Is asking for Zip Codes "too personal"?

[Android Kaeli]

(I hope this is in the right section, if not feel free to move)

Where I work at we need to ask for Zip Codes to send out the weekly ads (bi-weekly during slow periods) with the weekend papers. This has been going on for a about a year and used to be we'd do it for a week or two every few months before the Big Wigs decided to make it a full-time thing.[/background info]

Most people don't think twice about giving out their Zip Codes since it's shared by a lot of other people as well. But from my own experience with people I've learned that not everyone thinks that way and considers a Zip Code 'personal information not to be shared even in life or death'.

Is asking for a Zip Code by a store 'too personal' of a question?

[Greenday]

Um, isn't a zip code just a code for your town? I could see it being too personal a question if you don't give out what town you are from, but if you give out the town...it doesn't matter if you don't give out your zip code.

[Android Kaeli]

That's what I think but I've come across people who believe, and have actually said, that a Zip Code is a piece of personal information. They think that it'll suddenly put them on a mailing list (yes customers have told me this) or will give stores/other people other, much MORE personal information.

Heck, I don't even know any of the surrounding cities Zip Codes. o.o

[BroomJockey]

As I understand Zip Codes, they cover thousands of people. Only large cities have more than one, usually.

Now, Canada's postal codes. THOSE are personal. They're narrowed down to a single block. Sometimes a specific SIDE of a single block. If I give out my postal code, someone can just stand at a street corner and stands an excellent shot of finding me.

[guywithashovel]

I live in Columbus, Ohio, and there are several different zip codes within the city. If you live here, your zip code could possibly be 43204, 43228, 43210, 43221, or 43203---and those are just the few that I know of offhand (there are more than just these). I suppose that if I were to give out my zip code, someone could get a general idea of where I live, but it wouldn't be enough to put me on a mailing list or do anything more sinister. I guess if you knew my name as well as my zip code, and were willing to go to some trouble, you could probably track me down, since I do have an uncommon name, but most stores are not going to go to that much trouble.

When I worked at Wal-Mart, I used to have to ask for people's zip codes when they used their American Express cards. However, that was American Express's policy, not ours. Unless I managed to block it from memory, no customers got tetchy about it. Then again, that was in a small town where most of my customers had the same zip code.

[blas87]

I get enough junkmail as it is. Every day, my mailbox (granted, it's small because I live in an apartment complex) is filled to the brim with the stupid weekly ads for Menards and Shopko and all this other stupid crap.

When I get asked for my zipcode, I give them the zipcode to my hometown 50 miles away.

And when I'm asked for my email address or home address so that they can send me coupons and other stuff, I politely decline. I'm polite until they get pushy. I don't want anymore crap. I understand if part of their job is that they must offer, but if I say no and they push, I'll get fussy. If I don't want it, you're not going to send it to me, got it?

[RecoveringKinkoid]

I dunno if it's "too personal" or not, but it isnt' pertinent to the transaction. So I don't give it out. I don't give out any info that is irrelevant to me givng a cashier money, and them giving me goods in exchange.

Like Blas said, I don't need more junk mail, and I sure don't need "a store in my area." I live in a rural area for a reason.

Now, "do you plan to breastfeed your baby?" I'd say that is pretty innappropriately personal (my sister actually got asked that by a cashier in a maternity store), but zip code is just one more annoyance.

I'm not there to do volunteer work for that company's marketing department.

[PepperElf]

when i use to be in the military sometimes i'd just be weird while i was on leave and i'd give them the zipcode of where i was living... which was usually for my apartment in Virginia, or the zipcode for the ship.

these days i don't care to be weird, i just give my zipcode of where i'm living now.


but hey... if it's that big of a deal the customer can always do what i did. or they can just lie.

[Nyoibo]

In the US, when ever I was asked I'd give out my zip code, it was fun watching the confusion of the cashier when I gave them a 4 digit code, sometimes it took them a long time to figure it out.

[AFPheonix]

The only time we ask is for people who have AMEX cards, as it is apparently a security feature on those to verify the billing zip code. It won't work if I put in, say, the code for our store (unless of course said customer lives in that zip code).

If I know they're asking for statistical or marketing purposes, I give the one from my childhood. They get their number, I get them out of my hair, it's all good.

[Boozy]

Most stores ask for zips so they can plan expansions into areas with a solid customer base. They also like to know how far people will drive to get to one of their stores.

If I like the store I'm at, but it was a pain to get there and I'd really like to see one in my neighbourhood, I'll give them my zip code. Otherwise I just say, "No."

[RecoveringKinkoid]

I know a lot of people just give fake info out in cases like this, but I don't understand why. If you don't want to give it out, what's wrong with politely declining?

[BroomJockey]

If you don't want to give it out, what's wrong with politely declining?

"The register won't let me skip that step."

[protege]

You could always give them 17927. That's the zip code for Centralia, PA. That town was abandoned because of a 1962 mine fire. Before the last house was torn down in 2007, the post office had already yanked their zip code. Still, you could probably get away with giving it to stores

[RecoveringKinkoid]

"The register won't let me skip that step."

That's horseshit.

They can either enter the store's zip, hit a skip key, or whatever. They can make something up. But the idea that they physically cannot make the register proceed without an accurate zip from you is horseshit.

Which is not to say cashiers don't give it a whirl.

The cash register is not the boss. It's a tool. (well, sometimes the boss is a tool, too, but you get what I'm saying)