To say No thanks when asked for my post code at the till

[drfostersbra]

I'm always in a rush and I just want them to chuck my stuff in a bag and take my money, I don't want to be on a mailing list, have a store card, catalogue or emails, just fuck off!!

Each time they ask I say no thanks then they go all cats bum mouth with me for the rest of the transaction.

Joules, Jo Jo Maman and white stuff are the worst for this.

The other day I was buying my screaming baby a dribble bib in the Joules sale quickly before a music class and the woman serving told me that they were having a charity day and please could I donate in the bucket, when I said I was in a hurry and didn't have coins on me she gave me an application card so I could direct debit money or something. THEN asked for my post code and was thoroughly shirty with me when I said no.

It's so annoying!!

[DSHathawayGivesMeFannyGallops]

@Adorabelle - Joules ask you because they use the data to check how much "loyal custom" your local store gets. Also if you cross the county to get there and so do lots of your neighbours, that helps them target expansion!

[RoryItsSnowing]

Mothercare/ELC do this too. Drives me mad. All under the guise of emailing you your receipt. If I wanted to be on a mailing list I'd bloody sign up myself.
I just say 'thanks but I'll have the receipt printed instead'.

[RoryItsSnowing]

I got carried away and read postcode as email address
Although both wind me up!!

[Fex]

Matalan have started asking me for my date of birth!
They all ask as though it's my mistake they don't have it on record.
I just say no.

[Rufustherenegadereindeer1]

there

So staff are not as innocent as they claim. They lie. There is no such thing as "putting in a note to say no junk mail/catalogues"

In the high street shop i work in the above is absolutely true...i dont lie and i can put 'a note' so no newsletters are sent

[JustHope]

My DD has been asked for her details at a till which she declined and then was told she ‘had to to get her receipt’. This is way out of order. Kids and teens should never be asked to provide this information. It contradicts everything they have been taught about personal safety. Asking a twelve year old is just wrong.

[Rufustherenegadereindeer1]

Just quote 'data protection act' when they ask you for this private information

Or just say no thanks

I do it all the time, no one has looked at me funny or said anything

[ProseccoMamam]

This fucking annoys me, and it's part of the reason that I do my shopping online for most things.

But not primark, primark don't give a fuck where you live and they don't want to send you emails, you can buy your fuzzy slippers in 4 minutes and then go to Starbucks for a coffee while your friend rings you from Debenhams because she can't find a staff member that doesn't scare her

[thiskittenbarks]

I got in a 5 min convo with a woman in jojo last week about this. She just kept on trying to get me to give my email address. She acted like I needed to give it. I told her I already receive emails from them, she said these would be different emails, I said I didn't want to receive anymore emails than I already do...she said they would be special offers, I told her I didn't need encouragement to shop. It went on and on. Take the hint! In the end I think I was (/had to be) a bit abrupt and just said I didn't want to give out my email address!

[Kittychatcat]

I give the postcode of our local rubbish recycling centre if I'm asked and don't want to give the real one!

[DadDadDad]

I've scrolled through 134 posts and couldn't see the answer to this question: how does giving my postcode expose me to being put on a mailing list? there are tens of houses with the same postcode as mine - are they going to mailshot all of them?

Giving my postcode seems fairly innocuous if the company is surveying where their customers come from (as someone explained for Asda up-thread). It's not evil for businesses to research such things and use it to improve what they offer potential customers!

[MummyMuppet2x2]

This is me.
I HATE IT

[BlackPepperCrab]

I just say “no thank you” and most of them will take it as that.

[Elphame]

I have no problem at all with saying no to these intrusive requests - if I'm particularly annoyed ( third shop in a row annoyed) then yes they'll get a fake postcode. I really don't care that it screws up their systems. If we all did it then they'd abandon the policy.

[DadDadDad]

This fucking annoys me, and it's part of the reason that I do my shopping online for most things.

But doesn't online shopping require you to give your full postal address, your credit card details, possibly a contact phone number and/or your email address?!

[thiskittenbarks]

I worked in retail as a teen and know what it's like to have to push something to hit targets - but most people should to be able to take a hint. I'd rather not have to be abrupt and just say no, so if I say "sorry not today I'm in a bit of a rush" I mean no, I don't mean tell me about how quickly you can take down all my personal info.

[SeekEveryEveryKnownHidingPlace]

But doesn't online shopping require you to give your full postal address, your credit card details, possibly a contact phone number and/or your email address?!

It doesn't require you to stand in a queue waiting while other people give their details, or to stand there patiently with the good inches away from you while you go through this rigmarole. They ask you for your address so they can deliver you your stuff that you've bought, not so they can bug the life out of you with catalogues and offers.

[DadDadDad]

not so they can bug the life out of you with catalogues and offers.

Please do not untick this box if you would rather we didn't send you information about offers in the future
Please tick to agree our terms and conditions [including the right for our salesman to knock on your door every night and show you things you have no interest in]
OK, I may be exaggerating a little.

[Oly5]

I flat out refuse to give my postcode or email address. Cheeky marketing tactics!! I just want my purchase thanks!!

[SeekEveryEveryKnownHidingPlace]

Yes, once they have your email address they will use it annoyingly - even if the reason they needed it in the first place was reasonable enough.

When you're there in a shop trying to purchase an item that is physically in front of you, they do not need it, and since we all know full well that once they have it they will use it, it's reasonable not to give it, and to understand that they can want it for no reason other than to send information you probably don't want (at best).

And they most certainly don't need street name, house number, and shopper's name, which an internet purchase clearly does require.

[DadDadDad]

Please, could someone answer my earlier question: how does giving your postcode (not email, just postcode) provide a marketing opportunity? The whole of my road shares my postcode!

[SeekEveryEveryKnownHidingPlace]

Dad I don't think anyone knows the specifics of what they are using it for, if they just take your postcode. Maybe they do just want to know what areas are shopping there. Maybe they want to know how much repeat custom they get. I don't know, and I don't especially see why anyone else would. Increasingly that is not all the information they ask anyway.

What we do know is:
there's no need for it
it takes up time and makes the queue move more slowly
it's annoying
it's increasingly often just a way into asking for the rest of your details anyway ('can I just grab a quick postcode.... sigh, ok.... right, great, and what house number is that....?)

[kittykarate]

Just a postcode gives them nice data to mine about the type of people who shop in their stores. So it could be used for a relatively benign purpose (oooh look, we have a high volume of people from Carlisleshopping in Newcastle, maybe we should open a store nearer Carlisle ).

This data combined with your purchase data could be joined with other publicly available data to create a profile on your household which then has value as a marketing tool.

[BlackPepperCrab]

DadDadDad I may be wrong here, if so pardon me, but I think stores can garner more data than what a postal code affords because when you use your credit card for instance, they’re already awarded with something like your name.* That’s the direct marketing portion.*

Another part of it I believe is statistical analysis.* The greater the number of people from an area frequenting a store, the greater the chance of said area being targeted when talks of expansion comes along.*

[BlackPepperCrab]

Ah cross post with kittykarate! Also no idea why the MN app randomly chooses to bold bits of my post.