Wednesday, September 28, 2005
Random Stupidity
I was at a store last night looking for a cheap pair of pants for work. I won't mention the name, but I went to one of those off-price stores where they sell overstock and irregular clothes. Anyway, as I brought my new $15.00 set of carpenter pants up to the register, the clerk asked me my phone number. This is nothing new to me; stores have been doing this for years. I politely refused, and continued with the sale.
I was waiting for my debit card to process when I happened to look down at the counter. There was a small sign next to the register which had the words "Why Do We Ask For Your Phone Number?" written in large, friendly letters. *
This was followed by: "To keep you on or add you to our mailing list."
Excuse me? Your mailing list? I wasn't aware that my phone number was a vital part of the postal process. Tell me, does a P.O. box come equipped with a landline? Once I got over the fact that this was quite possibly the dumbest thing I have ever read, I continued:
"Your personal information will be in no way used for sales or marketing purposes." **
Yeah, right. Here's the deal, kids. Every time a store asks for your zip code, phone number or address, it's for marketing purposes. Every time you use one of those supermarket cards, or frequent buyer cards, it's used for marketing purposes. The reason the local supermarket discounts your groceries when you use your card is because they take that information and sell it. There are companies whose entire purpose is to catalog the consumer habits of people across the world. There are vast databases filled with information about how you spend your money and on what. They know what kind of toothpaste you use, what size pants you wear, and how often you go through prophylactics.
They, of course, turn around and sell the information right back to the manufacturers, who then use it to target their advertising and marketing strategies. "Crest Whitestrips aren't doing well in southeast Pennsylvania. Better buy up some more ad time and discount them for a week or so." And so on.
So, the local Safeway actually makes more money by discounting your groceries. Personally, I could give a shit who knows that I eat a lot of peanut butter and jelly, and that I use Dial hand soap. I just feel sorry for the poor slobs out there who will blindly accept the "We want to keep you on the mailing list" line.
*Thanks, Douglas, you hoopy frood.
**I don't remember the exact wording, so I am paraphrasing here.
I was waiting for my debit card to process when I happened to look down at the counter. There was a small sign next to the register which had the words "Why Do We Ask For Your Phone Number?" written in large, friendly letters. *
This was followed by: "To keep you on or add you to our mailing list."
Excuse me? Your mailing list? I wasn't aware that my phone number was a vital part of the postal process. Tell me, does a P.O. box come equipped with a landline? Once I got over the fact that this was quite possibly the dumbest thing I have ever read, I continued:
"Your personal information will be in no way used for sales or marketing purposes." **
Yeah, right. Here's the deal, kids. Every time a store asks for your zip code, phone number or address, it's for marketing purposes. Every time you use one of those supermarket cards, or frequent buyer cards, it's used for marketing purposes. The reason the local supermarket discounts your groceries when you use your card is because they take that information and sell it. There are companies whose entire purpose is to catalog the consumer habits of people across the world. There are vast databases filled with information about how you spend your money and on what. They know what kind of toothpaste you use, what size pants you wear, and how often you go through prophylactics.
They, of course, turn around and sell the information right back to the manufacturers, who then use it to target their advertising and marketing strategies. "Crest Whitestrips aren't doing well in southeast Pennsylvania. Better buy up some more ad time and discount them for a week or so." And so on.
So, the local Safeway actually makes more money by discounting your groceries. Personally, I could give a shit who knows that I eat a lot of peanut butter and jelly, and that I use Dial hand soap. I just feel sorry for the poor slobs out there who will blindly accept the "We want to keep you on the mailing list" line.
*Thanks, Douglas, you hoopy frood.
**I don't remember the exact wording, so I am paraphrasing here.
Comments:
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True, but when they ask you for your phone number before they have any idea if you are paying with a credit card, then you can pretty much assume that it's for marketing purposes.
It doesn't matter if I'm on 83,000 mailing lists. It matters that they use that as a bullshit excuse for taking down my number. If it's for security, that's fine. If it's for selling off my buying habits, that's fine. Just bullshit me about it.
I don't care if they know what I buy. I just thought their lame ass excuse was funny.
I don't care if they know what I buy. I just thought their lame ass excuse was funny.
The reality is that your $7.50 an hour store clerk doesn't have the foggiest fucking notion on earth why they ask for the number. They ask because it tells them to do so on the screen.
I used to say know until I realized it really flustered the store clerk. now I just give them the main number of former employer, the Big U.
However, this did bite me in the ass at circuit city. Since I have made major appliance purchases there they had my number on file so when he processed my card he asked me for my number and when I gave him the fake one it sent up a bunchh of red flags.
I was honest, and I told teh guy I was lying becasue I didn't want to get telemarketed. Always checkthe privacy policy that will tell you how the information is going to be used.
I used to say know until I realized it really flustered the store clerk. now I just give them the main number of former employer, the Big U.
However, this did bite me in the ass at circuit city. Since I have made major appliance purchases there they had my number on file so when he processed my card he asked me for my number and when I gave him the fake one it sent up a bunchh of red flags.
I was honest, and I told teh guy I was lying becasue I didn't want to get telemarketed. Always checkthe privacy policy that will tell you how the information is going to be used.
I know the store clerk doesn't have any idea about the phone number. The probably don't give a shit either way. But it wasn't the store clerk that was telling me that my phone number was used to keep me on the mailing list. It was the sign that some jackass up at corporate aproved and sent out to all the stores nationwide.
Yeah, I hear you. Being that jack-ass in corporate I can totally relate. It's sad that we have to have a disclaimer for buying a shirt now of days.
I truly believe lawyers are the anti-christs and the points of their pitch forks are legality, buerocracy and...fuck it, sloth. I couldn't think of a third.
I truly believe lawyers are the anti-christs and the points of their pitch forks are legality, buerocracy and...fuck it, sloth. I couldn't think of a third.
Well at least a privacy policy for the information they collect from you while purchasing that shirt.
I write Privacy Policies for the web, but theya re all prettyy much the same, no matter what the channel is.
You get to do the fun side of the web, I get to do da bizness
I write Privacy Policies for the web, but theya re all prettyy much the same, no matter what the channel is.
You get to do the fun side of the web, I get to do da bizness
in our area, the reason for the zip code is actually because where i live, there are different sales tax rates per county. at least, that's what i have noticed.
That's a good point, Dante. But where we live, it's all the same (unless you are in the city, but that has no bearing on where you live)
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