ZIP CODES!

[Aethian]

Thankfully, I haven't had to deal with customers for well over five years now. Instead, I've been working for the US Postal Service - and our "customers" still make me shake my head. My job involves viewing pictures of mailpieces which have been transmitted from processing facilities to our computer screens. Zip+4 is called PLUS 4 for a reason, folks!!! Yet you'd be surprised how many people write something like 12345-23456 and try to pass it off as the correct Zip+4 code. Amazing. Sesame Street is still on PBS if I'm not mistaken - some of them need to watch it.

Hey Brother carrier...

But yes that is fun to look at sometimes or when I'm in the truck and delivering mail and how I must magically know the zip code of a city on the other side of the state. Or how I'm to know the various postal codes of other countries...

[Imogene]

Lets see, a person purchases ONE item, and their receipt is longer than my arm....

(Sorry to always chime in on your threads Juwl. I hope you don't mind)

Heh, I don't mind you chiming in at all, dear. I know we work for the same company...
One item, plus header (with new secret shopper survey address? WTH?) Plus footer (with new, corporate approved trial coupon for 20% off your entire regular price purchase next week, with rules and regulations for that...)

Oh, by the way, our store has been told if we: don't get zip codes, or make them up, we can be fired.

Then they realize the futility of the entire stupid thing (if they hadn't already).

Like all the people who give me 90210 as a zip code? In the middle of Texas? "Sir, you aren't nearly pretty enough, much less melodramatic enough to live in 90210." Or the ones who give me Alaskan zip codes. I've had customers admit they were giving me the zip code of North Pole, Alaska... Uh... okay...

[RecoveringKinkoid]

Oh, by the way, our store has been told if we: don't get zip codes, or make them up, we can be fired.

See, that's just idiocy on the part of the managers. Some people (such as myself) are simply not going to give out demographcis/marketing info of any kind at the register. I will leave my entire cart on the belt and walk out before I will give out irrelevant personal info at a cash register. I won't be sucky to the clerk, but if my choice is "give it up or else" I will chose "or else." Why tell the poor cashier that they MUST get something that is not really in their control to get?

I mean, sheesh! I never did get this concept.

[Andara Bledin]

I rather suspect that the inability to force customers to give personal information is not reasonable grounds to fire a person.

Although, there's a good chance that nothing can be done about it, anyway.

^-.-^

[Rine]

Dude, if someone asks for my zip code, I give them one of the many that I've lived at. I never tell them that I'm not giving "my" zip code. They don't need to know that. I don't want to get in a confrontation with someone, I don't want to give personal info, and all the cashier wants is a valid five digit number.

Usually I give them 38053, 20653, or 40205. Those are the only three I remember off the top of my head.

So, everyone's happy.

[Boochan]

Theirs an optional field for it in our POS software, so I'm guessing sometime before I started working their it must have been asked for. Could imagine it would have been irritating, since a big portion of customers have english as a second language and have no idea what a postal code is, or have no clue of their own.

We are bad enough when we ask for an address for returns/refunds/laybys, and most of the time I just guess the postal code because people just have no idea/get annoyed at the constant questioning over that sort of info..

[Gurndigarn]

I've told this story here before, but it tickled me enough that I'm going to repeat it, at least as close as I can remember.

I was pulling into a parking garage and was asked my zip code. What a parking garage company hopes to do with that information, I'll never know, but... I decided to be polite about the whole thing while refusing. Because I believe firmly that if the data comes in wonky enough, maybe they'll stop bugging people. "Ah, just make something up."

I could tell that the guy taking my money had the same opinion I had. "I think you'll be from... Colorado."

Colorado is a nice place and all... but why settle for ordinary nice when you can have exotic? "Can you make it Hawaii?"

"Sorry, I don't know the codes for Hawaii. I have Colorado, Washington, Canada..."

Bingo! "Hey, you want my Canadian Postal Code? It's @#@ #@#"

The way his eyes lit up, I knew that I had done my Good Deed For The Day.

[edible_hat]

When asked for my postal code, I say 2600. It's the postal code for Parliament House.

[Dreamstalker]

The POS (in both senses of the acronym) software that my former store uses gets easily confused when faced with any address formats other than the US standard. Loads of fun it was when processing international ebay sales (would spit back an error when faced with anything less/more than 5 numeric digits in the zip code field, and nothing more could be accomplished until it was happy). I figured out a workaround that apparently only "took" when I was in the building (either further confirmation of my miracle worker status, or those computers really were scared of me).

[daleduke17]

I usually give the correct ZIP code for where I live since they can't really find me (city is 120,000+).

If you want to give some good "generic" ones, here's a couple:

12345 - a GE Plant zip code based in Schenectady, NY
44444 - Newton Falls, OH
22222 - Arlington, VA (Marine Corps Institute)
55555 - Young America, MN


As far as knowing a lot of different numbers, I'm lucky to remember my own when asked about it.

[Kara]

Like all the people who give me 90210 as a zip code? In the middle of Texas?

Heh, let's not forget all the oh-so-witty and original asshats who give you 867-5309 for a phone number (unless it actually happens to be their phone number, which I have come across a time or two).

[csever01]

55555 - Young America, MN

Actually, I think the towns of Norwood and Young America merged a few years back and became Norwood Young America, and now the 55555 code is not used anymore.* (I live in MN, and have lots of useless knowledge like this floating around in my brain.)

[daleduke17]

Actually, I think the towns of Norwood and Young America merged a few years back and became Norwood Young America, and now the 55555 code is not used anymore.* (I live in MN, and have lots of useless knowledge like this floating around in my brain.)

Cool. I didn't know that and was just typing in random ZIP codes into usps.com :-p

More of a reason to give it at a store.

[EE2000]

When I worked in a wine store, we had to do the zip code thing. I hated it with a passion, more often the not the customer would get aggervated that you would even need to know there zip code, other times they give you some combination of random numbers, if they refused I just typed in the stores zip code.

To this day they still ask for a zip code, I have no idea why but I don't refuse I just give them my previous zip code.

EE2000

[Imogene]

Heh, let's not forget all the oh-so-witty and original asshats who give you 867-5309 for a phone number .

That's another thing: I f*cking asked for your ZIP CODE! Not your phone number, not your f*cking PIN, not your address! Your F*CKING ZIP CODE! Oh, and, by the way, Yes, you paid with cash. No, that won't stop me from asking for your zip code. I have to ask EVERYONE!
Also: NO, I can't send you garbage mail with your zip code, short of letter bombing your entire county! We don't keep any of that sort of non-pertinent information from your credit card. We get your name, your card number, and your signature, then we ask for your zip code! I cannot feasibly send you junk mail without spending wasted man hours looking through a phone book for your name and address.