I moved into a rental house and we had a stack of these that we'd just throw on the counter and take them whenever. As far as I know each one had been used by at least 2 generations of renters before me.

It must have been odd.."Wow, this vegan keeps buying the cheapest hot dogs ever..."

It'd be even better to figure out the details of their targeting algorithms and swap cards intelligently. If it looks like you used to be a strong (brand/store) customer and then stopped, they'll give you worthwhile coupons.

This is why they send coupons in the post to the card owner.

That's only effective if you shop with cash.

How so? My loyalty card is not linked to my preferred form of payment (atm).

Because as soon as you pay with a debit/credit card they don't even need a loyalty card to track your habits.

I never understood why anybody would carry one of those things around. I just ask for a new one every time I buy groceries at a place that uses them, then leave it on the counter when I go.

I figure I'm doing the world a favor this way, since eventually enough cashiers will notice how much time this wastes and how much more effort it takes to hand out a new card to every customer. Hopefully they'll mention this to their boss, and eventually (possibly 30 years down the line) it will sink in that it's a bad idea and they'll stop doing it.

But at the end of the day, it's the store's choice to inconvenience its customers with these cards. They can't possibly be surprised when I don't happily stuff their loyalty card in my wallet.

They start asking you to fill out the form first before giving you the card, and they give the cashiers shit if the cashier starts using their own card all the time. These cards come from on high, complaining to the cashiers doesn't do much, since the feedback doesn't go back to the decision makers.

Better still. The more inconvenience it causes everybody involved (especially the other customers in line behind that form being filled out), the better.

They've already convinced one person (me in this case) to make a conscious effort to find grocery stores that don't have silly loyalty cards when its convenient. If they start delaying the checkout process every time they sell me groceries by making me fill out a form, they'll start convincing those other people in line that maybe they should go across the street to that other giant grocery store that doesn't require those cards.

I just wish that more people did this. Most everybody I see in stores these days seems perfectly happy to carry around a dozen of those cards.

> I just wish that more people did this. Most everybody I see in stores these days seems perfectly happy to carry around a dozen of those cards.

I'm perfectly happy to get the discounts they provide, as well as occasional targeted coupons. Often times those coupons are appreciated!

Normally this game is played with car keys in a goldfish bowl ;-)

Me and my siblings all use our parent's phone number to get discounts, 5 people using the same number.