I have never been to a Kohl's. I happened to be in Ames, and I needed a particular item. I was impressed by their wide variety of the item I needed. I found what I needed and I'm happy with the purchase.
However, I was dismayed to find I was asked to provide my zip code on a credit card purchase. I asked why and was told "credit card protection." I don't believe this. I know that gas stations ask for zip code at pump for this reason, but stores generally do not. After my purchase, I used a courtesy phone to contact customer service and was told the same thing: "Credit card protection."
So, I did some googling and guess what I found: An article from the Milwaukee Wisconsin Journal Sentinel:
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Kohl's sued over collecting ZIP code at checkout
By Rick Romell of the Journal Sentinel
Jan. 22, 2014
A wave of privacy-intrusion lawsuits targeting retailers who collect customers' ZIP codes has buffeted Kohl's Corp. for a second time in a year.
The Menomonee Falls-based company is among many that have been sued since high courts in California and Massachusetts ruled that ZIP codes amount to personal identification information, which merchants are barred from collecting when customers use credit cards.
The rulings have spawned about 30 class-action suits in Massachusetts and more than 100 in California, said Sander Rikleen, a Boston-based attorney with Edwards Wildman Palmer LLP, a firm that counts national retailers among its clients.
In Massachusetts, a single law firm has filed at least seven ZIP code class actions in the past 10 months, with three of them -- against Kohl's, J.C. Penney and Williams-Sonoma -- naming the same customer as plaintiff.
"It's its own little industry," Rikleen said of the spate of litigation.
In the latest development, Kohl's will pay up to $563,000 to settle a class-action lawsuit in Massachusetts.
Last year, Kohl's agreed to pay $872,500 to settle a similar lawsuit in California.
[rest is snipped]
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So, the next day, I contacted customer service directly on my phone and was again, told the same thing: credit card protection. I mentioned the law suits and the customer service rep seemed ignorant of it. The rep said, "we don't save credit card information." That's not the point. The point is, now they have your name and zip code. The store can hunt you down to junk mail you. In my state, using property tax web sites to create mailing lists is illegal, but my state does not have the means to enforce the law.
So, if you are in a Kohl's, and are asked for your zip code, stand your ground and say NO! What stores do with zip codes is..... they have your name if you used a credit card, and your zip code gives them enough information to use web crawlers to hunt you down on property tax web sites and then you get junk mailed.
I would love for a Kohl's representative to try to convince me that they are not doing this.
By the way, I came here in a rental car, but plenty of room to park your RV if you are in an RV. read more
