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A Newbie's Guide to At Home, Lifestyle Rewards and Galleria - The Memberworks Gift Card Programs

First Posted: June 19, 2006
Last Updated: July 21, 2006

By Fiyaz Keshwani

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Ordering the gift cards:

Ordering gift cards is very simple and painless. If you are in a hurry make sure you order at least $375 worth of gift cards at a time so they will be sent via Purolator. Under $375 will be sent by Canada Post letter mail. There are two possible ways to order the gift cards:

A) Online – http://www.myathome.ca
- Log in using your membership ID number and postal code. Select the cards you want and add them to your cart and check out. Don’t worry if your postal code appears to be cut off, everything will proceed smoothly.

Note: Some cards may not show up online. In this case you must order via the phone.

B) Phone – 1-866-847-7885
- Hours are: Mon – Fri 8 am – 10 pm EST, Sat 8 am – 5 pm EST and closed on Sunday. During these hours call, and follow the phone prompts and you will get a live agent with whom you can place your order with.

Note: You can use any credit card you want when ordering the gift cards and all gift cards come in $25 denominations, with the exception of Blockbuster which is $10. This means if you order $500 worth of Futureshop gift cards you will receive 20 cards with $25 on each. Also if a gift card listed in this guide is not showing up online or in the phone system chances are it is Out of Stock. Speak to an At Home Rep to find out when they expect the specific gift card to be back in stock.

Gift Card Use

Once you receive your gift cards you can go spend them at the appropriate retailer. Gift cards are subject to expire dates as noted above, as well as any other terms & conditions on the back of the cards. Note that gift cards are not redeemable for cash and will not be replaced if lost or stolen, so guard your cards! Some retailers can’t accept more than 3 gift cards at a time, but they will be able to consolidate the cards for you to get around this limit. Remember gift cards are a valid method of payment and the retailer should find a way to accommodate you and your stacks of gift cards. After all, you are buying their products!

Rebates/Perks

If the discounted gift cards weren’t enough At Home offers a few rebates which will help cover your membership fee. To get these rebates you must phone in (1-866-847-7885) and ask for them. You should do this ASAP as the rebates will be valid from the point you received them onwards. You may not get all of them at first, but keep trying back. Note: to receive the cheque for these rebates you must be an active member when you submit them. Possible rebates are:

1) Gas OR Home Improvement – Either or, not both. This rebate is worth up to $100 annually. You will receive four rebate certificates with dates printed on the front. Each certificate is valid for a specific 3 month period, which means you must send this rebate in every 3 months to get your cheque. Along with each rebate certificate you must make a qualifying purchase and send in your receipt as proof (photocopy of the receipt is fine). For the Gas rebate just purchase at least $25 worth of gas and mail in the receipt in along with the certificate each time. If you’re cutting it close to the deadline make sure you get the envelope post marked. Note that the gas purchase must be made within the dates printed on the front of the rebate certificate and you must send in the receipt and rebate certificate within 30 days of the date you made the purchase (as shown on the receipt). First three month period is worth $10, second is worth $20, third $30 and fourth and final is worth $40 for a grand total of $100 over the year. Same deal with the home improvement, $25 purchase of a “Home Improvement” item(s). What is a home improvement item? Anything pretty much that is related to your house – Back up battery, carpet, fridge, stove, microwave, paint etc… they are pretty good about the what qualifies as a “Home Improvement” item(s) so don’t worry to much about it. Note that you can send it multiple receipts to make up the $25 purchase requirement, and only the total of the receipt(s) must be at least $25, not any one item. So if you purchase 5 items at $5 each you’re good to go.

2) Home Utilities – This one is worth $15 every three months, with a min. $30 purchase which equals a total of $60 annually. Same deal as above. What qualifies as “Home Utilities”? Your gas, electric, water, telephone, internet or TV bill.

3) Home Maintenance – This one is worth $15 every three months, with a min. $30 purchase which equals a total of $60 annually. Same rules apply as above. What qualifies as a “Home Maintenance” item? Well pretty much the same as the home improvement items. Again, they are pretty good about what is a Home Maintenance item, so don’t worry too much about if your purchase qualifies.

4) Locksmith Services – One time $50 rebate. This rebate certificate is usually valid for the entire 1 year length of your membership, so you can send it in pretty much anytime. To get this one time $50 rebate, purchase a lock for at least $50, or get a lock smith that charges you at least $50.

5) Petro Canada Certigard Labour Coupon – You can request as many of these as you want during your membership. Each one is good for $25 off a $100 purchase at any Petro Canada Certiguard location. See here for the location nearest you: http://www.petro-canada.ca/eng/locations/7554.htm
This coupon is redeemed at point of sale, meaning when you go pay the bill you present the coupon to instantly receive your discount, no need to mail away for it as with the other rebates

6) Petro Canada Certiguard 40-point inspection Coupon – Good for $10 off the $49.95 40-point inspection. You can only get one of these per year. Again, only valid at Petro Canada Certiguard locations and is redeemed at point of sale.

7) Grocery Rebates – This is the best rebate you can get, but are generally only offered to those that sign up though MBNA and these lucky people will receive a cut-out form to send in to receive these rebates with their membership kit. This rebate is worth $10 with a qualifying $25 purchase per month to a maximum of $100 per year! Same rules apply as the other rebates, each certificate is only valid for the period printed on it, must send in within 30 days of making the purchase etc…

8) Free Magazine Subscription – This is another perk of the At Home Program. Simply login to the website, click “Magazines” and select the one you would like to receive. I won’t list the choices here, but you can view them all on the website. It takes about a month or two for the subscription to start, and there is no additional cost to you. Upon termination of your membership the subscription will also terminate.

Overall, if you get every rebate, (excluding the Home Improvement, Grocery, and Certiguard coupons) and redeem them all you will get back a total of $270 which is more than your membership fee!

Final Billing Offer

Recently, At Home has been offering select members a break on their membership fees. Upon activation of this offer a member will be charged one more membership month’s worth of fees and no more for the rest of the membership year. However, upon the end of the membership year the member’s account will be automatically canceled. The only way to get this offer is to call and ask, and if at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. Important note: if you signed up in July, and get the FBO in December your membership will be valid till the following December but your gift card limits will not reset in July.

Next we take a look at cancellation and some final thoughts on the At Home program option.

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