Wait! What!?!? Did you just say Rewards Programs are a Gimmick?

By bouncey, May 17, 2011, FAQs, News, Special Offers

A few weekends back I was on my way to Home Depot when I tuned into a local “Consumer Advocacy” talk show. I was surprised to hear the hosts and a guest discussing electricity choice in Texas. As I’m driving, one of the hosts asked their guest, an expert who runs a popular electricity provider comparison site, a great question, “Other than rates, what criteria would you recommend consumers take into account when shopping for Texas electricity service?” As a consumer advocate, the expert’s answer was right on queue…

“I would recommend looking at what other customers are saying about their providers. I would also look to see what kind of promotions and rewards providers are currently offering. Some providers have great programs where customers can receive rewards, incentives and cash back for being a loyal customer.”

What I found interesting, and definitely perplexing, was how one of the hosts responded to the answer. I’m paraphrasing here, but in general the response was “Yeah, you know, we spoke to Scott and asked him specifically about rewards and he says they’re all a bunch of gimmicks. That’s money spent on rewards programs could directly be applied to giving customers lower electricity rates.” Several questions immediately entered my mind:

Who is “Scott”?
How are rewards a gimmick?
What’s the agenda here?
How will the expert respond?

Well, let me start by saying that the hosts cut to commercial, and when they returned they didn’t give him a chance to respond about rewards programs. And as I continued to listen, the rest of the answers became clear. “Scott” turned out to be Scott Fordham, CEO and President of Champion Energy. To me, this meant one of two things: Either the hosts are friends with Scott, and therefore might be inadvertently biased in their answers, or Champion was actually sponsoring their radio program. And after listening to the program play out, it seemed clear to me that it was almost certainly the latter. Particularly when the hosts kept advising customers to go to a Champion Energy sponsored website to compare their bills and “check their potential savings.” They continued to drop the name Champion Energy and say they were unequivocally the best provider in the market.

So why the rewards program bashing? Well, that’s simple: Champion Energy DOESN’T HAVE A REWARDS PROGRAM! And their agenda seems to downplay the legitimacy of rewards programs and stand behind their low rates. That is certainly their prerogative, but how about providing low rates AND a rewards program. Right now in Houston, Bounce Energy’s rates are cheaper than Champion’s and we offer a huge variety of programs and customer incentives. If Champion’s stance is that the money used to fund rewards programs should be applied to cheaper electricity, then how come their electricity isn’t cheaper than companies that offer rewards programs?

But let’s cut to the chase – it’s a somewhat clever way to spend your advertising dollars, hiding it behind thinly veiled consumer advocate mouthpieces, but questioning the validity of rewards programs won’t get you anywhere when it can so easily be proven wrong. Several providers, not just Bounce Energy, offer nice reward programs. While we stand by ours as being the best in the industry, Gexa Energy, for example, offers airline incentives such as companion airfare tickets.

And this isn’t the first time we’ve heard the misinformation campaigns like this and they always come from the providers who don’t offer anything extra to their customers. Limited plan choice, no promotions, no rewards… nada. They’re just filling the airwaves and the industry with noise – adding more confusion.

Luckily, the solution is simple. Ignore it. And you don’t have to take our word for it – but you should trust your fellow consumers. See for yourself and checkout what some of our customers have stated publicly about rewards they’ve received:

“Thank you, thank you Bounce Energy for my $75 bill credit. A $5.60 light bill. How awesome is that! With the prices of everything else going up, I love the incentive plans offers by Bounce Energy that help out in a time of need. Keep up the great rewards!” – Beverly Jones on Bounce Energy’s Facebook Page

“Wow I just received my $75 bill credit! Thanks Bounce Energy!” – Andrea Alvarez via Facebook

“Thanks for the 2 free movie tickets!!! That’s awesome!! Love this company… Have not had any issues since signing up about 8 months ago… 2 thumbs up!” – Derrick B. via email

“I became one of Bounce Energy’s first customers when they opened their doors and asked me to switch to their service. Since deregulation, I had never once looked into doing this, so I thought it might be a move I would come to regret. They offered a lot of incentives like rebates and rewards that got my attention. I’m happy to say that not only did the transition go smoothly, but they have kept their promises and have not had to be reminded to deliver what they promised to me. The rebates appear automatically on my statements and rewards show up in the mail. When my bills are paid automatically with a credit card charge I am notified with an email every time. Because they communicate so effectively through the web and email, I never have to use the phone. I highly recommend this company.” – Jerald R via online review

If you would like to learn more about why our Reward Program isn’t a gimmick, click here or watch this video: