Shopkick: Gift Cards Rewards Reviews

by NYC41

I was probably one of early users years ago when Shopkick started. It was great for someone who lives in a big city because all the stores were with walking distance within a few blocks. And when your not working you have all the time to walk around. I was killing it with the points. I was making hundreds in gift cards a year. Enough to get an iPad every year. Than ones at it started with the points value reduced for scanning or lack of items to scan than Shopkick was not working great anymore. When I enter the shop it says the shop is across the street which. It is not their GPS was not working great than one day I was locked out with still about almost $200 with of gift cards that I did not Cash out yet. I reached out to customer service and wanted to know what happened to my account? why I’m not able get into my account. They told me it was some Fraud activity. I don’t know how I can cause fraud by just walking into a store or just scanning as Shopkick suggests it’s what makes it unique. This happened as Shopkick was getting very popular and too many people were using it and not enough points to credit néw users. When I referred many of my friends to download and use Shopkick same thing happened to them they would get big points on scan items or walk Ins and a few weeks later the kicks as they call them were dwindling to nothing. That’s why I deleted Shopkick and found many other really easy and legit apps making way more on them than I did with Shopkick

by Bob Sandusky69

Just as I was about to cash out on a $10 PayPal gift card my account was suddenly “locked”. I happen to work right next to three stores (CVS, ACME, TJmaxx) all literally in the same shopping center as me. Naturally it became very easy to collect my kicks daily as I know where exactly to go for each store as some scans will allow you scan again for kicks the very next day.

As I’m about to cash out I get a pop up that my account is suspended (literally just as I acquired 2566 kicks for the $10, go figure). I have sent multiple messages and emails to customer service about the account suspension but no response in weeks to my situation. The irony of this is they usually respond to inquiries in about 2-3 days whenever I had technical related questions when my account was in good standing. But becoming wrongfully suspended they don’t seem to care or respond.

Bottom line if you happen to be located near a shopping center and collect Kicks at a quick pace they’ll just outright ban you out of fear you’re cheating. I thought I had a good setup for myself being my job is conveniently located to their partners, but I was obviously wrong. Don’t waste your time.

by 3Gljn

When you are given a moving violation ticket, the officer tells you exactly what you did wrong. You have removed me from Shopkicks telling me nothing other than I did something wrong. That tells me nothing. Your response to my comment is that you have to remove people that violate your rules to keep Shopkicks free and fair for all. I am part of “all” and by not telling me what I have done, because I have done EVERYTHING according to your rules to the best of my knowledge, you are not being fair to ME! WHAT DID I DO TO VIOLATE YOUR RULES??? TELL ME!!!!

My husband and I were doing Shopkicks just like all of you. One day, without any warning, I get kicked out. I contacted them to find out what I had done wrong and they told me to read the rules. Fair enough. I read them line by line and STILL could not find why they would kick me out and contacted them again about it and was told the same thing, I had broken the rules but they would not tell me what rule I had broken. I guess I was guilty of collecting just enough points to get a free Starbucks and starting over for my next cup. This is a scam.

by Disabled 1000

Me and 3 other people, all elderly, would go shopkicking together because we live in the same house and it was fun going together. We started switching phones because a couple of us hated our phone. We put our sim in each other’s phone and used it until we all decided which one we would keep. Signed out of Shopkick and entered the sign in for each of us on the phone we would keep. Come to find out all of us got suspended because that was breaking their rules. They kept or I should say they stole all our earned kicks that between the 4 of us totaled close to $200. So if you get a used or refurbished phone and the previous owner had Shopkick on it at any time, they will block you. Even though you need a confirmed phone number and matching SIM card, they will still block you. I emailed them explaining all this to them, but they still said we broke the rules and will not lift the suspension. They get paid by every company on Shopkick and the companies pay for the gift cards for the people redeeming kicks. So Shopkick is keeping earned money from suspended accounts, AND getting their pay also.

by Honestwintch

I would advise that if you were scanning something in the store that you make sure to submit your seat receipts right away because if you do not you are getting screwed out of the things that you bought that you may not normally buy except for the fact that you’re getting rewarded so you may want to try it on more than one occasion I have bought some things that I wanted to use spent more money than I could afford to buy in the items but I did it because I was going to get a lot of kicks because of bonus points and it was a bundle it was going to save me a lot however I have an alarm set to submit my receipt at 8 PM that night after I got home from the store when I went to submit my receipt half of my items that I had just scanned in the store and bought were no longer there and I could not get rewarded for buying them also I have had before where there was pending kicks coming in from purchases that I had made with linked cards and months later it still said that they were pending I never got those rewards watchers stuff on Shopkick other than that Shopkick usually works pretty good except for when I try to go to TJ Maxx and target which is right next to each other when I go to TJ Maxx my walking cakes will not show up my target ones however will show up when I’m at TJ Maxx not at target

by JKP75

I was a huge fan of Shopkick. Then I started having trouble with walk-ins and videos. It was annoying but I continued on with it. 2 days before I was to receive pending kicks that would have allowed me to cash in for a $50 reward, my account gets suspended! I honestly have no idea why, as I played by the rules. And you truly cannot say that I didn’t. Over the past 3 weeks, I have sent 4 emails asking for assistance because I believe it was a mistake. I never received a response. At least have the courtesy to tell people if they are doing something wrong! The lack of customer service is beyond disappointing!

Furthermore, it seems that there are a lot of recent complaints of the same issues I have experienced. Your generic response of saying sorry but you can’t be specific on what rules were broken, is a dishonest and cowardly move. If you cannot give a reason as to what a user did to cause a suspended account, then how do you justify suspending them? Is it that you are running out of money to pay people out? Is it that you just don’t care? Regardless your customer service and generic responses speaks volumes.

by Lang1007

Read the reviews of many people complaining about a sudden termination right before a large payout; most are getting an email about the termination but are not provided a reason of how they violated the terms. The fact that I keep seeing the same generic response from the developers, that they have to maintain this policy to keep Shopkick free, but STILL doesn’t offer any way for users to find the REASON for their termination, shows me that these complaints are legit and a major red flag. It’s not right to withhold points and not give a reason, hiding behind “this is how we keep Shopkick free” excuse; fine if they terminate, but the very least, they should still provide a reason. And their response that “you violated the terms” is NOT reason enough. It is pretty obvious from these developer responses, that their customer service is horrible; it’s like they don’t bother to read. One customer complained about “server errors” despite having wi-fi, and the developer response was, “this sometimes happen if the person doesn’t have wi-fi.”

Beware of Shopkick; many have already stated that they wouldn’t be surprised if there was a class-action law suit later.

by Jaborida

I have now realized many users went through the same thing as me... never saw it through the years of usage until today. Without warning, my account was terminated. I just so happened to be a few stops away from a $50 gift card today... odd coincidence? My account was terminated without me violating any rules! I have had trouble collecting kicks at the stores... walking in and around stores without being credited for walking in. Certain scans would mysteriously disappear as I arrived at the stores... those are a small amount of issues with Shopkick . I let those all go because it was free and I was grateful for the gift cards. Today after walking through three stores and working toward this gift card and being robbed of my reward, I realized it is all a scam. Shopkick has had me in places I didn’t plan to shop at - had me running around getting tempted to buy unnecessary items- which I often did. All for nothing. I do not recommend Shopkick any longer. After convincing a handful of friends to join, I now warned them to close their accounts since they most likely will not collect their rewards. Nothing in life is free. Mama was right.

by MadelineCat

On Black Friday, they should know with advertising more kicks than normal with a lot of shops, and with a lot of people shopping today, that there will be a lot of people using Shopkick all at once. Of course in the middle of the day on Black Friday when we actually went out to shop at a lot of stores, it says they are having technical issues or I’m offline. You should know on a day like today that you need more bandwidth, and yet you are too cheap to do it. This is false advertising. Yes, this is a free app, and I have earned gift cards, but I’m not driving out of my way anymore to get Shopkicks. Also, some of the reviews talking about their accounts getting suspended with no explanation, especially before getting higher value gift cards scares me. From now on, if I’m going to a store any way that will earn me kicks, I will still use Shopkick, but at this point, I don’t trust Shopkick, and will not go out of my way to do anything in Shopkick , and I would recommend based on the reviews to cash out smaller value gift cards frequently to keep them from engaging in any shenanigans to deprive you of what you earn.

by Citystudent2019

I’m a college student in a large city with many stores. When I found out about Shopkick I downloaded it and started taking the transit often to get to these stores. The best part is that some stores are really close together like BestBuy, Ulta, Target, and Walmart are at walking distance from one another. As a result I gained a lot of kicks, I was so close to getting a $50 Walmart gift card to buy food and essentials. Than out of the blue I get my account suspended. I don’t understand I followed the rules and the comments before me also mentioned that there are problems with checking in on Shopkick . I used to love Shopkick and was about to reap the rewards for dedicating my time to going into these stores and scanning items. This happened today and I want answers as to why my account was banned and why many accounts that work hard to get kicks are getting the boot too. I am afraid of getting terminated. I’m scared because I don’t want to get banned and lose my ability to use Shopkick . I want to save as much money to pay for college and Shopkick was reassuring that a Walmart gift card could help with getting food while the money I make from my job actually goes into college. Shopkick is not student friendly. Extremely Disappointed

by MomotheCathatesextrawork

This is the original owner of this device. A few years back I got an account and everything was fine. C19 hit and I stopped doing it for a year and a half. I lost my old account but by now I have a job and I am no longer interested in walking an extra mile for this so I never bothered to get it back. I let my brother have my phone(I’ve got a new one). Lo and behold, he finally gets enough for $15 dollars and it won’t work without a phone number. The phone number is still attached to my old and lost account so I emailed them and a whole week later(what took so long?) I got a email saying I was banned because of multiple account abuse. According to the terms of service, we can’t share devices. Ok. THIS DEVICE HAS A NEW OWNER!!! It’s not sharing the same way giving someone a brand new device is a gift and not sharing. Ugggh, might as well go pick up bottles and sell them. $30 a month for some casual pickups is still better than this albeit dirtier and more tiresome.

Edit: Was just showing my brother and he says that they’ve been giving him the wrong amount of kicks from receipts like many others with no reason at all. Oof, glad I left before this mess happened.

by Booger16!

I was doing quite a bit of scanning almost everyday I went to stores, even ran to other stores I didn’t intend to shop. Was collecting around 4 to 6 little gift cards from Walmart regularly. Then it started. Suddenly there is hardly anything to scan around the area I live in. Figure part of it must be because I’ve not bought or scanned anything for the big points. Sorry people, don’t know about y’all but I don’t buy 99 percent of what they have customer scan. Plus the walk in points dropped dramatically, very scarce now. If you want walk in points now have to drive farther. I’m very disappointed and hunting for better more transparent apps. This is now second review. Strange it won’t let you start another separate from others. Anyhow thought I’d give it another chance. Well it’s worse now because as before the scan points have basically dropped off. I noticed the excuses they are feeding the public but anybody with common sense knows it’s a lot of crock. Friends and I stand along side each other and compare our apps. We see the difference as in how the company favors someone who can afford doing everything thing on Shopkick verses someone who is financially limited.

by Anh-Duy Ha

I’ve been using Shopkick for a long time, telling others to use it too. But recently my account got banned for no apparent reason. I went to walmart far from my house because that’s usually the one with almost everything to be able to scan; however, I got a pop-up saying that my account was suspended while trying to scan something.

All the people that I referred also got banned which is around 10 people. So, I contacted the support team explaining my situation of how a lot of people got banned because of something that is not explained to us. I haven’t gotten a response back which upsets everyone around me. I really enjoyed Shopkick but when I tried to contact them, there was no response. I would like for the people that got banned by me to at least get unbanned or let them redeem their points.

I also tried to create a new account because of something happened like a bug to ban the old account, it shouldn’t affect any new accounts, right? Apparently I’m wrong because my friends and family that got banned cannot create another account without getting it suspended like me. I don’t know why any of us got suspended however i would like to able to still use Shopkick even if the account that got destroyed is not in my possession.

by Four Gym Tomorrow

So i’m rarely on Shopkick tbh unless i’m actually going grocery shopping and if i see things i need them i’ll use it and i’ll scab my receipt to earn some points. So the first time i do it i submit my receipt and it says it’ll take 48 hours to process so i can receive my kicks tell me why it took more than 5 days and i had to send an email too. The first email i sent NEVER got answered so 2 days later i sent another one and another 2 days they finally responded and they gave me my points. I’m just confused on why you’re gonna say “you’re kicks are getting processed and it’ll take 48 hours” when it takes WAY longer. Like please be more honest or precise on how long it will really take because it came to a point where i was like do i really even want these points and wanted to stop using Shopkick. Also when i sent my emails they always say we’ll get back to you when we’re available and i’m just confused do you guys only have 2 people working like there should be someone always available waiting to help or serve others JUST LIKE ANY OTHER APP OR BUSINESS. Please do better because i’m tired of sending emails.

by Sea Faye

Shopkick used to be great to those who used it. I've used it for nearly 10 years! You used to get 1-3 kicks per every new ad look book and for sure 3 kicks for each new video you watched. The ad look books haven't had a single kick in almost 3 months! You're lucky if a video ad has one point and can maybe get 1 point from the 1 ad video that's a daily offering. Scan points are becoming a joke. Starting out they were 25 kick minimum. Now the average scan item is 5-15 kicks at most.

In summary, the only way to earn kicks quick is to buy what you can get kicks back for and visit every store on the list to scan every possible scan request. But be careful since those scans can only be scanned at one brand store and will be invalid at a different brand store. Despite both offering the scan reward (another thing that changed).

Change your able to a rebate only app if you're not going to honor the scan and read options anymore! Stop trying to trick people into thinking they don't have to purchase to earn!

by My Mustang

The overall experience is great. Don’t get me wrong. But the 2 improvements that I can see happening to make it even better are: 1, letting you scan some special events/bonus products at any store that carries it. Like during the recent “football/Superbowl” promotion, there was a few items that were available to scan. The issue was that the items were “locked” to certain stores. I was at my local store (the other stores are roughly 45 minute drives each way and personally don’t like shopping at those couple of places) and tried to scan the items but it wouldn’t allow me to.

The 2nd improvement could be the addition of scanning most to all receipts. Even if you can only get 2-25 points per receipt. Like 2 points for restaurants, 6 points for businesses that aren’t qualified in Shopkick yet, 10 points for each business that is available in-app, 18 points for spending $100 or more at places that are in-app, and 25 points for $1,000 or more at the same places. And maybe the addition of Uber and Lyft receipts for points too? Not a lot of points but it could be something.

But anyways Shopkick is great and no issues with it other than the 2 suggestions.

by Giselle Lugo

I absolutely love Shopkick! It's so easy and fun to use, I've even recommended it to use. There's only one flaw that I've notice recently... when ever I go to submit a receipt with the items I've bought from a store. I always get a notification saying, "Opps... it looks like we've seen this receipt before. Make sure it's a different receipt and try again.", this has happened to me 3 times already and it's always a different receipt. This has never happened before, up until a few months ago. I wish there was customer support or an agent to talk about these issues with.

I try and try again and I've made sure to try again at a later time and day, but I always get the same notification. I'm losing out on extra points and I don't know why it happens so often that I've just given up. It's to the point where I steer away from submitting receipts anymore, due to the sheer fact that I'm possibly not even going to get the points for it anymore.

I'd love to give Shopkick 5 stars, but until there's a solution for this. I'm going to have to give it 3 stars.

by Version2

Absolutely love being able to earn gift cards for shopping at my favorite stores!!

But the last several updates have had a few glaring problems that haven’t been fixed yet.

After scanning items, even though the points have gone through, the items still show up on the screen as not scanned. (But if you try to scan them again, it says you’ve received points) Unless you are SUPER organized or have an incredible memory, it is very difficult to remember exactly what you’ve scanned and what you haven’t when this happens; especially since the stores are never organized exactly how the items are organized in Shopkick ! The scans used to either turn a different color or be removed in the past when items have been scanned.

Also, now whenever you scan something, and X out of the item, unless there are more than 5 items to scan, it starts you back at the beginning instead of where you left off! (Which is a total pain if you’re scanning things at the bottom of your feed!!)

Please fix these! It would make Shopkick SO MUCH more user friendly!

PS: it would be really user friendly as well if Shopkick had a function where if you scanned an item, it would move down to the bottom of the category. That way the unscanned items are more readily available and allows us more time to shop instead of rushing our shopping trip because we’re stuck scrolling!

Love Shopkick other than these three issues!! 😊

by PJMrich15

Shopkick is very easy to use. I love how I am able to just get points towards getting free gift cards. However, the only annoying thing I wish this company would do is update more items to scan to get more points. I find it annoying that you can only get more points if you scan certain items/buy with receipt. What if I don’t buy these items they list? Then I am screwed basically. Unless they have a walk-in option then I can get points that way. Also too, I wish there wasn’t a silly restriction on how many walk-ins you can have at a store. I wish they would take away that limitation, however I understand why they put those limits so people don’t abuse it. I recommend using Shopkick, but be careful how you go about it. I just wish there was easier ways to get more points. I feel like it will take forever for me to get a higher gift card because of all the restrictions.

by Puzzle Lover 109

It's basically all free.
I go to Walmart a lot and I easily get a 100% free $5 gift card every time.
It's so easy it's like a scavenger hunt, all you do is click on the store your at and turn on Bluetooth then boom great your in the store, you can get up to 200 point (they refer to them as kicks) just by walking in.
Then you can take your phone off Bluetooth and click on any item and scan it you can get up to 500 points this way. If you choose to purchase the item you can scan your receipt and then you can get up to 5000 points. If you link a credit card (Your choice) for every $1 spent you get 3 points plus the receipt you scanned.
After you leave the store you can click on the number that indicates your points then then click rewards and a whole online store of gift cards will pop up. Once here you select the gift card you wan then the amount of money you want.
Afterward it will ask you to verify your phone number this will only take one text then type in the number it gave you and your gift card is on the way. (Once you verify your phone you will not have to again)
The gift cards are online so after it is fully developed all you do is click the number of points you have and click gift cards and all your cards are there.

by MusicPam

On Black Friday, they should know with advertising more kicks than normal with a lot of shops, and with a lot of people shopping today, that there will be a lot of people using Shopkick all at once. Of course in the middle of the day on Black Friday when we actually went out to shop at a lot of stores, it says they are having technical issues or I’m offline. You should know on a day like today that you need more bandwidth, and yet you are too cheap to do it. This is false advertising. Yes, this is a free app, and I have earned gift cards, but I’m not driving out of my way anymore to get Shopkicks. Also, some of the reviews talking about their accounts getting suspended with no explanation, especially before getting higher value gift cards scares me. From now on, if I’m going to a store any way that will earn me kicks, I will still use Shopkick, but at this point, I don’t trust Shopkick, and will not go out of my way to do anything in Shopkick , and I would recommend based on the reviews to cash out smaller value gift cards frequently to keep them from engaging in any shenanigans to deprive you of what you earn.

by Jaqueezie

I like the idea of Shopkick: being able to get points by going into stores, scanning barcodes of products that you may not need & still get points, and of course adding receipts to get points towards Gift cards; but the products required to gain points are extremely limited! If you don’t buy magazines or have a dog, there’s only a small handful of other misc items like Mentos & Frosted Flakes; that’s about it.
I do like that there are lots of stores to choose from, especially because other similar apps don’t include these stores, but again there are only a few products to choose from & are the same in each store. I understand that the offers will change & update with time, but until Shopkick gains more notoriety and grows, the actuality of getting a $10-$20 Gift Card will take some serious time.
I am looking at this more from an in-store perspective, so If your a big online shopper you may be able to gain points more quickly. You do have to go through Shopkick , which will redirect you to the shopping site you choose, to get the points. I prefer my cash back apps, but again the one good point is that more stores such as Marshall’s, TJ MAXX, etc are applicable on Shopkick and rarely on any other.
Conclusion, there are pros & cons and I will keep Shopkick as a fill in when my other shopping apps don’t include certain stores. By gaining more endorsements and partnering up with more brands, Shopkick could be really Awesome! Good luck 🤙

by MPerry1996

This is an okay app but it has taken me SO LONG to earn even the slightest amount of money in gift cards. I sometimes buy the ridiculous items they suggest (waste) for kicks and twice now have not been given credit. It says the item is not on my receipt when it clearly is!!! Happened today so I resubmitted it with my fibger pointing to the stupid line where it clearly shows the item. Customer service doesn’t address the issues when you contact them (if you can figure out how to do that). I’ll mostly stick with Ibotta. They respond much quicker and always either explain or resolve any issues. I can earn AT LEAST $20+ per month with ibotta and actually buy things we truly use regularly. I’m up to $12 this month and it’s not even midway through February. Took me several months to get only $10 through shopkicks and it has to be used on gift cards. So not horrible but don’t waste your money on actually purchasing the weird products.

by B2cutewomen

I heard about Shopkick few years back and I enjoyed it tremendously cause all I had to do walk in stores and scan couple item and even buy items just to earn more. I even referred some people to use this . it was well worth too. I have gotten my first gift card! I am seeing some reviews stating that their account were suspended or terminated for whatever reason and they don’t know why. I have read the rules and I believe some people didn’t comply with the rules cause they try to abused it and by them saying they don’t know why they were terminated. To me I highly doubt that they could not have known what they done to have that happen because I believe they knew and they got caught. People don’t believe the hype and see it for yourself.