Retailers Should Follow Costco’s Loyalty Card-Based Recall Example, Says Consumer Group
Written by Fred J. AunFebruary 10th, 2009
Image-conscious food retailers might be squeamish about using loyalty card information to telephone customers who bought recalled products, but a consumer advocacy lawyer argues that public safety should trump brand protection. Retailers have an obligation to follow the lead of Costco and use loyalty card information to alert their customers about salmonella-tainted peanut products, and anything else they sell that turns out to be dangerous, said Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) staff attorney Sarah Klein.
Earlier this month, CSPI published an "Open Letter to Food Retailers" in which it praises retailers such as Costco and Wegman's that mined their loyalty card data to find out, and make phone calls to, customers who bought recalled peanut-based products.
This Story Is Only Available For Premium Subscribers. Click Or Login In Below To Read The Rest Of This Story.
Already a Subscriber? Login Here
One Comment | Read Retailers Should Follow Costco’s Loyalty Card-Based Recall Example, Says Consumer Group
Leave a Reply
Readers, specifically those who want to comment on a story:
Our Comment SPAM system is getting very aggressive these days and has been blocking legitimate comments. If you post a comment and don't see it appear within 2 hours or so, can you please send a heads-up to customer-service@storefrontbacktalk? Ideally, please include the time you posted the comment. That will allow us to try and hunt for it. Thanks! P.S. We're working on fixing the system, but we don't want to lose any valuable comments in the meantime.
Our Comment SPAM system is getting very aggressive these days and has been blocking legitimate comments. If you post a comment and don't see it appear within 2 hours or so, can you please send a heads-up to customer-service@storefrontbacktalk? Ideally, please include the time you posted the comment. That will allow us to try and hunt for it. Thanks! P.S. We're working on fixing the system, but we don't want to lose any valuable comments in the meantime.
-Ed
February 16th, 2009 at 7:43 am
They should, but will not—they can’t make money doing something honorable. The companies already track your every purchase via the cards and then SELL the info to other companies. Why should they do something good for the customer? COSTCO better be warned that in the USA, no good deed goes unpunished.