My Letter Writing Project

I read an article somewhere that suggested writing some of your favorite companies (restaurants, products, brands) to give them praise and explain why you patronize them.  In return, they are likely to send you coupons, vouchers, and gift certificates.  This kind of project is right up my alley!  I like to write and I love getting things for free!  I picked out a few companies that I would say I love, some local and some national.  I wrote to each of them, going into detail about why I support their business.

The Results:
I received a personal email response from all of them except one.  Some of them quickly thanked me for my thoughts while others seemed genuinely appreciative of the time I took to compliment them.  I only received one postal letter in return.  It was from Purex and contained several coupons. 

No, none of the restaurants offered to give me free food for a year (maybe I had my hopes set a bit too high).  But the next time I went to Chipotle (my weakness), the manager looked at me and said, "Are you the one who sent the email?"  I laughed out loud and confirmed his suspicion.  The corporate office said that they would forward my letter to the local store that I raved about.  I thought it was hilarious that they recognized me from the email.  I identified us as "the people who have all the kids."  I said, "They'll know who we are."  I was right.  The manager went on and on, thanking me for taking the time out to pay them a compliment.  He attempted to pay for our meal, but the store had already reached their maximum for the day.  We did get free chips out of the deal though.

Well, I didn't tons of free stuff out of this project but I think I did make a few people's day through it.  In the end - well worth it.   I think I'll go use one of my sixty cents off coupons now.