What's Worse Than A "Rewards" Card?
To The Editor:
One thing I hate about shopping is "rewards."
Because the opposite is "punishment."
Yet increasingly when I try to buy something, the clerk asks if I have a "rewards" or some such card.
I have succumbed to carrying two "valuable preferred human" supermarket cards, but they're pretty straight forward - you show the card, some of your groceries ring up cheaper, you pay and be on your way.
I can handle that.
But all this other stuff - you show a card and they give you points, which lead to a mail or online rebate months later or next visit, or you have to register online and then somehow get your register receipt to them and then maybe get something back someday or something off on something else, or eat 10 meals and you get a free dessert.
Or you pay $4 for something and they tell you it's like getting it for $2.
What the heck does that mean? Couldn't we just compromise at $3?
Maybe individually each one isn't that complicated. But put them all together and, as Hugh Grant tried to say in the movie "Mickey Blue Eyes," "fugedaboudit!"
Retailers themselves aren't even sure it's a good idea. Otherwise, why would the ones that don't require a card advertise "No Card Needed?"
To me, that's pretty appealing, because all I really want to do is buy a halfway decent product at a fair price, pay for it and go on with life!
The only thing worse are the stores that call themselves "clubs" and make you pay to go in and buy things from them. No sane person would do that.
Heck, if all stores adopted that policy most people I know would be broke before they started shopping.
Paul Politis Greencastle