Don't Send Me a Check for $0 !

I have a Staples rewards card. Sometimes they send me a rewards check and that's nice. I buy stuff there every month, but I don't always buy enough or the right kind of stuff to get a rewards check each quarter.

But there's the thing I don't understand. When I do not earn a rewards check, they send me a check that has a value of ZERO. It actually reads, "Your Reward: Value: $0.00." Is that my value to the Staples organization? Are they telling me I did not do my job as a consumer? The check is even made out to me with my name and everything. I am half tempted to take it into Staples and use it toward my next purchase.

What's the advantage of this $0 check? Why would I want a check worth nothing or be reminded that I did not earn a reward?

It seems to me that it would be very easy for them to reprogram their statements to communicate a different message when no reward is earned.

For those of you with loyalty programs, what do you tell people who are not your best customers and are there ways you could change the message to encourage more sales?

Staples could do a lot of things to improve my spending there including:

• Rolling over my points.
• Giving me a minimum check always (you have to spend it at Staples, so it is really a coupon).
• Making the shopping experience more fun.

Comments

[John Hunter]

That is ridicules. Not as bad as Discover that just confiscated my earned rewards cash and months after they said they would at least return the cash they deducted from my bank account for fraudulent charges I still get "bills" that show the -$ I owe (and no check in sight).

http://investing.curiouscatblog.net/2007/07/07/customer-hostility-from-discover-card/