When Free Isn’t Really Free
My son got a little “award” last week from his preschool. For being a “Superstar Student” he got a certificate entitling him to a free Kid’s Meal or Kid’s Dessert at Applebees. He came home very excited about his “Ice Cream Card”.
Well, I’d love to pop into Applebees and get him his free ice cream, but, this isn’t really free. Sure, that item is free, but first, who is going to bring their kid to Applebees and sit there and watch them eat their free meal or dessert and order nothing for themselves? I may be getting more assertive every day but I doubt I could make myself do that. And even if you do that, you still need to leave a tip, and I am not going to leave no tip or some tiny tip for the waitstaff that had no part in creating this “award”. I’ll have to leave at least a dollar if not two which just basically negated the “free” aspect of this certificate.
So… I thought about it for a while, and I came up with the bright idea of getting it to go. I could see if their menu is online (or even call them up), find out the kid’s desserts options, and order one to go (mentioning the gift card of course). But upon reading the fine print on the card, I see the words “Dine-In-Only“. Thwarted!
So basically, I have a freebie that really, in no way shape or form, is free. It is a ploy to get me to dine at Applebee’s disguised as an award for doing well at school. In fact, my son is only in preschool, I would bet every child in his class got one of these special awards. I guess if I was a regular Applebees customer I would be pleased to get this but otherwise, it is just a freebie that would actually cost me money. Applebees is too expensive for our budget.
October 30th, 2007 at 7:13 am
That is so true. And doesn’t it seem like they are preying on innocent preschoolers. How many parents will be as insightful as you are? It’s as if they are betting on the children looking at their parents with their innocent eyes and the parents thinking, “How can I say no to this beautiful child who is also a superstar student?”
Kudos to you for not falling into the trap.
October 30th, 2007 at 7:38 am
The sad thing is that some people would think this is actually a great deal!
October 30th, 2007 at 8:20 am
You need to complain to the pre-school. Ask them to call Applebee’s and see if they will honor the card for a to-go dessert that won’t cost you extra money. Even if the school can’t or won’t do that, you at least have made your feelings known. It really is taking advantage of pre-schoolers to get business.
October 30th, 2007 at 8:43 am
Yeah they’re basically tricking… or almost forcing parents into going to the restaurant through guilt, as wealthy_1 says.
Bas
BuildAndSucceed.com
October 30th, 2007 at 8:44 am
I think the word for this is “marketing”.
It’s the same thing as:
Real estate agents who give a “free” home evaluation.
Financial advisors who give a “free” consultation.
Car repair places that do a “free” inspection etc etc etc…
Mike
October 30th, 2007 at 8:54 am
Maybe you could let him decorate a 2-pocket “Award” folder that he could put the certificate in. He’s going to accumulate more of those types of things as time goes by and it could be fun for him to have a special place to collect them.
October 30th, 2007 at 9:40 am
I am pretty frugal, but I can’t imagine a one time trip to Applebees being out of budget.
Nonetheless, the kid is a preschooler. Just get him an ice cream somewhere else as his “reward”. He probably won’t notice the difference.
October 30th, 2007 at 9:40 am
When I said notice, I probably should have said “care”
October 30th, 2007 at 12:05 pm
I’m with Brandon. Would your little guy catch on if you just took the card and made him a special ice cream sundae at home? He would still feel rewarded and you’d spend a lot less. You could even make a little smiley face on it or his name or something…
October 30th, 2007 at 12:09 pm
A free taco is just as good
. Pick yours up from 2-5PM at Taco Bell today – no strings attached.
October 30th, 2007 at 5:46 pm
I know it is marketing – it just annoys me. Dangit. At least with the other free things you mentioned Mike, there is a way to get the free thing and not spend any more if you choose not to. Who is going to go to Applebees and not leave a tip? Not me. lol
@Brandon – we have a $0 eating out budget. We’re barely squeaking by with all the debt we are under so we are in radical times lol. And – if we did have an eating out budget, I can think of lots of places rather than Applebees I’d like to go
@Lazy Man – you gotta know I was all over that whole free taco thing…. except my daughter is sick so we couldn;t go out
. But I wanted to lol.
@Dawn, Lana and Brandon – I have ideas for what to do instead for his “treat” – we’re going to make some cupcakes at home and decorate them. It is the principle of the thing I am annoyed at. He likes muffins and cupcakes more than ice cream in reality.
October 30th, 2007 at 6:48 pm
Just throwing this out there–could you use the money you’d planned to spend on the pumpkin trip? Then if you eat a cookie or something before you go, you could come out ahead…
October 30th, 2007 at 10:18 pm
Yeah…. life has thrown a wrench in things, more on that tomorrow. But it is good we’re saving what we can for the moment. i think he’s forgotten about the card for now anyway
October 31st, 2007 at 11:31 am
I know it’s not free…but you could go to applebees when it is happy hour (3-7 M-F) where I live. Happy hour applies the the whole restaurant and includes half off of most appetizers. Order 1 appetizer and get the free meal or dessert and it should cost you less than $6-7 including tip.
October 31st, 2007 at 2:24 pm
That is a good idea too Valerie and I am going to file it in the back of my brain for the future.
October 31st, 2007 at 2:47 pm
You’re right that this is blatant marketing. You really should complain to your child’s school about this. Schools should not be in the business of marketing restaurants (or any other businesses) to young children.
– K.
November 5th, 2007 at 12:15 am
Good intentions from the outset leading to a sour taste in the mouth.
Thanks for sharing with the Carnival of Family Life- bonfire edition
November 10th, 2007 at 3:27 pm
We ate a number of meals at restaurants we didn’t particularly want to patronize as our kids were growing up . . . same kind of deal. And we didn’t want to disappoint them, so we made a big deal of it and just chalked it up to the cost of parenting.
I’m late getting around to visit all of the Carnival participants. (Crazy week . . . only excuse!)
THANK YOU for being part of Colloquium’s inaugural edition. I appreciate your support.
Don’t forget that this week’s Carnival will be hosted at All Rileyed Up. If you haven’t submitted a post yet, you can do so until midnight (Pacific Time) tonight!