Many years ago my boyfriend and I were not very well off, to say the least, and we took advantage of coupons and sales, and always had an eye out for free things to do.
We got a coupon from a Mexican restaurant, buy one meal at $10.99 get a second at $5.99.
Now for us to go and have a sit down meal, in a real restaurant, with servers and table cloths and candlelight, this was really a rare treat.
Neither one of us drank alcohol and we could just afford $20 for a meal, so we might have dessert and share it.
We got exceptional service and food and had the most wonderful romantic evening.
Then the coupons started arriving more frequently. Every month it seemed, so we took advantage of that.
We became regulars at this place. The owner came out and talked to us every time. Introduced us to his chef and told us about himself and wanted to know about us. He knew we didn’t have much money. We felt like family.
But one evening, just after we had ordered, the owner came out and yelled at us. He berated us for always using a coupon, never ordering drinks and sharing a dessert. We were stunned and deeply embarrassed. My boyfriend challenged him, “Why do you keep sending us coupons then?” And he shouted that this is a business, not a charity and we were taking advantage of his good nature.
Needless to say, we never went back, and if anyone asked us about the place we would tell them not to go.
Yes, I do understand the owners point of view, and believe me, if we could have afforded more than their burrito platter we would have had it, and a dessert for each one of us (but never alcohol).
He could have made his point without losing us as customers. And he lost a lot of potential customers also.