Apparently, the marketing and promotion planning folks at Petco never studied their retail history about programs that went terribly wrong or they would have never created a loyalty program that resulted in a loss of millions of dollars of sales due to “customer point redemption volumes (that) far exceeded our initial projections.” The results weren’t nearly as bad as the infamous Pepsi promotion back in 1996 when they offered a free Harrier fighter jet to anyone who collected enough points. A clever 21-year-old business student gamed the system and figured out how to buy enough points to get his free jet at a significant savings. A court eventually backed Pepsi, and no plane was ever awarded. Petco did not get bailed out by a judge and the result was millions of dollars of lost sales when customers redeemed their points for free stuff rather than buying it. 

Petco says it’s fixed the loophole in the promotion, but the damage has been done, financially and in good will with consumers who believe the retailer has done them wrong. C’mon, folks, this is Retailing 101; get this right, will ya.