Re: Retail Performance Stores asking for customer name. - Cycling Mob: Road Cycling, Mountain Biking and More

08-23-2003, 03:46 PM

It's your name dweeb. They do so at a lot of stores including CompUSA so
that they do indeed have a way to reference your purchase and it's date and
price if you need to return it or it is defective and needs to be exchange
so that you aren't SOL and they don't have a ticked off customer who they
have no proof of purchasing through them.

What is the worst thing they could do with your information anyway? Send
you a catalog or sales announcement? Geez, stop being so paranoid and by
the way, try being polite to salespeople in stores instead of an arrogant,
self-righteous weenie. The guy making $8 an hour is told to ask for certain
information. Want to buy an extra phone at your local cellular phone shop,
well you'll have to give your name. Oh and by the way, if a retailer can
track it's customer's purchases, they can develop purchase pattern
information which can help them to stock product that you want or would be
inclined to purchase versus something the buyer "thinks" people like because
that person does and they can go back to their data and say, well you know
we sold 5 times as many Continental tires in red as we did in the generic
tan and black, let's make sure we order appropriately so that we don't
disappoint you Mr. Customer when you come in to buy another couple sets of
red and gee, we ran out 2 weeks ago and we won't be able to get any for
another 2 weeks...they lose a sale, you leave frustrated, have to go
elsewhere, you've wasted time and accomplished nothing and spend half the
rest of the day finding someone else locally who has the tires in the color
you want for your ride tomorrow. Isn't that a better way to run a company
than your way? I'm sure you aren't in sales and you are not in a
decision-making role whatever you do. And one last thing, if you were the
norm, they wouldn't ask the question. Maybe you would be more relaxed if
you left down your guard, relaxed a bit and got off your high horse. I'm
sure you pay taxes dude, so uncle Sam already knows who you are and where
you live. I'm sure your sense of importance is self-importance and I'm sure
you are nothing more than a cog in someone else's wheel at best. And by the
way, try shopping for stuff at a locally owned pro shop and support your
local merchants for a change. I'm sure you don't mind telling them your
name, particularly when you drop your bike for some servicing! Or your
local cleaner or where you make an appointment to get your hair cut or lawn
mowed or car serviced. Such inanity! Dan

"Sam Yorko" <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> wrote in message
news:[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]...
> Went in to my local Performance to buy a Topeak Mountain Morph pump
> (they're on sale). At the cash register, they demanded my name to
> complete the purchase. Only after I almost walked out did they relent
> on the demand.
>
> The excuse offered: in case I lost the receipt, they could look up the
> transaction if I wanted to return my purchase.
>
> Well, OK, that's the story being offered to the customers. And, even
> believing for the moment that that >is< the only reason for getting the
> customer name, that doesn't preclude some marketing dweeb within
> Performance in the future deciding that there is all this nice customer
> data just sitting around, and it's time to mine it for marketing
> purposes.
>
> No thanks.
>
> Sam

08-23-2003, 06:16 PM

"Dan O'Brasky" <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> wrote in message
news:l1T1b.8060$[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]...
> It's your name dweeb. They do so at a lot of stores including CompUSA so
> that they do indeed have a way to reference your purchase and it's date
and
> price if you need to return it or it is defective and needs to be exchange
> so that you aren't SOL and they don't have a ticked off customer who they
> have no proof of purchasing through them.
>
That's what receipts are for. If Joe Customer is too incompetant to safely
save his receipts, he deserves no support from the retailer.

> What is the worst thing they could do with your information anyway? Send
> you a catalog or sales announcement? Geez, stop being so paranoid and by
> the way, try being polite to salespeople in stores instead of an arrogant,
> self-righteous weenie. The guy making $8 an hour is told to ask for
certain
> information. Want to buy an extra phone at your local cellular phone
shop,
> well you'll have to give your name. Oh and by the way, if a retailer can
> track it's customer's purchases, they can develop purchase pattern
> information which can help them to stock product that you want or would be
> inclined to purchase versus something the buyer "thinks" people like
because
> that person does and they can go back to their data and say, well you know
> we sold 5 times as many Continental tires in red as we did in the generic
> tan and black, let's make sure we order appropriately so that we don't
> disappoint you Mr. Customer when you come in to buy another couple sets of
> red and gee, we ran out 2 weeks ago and we won't be able to get any for
> another 2 weeks...they lose a sale, you leave frustrated, have to go
> elsewhere, you've wasted time and accomplished nothing and spend half the
> rest of the day finding someone else locally who has the tires in the
color
> you want for your ride tomorrow. Isn't that a better way to run a company
> than your way? I'm sure you aren't in sales and you are not in a
> decision-making role whatever you do. And one last thing, if you were the
> norm, they wouldn't ask the question. Maybe you would be more relaxed if
> you left down your guard, relaxed a bit and got off your high horse. I'm
> sure you pay taxes dude, so uncle Sam already knows who you are and where
> you live. I'm sure your sense of importance is self-importance and I'm
sure
> you are nothing more than a cog in someone else's wheel at best. And by
the
> way, try shopping for stuff at a locally owned pro shop and support your
> local merchants for a change. I'm sure you don't mind telling them your
> name, particularly when you drop your bike for some servicing! Or your
> local cleaner or where you make an appointment to get your hair cut or
lawn
> mowed or car serviced. Such inanity! Dan

As far as tracking their sales, they don't need my name to track the
quantities of each product sold in a given period; they can do that by
scanning the barcode on the product and updating their database accordingly.

Cellular phone service represents an on-going business relationship; of
course the vendor has both a need and a right to know who I am. Buying a
bicycle pump, for cash, is a one-time encounter and the vendor has no need,
and therefore no right, to know anything about me. You're comparing Apples
and PCs.

Personally, I don't really care who tracks what information about me (I
don't know about the OP). I do get annoyed with companies who want my name
and address and phone number when I'm making a small cash purchase. They
are making a big production, and wasting time, over a trivial sale.
Information that they don't need they don't get.

Actually, given the rising number of identity thefts each year, we probably
ought not be cavalier with our personal information.

08-24-2003, 06:06 AM

In article <l1T1b.8060$[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]>,
Dan O'Brasky <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> wrote:
>
>What is the worst thing they could do with your information anyway? Send
>you a catalog or sales announcement?

Sell it a thousand times for a penny and god help you if you gave them
a phone number.