something you need to know

[HHandbasket]

Good to know - thanks! I dropped some dry cleaning off a couple of weeks ago and wound up really peeved at the info they asked me. Okay, name, and phone number, I get. But when they asked for my address it really didn't seem relevent since I drop off and pick up the clothes. She said "it's so we can mail you out special offers". "No thank you". So, we went on and she wanted to know "spouse's name", "SSN", "date of birth", "email address" and on and on it went. I just kept telling her "you don't need that information" to everything she asked, but it didn't seem to deter her - she just kept asking the questions. I left the clothes there and picked them up a few days later but I will NOT be going back.

I wouldn't have left my clothes there. I'm like that. I'll walk out of a grocery store with $200 worth of crap in the cart of the clerk gives me a bad time.

Trust me, they ain't building no Walmart in OUR backyard. We live in the woods. I didn't know that's why they all ask for your zip, though. I always give them the zip code of the town I grew up in, where I have not lived for more than 25 years.

 

[aoxa]

Always say you just moved and haven't memorized your zip/postal code yet. They ask this at a lot of stores. I used to work at Winners, and had to take it. If I didn't want to ask, I just entered fake #s. I would say a good 25% of people say no. Nothing wrong with it. Don't be rude though, the employees are made to ask you.

 

[AprilAWZ]

I read that Target article in the NYT...yikes!! Problem is, if using a credit card, or any shopper club cards, your Zip is the least of what they have on you!! I've never worried to much about it until the whole NAIS thing came to a head years ago. I'm still a bit flighty, and will usually use cash for farm-related purchases.

For those of you who didn't read the article, it goes into detail about how statisticians use info gathered from your purchasing habits to figure out how to find opportunities to weasel their way into your buying routine. One of the sure-fire opportunities they found was with expectant mothers. They figured out how to predict not only a pregnancy, but where you were in that pregnancy and your due date, by tracking purchases of 25 or so key products. With that, the pinpointed marketing would begin! On man in Minneapolis went to a Target store with a "congrats on your pregnancy, here are some baby-related coupons" mailer addressed to his teen daughter. He gave the manager a once over, only to call back a few days later to apologize. He'd apparently had a chat with his daughter, and yep, pregnant. What a way to find out!!

 

[cupman]

Anything to maintain god's country.

 

[OnceAroundTheBlock]

Well, I for one would welcome a Target "in my backyard". Then I won't have to drive 75 miles one way to get to the nearest one.

 

[Oregon Blues]

Target isn't going to collect information in order to build a Walmart that might put them out of business. Target, and any other store in your area, does not want a Walmart moving in.

One of my local stores asked for my zip code, so I asked "why?"

It was so they could learn what area their customers were coming from, so they could target their advertising to locations (not specific person). Advertising is expensive and they didn't want to spend money advertising in an area where no one was going to drive the distance to shop with them.