Stores that want your email

[MrsFunnyBunny]

I shop online and use my email for this obviously. I also use an H&M club member app and am paper free there, all good.

But shops like New look and Claires want you to tell the cashier your email address loudly in front of the whole queue of people so that they can send you an email receipt. I like email receipts but do not wish to share my personal email address os publicly. They're only allowed to ask people over 18 and New Look staff are getting quite rude now when I say I prefer to have a paper receipt.

AIBU to prefer using an app with a bar code for paperless rather than telling random people and fellow shoppers my email address, for all in the store to hear?

What are people's views on this, it seems like such a clunky way of going about paperless. Really irritating.

I was behind someone in queue in Joules last week and heard her postcode, house number, name and email address at the till. I just say 'paper, thanks' when asked and it's never an issue, but I think that when you're at the till chatting to the cashier, it's easy to forget there are bored people standing quite close behind you, listening while they wait for the 'Thanks, bye!' cue to move forward.

'I don't give my email address out for receipts' whilst smiling nicely.

if you are polite then it really doesn't matter if they do get insistent and/or rude. their problem

This is what DH has done, we both use the same one.

Just say no and get a paper receipt.

As it broke (rather than just returning because you didn't like it) could you have got a refund via your credit card?

Oh I don't know - I once had an employee at one of the big electronic retailers refuse to sell me a sat nav (this was a while ago) unless I gave him my email address and actual physical address.

I refused (obviously) but he was adamant that the sale could not go through without it. A manager was eventually summoned and reluctantly I was allowed to give them £100 without any personal details attached.

I always just give a flat no and if they persist just say I don't have an email address. They clearly don't believe me but they can't argue.

I just say no thank you I would like a paper receipt please.
Last weekend one tried “can I take your email to see if you have an account with us” but I replied that wouldn’t be necessary because I hadn’t

'a paper receipt is fine, thanks' usually does the trick. Hardly something to get worked up over.

I have several email addresses which I used for different reasons.

I have one that I use for things like this which I basically ignore, and just let emails build up, and they maybe do a wholesale delete every few weeks of the spam, leaving anything useful like receipts which I need for the longer term for guarantees etc.

Easy enough to set up multiple email addresses.

Think of all the paper and ink we would be saving as a society and globally if we all went to digital. It would be an instant positive impact on the environment. I've just chucked a massive handful of paper into the bin, all receipts that could have been digitised, available if needed, deleted if not.

I think the concerns about giving an email address are unfounded especially if you create an email address for receipts, it's like a burner email, just for that purpose.

I always say “paper receipt is fine thank you”, never had any issues - except from, yes you have guessed it New Look!

There is always a bit of an attitude from them but instead of getting annoyed, I always think of my days as a Saturday girl when we were targeted on how many people we could get signed up to our points card. In the late 90s my friends and family all probably had about 10 points cards each for the shop I worked in.

It’s probably the same stress now for paperless receipts.

I have a bit of a pain in the arse second name and am always concerned they won’t take it down properly meaning I won’t get the receipt I might need!

Im concerned to hear there are places who either now or are going to refuse to issue paper receipts? Is that legal

What if for some reason the email address is keyed in wrongly and your receipt doesnt come through?

Hate this too.

I also recently booked lunch at a restaurant and had to give my date of birth, it was a required field! I gave a fake one and in the comments explained why. Data is money now.

My email address isn’t a state secret. I couldn’t care less.

I'm more concerned about the plastic bags that shops still offer to customers...

Where have you heard this?

On this thread, havent you read it?

I have a very difficult to spell name plus I hate being sent marketing emails : these two factors mean I decline to give out my email address unless it’s a really expensive item at eg John Lewis and I want the back up to the paper receipt that I always ask for

It doesn't have to be either/or. We should think about all opportunities to reduce waste.

The reduction in single use carrier bags and increase in bags for life/long lasting strong bags for shopping has been transformational in the past decade. When I think about how all the main supermarkets used to have free carrier bags given away at every till without limit or charge, it was a disgrace. There is still work to be done, but that change in behaviour is embedded in society now, everyone takes carrier bags into shops or carries things out as loose items.

there is zero reason why people can't choose to eliminate wasteful practices that add no value and uses up resource needlessly. No different to abolishing plastic drinking straws, plastic cutlery. It just needs a change in mindset from won't do, to can do.

Usually whenever I go into a store the cashier asks you 'do you need a bag?' when they can see you have bags with you, or if you buy something very small.
Surely if it is a case of to 'reduce waste' they would not ask that question at all and let the customer tell them that they 'need' a bag.

Anyway, back to the topic.

How would you go to paperless receipts for the very elderly who are not tech savvy or those who do not have email addresses?

The cashier should just give you a paper receipt without drama but if they are rude, don’t shop there and write to the CEO to tell them why.

I am going to print a card with various details on so I can show that rather than read it out. I can't think where last wanted details in front of a queue of people.

Local big dept. store has asked for my email more than once. I just say no thanks - my inbox is stuffed too full as it is.

This annoys me. I don't want to give my email address out. Like pp, my email address is my full name which is easy to misspell so the chances are, I won't even receive the receipt.

I've noticed shop assistants getting very snippy and quite rude about it. Instead of asking if I'd like a receipt, they just ask for my email address, as though it isn't optional. I say a polite "no, thank you" and they roll their eyes and look at me like I've just committed some obscene crime. Not all, of course, but an increasing amount of them do.

The worst ones are New Look and River Island. River Island seem to be using sneaky tactics lately. I bought something a few weeks ago and when I said "no, thank you" to giving my email address, the assistant said they were only issuing online receipts and I couldn't have a paper one. I couldn't be bothered arguing even though I knew he was lying. I just said I'm not bothered about a receipt and left without one. I bought something from there again last week (yes, I know, but it was the perfect dress) and again politely declined to give my email address but was rudely told by the assistant that she couldn't apply my NHS Blue Light discount without me giving my email address. I needed the discount so reluctantly gave her it. I checked afterwards and she was right, the terms and conditions say you have to provide your email address. I gave an old one I never use.

Contrary to the multiple recent purchases I've made, it has actually put me off shopping in New Look and River Island, and any other shop that gets pushy. I only bought the dress last week because it was perfect and I couldn't find anything I liked elsewhere (I needed it for a night out that same day). I won't be shopping there if I can avoid it. I can't be bothered with their bad attitude when I say no. I could understand it if I was rude about it.