LONDON - "No charge". . . "It's on the house". . . "Nothing to pay."
I've been pleasantly surprised to hear these responses from some businesses here in one of the world's major cities. For example, on more than one occasion when I've ordered a coffee at the Prêt à Manger "natural food" chain, started in London in 1986 and with some 350 shops worldwide, my offer to pay has been waved away.
Business commentators are not sure whether this approach is more effective than the more common loyalty card program, which provides companies with information about their customers.
The Prêt program relies randomly on employees' decisions from one customer to the next. But it does encourage you to return and spread the word.
On a smaller scale, a new restaurant in London's Covent Garden, The Black Penny café, invited its investors and friends to a pre-opening lunch. Along with some other curious passers-by who happened to walk into the restaurant I was also willingly offered a complimentary meal. (That prompted me to take some photos for them, and do an initial TripAdvisor review so they could be listed for future reviews.)
And at the official opening a few days later, The Black Penny charged only one penny per item ordered.
Whether such strategies will spread remains to be seen. But in one sense they could reflect a welcome shift toward altruism in our predominantly dollars-and-cents world. Berkeley's Karma Kitchen, started in 2007 and with several locations around the world (karmakitchen.org) operates on a pay-it-forward basis. You receive a zero bill for your meal with a note that it was paid for by a previous customer. You are then invited to pay for the next customer's meal.
Many random acts of kindness use a similar if less structured approach. You simply give a restaurant (or other business) money to cover another customer's purchase.
I'm sure we could all profit if this unconditional attitude became more prevalent. As Gandhi said: "You must be the change you wish to see in the world."
Mike Grenby is a columnist and independent personal financial advisor; he'll answer questions in this column as space allows but cannot reply personally. Email [email protected]
