Did you buy a Sony product?  Then Sony loves you.  Sony adores its customers so much that it decided to create a special rewards program designed to lavish freebies and deep discounts on its regular customers.  There’s no such thing as a free lunch, but there may be a free Blu-Ray or a free memory stick in your future if you maintain brand loyalty.

That’s a little tongue in cheek, obviously.  I’m sure Sony is happy for your business and it does operate its reward program in hopes of encouraging to keep buying from them.  The program is not, however, a way for any normal person to stock up on gobs of Sony swag.

Here’s how the reward program works, in a nutshell.  You apply for a special Visa card, the Sony Rewards card.  If you’re approved, you can use that credit card just like any other card in your wallet.  If you use it to buy Sony stuff, you earn points that you can later cash in for discounts and/or free items.

Sony makes the whole thing a little heartier by adding other ways to build your point total if you have a card.  They’ll have special offers where you can secure extra points and it appears as if there’s some kind of deal going on where you can watch Wheel of Fortune and find ways to bump your totals and/or win a prize.  I’ll be honest.  I didn’t pay too much attention to that.  I can’t stand Pat Sajak and Vanna White has always seemed a little creepy to me, even when she was in her 1980s prime.

So, should you apply for that Sony Rewards card and get on the fast track to earning a free Vaio or what?  I tend towards “no”.  Here’s why:

First, it’s another credit card and I think we all know the kind of personal finance troubles unnecessary additional credit cards can produce.  Feel free to ignore that concern if you’re ultra-responsible, capable of paying your bills in a timely fashion (preferably in full), and have a superhuman power to resist the temptation to accumulate stuff you don’t need.  The rest of us need to think about that stuff, though.

Second, the point system itself is primarily designed, it would appear, to give kickbacks to big-time customers.  If you aren’t spending a lot of dough with Sony you aren’t going to get much out of this.  That’s especially true when you realize that you have a brief window in which to accumulate points.  They expire and drop off your account after a year.

Third, the “exchange” rate isn’t that hot.  Sure, it’s nice to get something “for nothing” (cue laugh track), but some Sony Rewards members have groused about the crummy ratio of points to dollars spent and the fact the points don’t pack that much buying power.

That’s why I didn’t rush to fill out an application an it’s why it doesn’t seem like a must-do from where I sit.

There are probably some people who’d love the whole thing.  If you’re a Sony addict who spends a boatload of money on Sony products and wants even more of them, this could work out for you (assuming you have that whole previously-mentioned credit card thing under control).  

I have some Sony stuff.  Some of it I really like.  I tend to buy more gadgetry and electronics than I need, too.  Nonetheless, I wasn’t all that impressed with the Sony Reward program.  

Whaddya think about that, Miss Vanna White?  Huh?