Opinion: Premium car brands' rewards systems aren't really rewarding

Here is a personal vehicle ownership experience. I own a ‘premium’ four-wheeler, and I decided to invest in this brand in 2018 as I really admire both the car and brand.

I even traded the previous one for a new version in 2023. Childhood fascination mixed with brand loyalty. Though the service standards I have received are abysmal, the driving experience is delightful.

Before going ahead, let me say, the reason for not mentioning the brand isn’t because I’m worried about how they would treat my car, but because this isn’t an outcome of a study and this could be happening with other premium brands, too, as I have heard.

I accumulated some reward points, which I thought I would redeem on sending the vehicle for servicing. It is natural as the brand has a ‘loyalty’ programme and an app that they insisted I download in the showroom itself. “Why the rush?” I asked. “Otherwise you will miss out on all the benefits!” they said. Point. After a few months, I referred a friend who ended up buying the same brand. And, voila! I get some reward points. Not bad, I thought. The customer loyalty system works.

When it came to redeeming the points against the service invoice, poof! they had vanished. On calling up, I was politely told, “They expire after three months. Remember, we had mentioned this to you?” Three months? In which loyalty programme do reward points expire after just three months? “Are you guys serious?” “Company policy.” “I got no reminder on email or an SMS or anything?” “Remember, we had told you earlier?”

So what would I do with points expiring in three months; it’s not like a car needs servicing so often. You won’t buy a new car so soon either. You are then left with simply buying some accessory or merchandise. And that’s not what a rewards programme should be about. A good programme offers customers products and services they genuinely want and can use. Take a look at airlines: free flights, cabin upgrades, and points that at the very least last a whole year.

And we wonder why some famous, globally successful, premium brands do not do well in India! They aren’t doing badly because of no new models to offer! They do not do well primarily because they treat their existing customers as [insert your choicest expletive].

This malady lies deep as a mindset and not any lack of processes. Your basic understanding of loyalty and retention are awry. Yet, you expect a positive word of mouth. When that does not happen, you lament that the Indian market is just too complex and the customer is just too demanding. Someone needs to hold a torch in the face of such brands which posture as one but practise as another.

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