14 July 2009

shopping savings, without the card



preferred savings, V.I.C., plus card, extra care, fresh value...

i'm tired of all the savings tags hanging from my key chain. but i've noticed a disturbing trend lately; if i don't have said card, i won't receive the discount.

well now i'm on a crusade against these plastic, shopping-trend-tracking cards and tags.

let me back up a little bit. recently, my local grocery store began telling its customers that cashiers would not be able to simply scan a store savings card in place of the customer's own card. in addition, a listed phone number is also not acceptable to take the place of the savings card. because i had lost my original key tag years prior, i again signed up for a replacement savings card. i noticed that this same policy had carried over to numerous other shopping stores and their savings card requirements.

so today, when i was at the kroger in my sister's hometown, i knew that my kroger plus card (yes, i actually do have one) was not with me. as i was shopping, i continued to pick up product after product that required a 'plus card' for the additional savings. not stopping me, i continued my shopping. when i got up to the u-scan lane, i nicely told the surly cashier that i didn't my kroger card. without even looking at me, i had obviously put her out. she began to get a card application out of her drawer as she was telling me that she was not supposed to scan a card for me. sternly, i told her that i was from out of town (and i had NO intention of applying for ANOTHER kroger savings card). luckily for me (insert sarcastic eye roll) a in-store banker allowed her to scan his card for me to receive the savings.

so as the blood boiled a tad on my drive home, i realized that i may stop using these cards completely. and if there's an issue, i will take it to the store's management. they do not need to know what i purchase. and if they're willing to give special pricing to those *elite* card-carrying customers, they can sure as hell give it to me, too.

*snap*

5 comments:

teresa-bug said...

Harris Teeter would happily take your phone number! You really do save a lot of money, but those cards are a pain to keep up with!

g said...

then we'll just shop at Whole Food's, Trader Joe's, and other local markets. Screw em.

Lyn said...

I think we should all protest by letting the cashier ring up our items and then inform her/him that the discount card is lost. If they won't scan the store card just tell them you don't want the groceries and walk out. Might want to do this with just a dozen or so items or if you have the time to shop somewhere else get a cartload. If everyone does this we may cause enough hassle that store managers will think twice about losing customers over the stupid cards.
Glad you guys aren't flying today!

Dissident Doula said...

I had forgotten about this irritating practice in American grocery stores until I went to your Jewel without Andrea and so didn't have a store card to scan so had to pay full price for everything. I was highly annoyed! I don't see how it's even legal, let alone ethical. Bastards, the lot of them. Protest, I say! Then report back and tell us if you are successful.

Unknown said...

i have to say, i haven't had too much trouble with the local jewel employees allowing me to use their store card when i don't have mine with me. that said, i still think this is a load of crap and just allows the stores to hike up prices to rip off those who don't have a card with their store or have forgotten to bring it along. i don't even have a dominick's card but i give them my old phone number and they always say "have a nice day ms. carpenter" because apparently that's who has my number now (along with an active frequent shopper card) and will appear to big brother to be the one buying massive quanities of wine, not me. :)

 
Blog Design by Sweet Simplicity