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RadioShack Stops Being Nosy
jackbang writes "One small but positive step in the gradual erosion of personal privacy and increase of corporate intrusiveness - RadioShack will no longer ask for your name and address when all you want to do is buy some batteries. Now if only they would agree to remove the motion sensor that rings a bell every time someone walks in or out of the store..." Always freaked me out being asked my address just to buy some solder or something.
You could always just tell them, "No". I always did.
09F911029D74E35BD84156C5635688C0
Jesus loves you, I think you suck
It's gone to a higher juristiction now, Nobody likes duplication of effort.
-- 'The' Lord and Master Bitman On High, Master Of All
You can't possibly get 2 batteries for two dollars anymore, unless you go to the dollar store... I've been paying 6-7 dollars for 4 double A batteries lately!!! Man, they need to start putting a warrenty on those things...
-Magiluke
Earl Grey, Hot.
Same goes true for Best Buy wanting your ZIP code.
About 25% of the time I'll get a surprised "Really?", half the time they don't care, and the other I'm not even asked because the drone doesn't want to ask.Man, this thread is getting harsh. I mean, nearly ever sane retailer has SOME means to let employees know when someone is the store. yeah, the dinger SUCKS, but I'd rather know when someone is coming in.
The CueCat was a stupid venture, to be sure; but at some point in their lifespan, every retailer does something stupid at some point.
Yes, Radio Shack has morphed from hobbyist products and radio gear to basically a smaller, less well stocked Best Buy. But can you blame them? While many slashdotters may in fact still need diodes, Joe Average doesn't. The death of the electronics hobbyist almost killed the company. They are trying to stay alive in the face of serious competition while retaining what used to make the Shack a place to buy stuff. If you have a better idea, a way to make the company really stand out, get a job there and tell the boss. They might even listen.
And no one is really commenting on the fact that a high-profile retailer like the Shack taking a step like this may, in fact, influence others to drop their mailing. I can't buy anything anymore without a request for zip code, or some other deal.
Also Note: the Shack has one of the most tolerant, liberal intellectual property waivers ever. Unless you invent a new point-of-sale system, and do so on the job (or using work-provided materials), they don't give a crap. I mean, Best Buy would probably try to make you turn over your latest patch to BitchX but the Shack doesn't care.
ZOMG I WOULD LOVE TO KNOW ABOUT YOUR FEELINGS ON MACINTOSH VERSUS WINDOWS, VI VERSUS EMACS, AND HOW YOU'RE NOT A DORK
cashier: Name? ...
guy: Cash.
cashier: *First* name?
guy: CASH! I'm paying with cash!
cashier: Ok. I'll need to get your name and address. What's your full name?
guy: GOD DAMN IT You don't need to know my name and address!
It always made me wonder what kind of marketing genius is willing to piss off some of their customers that badly.
It just goes to show that if enough comedians complain about something, the world will change
Now if only they would agree to remove the motion sensor that rings a bell every time someone walks in or out of the store..."
Yeah, cause there's absolutely no reason whatsoever that an employee at a relatively small, yet cluttered, business might need to know when someone enters an exits the store.
Nope, they have absolutely no right to know that you've entered their store, even if they might be the only person on duty at the time, and currently helping a customer in the back look for some obscure AV connector. Since, you know, no possible way a two-man team could distract the employee while simultaneously stealing thousands of dollars worth of merchandise right out the front door.
Jeez people, I like my right to privacy too, but let's not go off the fucking deep end here.
It hurts when I pee.
While I think that the 'Savings cards' represent nothing more than false advertising, you can get the Albertsons card without giving any information whatsoever. All you need to do is check the box on thier form that states, "I do not wish to give out my personal information", or something like that, and that's it. No name, phone number, or address. If I remember right, they also have either opt-in or opt-out checkboxes that are very plainly worded.
I gave out ONLY my phone number, because you get a handy key fob that states, "If keys are found, please return to your nearest Albertsons Store". If they get returned, Albertsons will call you and let you know they have your keys. Without any other information, phone numbers alone are a pretty innacurate way of tracking people.
Unfortunately Albertsons felt they had to offer one of those cards, fortunately, they're not asking anything from you for it. All you accomplished by being rude and not bothering to ask any questions or read the form, was to make some poor schlub put your groceries away, and you got to shop somewhere else.
Fry's needs to hurry up and finish its Las Vegas store (215 and Las Vegas Blvd., if you're curious). Once it's open, I'll never need to enter a local Radio Shack ever again. :-)
20 January 2017: the End of an Error.
...it's about expenses and database cleanliness. They finally realized that they were incenting their customers to lie to them, and then they were expending a fair amount of money sending junk mail to nonexistant people. Worse, they didn't even know how many unique customers they had, since people offer the same bogus info twice (some do, and make a point of it, but they're the exception).
Someone finally wised up and realized that they have a hugely polluted customer database and that, for a mail-order house, that's pretty expensive.
How they spin it for public consumption is their business, but I'd definitely take it with a grain of salt. That's my take on it, anyways.
-b
If I wanted a sig I would have filled in that stupid box.
The adress is not available to you but there is something as an AVS check (adress verifiction system, not AGE verification system as it is used by some 'less reputable' sites), where you supply the address info and the processor then gives you a go/no-go on the address. So you can't access it but if it is given to you then you can use it to verify the persons identity.
:)
small entrepeneur ? yeah, I probably qualify
MP3 Search Engine
Yup, I'm paranoid, but I'm a paranoid with CASH. Cash that won't be walking back into a Radio Shack. Why? Because this paranoid with cash (call me "customer" for short) has been greatly annoyed in the past.
I have to wonder... it seems poeple often feel a great reluctance to speak up or question when some information is asked of them they would rather not give.
Any time I've walked into Radio Shack, they've asked for my name and address, of course. I say "You don't need to know that", politely, and they say "No problem sir" and then continue to ring the order through.
Even buying a pay-as-you-go Cantel phone from radio shack... not only did radio shack want my name/address, but of course, they want it for the Cantel activation as well. Nevertheless, a polite "Well why do you need that if I have to pay everything up front.". "Well sir, you don't have to give us your name, we can just put it in under John Doe, but that will cause a problem should you forget your PIN or should your phone be stolen and you want it deactivated. In this case, we wouldn't be able to help you."
Thanks, that made perfect sense, I can accept that. Right on sir, here you go, have a nice day.
You see... often that's all it takes, is some polite, non-confrontational intelligent questions.
Supermarker convenience cards? Lie. I'm serious. Just make some crap up and put it on the card. If you want to be really nice at the same time, keep the demographic information the same, but not your name/address/phone number. That way the store gets honest demographics, with no privacy violations. When tehy ask for ID, they usualy want it for cheque caching purposes.. just say you don't want that.
There is a difference between violations of privacy and straightforward information gathering; complaining about privacy is one thing, but taking a proactive stance towards it is another. If a majority of people refused to give information out at retail stores, fairly soon retail stores would stop asking.
I also quit using my grocery cards when I found out that the stores use them to track your purchases for marketing purposes. Just last week I went through the checkout and the clerk asked if I had a card and I told her that I don't use the cards anymore. When she asked "Don't like saving money?" I shot back "No, but I value my privacy". End of conversation.
I am buying more things with cash now. When you buy with a credit card at Sears, they got your name & address and poof, more catalogs in the mail. Pay with cash and you're stealth, baby.
Blame the marketing monkeys at the DMA for this mess, they drove us into it.
Eternity: will that be smoking, or non-smoking? I Corinthians 6:9-10
Think about it. You could have entered hundreds or even thousands of bogus names/addresses, kept your percentage at 100%, and shielded all your customers from being entered into Radio Shack's system.
People say "if everyone gave fake information like I do, the system would be useless" but you could have actually put a dent in it by controlling the POS terminal.