I don't have a problem with a system like this used for reasons described above, but if they become used for marketing purposes they are invasive and annoying.

Where does big brother come into play? A grocery store does the right thing and calls people who voluntarily submitted their information to the company's database and bought a bad product. It may even save some people visits to a medical facility.

I'd be ok with being called for recall notification. Just as long as they aren't robocalling me to advertise stuff or promote.

I like this--they obviously have the data on your shopping behavior, and if they can keep you from eating it and getting sick off whatever chemical residue, that's no more intrusive than giving you coupons for rivals of your normal brands.

In this case it seems like a reasonable use of the info attached to these useful discount cards.

If I bought some of this tainted crap, who ever lives at 1224 poop street ZXY Az 85281 with phone number 602-222-3333 will get the call.

@Ratty: Well said.

I wish that they'd also use it to automatically send me coupons. Like, hey, we noticed that you've been buying a lot of diapers lately, here are some coupons for wipes and baby food.

I would also prefer email over robo-calls, but more people probably have phones over email.

I use an old card my parents gave me. If they tried calling the number associated with it, it won't be to me.

@Ratty: Yea... I'm not really sure where Laura's dislike is coming from here.

I am fully aware everytime I use a loyalty card that my purchases are being tracked. I also tried to give out as little personal information as possible. Recently, Kroger sent me a bunch of in-store coupons that were, "coincidentally" for items that I purchase from them quite often. I don't really mind this, and as long as they don't have my ss# or birthdate, it doesn't seem like that big of a deal. I get barraged by a lot more random junk mail than I do directed marketing.

Why in the world would you be uncomfortable that this information is used to notify people of a food recall? That's a great use of the data they have! Wegmans has signs in their store telling you they'll do this, and I've always wondered if they actually do it.

Wow, what did everyone think the loyalty cards are for? Marketing, that's what. But they also use your debit card too. That's why we get personalized coupons when we checkout, for things we did NOT buy this time, but often do.

This honestly seems the only legit usage of loyalty cards, beyond coupons.

The second they start calling about ads is the second I stop shopping there, however.

Oh no! Stores are watching what I buy to send me coupons (and information) for the items I buy anyway. Stop the presses!

@dragonfire81: I dunno, Kroger sends me customized coupons for stuff I actually buy, and I don't think they've whored me out to anyone or sent anything else that stood out as more annoying than any other grocery store flyer in the paper.

This seems like a great use of the information. I know if I had a bad batch of something go out, I'd be on the phone to my customers in a hurry.

This is the only case I've ever heard of in which this sort of data was used to the benefit of the consumer. Certainly, it's less evil than using purchase history for marketing purposes, or making it available to opposing parties in lawsuits, etc.

@winshape: Kroger's has started automatically sending me coupons. I got my second batch yesterday, featuring coupons for the store-brand frozen veggies, juice concentrate, and breakfast sausage I buy every two weeks along with my preferred brand of laundry detergent, bread, soap, and toothpaste. Sweet! The coupons have a $16.50 face value and all but two of them (a box of cookies and a cake mix) are things I was going to buy in the next month anyway.

I don't see anything wrong with this at all. Kudos for some creative thinking on their part, even.

@Shadowfire: One of the comments in the link mentions big brother first off. Cue an eyeroll for it. People seem to think any entity gathering information = big brother, oh noes.

This is one of the very GOOD uses of the shopper card datbases. If people are scared of the phantom grocer big brother boogeyman, they're welcomed to pay cash and not use a discount card. And they're also welcomed to research any and all food recalls on their own.

@winshape: Most people I know don't give out e-mail on the card forms, so calling is probably a more effective bet.

I do like the catered coupons. Walgreens seems to do it for me. Failing that, tracking the general purchasing habits of an area can also influence specials/sales for fliers and make shopping nicer too. I like my cards.

@dragonfire81: They should be used for marketing. So many grocers collect the valuable data and then don't use it. Companies like Tesco collect the data and tailor stores the tastes of the neighborhood.

My mom gets all sorts of promotions from various clothing stores because I always give her home number. She asked me one day "Why am I getting a coupon for a free thong?"

@vladthepaler: How is marketing evil? They track the popular items and tailor stores to meet customer preferances. How is this a bad thing?

I've seen this done many times before. I say, if they're collecting the information anyhow (and you know they are), then why not use it when it's needed for the good of the customer?

This isn't the first time this has been brought up here. I'm really not sure what "big, bad things" people think are going to happen because your local grocery store has your telephone number. Was there a paranoia meeting I didn't attend? It's not like the majority of your pertinent details aren't a google away.

@vladthepaler: Many stores use it to give out coupons tailored for the consumer. How is this evil? This is awesome.

I think a more "intrusive" thing is when the health department uses a Dr.'s records to contact patients, but if it's the name of health concerns, then it's not bad. To be honest, this is no different than in the old days when you had the clerk who remembered what everyone bought, except it's grown with the times.

Someone please point me in the direction of the grocery store that sells those delicious star fruits pictured above...

I think it's a great use of the information. I know, everyone seems paranoid of stuff like this (maybe sometimes justified) but this, if used for just these types of things, is a great thing.

Typo? "...is being recalled due to chemical resides..."

I think you meant "residue"?

Just wait until these programs are used against you...Can't happen ? Here's a scenario...

2011. A courtroom in Nebraska.

(Attorney defending MonsterMega Insurance co.)

"Now,Mr. (or Ms.) Snarkysnake" ,he begins." "You submitted a claim to MonsterMega for open heart surgery on the fifteenth". "But I see here where you were also a pretty enthusiastic consumer of Oreo's, Rolling Rock beer,cheesecake and Blazin Buffalo Doritos over the last 5 years."

Mr. (Or Ms.) Snarkysnake fidgits uncomfortably in the witness chair...

"Do you really believe that MonsterMega Insurance should subsidize a lifestyle that consists of 9 hours a day of TV ,Blazin Buffalo Doritos and Rolling Rock Beer "?

(Snarkysnake) "But...It wasn't me !" (Reaches for nitroglycerin tablets) " I gave my card to my ex wife,my kids...Total strangers in line at the store so that they could get "points" !" I needed that operation "

(Thick glasses attorney like on the Simpsons)

"Your honor,we ask that the witness be denied coverage for leading a disatrously unhealthy lifestyle". We further ask that the contract between us be declared void"

(Judge,again,like on the Simpsons)

" I agree with counsel for MonsterMega." "Further,I can only hope that when I retire,there will be such wise decisons made by this company and that as their special consulting counsel,I will participate"...

(Snarkysnake collapses.The defibrillator dispenser in the lobby is "out of order")

To be fair Laura I think you might be over-reacting. I think I would be thrilled if my grocer called me up and warned me not to eat something hazardous to my health. Imagine if more stores did it during the Peanut Butter Recalls and how many people might not have been hospitalized?

@1234tu: How the heck did you get my information!?

Unfortunately I am in the midst of an epic battle with a sheet metal company using my phone number in advertisements... so even if that was really my phone number, I'm sure I could handle an additional 50 or so calls a day. *sigh*

Vons/Safeway began last month using the loyalty cards also. But instead of calling the consumers, the next time you shop, it prints a notice in bold type at the bottom of the receipt of any recall. If you look at the fine print at teh rewards cards, it states they will use the infomation to collect data on shopping trends. The chains sell the info to the products so they can see if a certain marketing campaign in an area was effective. I am not sure if the TOS for the cards has been updated though.

@Snarkysnake: Two words: alter ego. If Price Chopper was to look at the activity on my store card they would see that a certain Mr. Ricky Paradise sure does drink a lot of bourbon.

@HIV 2 Elway: When I said "marketing" I was thinking less of coupon offers and more of "sign up for stuff from these other companies who paid us to schill for them"

A+ to Price Chopper. (My favorite supermarket, so I'm already biased.) I have no problems with them calling me for these reasons.

I like this usage of the cards. Fry's sends me personalized coupons, which I love.

@dragonfire81: And I'm thinking more of actually matching the products in the store to the tastes of the customers. Any jackass can compete on price, its the lowest common denominator of marketing. Matching products to peoples tastes, that takes some effort.

@HIV 2 Elway: This particular example is good, but it's bad when they do things like lay out stores to put popular or related items on opposite ends of the store to purposefully make customers spend more time in the store.

@Tiber: Why? Is the store not in business to sell items? If you want more convenience pay higher prices at the 7-11. The only negative I can see is selling your info to third party marketers.

Stuffing all that data into a data warehouse is one of the main reasons a lot of these companies have loyalty cards. They're data mining, in some cases, literally years worth of purchases for buying patterns, etc and most of the time that data hasn't been made anonymous and often contains all your purchases w/ the associated loyalty card #. Drives are cheap. Databases are getting huge and fast. select * from purchase_history where upc = beer and user = "John Doe" .. ha. it's not Big Brother you need to worry about .. it's little brother. Problem is, as we learned w/ the telco debacle, little brother is more than willing to turn over for Big Brother with or without a warrant.

@nataku83: Did they pretend it was a coincidence? Because I can't imagine there'd be anything for them in being duplicitous about it.

@1234tu: I've changed addresses and phone numbers at least once since getting those loyalty cards. Even if I were honest they'd be warning whoever got my old contact info.

Is it even possible to update your contact info for a loyalty card? I imagine the grocery store employee would just give you a look and go, "Really?"

@HIV 2 Elway: I agree. :)

@Megalomania: No, they didn't. They also didn't say that they were tracking my purchases, although it was fairly obvious. Free store brand salad dressing is totally worth it, though.

@calquist: Is it like an 867-5309 incident?

I didn't fill out any information on my loyalty card - it worked without being "activated"

@Rectilinear Propagation: I figure they'd just give you a new one. I've never seen a grocery store loyalty card that costs money.

Well yea, duh, what did you think those "discount cards" that most stores have nowadays are for?!?!?!

And if they did not contact the customer rapidly and HAD this information the headline would be PRICE CHOPPER LETS CUSTOMERS DIE