One of my pet peeves is when retail shops ask me for my postal code when I buy something. It’s been happening more and more over the past few years and it’s really starting to annoy me.

What actually brought on this post was a recent experience at the local Mark’s Work Wearhouse store. To set you up I’ll explain a bit about my town. This town is located in South Western, Nova Scotia Canada and has less that ten thousand residents. It’s the biggest center in the area so everyone from around comes here to shop, do groceries, see movies, eat at restaurants, and more.

I was in the said store with my Mom while she was shopping for Dad for Christmas. They had some socks on sale, and I was in dire need of some, so I decided to pick them up. I brought them to the checkout and put them on the counter. The lady that was was serving me asked “What is your postal code?” my instant response was simply “No”. She looked at me kind of funny like and then punched something in the register and I proceeded to pay for my socks.

When I was done paying she looked at me again and said “We don’t use it [postal code] for anything.” That struck a nerve (because I know better) and I told her “That’s not true. You use it for marketing so you can send fliers to the areas where more people come from to shop.” She then proceeded to tell me that the only thing that they use it for is to figure out where to build new stores. Again I told her “That’s not true”. Then, the other clerk piped up and said “We’ll your gonna get the fliers anyway.”

So if I’m going to get the fliers anyway why they hell ask for it? Also, there’s never going to be a second store in this town. There just isn’t enough people to support two. It was a bold faced lie. Maybe she didn’t know that she was lying but I’m pretty sure that’s what they are told to tell customers when they do this. I’m also pretty sure that I’m the first person who ever said “No” to the postal code question.

Regardless, of the reasons why, they aren’t going to get my information and they should just be damned happy that I’m spending my money there. Most people just give out their information and don’t think twice about it but not me. I always say no because they just don’t need to be asking. They don’t need to know my postal code, email address or mailing address to buy a pair of socks.

Another company that is bad for requesting personal information is Canadian Tire. If you’ve ever tried to return a product there, they ask for your name, address and phone number. It’s not just enough to give you your money back they must plop you in their system and track you like an out of control teen. On a side note, Canadian Tire is the only store that I know of that still has turnstiles in the entrance and signs that say “You must leave all bags at the customer service counter. Your items are left at your own risk.” So I guess that probably says something about the trust (or lack thereof) they put in their customers.

So to sum things up, there are two things that annoy me in these situations. One is the collection of personal data and the other is the lack of explanation that the clerks are able provide. Their training is teaching them to not tell the full truth as to why they want this information.

That’s why I avoid giving them this information unless absolutely necessary.