Iceland customers left unable to use their Bonus Cards online – here's how to get your money back

The supermarket's scheme means that for every £20 you save on your Bonus Card, you get £1 free to spend at Iceland.

But a warning in Iceland's T&Cs says that customers haven't been able to use their Bonus Cards online, to shop or top up, since its website upgrade in March, and potentially won't be able to do so until the end of 2019.

Iceland has now confirmed to MoneySavingExpert.com that it hopes its new Bonus Card website will be ready in October. But it has also said that customers can instead opt for their Bonus Card balance to be refunded if they don't want to shop in store, or wait to be able to use it online.

See our Supermarket Savings Cards guide for our full warnings about the schemes.

'This is beyond ridiculous'

Several Iceland customers have voiced their frustration with the Bonus Card issue.

One MoneySaver contacted us last week to say: "I have £148.79 in credit, I am disabled.

"The problem is I can't get to go in store. This is beyond ridiculous."

Others have posted on social media:

I can't shop in store – how do I get a refund?

Iceland says it hopes customers will be able use their Bonus Cards online from next month, but adds that customers who have been affected can have their balance, including any bonuses, refunded by contacting its customer care team.

You can fill in a form online or call 0800 328 0800.

Bonus Cards, and any cash on them, expire if you don't use them for 24 months. Iceland said its customer care teams would consider any requests to extend this period if customers feel they have been seriously inconvenienced or disadvantaged.

How do supermarket savings schemes work?

Supermarket savings schemes encourage you to save your cash with them to grab a bonus, and often promote the idea of saving throughout the year for Christmas.

But as we warn with all these types of supermarket saving schemes, while they can work out well for you, it isn't the supermarket being generous. You must spend the cash at that specific retailer, so they effectively lock in your custom.

It's also important to understand these DO NOT have the same protection as savings in a bank (supermarket bank savings do though), so if you are going to use a scheme, we always say to only keep your cash in it for the shortest amount of time possible in order to bag the bonus, then use your funds to shop.

What does Iceland say?

An Iceland spokesperson said: "We are currently investing in the development of a much-improved Bonus Card customer site which will give our valued customers a much-improved user experience and more control over their Bonus Card account.

"Doing this has meant temporarily removing the current Bonus Card functions on the website while we build the improved version. Our team is working to complete this as a top priority, and we are confident that we will again be able to accept Bonus Card payments for online shopping next month.

"We naturally apologise to our customers for the inconvenience they may be experiencing while we make these changes. They can continue to use their Bonus Card balances to pay for their shopping in any of our 950+ Iceland and The Food Warehouse stores.

"Any customer who is unable to do this, and would prefer to have their Bonus Card balance refunded, is welcome to contact our customer care team and we will be happy to arrange this."