How Loblaws ticked me off

My partner and I have done a lot of gardening in the last couple of years, since we landscaped our back yard. We will likely never be cottage owners, so we decided to make the yard our refuge.

Thanks to a great designer, Lynda Milina of Kavamilina, and a great installer, Denis Willaert and Apprize, we have a back yard we can hardly tear ourselves away from on weekends or in the evening.

One side effect: MANY plastic pots that once held plants for the trip from the nursery to the yard, and then sat empty.

So when I saw a brief story in the weekend Ottawa Citizen saying that Loblaws stores would accept pots and flats for recycling -- and give you a $5 coupon if you brought in 25 -- I was sold. We immediately started in counting our flats & pots, and came up with 150 that we were happy to get rid of.

So off we go with six bags full of pots. While Cathy trundles through the garden centre, I line up to return the goods and add to what Loblaws says is 600,000 pounds of plastic it will recycle. When I get there, the woman grunts at me and points to where they should go. Then she asks if I have more than 25.

"150, actually."

"Would you like a coupon?" I'm a little bit surprised. I figured I'd get 6 coupons. "No, you get the coupon if you bring in more than 25."

Then she gives me the coupon -- $5, sure enough. If I spend more than $50, one coupon per purchase. Instant disillusionment.

When I shared this with my partner, we wandered around for a little while, looking at fairly nice pots and fairly sick-looking plants, and left, having decided to spend our money elsewhere.

So whose fault is this? Was I being greedy to expect $30 worth of coupons? Should I have gamed the system by dropping off the pots in batches? If I got 6 coupons, I would have to have bought $300 worth of stuff to use them.

My feeling: There's a bad case of conditionitis here. I went there feeling like I was doing a good thing and getting a reward. But afterward, I would have preferred just to have dropped off the pots and flats and gotten nothing than a "this but not that and only under this condition."

Contrast this with Floral Design Landscaping, a nursery in Kemptville that we found while looking for another one. They have a sign up saying they'll give you credit for plants you bring in. We asked about it. They had a specific set of plants they were looking for - peonies, hostas, and the like -- and the guy told me that while it wouldn't be much money, it would be a store credit we could use.

If we go out with a carload of split plants, it won't matter whether it's $5 or $15. We'll feel like we get something for nothing. Not "if you buy $50" - whatever.

At the risk of sounding like Seth Godin (I WISH!), conditionitis is a bad thing. If you want to give something away, then GIVE IT AWAY and make people feel like YOU JUST GAVE THEM SOMETHING.

Ciao,
Bob.