billpalmer.net

No, I would not like a CVS card today

They should videotape this scene so they can just play it back instead of me having to re-live it each time I approach the register at the local CVS store:

Cashier asks me if I have a CVS card. I kindly answer in the negative. Cashier then asks me if I want a CVS card. I kindly repeat my earlier answer. Cashier then grabs a random CVS card out of a stack of CVS cards sitting behind the counter and scans it so that the computer thinks I have a CVS card.

The kicker is that the same scene is usually playing out at the register next to me, just finished playing out with the customer in front of me, and I can hear it playing out with the customer behind me as I'm walking out. And the exact same thing happens every time I go to the Winn-Dixie grocery store as well.

Some people don't want to register for these kinds of cards because while they get you "discounts" on certain items, they also give the company the ability to track your purchases. Me, I could care less if the folks at CVS keep track of which brand of candy bar is my favorite. I just don't want to carry around yet another piece of plastic in my overflowing wallet - at least not one as pointless as a store discount card.

But regardless of the reasons, the bottom line is people don't want to play these kind of games. Even the employees seem to agree that the whole thing is so silly that they're scanning random cards into the computer just so no one walks away angry at having had to pay higher prices. You know a company's in trouble when every employee knows something ain't working, and has invented a way to work around it, but management still hasn't figured out that they need to get rid of it.

While I'm not sure I would want the government to actually make a specific law against it, I can't quite figure out how it can be considered legal for a store to force you to pay higher prices if you don't want them collecting personal data on you. It's not something I can really get worked up over, but I'm guessing there have been enough blow-ups over this that the employees are intent on making sure that no one leaves the register without getting the discounted prices.

But more importantly, I wonder if the stores that pull this crap realize just how much business they're losing because of it? I can't be the only one who finds myself actively trying to avoid shopping at any store that asks me if I have a card.

I don't find it invasive, intrusive, threatening, or harmful. I just find it annoying enough that I'd rather shop somewhere else.