Where I live there is a grocery store chain that has this thing they call ‘fuel perks.’ For every $50 that you spend on groceries, you get 10 cents of per gallon of gas that you purchase from their gas stations. Obviously a good deal right now. In order to get the deal you must have a free ‘advantage card’ from the store which you scan before you purchase your groceries. In order to get the advantage card you have to fill out some paper work giving them your name, sex, birthdate, etc, so they can sell the marketing info (what you are buying) to interested parties. Give a little get a little.
The other day one of my friends told me that he was standing in line behind this old lady at one of those self checkouts. He sees the lady doesn’t have an advantage card so he asks her if she wants to scan his so she can get discounts on her groceries (which she would) she says ‘oh yes’ and procedes to buy $100 worth of groceries, earning him 20 cents off in fuel perks. What do you think about this? Do you think doing something like this is unfair to the store or does it fall under the catagory of fair game?
Its unfair to the store, but its the store’s responsibility to think of these things before they implement the system. I’ve noticed that most grocery store chains sell gas , something like 5 cents cheaper than nearby gas stations, mabey something more traditional is in order. You can tell that im not philosophical…but more of a practical kind o guy.
We do that around here too. The advantage card courtesy swipe is prety common. I would say that if you have the courtesy to provide a discount for someone, then it’s a fair bonus to recieve the fuel perks. She could have asked a cashier, but then no one would have reieved the benefit.
Not unethical, unless the guy swore not to do such a thing when he got the card…
I hated those stupid ass advantage cards when I was in California. What function do they serve, other than to spam me, get me on telemarketing lists, and fill my mail box with junk mail? We don’t have those at any stores here, and our grocery stores are 10 times better. I am so thankful for HEB.
a lot of store checkers will ask if you have the card, if you dont…they will just type in a number, or slide a card they have handy so that you get the discount. there is one close to me that gives you 4.06 off on gas if you spend $50 bux, and the checkers do the same there…i dont think they really care much, because either way it gets people to shop there.
also, a lot of the 2 for (put certain price here) wil work if you only buy one, you still get it at the discount rate.
Fuck the store. Your friend helped the old lady from getting raped by the store, and he got a break on some overpriced gas as a reward. I hate how Kroger and Safeway and all their respective affiliates make you use their value card or you get fucked on the prices when you check out. So much stuff is jacked up and then put on value card, just so you will use the card it’s rediculous. You aren’t really saving anything, and it’s not a sale you’re just being hassled to use the card. Wal-Mart’s prices on the same groceries are usually cheaper everyday than the prices at those stores with the card. If their everyday price was just a little more and you didn’t have to use the card, I would shop there because I like the smaller outfits that try to do more for their employees, but the card has pissed me off since day one. Now you can just punch in your phone number, so it’s less of a hassle, but when they only had the cards I would run to the store because it was close and them remember I forgot my card so I’d ask people if they had one. I would also let someone use my card. If no one was around I would curse at the clerk because they wouldn’t give me a break and just swipe the card in their pocket(I know it’s not their fault, I’m just a jerk I guess) and one time I threw some groceries. You shouldn’t have to give the grocery store your fucking life history just to get a fair price on toilet paper.