Rewarding Experience

Scott Hardie | September 2, 2016
Have you signed up for rewards programs at stores, restaurants, or other businesses? What do you think of them?

Steve West | September 2, 2016
I happen to be "Royalty" at Red Robin. I have a card that says so and for each meal I purchase, I scan the card prior to paying the bill. After a certain number of meals (I think 10) the next one is free. It costs nothing so it's worth it for that free burger.

Erik Bates | September 3, 2016
[hidden by request]

Scott Hardie | September 3, 2016
I see reward programs at all kinds of businesses. I recently went searching for restaurant apps that let me place orders, and only about half of the restaurants that I tried offered that, but nearly all of them offered some kind of rewards app, and I guess that got me thinking about whether they're worthwhile enough to try.

The potential upsides are a free item once in a while if I shop there enough times, or a small discount if I shop there at all, either of which might save me a few dollars.

The potential downsides are being manipulated into going there more times than I should or would otherwise, buying things that I don't want in order to get a discount, and getting added to mailing lists and other promotional research.

Are these downsides worth a few dollars to me? I don't think so, because I really dislike the idea of being manipulated, but I guess it hinges on how much that manipulation works. We like Sub Zero for ice cream because they offer lactose-free for me and sugar-free for Kelly. We used to go there all the time and decline the invitation to join the rewards program, before finally accepting that we might as well save a few dollars if we're going to be regulars. Now Kelly gives her phone number at the register and a few dollars come off of each purchase. We go there less often now, I guess because we're getting tired of it, so any effort on Sub Zero's part to get us to visit more often has failed to work.

There are much more advanced and much more insidious programs out there. Target is notorious for manipulating customers. I still shop there sometimes, because they're convenient and (unlike Walmart) pleasant, but I'm always wary of being tricked into buying things I don't need there. They have so very much to offer that your cart can wind up with three times as many items as you meant to get when you walked in. They know this. They know everything. :-)

So I guess that's where my questions came from. I'm trying to figure out if rewards programs are worth it. And I guess the answer is that it depends on the business and on my own fear of being tricked.

Denise Sawicki | September 3, 2016
Spicy Pie a few blocks from our house gives a free slice of "pizza of the month" every month. Both local grocery stores give a free item every week. (I don't think anybody but me knows about one of them!) I love free stuff. I'm signed up to a bunch of places that give free food for your birthday.

Scott Hardie | September 4, 2016
Are the pizza-of-the-month flavors any good? I am always intrigued by exotic pizza flavors even if it's just a gimmick/novelty. California Pizza Kitchen used to have a Peking duck pizza that was delicious, for instance.

When the recession hit and we were broke, we signed up for the rewards program at Winn-Dixie, which saved us 10-30% on a lot of grocery items on top of what were already very low prices. It was great for a while. But as the years went by, the discounted items became few and far between, and the prices crept upwards until they were comparable with Publix, the nicest major grocery chain here in Florida. They switched to a fuel discount program where every purchase saved you money at participating Shell stations, but we only ever found one participating station and they're going out of business. If I'm going to pay Publix prices and not get any other kind of discount, I may as well take my business to Publix.

The biggest reward programs of all must be frequent-flyer programs. Does anybody here use them? How has your experience been with them?

Denise Sawicki | September 4, 2016
Yes pizza of the month is pretty good. This time it was pepperoni and banana peppers with cream cheese. The cream cheese was a good addition. One month though it was the super-spicy one with jalapenos and ghost pepper cheese. I could eat it but it was a bit spicier than I'd prefer. Then the next month for some reason they got confused and gave me the super spicy one again instead of the pizza of the current month, haha. :)