Laminated Lagniappe

"The 19th-century satirist Ambrose Bierce defined fidelity as ‘a virtue peculiar to those who are about to be betrayed,’" writes Joanne Kaufman in the Wall Street Journal (2/19/10). This came to mind, for Joanne, when her son came home from a trip to Duane Reed and reported that her loyalty card was no longer valid. It seems the retailer was in a blackout period pending regulatory approval of its acquisition by Walgreens. But when the new program was introduced, the terms had changed.

It used to be you’d get a five dollar coupon for every $100 spent; now she has to spend $250 for the five-dollar gift. Unfortunately, this wasn’t an isolated incident. Joanne had also paid $25 for a Starbucks card offering two free lattes (one for signing on and the other on her birthday), plus ten percent off every drink. This was working out great until Joanne’s daughter came home with news that Starbucks had replaced the program "with a tiered system of rewards involving stars."

Under the new plan, Joanne gets a star with each transaction, and a free drink for every 15 stars. It doesn’t matter if each transaction includes several drinks. A company spokesperson told her, "We wanted a program that was more inclusive. And the new card is free." Except it really isn’t because it only works if you load the loyalty card with cash. As Joanne notes, "Just think of those stars as the chain’s way of thanking caffeinistas for what amounts to an interest-free loan," adding, "You’re welcome and you’ll find me at Dunkin’ Donuts."