that being said, this article was on the money although the title should probably be changed or be more specific to the little plastic cards…

What you are describing is known as good customer service. You already knew that. But, the reason we are so fast to appreciate good customer service is because it is so rare in this day and age. The fact that you got a response back amazes me because I have become accustomed to the fact that if 10 people say they’ll call back, only one will actually follow through. I call this competence and courtesy. I don’t think people are competent in dealing with the general public anymore; maybe because they hate their jobs, maybe because they are apathetic (it’s hard to care when what you do does not affect your income), or maybe because they are simply disorganized. Regardless, consumers today have so little interaction with competence that we are amazed when we see it. This should be the complete opposite. We should instead be upset when we don’t get the appropriate customer service we need, whether it be with an employee who doesn’t know what’s going on, a sales clerk who doesn’t even look at you, or someone who doesn’t bother to return our call until they need us. (And we should definitely complain so management knows there is a problem.) We shouldn’t notice when we get competent people on the other end of the phone because it should happen all the time. The same goes for courtesy. We should not be so surprised when a clerk is very courteous to us because they should always be. (This whole thing makes me think sometimes that the world is going to hell in a handbasket because basic human courtesies are being ignored more and more, it seems, as time progresses.)

I agree that customer loyalty programs ARE bullshit, because what will keep us going back, is, as you said, the experience of going. If your store provides me with the best customer service around, you can bet that I will go far out of my way to be your patron.

Can I tell you something? (I’m gonna anyway)
When I get home and that coupon is in my bag for my next trip to CVS, I get annoyed. Why? Because occasionally when I’ve bothered to cut the coupon off my receipt and stick it to my fridge or put it in my wallet, I ALWAYS forget to use it. It’s clutter. It’s another coupon tree being cut down in the receipt forest. And it annoys me that I will never get that discount. I would not only have to go BACK to the store, but I’d actually have to spend my brain power in remembering that god forsaken coupon. This makes me feel that I am missing out on discounts that I deserve. This makes me feel ripped off.

Secondly, I do get my prescriptions at CVS, and I do use my little card on occasion, and it’s attached to my key ring. I use the drive through 95% of the time. Every time I pick up a prescription, the idiot at the window asks me for my card. It’s in the ignition. Obviously I’m not going to turn off my car to give it to her, and the additional 2 minutes it would take to stick it through the hole in the wall to give it to her isn’t worth that stupid coupon anyway. Why? Because I am also paranoid. I am scared that somehow that stupid rewards card is connected to the Government. And I really don’t want the government knowing what prescriptions I’m buying as well as what I buy in the store. I don’t want them knowing that I’m on birth control or that I’ve had a prescription for ritalin. Forgive me if I’m paranoid, but with the whole Patriot Act and Big Brother Bush watching everything I do now, can you blame me?

Get rid of the stupid customer reward systems and reward in immediate, competent courtesy. Give me a reason to come back to your store instead of making me feel paranoid and ripped off!

Hurrah!