For years, I have been buying Tesco saving stamps. I currently have £1,300 worth.
It was always the case one could get cash change when using a card of stamps to purchase an item. I was going to make a small purchase, take the rest in cash and use the money for a holiday.
Now the scheme is about to end, I am informed I can only exchange my stamps for a Tesco voucher.
![Stamp shock: Our reader was told she couldn't spend Tesco savings stamps and get cash change as she previously had](https://topnews.media/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/78375315-12804371-image-a-15_1701269543154.jpg)
Stamp shock: Our reader was told she couldn’t spend Tesco savings stamps and get cash change as she previously had
I have seen absolutely no notification of this change of policy and it was not the deal that was in place when I started to buy the saving stamps.
I have a lot of money now in stamps, brought in good faith and the prize of a wonderful holiday at the end.
Can you please help? I cannot be the only person really upset by this. It seems I have lost my holiday dream and Tesco is profiting from my hard saving. H.M, Argyll
Helen Crane, This is Money’s consumer champion, replies: I’m sorry to hear that your dreams of a holiday were stamped out by Tesco.
For those who aren’t familiar with savings stamps, it is a long-standing scheme whereby customers could buy stamps for £1 each from a machine in Tesco stores.
They stuck these into a book, and once they had 49, they would be given a bonus £1 stamp if they redeemed the voucher in the month of December.
The stamps were meant to be redeemed on Tesco shopping, and many used it as a Christmas savings scheme to build up a pot of money throughout the year and help pay for their festive food and drink.
But if someone made a purchase with stamps then any change – no matter the amount – was given in cash.
![Savings stamps: The scheme allowed customers to buy £1 stamps and collect them in a book, getting a £1 bonus for every 49 stamps they spent in December](https://topnews.media/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/78372473-12804371-image-a-12_1701266073246.jpg)
Savings stamps: The scheme allowed customers to buy £1 stamps and collect them in a book, getting a £1 bonus for every 49 stamps they spent in December
Sadly, the stamps are no more. They were discontinued on 16 October this year, so can no longer be bought.
Savers now have until 31 December to spend them. After that, they will be able to convert them into Tesco vouchers.
In decades past, savings stamps were offered by all kinds of retailers and were hugely popular.
But in this day and age, it might seem admire an unconventional way to save.
Unlike a savings account, savers will not earn any interest as such.
That is unless they cash them in in December and get the £1 bonus for every 49 stamps, which in fairness is an effective interest rate of 2 per cent.
But there are some good reasons why people still save in this way.
Many admire savings stamps because it helps them get into a regular savings habit, putting their spare change into the machine after doing their shopping each week.
For others, having the money in the form of a stamp rather than cash or a bank account means it is easier to avoid the temptation to spend it.
And the promise of a bonus in December also encourages people to hold on to their stamps until the end of the year.
It has clearly worked for you over the years, and in your current round of savings you have amassed a huge 1,274 £1 stamps – that is 26 full cards.
Along with the £1 bonus Tesco gives out for each completed card every December, that will net you a clean £1,300 – enough for a nice holiday somewhere warm.
You have been using the stamps for years, and say that it has previously never been a problem to make a small purchase and get the rest of the value in cash change.
But that wasn’t the case when you visited your local Tesco store last month.
You noticed a sign had been put up warning customers that savings stamps were being discontinued, so you checked with the cashier about when you would have to use them by.
With the time seemingly having come to book your holiday, you already had visions of sipping a pina colada on a beach somewhere.
But to your horror, they said that they no longer swapped the vouchers for cash and you would instead have to put them on to a Tesco voucher.
While Tesco vouchers can buy you many things, a sunny holiday is not one of them.
You told me: ‘I have never seen or heard anything about this before and was pretty horrified that the rules seem to quietly have been changed.’
Is swapping stamps for cash allowed?
I can see Tesco’s point here, as trading the bulk of your stamps for cash was never the way the scheme was supposed to work.
The supermarket would obviously much prefer if the cash stashed by customers throughout the year went back into its own coffers.
But having never closed this loophole over the many years the scheme has been running, I also don’t think it was fair to pull the rug out from under you at the last minute – especially as the scheme is now no more.
Tesco’s own website still says clearly that any unused stamps will be given in cash change, and there is no refer of a limit on how much.
![Checking it out: H.M asked for clarity on the savings scheme at the tills in Tesco, but was told it wasn't possible to get the change in cash (stock image)](https://topnews.media/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/78374441-12804371-image-a-14_1701267815198.jpg)
Checking it out: H.M asked for clarity on the savings scheme at the tills in Tesco, but was told it wasn’t possible to get the change in cash (stock image)
Under its stated rules, it is perfectly allowed for you to buy a stick of chewing gum, pay with your vouchers and get £1,299.20 in cash. So why did the cashier you spoke to say you couldn’t?
I contacted Tesco to ask whether the rules had really changed on swapping the stamps for cash – and whether there was any way to keep your holiday hopes alive.
I am delighted to say that your local store has now been instructed to supply you with the cash change on your £1,300 of stamps next time you visit.
You got also a call from Tesco customer service. It said you were initially told you couldn’t have the change because of a new till system – but that an ‘old’ till had miraculously been found in the store that could supply it for you.
I’m not sure if I buy that, but I am glad you will get the money nonetheless.
I asked Tesco to confirm that anyone else with stamps left to spend would be able to get cash change. Unfortunately it wouldn’t, but instead encouraged them to contact its customer service team.
If there has been an eleventh-hour govern change on the stamps, I don’t think that’s fair on customers who have loyally saved with Tesco for years.
If it happens to you, let me know: helen.crane@thisismoney.co.uk.
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