Stores asking for personal information from customers (selling, phones, online)

[AlmostSeniorinNJ]

Originally Posted by tassity22

I've had a few tell me it was a requirement of all their customers.

They are lying. They are doing that because their boss told them they have to ask for it. There is absolutely no law that requires you give any type of info for a cash purchase. If it's a credit card, I suppose they on occasion may want to require ID, but that rarely happens.

Any cashier that insisted on getting info, I would walk out, leaving the items right there.

[Okey Dokie]

I'll give them my zip code, since it's used to see where they should expand to. Maybe my e-mail if I really like the store and want to get their marketing deals. Name? phone? No siree Bob.

[Aery11]

Tassity .. this is a pet peeve of mine as well. You are not alone. I have been told that:


a) I needed to give my email so they could email me my receipts .. to keep the planet green/make them an environmentally friendly store (nope - I won't do that .. they can just keep their paper too as far as I am concerned)


b) it was so that if I wanted to return an item I wouldn't have to have a receipt at all (nope - trust me I am not returning this package of sponges)


c) we are now required to ... period .. no real explanation why other than someone said they should (nope - can't see why I have to give all that info to pay with cash for a pair of socks and frankly it is invasive and I am not stupid .. I know what your company does with that information)


d) so I would get coupons and codes sent to my cellphone (nope - my cellphone won't accept anything via the web nor allow me to access the web - it is deliberately set up to be a dumb smartphone .. it takes phone calls only, thanks .. and no, you can't have my phone number)


I also will occasionally give my zip code but that is as far as I go.


Yes, it is annoying. Yes, it is invasive. Yes, it slows down everyone, especially me. Yes, it is inefficient. Yes, it is a practice that should be stopped. Yes, we need to inform others that this sort of thing is not doing anyone except the store any good.


Another thing almost along the same lines recently is that at some stores it now takes twice as long as it used to process a debit card because the machine now starts asking questions that it never did before. Soon I expect that the machine will want to know my height, weight and gender preference before it will finish the transaction.


p.s. Most of the time I try to remain polite though firm when this sort of thing happens because I know it is not the cashier's fault but yes, I think it is something we need to fight back about with our dollars if nothing else.

[magpiehere]

Originally Posted by tassity22

I've had a few tell me it was a requirement of all their customers.

This has happened to me. For a cash purchase of $3.75, in a store I've shopped in since the late 1980s (local sporting store). I left - cashier needed a manager override and he couldn't be located. Yeah....this was better than buying online from a major retailer and having it shipped home. I likely won't go back to this store although I've been loyal for so long.


When this happens, I'll ask why they need this info - and no one can answer.


I feel sorry for the employees ringing up, it isn't their fault, they are just doing their job.


(note: in a store where I receive rewards on purchases I give up the info cuz I like free stuff and in cahoots with them already)

[Bygeorge]

First, a cashier has NO power in their job. They do what they are told. Been there. Everyone should do that job at least once in life (or wait tables). I do not mind reeling off my zip code but that is as far as it goes. Of course if you swipe a credit card, your private info goes with it. Anyone who gives trouble to a clerk or cashier is acting cowardly. If you are that upset, ask to speak to a manager.

[CGab]

I have not been asked for address, but email and phone number ALL the time! Stores want it for marketing purposes. I just say "No thanks".

[chiluvr1228]

Originally Posted by tassity22

I've had a few tell me it was a requirement of all their customers.

If a store told me that this was a requirement of all their customers they would be losing me as a customer. The minute you give a store your email address you start getting all kinds of junk that you have to delete every day.


I just tell them when they start the "are you part of our rewards program"? NO I'm not and don't want to be. I never give them my phone number or personal info. They have no need for it if you are paying cash. And I too, find it makes every transaction take more time.


I love Publix but it seems every other week they have a charity they are supporting which is great. Set up a jar or something for people who want to contribute but every time I go in there I am subjected at the register to "did you want to donate $5 to the whatever program"? Then if you say yes they start with the clapper things or bells. So damn annoying.

[chiluvr1228]

Also I recently found out that our voter's registration info is available on google. I searched myself, found my age, address, cell phone number and political party! Now why is that information allowed to be put on the web? What if someone had a stalker? It's ridiculous - there is no privacy anymore.

[Pyewackette]

I don't give this information. Ever. I also pay cash for almost everything. Granted I make very very few big purchases.

I once had some chippy at a pizza place get nasty with me about giving my full name and address. I was very clear that she would not be getting it. She tried to tell me I wouldn't get my already-baked pizza if I didn't give it. She said she needed it for their delivery service - despite my being a walk-in customer who had ordered at the counter with no interest whatsoever in ever getting another pizza from this place AT ALL, let alone having it delivered by these crazies to my house.

This is one of the few times I actually lost my temper over this issue and here is what I did (with my 12 year old son standing there watching).

I said "Fine. My name is Fred Farflefinger. That's P-H-R-E-D P-H-A-R-P-H-L-E-P ..."

About this time the cashier made a face, called me a name, took my cash money and handed me the pizza. The whole time my son had the weirdest look on his face. I figured he was mad at mom for being such a nonconformist again.

When we got outside he burst out laughing. He laughed so hard he cried. He kept trying to say "Phred ... Phred ... Phred PHARPHLEPHINGER"

I don't give out my phone number. JC Penney insists on having one for internet orders, so I use the phone number of the local store. I'm not the only one who does this - when I went in to pick up my order the clerk, who did not believe me when I told her what number I had put on the internet order form, found there were over 50 people with accounts attached to their own phone number.

I just tell them no and except for a bare handful of times (the most obnoxious being the pizza place described above) that's an end to it. If they say "need", I say "want - and you can't always get what you want".

I did have one chippy get snarky with me about the bluetooth receiver in my ear - as in "Oh you say you don't have a phone, eh? Then what's that bluetooth thingy for?"

"My GPS"

in a tiny voice: "Oh. I guess that makes sense."

No sweety, what makes sense is that my phone number(s) are for my private use and no store needs to have that information which you are just going to turn around and sell to other retailers, so much for "unlisted private number". So don't even TRY to get all Judge-y with me over it.

Keeping all this stuff on file is why we are constantly being bombarded with stories about 500 million people's private information being hacked, with millions of incidents of credit card fraud and hundreds of thousands of identity thefts.

When I found out that JC Penney was keeping my information from internet sales on file EVEN THOUGH I do not have a website account with them (I did have one but they deleted it after a mere 2 years of my not making any purchases - so why would I ever open another if they're going to do that?) I stopped shopping there altogether, plus I called and made them remove my credit card information from their data base.

Therefore I make few internet purchases and pay cash every chance I get. They can't keep that on file - at least not until there is viable face recognition and they start snapping my picture and keeping records without any input from me whatsoever. Thankfully I'll most likely be dead before that technology is cheap and accurate enough for it to become a problem.

In the meantime, until technology makes it a moot point, I tell them no, and I've NEVER had anyone actually refuse to sell me the item(s) no matter what they said at the start.

[tassity22]

Originally Posted by Bygeorge

First, a cashier has NO power in their job. They do what they are told. Been there. Everyone should do that job at least once in life (or wait tables). I do not mind reeling off my zip code but that is as far as it goes. Of course if you swipe a credit card, your private info goes with it. Anyone who gives trouble to a clerk or cashier is acting cowardly. If you are that upset, ask to speak to a manager.

Nobody here is advocating to abuse store clerks. And being assertive and refusing to give out information is not being mean. The store clerk can always call for a manager if he/she believes he will lose his job for not getting the personal information from the customer.


And giving out your zip code, when it's attached to your credit card info, (as you mentioned) can result in getting massive amounts of unwanted junk mail. Regardless of what they tell you, "we use it for marketing purposes" they really sell your info to other companies. They aren't really trying to find out the general areas of where their customers live.


Store lines are generally longer now because so many customers freely give out whatever information they are asked for. Most people I've noticed, don't seem to care and will answer any personal questions they are asked when checking out. I find this appalling.