Are you a "Preferred Customer"?

[Spinaroonie]

Also- they aren't offering lowered prices. When they switch to the Prefereed system they increase all the prices by a certain amount (say... 7 percent) then give the preferred customers back another percent (say 5).

 

[The Heretic]

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Hello!! Anyone HOME????????

No they don't. Not all shoppers do not use the same method of payment every time. The Preferred Shopper card tracks the purchasing behavior of a shopper independent of which credit card they use (or debit card or check or cash). For the stores, the cards are a more efficient way of tracking specific-shopper data.

Which proves my point; this is purely for their convenience and not at all for mine. "Preferred Customer" bullshit! More like Preferred Chump! What benefit do I get from it? I get to pay the same prices I used to pay, but now I have to keep a card and dig it out for them so I have the priviledge of pay the very same price I paid before the program started. No thanks.

If you do not care for the program, you do not have to sign up.

No I don't and I won't, and I shouldn't have to. Whenever a store does this they lose a certain amount of disgruntled customers. Does anyone think they actually gain any customers by making them have to sign up to get their prices?

 

[The Heretic]

Also- they aren't offering lowered prices. When they switch to the Prefereed system they increase all the prices by a certain amount (say... 7 percent) then give the preferred customers back another percent (say 5).

No, the prices are the same, but now to get the prices you must be a "Preferred Customer" and be inconvenienced for their benefit. They get the benefits and the "Preferred Customer" gets to be the chump.

 

[The Heretic]

You can simply tell them that you will not give them this info. You don't have to tell them anything.

No, but if I want the "preferred customer" price then for each store that has this kind of a program, I must have the card and be able to present it to get the good prices.

 

[chicagoguy]

What is a lot of fun is to have the "Preferred Customer Card", opt. out of the mailing list and then sue them when they sell your name.

 

[Angel]

No, but if I want the "preferred customer" price then for each store that has this kind of a program, I must have the card and be able to present it to get the good prices.

No, I was responding to what I quoted in your post about Radio Shack. You don't have to tell them anything - whenever they ask me for my number or zipcode, I tell them I'm not giving it to them, the sale is made, and I leave.

 

[weed]

First it was Safeway, then it was QFC, now Albertson's has joined the latest craze in grocery shopping; "Preferred Customers".

Now, if you want the same "sale" prices you got previously, you must give Albertson's your personal/confidential information and allow them to track your purchases. Sure they could do this before via my debit card, but they didn't have my personal info via that card, just my name. Having to give them this info, having to carry the card with me, and having to present it each time I want "Preferred Savings", is of no convenience to me as I had all this before without giving them this info and having them track me this way.

So I just wrote them a letter expressing my dissapointment at this development and told them I have stopped shopping at Albertson's as of today.

One more reason to shop at the smaller locally owned stores. Sometimes you pay a few cents more but the personal benefits are much greater and they don't typically get involved in this sort of crap. They find out what their customers want by talking to them and often pass on savings to their regulars in other methods.

Nothing like a baker's dozen.

 

[The Heretic]

Re: Re: Are you a "Preferred Customer"?

One more reason to shop at the smaller locally owned stores. Sometimes you pay a few cents more but the personal benefits are much greater and they don't typically get involved in this sort of crap. They find out what their customers want by talking to them and often pass on savings to their regulars in other methods.

Nothing like a baker's dozen.

A smaller locally owned store? And where would that be?

There are none of those around here any more - only to the south 20 miles away in the big city can they afford to be supported.

When I was a kid I grew up in a small community outside of Portland. About the only thing there were a few houses, a church and a general store. The general store had an extremely poor selection of groceries that cost 50-100% more than what you paid in the big chain stores. This was about 40 years ago so don't give me any BS about Walmart being the death of small family owned stores, they went the way of the dodo bird decades ago, and for good reason. In the business world there is one rule; you give the customer what they want or you lose the customer.

 

[Lasher]

Some of you people really need to fucking relax, LOL.

 

[LukkyKnight]

First it was Safeway, then it was QFC, now Albertson's has joined the latest craze in grocery shopping; "Preferred Customers".

Now, if you want the same "sale" prices you got previously, you must give Albertson's your personal/confidential information and allow them to track your purchases. Sure they could do this before via my debit card, but they didn't have my personal info via that card, just my name. Having to give them this info, having to carry the card with me, and having to present it each time I want "Preferred Savings", is of no convenience to me as I had all this before without giving them this info and having them track me this way.

So I just wrote them a letter expressing my dissapointment at this development and told them I have stopped shopping at Albertson's as of today.

The solution, of course, is to give them utterly false information, and possibly apply for several cards. Don't let on you know about their data-games, just insert bad data. Use one card anytime you buy meat, but not if you don't, and claim the wrong # of other people living in a house in another zip code.

 

[Lasher]

Re: Re: Are you a "Preferred Customer"?

The solution, of course, is to give them utterly false information, and possibly apply for several cards. Don't let on you know about their data-games, just insert bad data. Use one card anytime you buy meat, but not if you don't, and claim the wrong # of other people living in a house in another zip code.

I'm thinking if someone is gonna bitch and moan for a page and a half about carrying one card they're probably not gonna be all that damn excited about carrying 7.

But otherwise grrrrrrrrrrreat idea.

 

[The Heretic]

Re: Re: Re: Are you a "Preferred Customer"?

I'm thinking if someone is gonna bitch and moan for a page and a half about carrying one card they're probably not gonna be all that damn excited about carrying 7.

Oh but it feels good to bitch and moan about it. It doesn't feel good to give in to their bullshit schemes. It is as simple as that.

But otherwise grrrrrrrrrrreat idea.

Nope; you still have to carry around their BS cards and dig them out at the checkstand. It is just better to tell them that they are fucked and that I will no longer be their customer (which I did).

 

[dickE]

First it was Safeway, then it was QFC, now Albertson's has joined the latest craze in grocery shopping; "Preferred Customers".

Now, if you want the same "sale" prices you got previously, you must give Albertson's your personal/confidential information and allow them to track your purchases. Sure they could do this before via my debit card, but they didn't have my personal info via that card, just my name. Having to give them this info, having to carry the card with me, and having to present it each time I want "Preferred Savings", is of no convenience to me as I had all this before without giving them this info and having them track me this way.

So I just wrote them a letter expressing my dissapointment at this development and told them I have stopped shopping at Albertson's as of today.

Here, there's also a grocery chain that runs this scam. I don't play their game. I'm not in their dayta-base.

I sent the CEO a letter explaining that I didn't want to allow a dayta-base to be accumulated on what I buy--Lord, look at what "grocery stores" sell these days--and he assured me that the information would be kept confidential. I agreed with him.......yes, by him.......but, in case nobody's noticed lately lots of businesses are being bought up by big conglamorates.......who definately won't feel obligated to keep anything "confidential"...especially if there's value associated with it!........especially a dayta-base of a person's buying habits. Little "ancillary" items just like these dayta-bases that come along with a buy-out are very marketable to the new owner, in fact. They're usually sold off to the highest bidder.....no strings attached.....to lower the expenditure.

What would, say, a health insurance company or HMO for example give to know in advance that you buy only hi-fat foods; or that you buy and have bought for long periods of time abnormally high amounts of aspirin, alergy pills, laxatives, etc. not to mention tobacco products or gun-owner magazines?? Think this info doesn't carry value?

I pay the regular prices.

My advice is to actually read the little agreement beside the "signature" line BEFORE you fill it out and sign the application card for one of these little value cards to see what rights to privacy you cede away.