I agree that the discounts are much too low for me (even if I were just going to a same-day meeting in YYZ, I'd be thinking, "what if there's material to take back?").
However, I do think the example you cite has to be taken in context: if that person saved $5 19 times and got hit for $50 one time, it was still cheaper than not taking the discount all 20 times.
=aw