To be pissed off that I cannot buy anything in any shop without this happening?

[MarniRose]

So, I went shopping yesterday and bought items in five places ... Jack Wills, Jigsaw, Mint Velvet, Neal's Yard and Joules. As I came to pay, without exception, the first question I was asked was ' what's your email address please?' Or ' can I take your postcode please?' or ' and your full name please? '

I'm fed up with it. I just want to pay for my goods and get the receipt. I don't want it ' emailed to me.' I don't want to be added to your mailing list in an almost surreptitious way. Bar supermarkets, it really is in every shop these days.

Yesterday I said, for the first time, ' no, I'd rather not give you my email address, I'd just really like to pay please' and the woman was a bit taken aback and almost didn't know what to do.

So what do you do? Do you divulge this info and not care and then get bombarded with emails every day? Or do you refuse to give the info?

This drives me absolutely fucking NUTS and I hate the way it has become the norm, it's so fucking invasive and unnecessary. If they say 'can I take your email/phone number please?' I just fix them with a direct look and say 'No, you really don't need it.'

One woman in MAC got really shirty and argued with me about it once. She made it sound like I really needed to do this for my own good, like it was a Mammogram or something.

Unless something needs delivery or has some sort of warranty for which the till receipt is not sufficient then I never give them my details. All this 'we need it for the receipt' stuff is nonsense. They can fill out a manual receipt perfectly well without it, it just means they leave a bit of it blank.

God yes, also hate all this up-selling of sweets and chocolate every time you buy a magazine, and going into Costa for a coffee and being asked 'and something to eat as well? A croissant or a muffin?'

If I wanted a fucking muffin I'd have asked for one the first time.

Pata that is disgusting. I can see why they might discipline you if they caught you not asking the questions you'd been told to ask, but how can you be held responsible for the fact that lots of customers find it invasive and refuse to answer?

I have never been asked this, I'm that it seems so common. Yet another reason to avoid the high street and stick to online shopping.

Lidl/Aldi print my car registration on my receipt!!!

Presumably to identify people shopping at Aldi (free parking) and those not (who can pay).

yes I get that. What I don't get was how did they know when I went to the tills which was my car? I didn't have a barrier ticket to validate. That's some super surveillance.

Pata that is disgusting. I can see why they might discipline you if they caught you not asking the questions you'd been told to ask, but how can you be held responsible for the fact that lots of customers find it invasive and refuse to answer?

You've never worked in retail before have you Baltimore?

I never give my details unless it's a return and even then I won't give an email address. If I absolutely have to I either give a fake email or an email that I have set up just for junk - it's called 'RubbishAccount@XXXXXXXX' It makes me smile when I give it to people as it's so obvious that it's not my proper account. I delete this account about once a year then replace it with a new 'RubbishAccount'

If I have to give a phone number I give 0333 8888888 which puts any caller through to an anti spam recorded message. The number is provided by TRUECALL Info HERE. It's a completely free service.

Otherwise, I just say no. I don't find it embarrassing and I don't get odd responses from sales staff. I think it's very normal not to want to give your details.

If you don't like to say no then just say you don't live in the Uk.

I've not been asked yet but I mostly shop online or in Tesco/Costco and they have my details from clubcard/membership card.

This makes me super glad I got out of retail. Retail sales literally broke my mental health and that was without asking for peoples personal details. I hugely admire those who can hack it. It is low paid relentless and demoralising.

Rather than just unsubscribing from any marketing emails I think it is better to contact the company and tell them to remove all your personal from any databases that they have. I also ask for written confirmation that they have done this.

If you only unsubscribe the company still keeps all of your information on its files and you run the risk of them selling on your information or
accidentally on purpose re-subscribing you.

I refuse, I don't give out my name, address or email address to people that don't need to know it. But I'm polite in saying it.

I love hotel chocolat products but absolutely HATE the way their assistants are told to make 'small talk' with the customers.
Said small talk is along the lines of
'Have you got much more shopping to do'
'Is that a present or just a treat for yourself'
'Have you had a nice day'
etc

I usually just give a monosyllabic answer to embarrass them

And my favourite one to use is when they pester me about do I need any help I just say 'If I do I'll let you know' with a smile and they usually back off.

And to all the shop assistants reading this, yes I know you are doing it because you have to not because you want to, but it doesn't make it any less annoying!

KimKar I love the anti spam number, great idea! I am often asked but wouldn't dream of giving out my email address. It shocks me to think that people would.

The only place I ever had this was Mothercare and I just say I'm already on the list. Were you just buying stuff or were you asking them to order things in? If you're ordering things in they have to ask. It used to drive me spare when I worked in retail, people would order things and refuse to let you have their details so you could let them know it had arrived then get all pissed off of they came in to get it and it hadn't arrived yet.

I just say politely 'I'd just rather pay without handing over my personal information if you don't mind'.

I just tell them I'm already on the list. In the shops I like I probably am anyway.

euphema

If we don't ask every customer "did you find everything you were looking for?" and one happens to be one of our many mystery shoppers, the whole store loses their meagre monthly customer satisfaction bonus.

It isn't much, but means a lot to many of us, so when being annoyed about these questions try to remember the staff often have to ask.

Re the questions, I don't get annoyed at the staff. I get annoyed at the idiots in head office who think that every customer wants 'a chat'. Some do, some don't. Trust your staff.

Pipbin I have actually, but it was before the days of the internet and mobile phones were a new fangled thing.

I still want to know though - how can you be held accountable and disciplined if someone refuses to answer the question?

Retail work sucks
Thankfully we don't ask for any of this info or I would have to start job hunting

I still want to know though - how can you be held accountable and disciplined if someone refuses to answer the question?

Because retail middle managers are a shower of cunts.