Gift cards are an enigma. When I go to the grocery store I see racks of gift cards and I wonder to myself, "How can a business make money selling $25 gift cards for $25?" It seems logical that it would cost money to make, ship, sell, and maintain gift cards.
The way that gift cards make money is when loyal customers buy gift cards to their favorite places which bring in new customers. The store makes money for selling gift cards, the business makes money by getting more customers. Gift cards often remain in your wallet or on the dash of your car. Every time you look at it the business is getting free advertising. The gift card manufacturers make money by producing the cards. It seems win-win!
A while ago I did a favor for a friend. Hmm...that is funny. I shouldn't be able to hear laughter as you read that! Anyway, I really did do a favor for a friend. They were quite grateful and to show their gratitude they gave me a $25 dollar gift card to Sonic.
A Sonic gift card is a closed loop card. That means that I can't take my Sonic card and buy some healthy food from Taco John's. Sonic and I have a hate-hate relationship. For some reason I always get poor service. To top it off, Sonic always gets my order wrong.
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| Free money, free aggravation |
Well, I sucked it up and went to Sonic. My expectations were low. It turns out those low expectations were too high.
Me: I would like a strawberry lemonade.
Sonic: 2 Strawberry lemonades (appear on screen)
Me: No, I want one strawberry lemonade.
Sonic: One small water (appears on screen...20 cents)
Me: I do not want water.
Sonic: One bottle of water
Me: I just want one strawberry lemonade.
Sonic: Okay, thank you.
At pickup window...
Sonic: That will be 4 dollars for two lemonades.
Me: I only wanted one lemonade.
Sonic: (employees have conversation, unsure of how to proceed) Finally decide to charge me for just one strawberry lemonade.
Me: I love you guys! Never change.
Which leads me to the final way that gift cards take money...when you take the card with $23 remaining on it and Freddie Kreuger it. That, my friends, is pure profit!
Oh yeah, I know your frustration. The wife says I've been losing my patience more lately, so things like ordering at drive-up windows have the potential to drive me further over the edge. Knowing this -- and recognizing that my wife is always right about most things concerning my behavior -- I decided to keep my cool i.e., remain rational no matter what. I can do this ...
ReplyDeleteMy grandson and I waited behind the car in front of us at DQ. A pickup truck pulled in behind us, its front bumper and grill completely filling our back window. The car in front moved up to get in line with the other cars proceeding to the cashier window. I drove up to the menu.
I always want to know exactly what others in our car want, so when I order there isn't a bunch of hem-hawing and mind-changing going on and I have to make the order-taker wait and wait and wait.
So when we pull up, I'm waiting for the person on the other end cheerfully say, "May I take your order?" But we hear nothing. And I wait -- and wait -- until the guy behind me is ready to get out of his truck and see if I have expired or fallen asleep.
Finally I say, 'HULLO??"
And a voice at the other end says, "You can order anytime."
It must be the heat of the last few days or all the smoke, but I had to mutter something angrily like YOU COULD'VE SAID SOMETHING!
WW is right as usual. I hate drive ups. I had to start using them during Covid. When you drive away and look in your bag, something is often wrong with your order and you can’t do anything about it. A lot of fast food places haven't reopened their inside counter because they can't find help.
ReplyDeleteBut Mr Hot Coco is not talking about drive ups per se but about gift cards. Gift cards make a nice profit when people lose them or forget about them.
Give me cash and a counter person and a place get my napkins and ketchup and I'll be happy forever.