• fine_sandy_bottom@discuss.tchncs.de
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    21 hours ago

    In Australia most retailers discount specific items for “members”. Being a member is free but you need to sign up with your contact details. They will give you a card but no one carries a million cards so cashier’s just ask for your phone number.

    The Australian Communications and Media Authority administers phone numbers in Australia and they publish a list of phone numbers which may not be used by telco’s and are reserved for the exclusive use in TV shows, films, and creative works.

    I made a note of one of the numbers in my phone, and provide that when asked. Loads of other people are doing this so the number is always registered at every shop.

    The conversation usually goes:

    • cashier: are you a club member?
    • me: yes.
    • cashier: what’s your number ?
    • me: <ACMA number>
    • cashier: oh. wow. there seems to be hundreds of people with this number. what’s your name?
    • me: oh really? who’s there?
    • cashier: uh, nigel, john, luke…
    • me: I’m Luke.

    I’ve been doing this on a weekly basis since reading about it in another thread (on reddit) a few years ago. I’ve never encountered a problem and I’ve received thousands of dollars in discounts. I would’ve gotten those discounts anyway but would’ve had to sign up with my personal number in order to receive them.

    • Captain Aggravated@sh.itjust.works
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      5 hours ago

      In the United States the same concept has sloshed around a bit; (xxx)555-01xx is the official range of “reserved for fiction, guaranteed not to connect” numbers; most people think it’s all of 555. It isn’t, there was a directory assistance service on 555-1212 until 2020. In the first Ghostbusters film their phone number is given as 555-2368. I’ve seen a number of fictional programs give a number as 555-5555. If they ever were reserved, they’re not now. The 555 exchange is explicitly NOT reserved in the toll-free area codes, which is how The Last Of Us accidentally included the number of a sex chat line. “I thought 555 numbers weren’t real.” No it’s more nuanced than that.

      Then there’s 867-5309, made famous by the band Tommy Tutone. They wrote a song about finding a girl’s name and number written on a men’s room wall and used a valid phone number. In fact, because no area code is given it’s several hundred valid phone numbers. Across the United States in the early 1980’s a few hundred random people started getting prank phone calls asking for “Jenny”. The number remains valid and several are still in use and even specially requested but I don’t think they’ll issue it sequentially anymore.

    • GrumpyDuckling@sh.itjust.works
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      11 hours ago

      Issue with that, at least in the u.s. is that stores often give you points that accumulate that can be redeemed for certain dollar amounts or a big discount on a single purchase.

      • fine_sandy_bottom@discuss.tchncs.de
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        1 hour ago

        Yeah. This is a potential problem.

        I’m not directly aware of this reward points thing actually happening in Australia. I mean they send text messages about sales and member only discounts, but real actual money off something you actually needed to buy isn’t something I’ve seen or heard of.

      • fine_sandy_bottom@discuss.tchncs.de
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        12 hours ago

        This sounds like a different set up to the way things roll down under.

        Cashier’s just assume that no one carries their card, and they ask for your phone number to look up your membership. IDK what a store card is.

      • jpreston2005@lemmy.world
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        13 hours ago

        One time at Kroger the cashier lady refused to let me use the store card, so I had to sheepishly look back towards the line, and the woman behind me let me use hers. I gave that cashier such a look.