One financial expert says financial education should begin in the home. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Newsmakers)
SALT LAKE CITY — A secret score that you probably didn’t know retailers keep on you could affect how those businesses treat you.
“It’s called CLV,” Sloan Schrage with KSL TV said on the Dave and Dujanovic show Thursday. “It means Customer Lifetime Value and it’s something that they started calculating to determine how to treat us as customers.”
Score high, and you may score some discounts. Score low, and you can expect lousy treatment.
Host Dave Noriega says it makes “perfect” sense.
“This seems totally fair because I know there are people that completely and totally abuse the system,” he said, his voice exuding sarcasm. “I’m not looking at any of you women that take a beautiful dress, wear it for the evening and return it. I’m not judging, but I’m just saying that you’re a different buyer than I am and I shouldn’t be held to the same standard.”
The problem with this secret score tracking system, Schrage told Dave and Dujanovic, is that we don’t know how our data is used or in which formulas and algorithms that data is being used.
Schrage says that these scores really impact how you’re treated as a customer. If you’ve got a higher score, he says, you’ll probably see some better discounts while shopping online. You might even find yourself at the front of the queue when you call in for help.
On the other hand, if you have a lower score, you could miss out on discounts available to high scorers. Ultimately, you could pay more for the same purchases and not see the same level of attentive service.
You can listen to the rest of the conversation with KSL TV Producer Sloan Schrage on our podcast. Also, see the report that he and KSL investigative reporter Mike Headrick put together for Channel 5.
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Dave & Dujanovic can be heard weekdays from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. on KSL Newsradio. Users can find the show on the KSL Newsradio website and app, as well as Apple Podcasts and Google Play.