Hey I’m sure you all know how sketchy club cards are for collecting your data. But I do begrudge paying slightly higher prices just for valuing my privacy. I was wondering if there was any way to sign up to these things whilst limiting the data they have access to. Would it be enough to sign up with fake details and never use their apps? Or should I just give up on this all together? Thanks!
If they let you give them a phone number, I always use (in the USA) my area code plus 867-5309. So far it has always work. Younger checkout people don’t see anything unusual and older ones get a laugh out of it.
What happens if someone else beats you to that and uses your fuel points?
That’s part of the fun. Sometimes you get someone else’s fuel points too. It’s kind of like gambling whenever you fuel up. Over the long term it probably evens out, or at least I feel like I get a fuel discount pretty often with it so I don’t worry about it. Worse case I’m helping someone else save a few bucks, it doesn’t feel like a problem.
Yes that’s largely the joke, although I did once get $13 off in a single fill-up. It was the early days of the pandemic so between medicine refills and stocking up on groceries we’d maxed it out to $1/off per gallon. Combined with the plunge in gas prices it was the first time I’d paid under $1/gallon since the turn of the millennium.
If you know anyone that has a card, ask them can you use it or ask in local groups. On reddit people used to share pictures of their clubcards so other people could scan it when they shop. The card holders get loads of extra points and the people that use the cards get the discount and privacy, win-win
At my old group’s monthly meetings we’d all chuck our cards into a hat, stir them around to randomize them, and take them out again.
Fake details and don’t use the app should do the job.
Along with all the comments here, always use cash with the card too.
Once you use a credit/debit card with it, they’ll have an association.
