Just bought a 2m section of flexible tube for a gas stove, and the sales clerk asked first for my phone number, to which I replied “I don’t have one”. Then she asked me for my name, to which I replied “I’ll pay in cash”. She then insisted it was so “the cashier will call you by name”, to which I replied “I’m not giving you my name, I’ll pay in cash”. [Edit: she apparently got a bit upset when I refused to give info, but ended up entering “no name” according to the receipt]
Am I wrong for not wanting to give personal data for an item paid in cash, in person? No other hardware store ever asks me for my personal info.
Yeah, places have done that on and off since the 2000’s. Brick and Mortars want your data just as much as online places.
It’s always been easy to just say no and move on and if they insist because their managers are corporate junkies, I’ve always given out random area code + Jenny’s number along with any given random name. Dirk Diggler will live on buying things as long as I live.
You’re not weird or paranoid. They’re assholes. I have a catch-all email address for my mail domain, so I test clerks who ask on those rare occasions. “BestBuyCanSuckmyBalls@mydomainname.tld.”
It’s entertaining to see the look they get when they’re faced with typing it in or just taking my fucking cash.Hallo Internet twin! I own a domain that is basically “SucksMyBalls.com” in my native language. If a business demands an email address without cause or they’ve particularly pissed me off, they get “Business@SucksMyBalls.com”. One of the best investments I’ve ever made.
I work in retail at a small business. Our boss wants us to get the name and email of everyone we can. He’s got some belief that it’s useful. It is nice to get someone’s name just so we can connect a receipt to a name in case of a return. None of us really push it much though, I don’t even ask if people are buying something small.
Why the heck did they ever need to call your name? For stuff like starbuck, sure, but then it’s entirely unnecessary since number can works too. These practices are unnecessary as heck and work as a way to gather data. Unless required by law(pharmacy, for tax reason, etc), If any shop asked for name/phone i would’ve just say no, if that’s unacceptable i would walk.
I’d dare say not even Starbucks needs to know your name. You should get an order number/code like everywhere else.
not even Starbucks needs to know your name. You should get an order number/code like everywhere else.
I’m standing right here, I’m the only customer in the place right now - you don’t need my name.
I tell people the name is “batman” and then when they yell it out I look flustered and say “oh please call me Bruce”.
Idk if they find it funny but I get Starbucks like twice a year maybe.
With Starbucks, they just need a name - not necessarily yours.
My of my uni friends used to pick ever more ridiculous names just to hear them call it out when his drink was ready.
Why is it needed for Starbucks?
They call out your name when your drink is ready.
There’s a whole cottage industry of influencers now who still think it hasn’t been overdone yet to try to get them to shout something ridiculous, unpronounceable, or impossible to spell when they write it on the cup.
The one and only time I went to Starbucks, I was the only one in line. I waited right there as they made the drink. There was absolutely no need for my name. I get that it’s just what they do, but it felt weird.
try to get them to shout something ridiculous, unpronounceable
I’ve always been partial to Heywood Jablomi
This reminds me of a strange encounter I had at a Starbucks in a train station in Paris: I order, pay, give my name (for the cup) and start to wander off to wait. A random super concerned dude starts explaining to me that I need to stay in the “waiting for drinks line” till my drink is ready. I was like “um, that’s why they write your name on the cup and call you?” But no, he was insistent that the propor protocol was to wait in the line, the other folks in line seemed to agree. Super weird. I succumbed to the peer pressure but AFAICT the 2nd line was 100% stupid (maybe they have too many people w/ the same 1st name there?) and it’s kinda wild being from Seattle and having a random French dude mansplain Starbucks to me.
A new water company (currently the government want to privatise these) was checking water meters last week. long story short they broke one and the cap on the hole keeps popping up outside my house on the pathway. Rang them today to tell them about it “what’s your address?”
I had to obviously give them that - I guess I could’ve said I was a neighbour, and just given them the location. Wanted my name and phone number. I said “I don’t want or need to give that, I am just telling you about the manhole cover.”
“I need to get your name and phone number to continue”
“I don’t know my phone number, my name is private Jones. I have been put on hold two times already. a lady and a child already tripped over this cover, I don’t care if you can’t continue. I have given the information, and it won’t be me that anyone sues if they break something tripping over it.”
I stayed polite and we ended the conversation. but holy shit. You are not wrong to not give it to them. They are wrong for persistently asking for it.
“So the cashier will call you by name” means they don’t care if it’s your real name, just react when they call it.
John with a W
No, not wrong. But I usually give a silly name, like Glutomis Maximus! Yes, there is an exclamation point in the name.
Had a server who laughed at this and retorted, “oh, so it is an ironic name, like they called the bald stooge Curly.”
Yes, I have no ass. Bitch. I am going to tip you so hard now. 30%.
Biggest Dickus, I want a Biggest Dickus. /s
Hilariously, I am wearing a Monty Python shirt at this moment,
“I fart in your general direction.”
Did I find a soul twin?
Wouldn’t say quite a soul twin, but I like it too.
In case you haven’t seen it, look up Red Dwarf.
Of course I have seen Red Dwarf. Gentleman’s Guide to Knife Fighting?
No some shit is stupid. I once took 20 minutes on phone trying to cancel ADT because “I had to give a reason” to which I refused.
“Because I’ll stop fucking paying you if you don’t"
“Because I don’t want it anymore” should be reason enough.
Because I don’t like that you asked me for a reason.
You shouldn’t have to provide a reason at all, period.
Absolutely. ‘Please cancel my account’ should be enough, on the first try, always.
In every situation it should be just as easy to cancel a service as it is to sign up. If you can sign up online you should be able to cancel online.
Local area code + 8675309. Used it since the early 00’s. As an added bonus, many places have discounts set up for that number.
Why do places have discounts for that number? Guessing you’re american, I have no clue what that number is.
It was a popular song in the 80’s.
Thanks. Why would that give a discount, though?
867-5309 is from a popular song in the 80’s. The song is Jenny, by Tommy Twotone. The lyrics are about seeing some “For a good time, call Jenny 867-5309” graffiti on a dive bar bathroom stall. The singer, being drunk and lonely at the bar, decides to call the number on a whim. Since the song was popular and lists the digits as part of the chorus, it is easy to remember… Memes were a thing, even in the 80’s before the internet. And basically any GenX person can recite the number, even decades later.
Which means it is commonly used as a fake number wherever you can make a loyalty account with only a phone number. So if the place has a loyalty/rewards system, the popular fake number probably has real rewards to be redeemed. I can usually get a few cents per gallon off at the gas station, for instance. Because with dozens of people using the same phone number all over town, the fake accounts quickly rack up loyalty rewards.
Sometimes called the Jenny Discount by those who use the number. Worst case scenario, you give the store a meme number and nothing happens.
Not wrong at all. More people need to learn to say no instead of mindlessly complying to every request.
Like the guy at Walmart that wants to look at your receipt when you leave. I just say “no thank you” and keep on walking.
Local walmart assigns the most pathetic people to the receipt checker job. Its always either the frail old lady or the 3ft tall guy.
