Race for the $200 Taco

Posted on February 9th, 2007 in Customary Drivel, Unsolicited Commentary by Deas

I am not a fan of the membership stamp cards for most places I go. They are a pain for me, and sometimes for other people too. Every time you go to a new place and buy something, they ask you if you have a membership card. If you tell them no, they will either accept the fact and move along in the transaction (more common at grocery stores or video places, I think), or they will stop and make you one whether or not you requested it (at just about every other location imaginable). For those places in the latter category, I wonder if they realize that they are costing each customer in line an additional 30 seconds to 1 minute of wait time every time they throw an unsolicited membership card down on the counter. Of course, they are also wasting print and paper resources, but hey, do what you want, I guess. In my opinion, the former places have it right anyway - don’t throw away your cards through a customer middleman. Just give them out if they are requested. The other kind of funny thing that I have noticed is that the businesses in the former grouping also tend to have better incentives… Anyway, for most cards, I nearly always wind up getting one stamp on them and trashing them.

Having said that, let me pontificate for a spell about one card - the completion of which I am currently ardently pursuing. (Becky - I can totally say “pursuing with a vengeance” in place of “ardently pursuing” in this sentence. Just for one case in point. Nyaa.) Anyhoo, my reasons for completing the card have very little to do with the prize awaiting. I just wonder if anyone else is a weirdo like me.