On Monday night bloggers and media people were wined and dined with President’s Choice products as we learned all about the new PC Plus Program. Actually, no alcohol was involved but you know what I mean.
I choose to have a delicious pomegranate cosmo during the festivities and got out my camera and notebook.
The staff worked so hard to bring holiday cheer and delicious food to this information seminar about this brand new rewards program.
My drink was made with the PC Black Label Cosmopolitan Cocktail Mixer with pomegranate juice and few little extra ingredients. You can find the recipe here, it was delicious!
The Food! Oh the Food…
The turnout of bloggers and media was great. It was great to see Heather from Mmm… is for Mommy!
And the food was lovely! They really fattened us up first.
I went out and bought those sushi bites the next day. With the wasabi cream sauce that comes with them? Divine! I know, oven-baked sushi! Who knew?
The only thing I did not love was the olive but everything else was such a treat. So glad to see the Meatball Cooking Sauce is back! Everyone went crazy over the meatballs and I have been missing that sauce. I will be picking more up soon. The PC Moroccan Cigars with the Pomegranate Dipping Sauce were so tasty without being spicy, I loved them.
The in-store nutritionist was not super happy that we all wanted to taste the controversial The Decadent Chocolate Flavoured Soda but they were kind enough to oblige.
I was actually so impressed with it (I think I was the only one) that I bought some the next day for testing. See, it is soda, not pop. Which apparently means you use it for mixing drinks and I have lots of cool ice creams in my freezer that would make for fun taste testing with this product.
Then came the desserts! Praline Pecan Caramel Cheesecake Lollipops and profiteroles…
Red velvet cupcakes (I still don’t like them), nutty thumbprint cookies, PC lemon tarts… OMG! So full we could not move.
PC Points Program
But! It was not all about the food, even though the food was awesome. We got to hear all about the PC Points program from Kathy Buckworth, writer, public speaker and television personality. She flew in from Mississauga to talk about the benefits of the program.
One of the best parts of the program is it is tailored to your needs and is very personalized. You will receive promotions targeted specifically for you via email and there are in-store offers as well. The more you shop, the more personalized it gets. The program gets to know you! Yes, very sci-fi and kind of creepy but if you want to save money, this is the future. It is replacing coupon culture with apps and points.
In fact, you can use your phone instead of the card if you prefer. The offers you receive are geared specifically for you, it is not what is on sale this week. It is a special opportunity just for you based on your shopping habits. You can pick up a card at the cash register from the cashier to get your points right away and then go home and activate the card.
I took one of the PC Points cards home and got online. There are 3 options when joining. People who are already a PC Financial customer, you just have a PC Points card or you want just the PC Plus app.
As I have a MasterCard with them, I used the first option. I signed up with my credit card and had to wait for an email confirmation. This is where some people have issues. You must check you spam folder just in case that is where the confirmation ends up. That did not happen to me though. It think it took around 15 minutes and I got mine. Then I logged in and added the PC Points card number to my account.
So how does this all work? I did get lots of information at the party but I wanted to try calling the company directly to get the details. The wrong number is on the site. This is the right number: 866-727-6468. Even after speaking with someone (after waiting 20 minutes) I am not entirely sure I understand so forgive me if I get this wrong.
If you have the PC Points card and are not already a financial customer, you just get the points but not the per $ points financial customers get. If you are a financial customer, you can earn up to triple the points. Again, not sure I totally understand. They are sending me lots of paperwork so I will write about this more in-depth later.
Many people have already told me they have saved a ton of money already with the program: the presenters, Facebook friends and people at my Superstore. I just wish it was clearer. By signing up, they monitor everything you buy and that intel is priceless to a big store. I am glad it pays off but again, I want to really understand so you understand.
This is just the beginning. Your foodie reporter is on the story and will be back with more intel soon. In the meantime, how has your experience been? Did you sign up? Are you worried about privacy issues? Are you still waiting for your confirmation email? I would love to hear about your experience. Feel free to dish it out!
Yes, I signed up.
Yes, I’m a little concerned about the privacy issue.
I can’t really say how the experience has been; I’ve only been using the card for about 2 weeks. But I am hopeful that it will be beneficial to me.
I never realized there was a technical difference between “soda” and “pop.” Maybe that’s because, no matter what the booze is, I drink it with Diet Coke, LOL! Wow, that kinda makes me sound like a lush, doesn’t it?
I’m increasingly leery of businesses/organizations that “track” my habits. Am I getting paranoid in my old age? On the other hand, I use Google products like gmail and blogger and they’re notorious for scanning your content. I’m conflicted.
Sandy, wow, you signed up early, nice! I hope it’s beneficial too. That’s why I’m giving it a try, we’ll see. 🙂
I didn’t either Debra but they said it many times last night it is “not pop”.
Trust me, I am paranoid too and yes, I am using Gmail and blogger as well, LOL. I was going to sign up right there but said no, I will do it at home.
I am still waiting for that email. I wish they had given us info sheets to work with.
How does Loblaws differentiate between soda and pop?
Mixer vs. drink alone?
I always find that it depends on where people live.
I have some but have not tried it yet,
Janet, yes, I think that is how they differentiated between them. But then what do they mean by “soda pop”?!
I wonder if you will like it Janet! I was surprised how natural the chocolate flavour tastes.