Rewards Cards Everywhere ! ! ! Is This Annoying to Anyone Eles???

Have you ever noticed how every single rewards card seems to be red? I am constantly pulling out the wrong one.

My biggest pet peeve is that often, when I receive a "rewards" coupon, the expiration date is right around the corner or you can only get the reward on a specific day - generally a day I can't shop. Some reward.

A couple of them are worth it. Kohls. TJ Maxx is generous with coupons and they have long expiration dates. I've been able to accumulate a lot of points with Kmart. But most don't do it for me.

I don't give out my email or phone number when asked at the register. I'll give my zip code because that'll help them target my area with advertising but all other information is mine alone.

Yes it annoys me but I love saving so... I just uploaded all my cards on an app on my phone so that I don't have to carry a HUGE wallet. It is totally working and all I need with me is my phone which I have anyway. Maybe that would help¿

Key fob discount cards? Yes.
Reward cards with no key fob option? No.
"Punch" style cards for a cumulative "free" something? Round file!

I think what gets me even more is the seeming barrage of questions to buy an eyeliner or bag of chips:
Zip code?
Have any coupons?
Are you on our mailing list?
Will you give us your email so we can send you special offers?
Would you like to save 5% by opening a credit card?
NOOOOO!!!!!

Yes, it annoys me to no end! I think that the stores should offer one price to everyone - I hate that people who don't have a card at certain stores have to pay a highter price. For example you will see the sale say "card price". I think is unethical.

Also can't stand all the extra receipts and printed coupons for things that I don't use that the cashier at the grocery stores hand to me.

Another aggravation is no matter where you go to shop they ask if you want to donate to one cause or another and when you say no, the cashier looks at you like you are greedy. JC Penny always asks do you want to donate .16cents, 10 cents, etc.. to round out your bill and donate to this cause or that cause - even though it is a small amt. I always say no, it may not be a cause that I am interested in.

It takes forever to wait in line because the cashier is asking all these personal questions and handing out miles of receipts for one item!

Yeah, drives me nuts. The worst one was Motherhood Maternity, where their whole business model is to get your due date and info so they can put you on mailing lists for formula. I'm usually pretty polite to people in stores, but I remember standing there, extremely pregnant and hormonal, saying, "Can I please just buy this thing and leave????"

Yes, I am beyond tired of them. Even worse, I lie about personal info on the applications. So, if I forget the card, they can never find me in their system using a phone number, etc. I don't see any reason to give them my personal info to get the fair price for an item, and I don't sell my personal info for a few cents off here and there. Once the loyalty programs are in place, nothing is ever just "on sale" (which is what I consider the fair price) for non-loyalty consumers. So, I don't feel bad giving them inaccurate personal info.

I also hate, hate, hate all these stores that go "do you have a ____ credit card? If you take one today, I'll give you an extra 30% off!" Or how Kohl's will only give certain sales with their credit card. I don't want all their credit cards, and I certainly don't want to give all my personal info to a cashier and every customer standing in line! I'm happy to pay with cash, check or debit, and it ticks me off to pay more to do so.

I hate them. I use one only, for a local store where I've shopped for 30 years and which promised to keep the info in-store only. Otherwise, those are just too intrusive and annoying – yet another tiny piece of business to keep track of, and to let big companies track your spending habits.

At least one other big chain store in my town does clearly mark up their prices for non-members. I don't shop there.

I agree. I hate it too. But what annoys me even more is stores that don't have a reward card or anything but they do ask you for your phone number and/or zip code at check-out. What is that all about?

I know it is annoying so I only join if I shop there often. There can be great rewards for places you frequent too. I love Target because they track my purchases and I often get special offers from them that are personalized based on what I buy. They don't mark products up, the companies pay to have their products marked down. And at many of these places, you don't even need your little card anymore. You can just give the phone number you registered with and they'll look you up that way. Like I said, there can be great perks if it is somewhere you shop a lot. Otherwise I don't do it.

Do they drive me nutty and clog my wallet? Yes.

Do I use them anyway? Yes.

We never pay full price for gas (my grocery card gets me discounts on each gallon of gas).

I shop on Tuesday's at the Gap so I get double points - points add up pretty fast then and I get a $10 coupon when I reach a certain number. I also use my Gymboree points regularly.

I get a free loaf of bread every 12 at my local bakery... and a free pair of shoes after 12 at my local shoe store, that's huge!

I know that they are using the info to track my purchases (the electronic ones anyway - not the bakery or shoe store)... but I don't care. I figure it's win win. They can market me and I can be "loyal" to them and we are all happy.

If it drives you crazy....Just say no.

I do not carry the cards, I give them my phone number and viola! There is the discount..

I have one for Wallgreens, and I keep hearing how some purchases give you 5000 bonus points. What are the points for, exactly?

I do know I purchased a $3.50 bag of Gardetto's for $.99, so you do get a really go deal once in awhile.

But, I hear ya!

It annoys the heck out of me . . . I stopped going to CVS for that very reason. Then Walgreens started doing it!

These companies are using all this data in heaven only knows how many ways. It's very intrusive imho. If I'm getting a GREAT sale price - maybe then I do it. Otherwise I've started saying no, and paying cash.

The main one I use is for Safeway cause my hubby and I get really great deals and save on both groceries and gas this way. I often get 10 to 20 cents per gallon off of gas after I accumulate so many points on my shopping card. I get the points simply by using the card for discounts on food. Mine add up since I also sometimes grocery shop for the family I nanny for. The others I usually don't bother with but I seem to always end up with ones from every store.

I don't like them either. I shop at Hy-Vee grocery store a lot, and they don't have them. I think it is an information gathering fest. You know, each time you scan a card, your purchases are tracked. That's how you get coupons for things you really buy. That's how one grocery store did it around here. So now if you think of every store that has a scan card, think of how much info someone has of you, of what you buy. I don't really like it so I don't do it much.

I know! It's gotten to the point where I have begun to avoid stores that I don't frequent, even if they happen to be convenient at the time. Why? Because I can't find the stupid card and I have having to have the whole conversation at the register:
Yes, I opened a card once but I don't give out my phone number ever so you won't have it in your system.
No, I don't want a new card.
Yes I'm sure.
No, I don't want to save money I want you to ring up this one thing I came in here for so I can move on with my life!
As to why they do it? I think it's to track your buying habits. It's not about making you think you saved a dollar a today, it's about seeing what items you would buy anyway even if they raised the price or what other items they could get you to buy.

I figure I can't get the stores to stop doing this. They're on a roll. It's their current game.

So if they want me to have a FREE (!) reward card, I'll take one, but that doesn't mean I'm going to buy something not on my shopping list, even if it's worth 500 points (whatever that means). I'm not going to frequent a restaurant more often just to see what deals I might get. The "deals" the stores push at me every day on e-mail I send to the junk department.

I can make my finances work much, much better if I ignore the siren voices that come with all these cards!

I also ended up taking the reward cards out of my wallet (except the grocery store one, which I really use) and putting them in a separate little zippered card holder. So when a clerk says, "Do you have one of our reward cards?" I answer, truthfully, "I don't know," pull out this holder, and start sorting through them all. There are at least thirty, I think. Usually the clerk is laughing by the time I find the right one. Sometimes the people in line behind me are laughing, too - at least the handful who aren't getting annoyed.

I do check pretty carefully to make sure somebody else isn't taking advantage of that card to reward him/herself. That has only happened once. I contacted the company, cut up that card and tossed it in the trash, and don't patronize that store.

Some stores ask you for your phone number or your zip code to track the parts of town their customers live in ("Oh, look at all the customers who come from the north end - we should think about opening a store there"). Try saying, "I don't give out that information." I'll bet they'll take your money anyway.

Stores are going to do this, I only have them for stores I frequent and I have a key ring that has them and that stays in my purse, not my actual keys. I do follow up with them and get my rewards, but it often takes a long time of shopping there to get the reward.

I figure that as long as I use credit/debit cards to buy everything, they're tracking my info anyway, so I might as well just go whole-hog and get the loyalty card. because it drives me nuts to have my wallet or keyring full of loyalty cards, I load them all into Passport on my iPhone. That way I don't have to carry anything around except my phone (which I carry with me always anyway), and I get the discounts.

I don't do coupons at all, ever (I'm not opposed to them, I'm just not organized enough to make use of them), but at grocery stores and places like that, a loyalty card can often be better than coupons in terms of savings. It is what it is, and I don't think it's going away...

I have a love/hate relationship with them! Most of the time I just input my phone number because I hate all those things on my key ring or in my wallet! I do love some of ther rewards I get for buying products I already buy anyways! I recently receieved a $16 check to be spent at Raleys/BelAir and coupons! I barely even shop there and still earned the $16!! Loved it went and picked up some stuff and ended up only spending $3!

I only take cards for stores that I frequent enough that it's worth getting their special sales flyers or personal savings because you have their card. I know it's all about tracking and advertising and selling merchandise. We're pretty much an organics household, so they can send me any type of coupons they want; 9 out 10 times, everything goes into the recycling bin because I can't/won't use it anyway. But I do use their card for the extra savings, yes.

COPPS, a grocery store by us, has a rewards program. You get so much off gas with every dollar you spend at their store. They used to use BP, but then BP started their own loyalty program and dropped COPPS promotion. So then COPPS went with Shell. So I no longer use their point system, because I don't get gas at Shell. I buy only at Mobil and BP, because that's who I have credit cards for (that get paid off every month). So depending on what/how much I'm spending (I rarely buy groceries at COPPS to begin with because they barely carry anything organic), I many times never even give them my card. I just tell them I don't do the gas savings ption.

I, too, hate when they ask for extra info at the cash register. I will answer them when they ask for zip code (it has something to do with tracking how busy the stores are), but I don't give them an e-mail or my phone number (unless it's the COPPS grocery store and I forgot my card).

And I HATE when they ask if you'd like to apply for their specific store's credit card. Um, hello? I already have a VISA card; I don't need a credit card for every store I visit. I'm trying to cut DOWN on debt, not add to it. And having all of those cards on your FICA/credit scores works against you, not for you.

Want to know the best rewards card I have? My GODIVA card! I am guaranteed one free truffle/one free peice of chocolate every month if I buy something. So my daughter and I go to the mall every month and get one free truffle and I buy one truffle. We get our treat, we've used their card, and we haven't blown our pocket book. I know they hate when we do that, but there's nothing in writing that says I can't use it that way. And we get to have a purely sinful indulgence!

I love the money I save with reward cards, but I hate the space they take up in my wallet. I had to buy a gigantic Lug wallet to hold everything. I collect reward points and have used them to purchase 3 Tv's, a BBQ, a Wii, a Little Tikes wagon, a backyard fire pit, 2 Nintendo DS's, a large mirror and numerous Christmas gifts. I also can't imagine having to pay the regualr price for an item at Safeway rather than the club member price! I have been a stay-at-home mom for ten years, so I have to be frugal and live on a budget so we can live comfortably on one income, and coupons and rewards cards really help.

Yes, it is ridiculous!

However, there are some places like Kroger or Rite Aid you have to have them to get the better price. So I do go along with them.

If its not required I usually don't sign up for them though. But I admit I do have some that aren't out of necessity to get a better price.

I can't keep up with them all. I DO use the ones that charge me through my nose if I DON'T use them. The ones at the coffee shop and deli's? Good grief. My keychain can only hold so much, and if they only have the big card that makes my wallet too fat or if they won't accept the phone number that I have memorized, forget it.

I will say that I got burned by Barnes and Noble which charged my credit card for a year discount card without my permission. Jerks...

Dawn

All those cards drive me nuts. I started using the option to have the cashier punch in my phone number so I don't have to remember the card. But more surveys and sales people are calling me lately and that may be where they're getting my phone number. You don't have to fill out the entire rewards card form or give them your address unless you want coupons mailed to you. Sometimes all they need is your name and you can make one up and refuse the email promos and junk mail sent to your home.

I agree that it is getting a little out of hand, but I do enjoy some of them. I really like the babiesrus/toysrus one. It was great when I had my baby shower, because I was able to track gifts and return duplicates etc without having to have 10 reciepts with me. Returns are SOOO much easier with the card. I do like the kroger one too. It just gives me sale prices, where others would have to pay full price. It is a way for the store to only give sale prices to a certain amount of their shoppers, but since I am included in it, I don't mind.

I love my Stop and Shop and CVS cards! Since I shop at these stores regularly, I am able to plan savings and it really adds up.

I read recently (I think in the Wall Street Journal) that when you are in a store and the cashier asks for your zip code, it allows them to combine this with info from your credit card and target you for mailings.

I so agree, I am so sick of the reward cards. Kroger is my favorite grocery store but I hate all of their gimmicky card promotions. Unfortunately you have to use some of them to get a deal. The walgreens one is good, 5000 points equals $5. I've already gotten like $40 since they started it.