Ever been asked for your zip code/telephone number when making a purchase???

[dixiegrrrrl]

I have, when using my debit card.
Turns out, getting your zip code is the key to getting your address, for marketing database ( and maybe nefarious) reasons.

A direct marketing services company Harte-Hanks describes the GeoCapture service they offer retail businesses as follows: “Users simply capture name from the credit card swipe and request a customer’s ZIP code during the transaction. GeoCapture matches the collected information to a comprehensive consumer database to return an address.” In a promotional brochure, they claim accuracy rates as high as 100%.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/adamtanner/2013/06/19/theres-a-billion-reasons-not-to-give-stores-your-zip-code-ever/

Also turns out there have been several lawsuits which supported customers, making asking for zip codes or other information illegal when you buy something.

[ForgoTheConsequence]

1. I don't tell them.

Usually I say "i live in the woods".

[CurtEastPoint]

2. When asked for phone or zip, I politely say, "I decline" and have never gotten any guff.

Same with filling out forms (medical/doctors are notorious) asking for Social Security Number.

[marions ghost]

13. Same here

I just say No, thanks. (The thanks is to the cashier)

And they usually take my money.

[randome]

3. It depends on what mood I'm in.

Sometimes I'll simply say, "No, thanks."

Sometimes I leap over the counter and decapitate the clerk.

[hr]
[font color="blue"][center]I'm always right. When I'm wrong I admit it.
So then I'm right about being wrong.[/center][/font]
[hr]

[Whisp]

4. I make up a phone number. usually 555-1234. you can use it too if you like.

sometimes the cashiers don't even question it and punch it in. that's the best case scenario.

when they do question it and ask if that's a real number I say No. And they leave it at that.

[politicat]

16. 867-5309

I use it for almost everything. Apparently, so do other people.

[msanthrope]

21. Jenny? Is that you? nt

[uppityperson]

58. I use that in grocery stores and gas discounts. Once got 50 cents a gallon off gas as lots of

people use it.

[Lint Head]

5. Gas stations do this at the pump when you purchase with a credit card.

[demwing]

8. As does RedBox / nt

[Indianademocrat91]

32. I think they use it for security.

Whenever I accidentally put in the wrong zip, it says that the transaction has been declined and I have to do it again with the right zip. I'm pretty sure it's so people can't swipe your card then use it at places where no person is there to verify your info. Maybe I'm delusional in thinking that?

[randome]

34. I think they say it's for security but that's a dodge.

I could be wrong but why don't online sites ask for zip codes when you use your credit card?

[hr]
[font color="blue"][center]I'm always right. When I'm wrong I admit it.
So then I'm right about being wrong.[/center][/font]
[hr]

[ManiacJoe]

37. They do, along with the rest of your address.

If the address does not match the billing address, the transacton is declined. Many also ask for the CVV number on the back of the card.

[randome]

48. Yeah, that's right, I forgot they usually ask for a billing address.

I use my debit card, haven't used my credit card for a long time I'd forgotten.

[hr]
[font color="blue"][center]I'm always right. When I'm wrong I admit it.
So then I'm right about being wrong.[/center][/font]
[hr]

[RobinA]

61. Gas Stations

and convenience stores are popular targets for credit car thieves. Don't ask me why, I'd head for a clothing store.

[Jenoch]

38. You are correct about

the security thing. The card will not work unless the zip code of the billing address is punched in. If someone steals the card but doesn't get the address, then they can't use the card at the pump. Frankly, I think carrying credit and debit cards separately from an ID might be a good idea. Except that it would be easier to misplace them. Then again, the last time I lost a wallet I was in the 4th grade. My name was written inside and a lady from our church found it. My ID and credit cards were all gone.

[babylonsister]

45. You had

credit cards in the 4th grade?

My wallet got ripped 8 months ago; I vowed never to carry both debit cards at the same time, but they're now both in my wallet for various reasons. I think I'll hide one right now! I AM much more careful fwiw...

[Jenoch]

49. Unless I think I am going to need

them, I only carry one credit card at a time. I only have one debit card. Yeah, the ID and credit card thing as a fourth grader was my small attempt at humor. I have a thin card holder that fits in my pocket. Paper money is on a money clip. Like most people, I no longer carry my checkbook, although I still have paper checks if I need them. I still remember years ago the first time I wrote a check, they ran it through their machine and handed it back to me. I thought, what the hell, am I going to do with this? I wanted them to turn the check over to their bank, it goes to the Federal Reserve Bank and then to my bank and it's returned to me in my monthly statement. Just writing that makes me feel old.

[wercal]

53. My assumption is that this is to prevent fraud

There is a 'right' answer; and, if I don't know it, I can't get gas.

So, the card reader already knows my billing zip code as soon as I swipe.

So, I question the story in the OP.

[Habibi]

6. Price Rite has been doing this lately.

I simply say "No" when they ask if they can have my zip. What are they gonna do, refuse to take my money?

[EvilAL]

7. I went to 'The Source'

to by a wifi router and they wanted my name, address and phone number. for their records.. Whatever the fuck that means
I said a fake name and told him he couldn't have anything else. He said he had to put it in to complete the sale, I told him to put his address and phone number in. He put something in and rang me up.

[kestrel91316]

9. I just tell them it's none of their business.

[mattvermont]

10. 'cybernetic breaking and entering' n/t

[HipChick]

11. Yes..and they don't get it..if they persist, I walk out and leave the store

[Nye Bevan]

12. I say 90210 (nt)

[HappyMe]

14. I just say 'no, thanks'.

Nobody ever gave me a hard time.

[ManiacJoe]

15. Yes, it is for marketing purposes.

Since I know that they know that I know, giving them a false answer keeps everyone happy and the lines moving quickly.

[LeftInTX]

22. I will do this next time I'm at the gas station pump

That is the only time I use my credit card. I use the keypad and they ask for my zip. I thought they were asking for security reasons, to verify that I'm the person that has the credit card. But if they're just doing it for marketing, I think I'll make something up, like 66666

[Ilsa]

28. The pump declines my discover card if I

Code in the wrong zip. This happened at two places when I moved from one zip to another a couple of years ago.

[ManiacJoe]

29. At the pump it is for security purposes.

At the cash register it is for marketing.

[greytdemocrat]

35. Yep. nt

[treestar]

17. Yes, and email address!

Because you will surely want to hear all about future deals!

[JI7]

18. yes, often it's to find out whether they should open up a store in a different location

i remember trader joes doing this even when i paid with cash.

[NV Whino]

31. Yep, and I happily gave them my zip

A couple of years later we got our own Trader Joes.

[arely staircase]

19. i politely decline

radio shack has done that for decades.

[Sgent]

20. Depends

In certain cases its being collected for verification purposes -- especially if you don't sign your receipt. Although it can be collected for marketing purposes, it is also used by various vendors to help deter fraud (someone might steal or reproduce your credit card, but your zip code is not on your magnetic stripe). It can be part of the requirement to process a CC.

[Hekate]

23. Phone number gets me the store "club" discount. Have been doing this for years...

... and it seemed pretty innocuous. A couple of small local stores ask me for my zip code, and I just figured they were trying to keep track of where their customer base was.

Well, well.

I never let anyone "swipe" my driver's license though, nor do I reveal my SSN.

[dixiegrrrrl]

24. I fill out the discount card with creative answers

complete with a made up phone number, and rarely use my debit card, I use cash.
I have always been prickly abou tmy privacy.

What bothers me even more is stupidity...I know the cash register minion has been told to get the information,
but also has no way to know if the info. is correct and blindly enters whatever you say, so hopefully is gathering a lof of dis-information.
But where I live, most people will automatically give out all sorts of info.

[tabbycat31]

56. My discount cards are under my (now late) kitty's name

And I used my regular address. I figured if Tabby Lastname ever got mail I knew where it was coming from.

[dixiegrrrrl]

57. Exactly!

My dog has websites, junk mail, all sorts of stuff he has "signed up" for.....

[CreekDog]

25. They don't always ask

sometimes they already know the zip of the van down by the river.

[bluedigger]

26. For years now.

I don't give them my phone number, because then they will call you to do "customer satisfaction surveys" , but I don't care if they have my zip code. It just tells them where their customers are coming from for future expansion plans.

[MrSlayer]

27. Yeah, everytime just about.

I give it to them to access the supercard or whatever from whatever store I'm buying shit from. Gets you discounts and all. I dont care if I get target marketed. In fact, I like it. I like getting discounts on things I buy a lot of.

[Baitball Blogger]

30. Mobil station machines always ask for it.

[yellerpup]

33. We give our zip code

in order to have the sales tax calculated to our village. Where we shop, the local sales tax rate is over 10%; where we live the rate is 5.6%. I don't know if this is the practice in all of NY, but it is in our county.

[LWolf]

36. I just had an argument about this

the last time I got a haircut; granted, I only do cheap haircuts once or twice a year, but I'd been getting my cheap haircut at this place for 8 years, and suddenly they wanted my zip code. I said no, and she said that she couldn't enter the haircut without it, so I said no thanks.

My hair looks pretty bad right now; I took my ponytail, held it up, and lopped off about 5 inches, leaving enough hair to get it back in the tail and up off my neck if it ever gets warm this summer. With the only pair of very dull scissors in the house.

Still.

[dixiegrrrrl]

42. She lied.

There have been, and still are, lawsuits about denial of service because of no zip code.
But, as someone pointed out up thread, it is easier and faster to give them a fake zip than to hassle about it.

[LWolf]

44. I'm going to have to find somewhere

that will cut my hair before work resumes in August; what I've got going now is not "professional," to say the least.

A fake zip is a good idea.

[tabbycat31]

39. Keep in mind

That at most stores, the cashiers are scored on how many zipcodes/phone numbers that they capture and they will get in trouble if they don't meet their quotas. So if you are uncomfortable giving out your own, make one up then complain to the store's corporate office.

(I've been that cashier).

[dixiegrrrrl]

43. Thank you so much for that info.

Tis sad that people are being threatened if they do not act like "good Germans" gather private info about their customers.

[tabbycat31]

46. I agree

But in Big Box stores, the worker bees have no say in anything. Even the store level management has no say. It's all directed from corporate.

[Jenoch]

40. There are places that ask for your zip code

for all transactions, not just those with credit cards. The retail establishment wants to know where their customers are coming from. There is an Aldi store near my house that periodically asks for zip codes (they don't take credit cards). They do this to see where they might wish to open a new store. I give them the zip code of a town 30 miles away that is on the way to our northern Minnesota property. It would make it easier to buy groceries on the way.

[Cleita]

41. I always get asked for my zip code at Kmart. They took my phone number for

a discount card, but I gave them one that I don't use anymore. Only friends and family have my cell phone number which is what I use. I give everyone else a former number I once had that I canceled because I was being overwhelmed with telemarketers. Can't fake the zip code though.

[Gidney N Cloyd]

47. It's been a long-running joke about Radio Shack.

But I think they finally gave up the practice.

[valerief]

50. I never give my phone number and always give 90210 for my zip. nt

[DeSwiss]

51. I give 'em the first (01001) or the last (99950).....

The lowest ZIP code for any of the U.S. States is 01001 which is for Agawam, Massachusetts. The highest ZIP code for any of the U.S. States is 99950 for Ketchikan, Alaska. link

- They still don't believe me.....

K&R

[virgogal]

52. Yep,and I just give fake ones.Makes me feel good for some reason.

[rdking647]

54. heres a good phone number to use if asked for one

512.477.9821

its the number to the texas republican party

[Fuddnik]

55. I went to Best Buy and was trying to buy a cheap DVD player for cash.

They wouldn't sell it to me without name, address, zip, and phone.

I told the clerk all he needed was my cash. He wouldn't do it.

I walked out, and went across the street and bought it.

[krawhitham]

59. Retail stores also ask so you are charged the correct tax

[dixiegrrrrl]

60. I don't follow that....

can you explain for me, pls?

[krawhitham]

62. Different zip codes have different sales tax percentages

At least in Ohio they do

[dixiegrrrrl]

63. Well, that is true here also, but we pay at point of sale.

So where we live makes no difference, if I shop in another county I pay the rate of tax at that store.