Providing your email address to merchants Mar01 '07
Recently I was at my local Borders book store, and purchased a gift certificate for a family member. I was asked by the Borders employee if I'd like to join the "Borders Rewards" program, and reluctantly, I said "fine."
I was then asked for my email address, and I paused before responding. I didn't want to give out my real email address, for the fear of being forever spammed with newsletters and offers that I don't care about. I was quickly trying to think of a good "catch all" email address, such as nospam@matthom.com, in which I could filter out if I needed to. Clearly I wasn't prepared to be giving out my email address.
The woman assured me that they would only use the address for verification purposes, in case I lost the "Borders Rewards" membership card.
I paused some more after hearing that statement, because it seemed strangely bogus.
- I really don't think there's any value in a lost "Borders Rewards" membership card.
- An email address is a poor "verification tool," unless I had to actually receive an email, and reply to it. (A better "verification tool" would be the last four digits of my SSN, for example.)
Once again, I reluctantly obliged, and provided my email address, mainly because people were waiting in line behind me, and I was standing there not saying anything.
After that day, I began receiving newsletters and offers from Borders.
So the employee clearly lied to me.
Case in point - always be prepared to give out an alternate email address for merchants looking to spam.
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Yeah I agree. I'm just peeved that she lied to me. ... Read more.
Uhm, I don't see how it is that easy - the unsubscribe link sends me to a login page that requires me to enter my rewards card number and email add ... Read more.
I've been a Borders email newsletter subscriber since they first offered it; the new book announcements are relatively useless, but the 30% off cou ... Read more.
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I don't really consider these merchant newsletters to be spam, since you can easily unsubscribe to the mailings. ... Read more.