine my shopping at the Lego Store will change much on account of this overhaul, as I'll still need to trek over there for the same store exclusives I always have.

I think from here on out I'll just kind of ignore the points until I hear of an interesting exclusive promo for which to redeem them. I highly doubt I'll bother planning out 'voucher' redemptions in anticipation of store visits. /shrug

Baby_Yoda · July 2019

I'm pretty pleased with the transfer overall. Made about $20 more in points for no reason (though, I'd also lost that amount for no reason a while back, so it evens out).

The_Rancor · July 2019

I barely ever go to Stores so I certainly don't care about bricks and mortar voucher redemption as a problem. Looks like I'm going to have to buy more from [email protected] though in order to accrue some more VIP points as I usually only ever buy from there if there's a GWP I like

Shib · July 2019

I don't think they are going to stop doing GWPs normally - the pelican is still adding to my cart now for example - but I think that they'll likely use this as a clearance for past promos etc wihh maybe the odd VIP exclusive

omnium · July 2019

I hope they're planning to implement a smooth store redemption scheme. It seems crazy to be able to earn points in store, but not spend them there easily. I haven't bothered logging in yet to see what mess they've made of the whole thing. Reading the comments on here, I figured I'd wait until next week. And like many others, the first I'd heard about the new scheme was in this thread. No VIP emails for me, as usual.

Brainslugged · July 2019

klinton

I think from here on out I'll just kind of ignore the points until I hear of an interesting exclusive promo for which to redeem them.

I wonder if this was part of Lego's original strategy. In the past I'd always save my VIP points and spend them to get a free or heavily subsidised Star Wars UCS set once or twice a year. Now I suspect a lot of people will just keep their points accumulating in case something amazing becomes available to VIP customers in the future. Perhaps Lego giving us that glimpse of the Bat Pod for a few hours was Lego's masterstroke in cementing that idea in its customers' minds.

BOBJACK_JACKBOB · July 2019

Shib said:

How did they go back on regional exclusives?

They said they would be exclusive to a certain region then, after people let them know that they weren't happy about that, they went back on their statement and said they would make them available everywhere.

Maybe I could have chosen my wording better as they didn't change something then revert to an earlier system. Maybe if I had said 'changed their minds', that would have been more accurate.

Shib · July 2019

That's was what I was thinking, thought you might have been caught up in the SDCC exclusives being a reversion to the previous regional exclusivity as a lot of people seem to think - people who obviously didn't actually read the press release about it at the time which specified that they didn't consider event exclusives the same as regional.

CCC · July 2019

Maybe they should double the production of SDCC figures and stick them in the VIP program at 20,000 points each. Not only do they make them accessible for the "real fans", but they would also drive orders through [email protected] and reduce the need for giving out money off vouchers.

Th1nDiesel · July 2019

Th1nDiesel said:

sonatine01 said:

I’m a bit confused with it all ? I now need to use my VIP points to get the ‘freebie’ but still need to place an order instead of just getting the freebie with an order I place ?

I called CS about this and they told me that items gained from redeeming VIP points should be sent out on their own without an order and to call back in a couple of days when the issue will hopefully be resolved.

So, I called CS back today only to be told that they can't send out the art print on its own without me placing an order, so they're going to refund my 500 VIP points. Very frustrating, as this makes the art print offer worse than before, as I still have to buy something (over £50 if I want free delivery) AND use VIP points!

Shropshire · July 2019

Talking over with friends about the change to "rewards centre" which for the UK is now in reality on track to being similar to schemes such as Nectar or Tesco Clubcard etc... eg. earn points from a variety of methods and redeem points for vouchers to indirectly spend on shopping or on other experiences etc....

So, we concluded that to finish this off the only things missing are;

1. earn points through other selected partners.. our wish list would be selected retailers awarded on Lego products rather than just generic partners - maybe at a lower earning rate.. but points from Smyths, Amazon, John Lewis etc... for Lego purchases. But this one is doubtful from a IT integration perspective.

2. a Lego credit card, a free version with standard earning rate and a premium fee based version with a higher earning rate and/or ultra-VIP rewards. Could be higher when buying at S&H or Brand store which is common eg. hotel credit cards give higher points on spending at own property, retailers give more at their own stores etc. This one is viable but would depend if TLG's brand values sees them in that space or not.

Turning my credit card spend into free Lego.... that would be epic

sonatine01 · July 2019

@Th1nDiesel so back to what I was saying earlier in the thread then, a backwards step on the freebies. Unless they give away a freebie and you can order a print using your VIP points on the same order. I’ll definitely not be ordering direct from Lego if that doesn’t happen.

Th1nDiesel · July 2019

sonatine01 said:

@Th1nDiesel so back to what I was saying earlier in the thread then, a backwards step on the freebies. Unless they give away a freebie and you can order a print using your VIP points on the same order. I’ll definitely not be ordering direct from Lego if that doesn’t happen.

Yep, sadly so. The only way I'll get the art print now, is to order the cheapest thing possible and pay the postage on top (a total of £5.44 unless there is anything cheaper than the Easter Bunny Hut), which I'm tempted to do as I still have the code and my points are being refunded.

omnium · July 2019

Th1nDiesel said:

sonatine01 said:

@Th1nDiesel so back to what I was saying earlier in the thread then, a backwards step on the freebies. Unless they give away a freebie and you can order a print using your VIP points on the same order. I’ll definitely not be ordering direct from Lego if that doesn’t happen.

Yep, sadly so. The only way I'll get the art print now, is to order the cheapest thing possible and pay the postage on top (a total of £5.44 unless there is anything cheaper than the Easter Bunny Hut), which I'm tempted to do as I still have the code and my points are being refunded.

Would a single brick from the PaB section work?

Th1nDiesel · July 2019

@omnium Yes it does! 😀

BOBJACK_JACKBOB · July 2019

Just checked out the Brand Store Voucher details - How do I redeem a LEGO VIP Store Discount?

To redeem a LEGO VIP Store Discount, you 'll need to present your VIP card to the LEGO Store Associate when you are marking your purchase, they will apply the discount to your transcation.

It doesn't mention a code?

Edit - yes, it does say 'marking' when it should say 'making'. Small mistakes like that really reflect badly on such a large reputable company, IMO.

drdavewatford · July 2019

I managed a quick look at the Rewards Centre but then when reviewing the rewards I made the mistake of clicking "See all" and was dumped back into the [email protected] site and now can't get back into the Rewards Centre at all - I just get redirected back to [email protected] every time I try to log in.

How many VIP points per £1 discount in the new system? (not that I'm able to use any at the moment, admittedly....)

CCC · July 2019

omnium said:

Th1nDiesel said:

sonatine01 said:

@Th1nDiesel so back to what I was saying earlier in the thread then, a backwards step on the freebies. Unless they give away a freebie and you can order a print using your VIP points on the same order. I’ll definitely not be ordering direct from Lego if that doesn’t happen.

Yep, sadly so. The only way I'll get the art print now, is to order the cheapest thing possible and pay the postage on top (a total of £5.44 unless there is anything cheaper than the Easter Bunny Hut), which I'm tempted to do as I still have the code and my points are being refunded.

Would a single brick from the PaB section work?

Not only does it work, but it will also guarantee that the poster is shipped separately (so it doesn't get damaged), as PAB orders come separately from regular [email protected] orders.

Mr_Hobbles · July 2019

drdavewatford said:

I managed a quick look at the Rewards Centre but then when reviewing the rewards I made the mistake of clicking "See all" and was dumped back into the [email protected] site and now can't get back into the Rewards Centre at all - I just get redirected back to [email protected] every time I try to log in.

How many VIP points per £1 discount in the new system? (not that I'm able to use any at the moment, admittedly....)

I had this very issue. Clicking the "Rewards centre" link just took me back to the page with the "Rewards centre" link.

Customer support suggesting clearing my cookies - didn't work. But an incognito/private browsing window did.

ersi · July 2019

I was speaking with lego support on live chat right now and they told me that it is possible to redeem multiple items in one order. For example you can buy vip polybag and poster in one order but you need to be under paymets and redeem it there.

Aleydita · July 2019

Could the removal of being able to spend points in-store without first 'purchasing' a voucher could be due to the fact that any points spent and used in-store aren't actually recorded centrally until the store closes for the day and the POS system sends the update? Just a guess.

560Heliport · July 2019

^ A rational reason for the change?! I don't believe it!

beccaseraph7 · July 2019

Anyone know yet if you can use multiple money off vouchers? I was saving my $40 for a new set in August, but don't plan to make any other purchases before that to get up to the new $50 voucher... I was wondering if I bought 2 of the $20 can you use them together at the same time? The things expire apparently in 30 days and I really don't want to lose points since right now I can only afford 1 set.

CCC · July 2019

ersi said:

I was speaking with lego support on live chat right now and they told me that it is possible to redeem multiple items in one order. For example you can buy vip polybag and poster in one order but you need to be under paymets and redeem it there.

I don't think this is true. It goes directly against the advice given in the written FAQ:

https://rewards.lego.com/faqs?__locale__=en-gb

(last but one FAQ)

You can redeem as many VIP Discount Vouchers on a single order as you like! However, you can only redeem one physical reward per order on LEGO.com.

CCC · July 2019

beccaseraph7 said:

Anyone know yet if you can use multiple money off vouchers? I was saving my $40 for a new set in August, but don't plan to make any other purchases before that to get up to the new $50 voucher... I was wondering if I bought 2 of the $20 can you use them together at the same time? The things expire apparently in 30 days and I really don't want to lose points since right now I can only afford 1 set.

Yes, see my post above.

ersi · July 2019

@CCC
I havent tried it yet, but why would he lie? I have asked him twice to be sure.

Ian_S · July 2019

I thought I'd make the trek to my "local" Lego store to see if I could glean anything from them about the new scheme. I know often the staff haven't been told any more than we have, but I didn't have anything better to do today so...

They confirmed that processing a transaction at the till was the same, which I took to suggest that the POS system was able to interact with the "loyalty" system and as points showed up online by the time I'd returned home that appears to be borne out.

As for redemptions they couldn't say because they'd not had one to process yet. I decided against trying to redeem one before visiting while the system is *ahem* bedding in and I'm afraid I'm one of those "smartphone-refuseniks" for whom the system adds a level of inconvenience.

I did point out the 30 day voucher expiry was a definite non-improvement.

@Aleydita Your idea that the change may be due to some sort of "batch reconciliation" of points is a good theory given they're now using a "software as a service" solution rather than an in-house one. I only confirmed my new points were added after the store had closed today.

CCC · July 2019

ersi said:

@CCC
I havent tried it yet, but why would he lie? I have asked him twice to be sure.

I didn't say they lied. There is a difference between telling a lie and not knowing an answer and giving the wrong information.

Baby_Yoda · July 2019

^ And as nice as Lego CS is, not knowing what's going on is unfortunately quite common among them.

madforLEGO · July 2019

All I can say is that the goal of a company should be to create value/produce a good product, and provide a good customer experience. I do not see LEGO doing that with this new system.. on many different levels (at least from what I have heard, because I, too, cannot access the VIP points system).

I wrote and told LEGO CS as much (for what that may be worth anyway). I'm not sure why you take a good system and try to break it, or make it more difficult (unless you are trying to diminish the returns for consumers with VIP accounts).

Tkatt · July 2019

^ I finally was able to log into the VIP section after I allowed 3rd party cookies for the site.

LuLego · July 2019

UK people - are your rewards displayed in € or £?
Thanks

Cymbeline · July 2019

Has anyone tried to order B and P lately? I've been able to add elements in my bag and go to check out. It shows that I've made a parts order and there's an order number but the total value is 0.00 so I don't know whether it's really there or not.

keithsimpson · July 2019

Brainslugged · July 2019

I'm in the UK, still have zero points and awards showing in $$s.

Basty · July 2019

I was in the Westfields Shepherd’s Bush store today and the lady on the till was saying how long it now takes to explain the VIP program and it confuses people. Where as the old one was simple and you could explain in seconds.

Legolis · July 2019

I don't actually remember how many points I had but I know I almost spent up last time I was in the Leeds store so 370 is probably right in my case.
IMHO the Lego VIP program was pretty decent as rewards go and all I can see they have done is make it a bit more complicated. Surely the old pounds to point conversion was much simpler? Is it true that I will be no longer able to use points for impulse buys in store? If so they have probably just killed it for me as impulse buys are the only kind I make in the official Lego store as it's so damned expensive in comparison to almost everywhere else.

Lego trialling digital VIP cards

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