I needed to get this off my aging chest. Why is it that when a senior has a computer problem it’s assumed that it must be user error? I’m a frequent visitor to Buffalo Wild Wings, hardly a renowned senior hangout. In fact, they don’t even offer a senior discount, but they do have a rewards program. I’m in charge of accumulating points from our once weekly  “Leadership Meetings.” The way this works is that our entire order is put through on my account and we split the check equally. All the points then go to one central point – my Buffalo Wild Wings app. We get points for checking-in, ordering food & drinks, and participating in store promotions. At the end of the year, we initially agreed to use all the points to pay for our group holiday luncheon. 

I have always refused to clip coupons but for some reason have always loved points. In fact, my wife claims that I love my Marriott points more than her. I also have the Landry restaurant app, along with Outback, Starbucks, and Open Table to further accumulate dining-out credits. There are also the airline mileage programs that operate through an app that I take advantage of using. What’s the point? Points! They get you free stuff with little effort other than sometimes providing a phone number when you order. In most cases, it’s mostly hassle-free and can save a few bucks on a retirement budget. 

“Leadership Meetings” of late have not been as regular. One member now lives near the coast, while another has a new job that does not allow lunch flexibility. As a result, our Wild Wing meetings have shifted more to late afternoon to watch basketball games and drink beer. This now happens only every couple weeks, rather than on Fridays like clockwork as they used to be. We had a lot of points sitting in the app bank with no plans for a holiday party and uncertainty on when the next get-together would be. We decided to splurge his past week for the Indiana vs. Purdue game. 

I checked in on the app and placed an appetizer order for Ultimate Nachos. The game was not going well so our mood at the table was impatience coupled with frustration. We had close to 15,000 points to use, a majority of which was intended for our dinner order. The company had updated their app so I had trouble both logging-in and placing the order. Keep in mind, I’ve used it hundreds of times through the past couple years. I mention this because what happened next was not a “Senior Moment.” I placed the single order and then noticed that most all the points had disappeared. The app had quadrupled my order. I called the familiar manager over and explained the problem, so he immediately sent an e-mail to the corporate webmaster asking them to reinstate our points. However, it would take some time to correct the problem, so we had no points to use for dinner. 

I’d had a few drinks and proceeded to remain calm, but just knew that this was going to be a hassle. The score of the game only added to my anger as I read his e-mail.  “A guest of ours accidentally redeemed four ultimate nachos when he meant to redeem one.” Why was it suddenly the old guy’s fault? I didn’t do anything accidentally! In my mind, there was clearly a glitch in their program. Isn’t the customer always right? Instead, I’m now trying to communicate with a computer geek thousands of miles away, while having paid for our meal that was supposed to be free. This morning, I finally got a follow-up e-mail from the webmaster (wingmaster). It was nothing more than canned instructions on how to “log-on’ properly to correct my “log-on” issue. I could in no way blame this on age discrimination or elderly incompetence since there’s no way he could know that I’m retired with a feeble mind. He was just trying to get an e-mail off his desk and blew me off with a form letter, while I’m no closer to getting my points reinstated. 

I wonder how long it will be before I get my points back and the associated free meals? I do know that the manager will eventually take care of us, but I’m not sure when we’ll be back for the next Leadership Meeting? Whatever happens, I’m sure it won’t be worth the hassle. In the meantime, I’m still wearing the label of elderly incompetence and hungry for free wings.