RadioShack Stops Being Nosy

jackbang writes "One small but positive step in the gradual erosion of personal privacy and increase of corporate intrusiveness - RadioShack will no longer ask for your name and address when all you want to do is buy some batteries. Now if only they would agree to remove the motion sensor that rings a bell every time someone walks in or out of the store..." Always freaked me out being asked my address just to buy some solder or something.

Well...

[kitzilla]

....this will piss the Pentagon off. Just when they were all set to track consumer purchases...

There goes my fantasy social life

[L. VeGas]

You mean that salesclerk wasn't hitting on me?

Solder???

[bmf033069]

Spelling errors are legendary around here...but he get's "solder"

Give me GeekSpelling for $500...

Don't be so chicken!

[Saint Aardvark]

I was always ready to give out my address:

J. Chretien
24 Sussex Drive
Ottawa, ON
K1A 0A2

If only...

[RainMan496]

...they'd stop asking for money.

Well, it was unconstitutional anyway

[Anonymous Coward]

Amendment III

No solder shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.

Re:Well...

[Boone^]

but no one is using radio shack discrete electronics to make missle guidance systems anymore. They just mod-chip a PS2 and write some new software. I'm sure Best Buy & Wal-mart will still help out Rumsfeld track everyone.

They won't anymore because...

[medscaper]

...at this point?

They already know them all.

Thank God

[bogie]

Now the poor sap named Dick Hertz who lives at 123 Main St will stop getting thousands of Radio Shack catalogs each week in the mail.

And the free catalog ?

[denisbergeron]

I want to receive the free RadioShack superb catalog with all the tecky thing on it !

Awwwwww.

[Unknown Poltroon]

But I had fun introducing myself as Richard Nixon With a phone number of [phone].
I had even more fun when they argued with me.

It's too bad that they started being pains in the asses about this. I really wanted to get their catalog, but I'll be damned if I'll give them a name and address.

FREE BATTERIES....DISGUISE REQUIRED...

[wwwssabbsdotcom]

...do they still have the FREE BATTERY of the MONTH club? Gez, I used to work in a RS store while in college and this little kid would come in with a battery card, get a D battery, go home, change into his little league outfit, come in and get another D battery, go home put his cubscout outfit on, and come in....and so on. He'd have like 4 FREE BATTERY cards.

Smart kid, but shame those old red RS batteries would last about 1/4 of the time a normal batter would. I used to just laugh and go along with it.

Re:You're not required to answer, though.

[Anonymous Coward]

I just answer "Bond, James Bond" when they ask. Gets 'em every time.

Of course they stopped asking

[PhysicsGenius]

They have all our addresses now.

Re:Thanks to whoever hit them with the Clue stick

[medscaper]

So, what does Radio Shack carry these days?

Blank Stare^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^HAnswers.

How Dissapointing

[spoonboy42]

With this news, radioshack has killed my purchasing alter-ego, John Shamus of 200 Arroway Lane. See, I created a whole personality for use in radio shack. Besides a fake name and address, my character John spoke in a funny voice, had an interesting career (limo-bus bathroom attendant), and even had a wife with a kid on the way (which made it easier to justify my purchases of children's toys). He also had about a dozen cuecats.

Screw it, I'm going to keep going in to Radio Shack as John, anyway. It's not like my life was going that great to begin with...

Why They're Stopping

[Tsar]

The name/address question was redundant, since they're now doing retina scans as folks enter the store. The bell actually indicates a database match.

Ding!

It's true

[Arandir]

It's true! RadioShack stops being nosy. At first I didn't believe it, but a devil ice-skated by selling a Linux that was ready for the desktop and said it was true.

With a Fry's in Austin...

[craenor]

What are the chances I'll ever step foot in a Radio Shack? They could start giving me their home address and phone number, but unless she's cute, I'm still not shopping at Radio Shack.

Elvis shops at Rat Shack

[Anonymous Coward]

I always just told em my name was Elvis Presley and I lived at Graceland in Memphis. Always got plenty of laughs, but they keyed it into their POS terminal anyway.

Best6 fake name

[mikecap]

I always used:

"Raymond D. O'Shack", you can call me Ray!!

Ha ha

Re:Cables

[Jucius Maximus]

"Now if they'd only start selling cables for a reasonable price. Can anywone explain to me why a six foot audio costs $10 while the twenty foot cable costs $13. who needs 20 feet of cable for headphone extension anyway?"

I actually have two 20 footers in series piping a signal from the output of the amp in the stereo down through the central vaccum tube, above the ceiling panels in the basement and down to my computer. It's ugly, but it works.

You've got questions, we've got cellphones!

[Bonker]

Me: I'm looking for an RF Modulator so I can plug my DVD player into a TV without AV inputs. (Don't get me started...)

Shack Sales Clerk: Uhmm... That's like a VCR, right? We've got all our VCRs on that wall right over there.

Me: Uh, no. It's a signal adapater. (Surely someone who works around electronics every day should understand this, right?) It converts composite audio/video signal output to rf signal for a coaxial cable input.

Clerk: It's an adapter?

Me: (Thinking the light has finally turned on) Yes! It's got a coaxial output on one end and RCA style audio-video inputs on the other.

Clerk: Here ya go! (He hands me a RCA 'Y' splitter.)

Me: *Sigh*...

I did manage to get the guy to give me an RF modulator, but only after I retrieved a Radio Shack ad from behind the counter and pointed at it in the ad.

Re:Don't be so chicken!

[benwb]

I always used to give out my real name, but I would make a point of noting the stores address before I walked in- and would give that one to the clerk. I think only once in all the years that I did that did a clerk ever notice...

Re:So what?

[IPFreely]

(* wave hand *)

"You don't need to know my name and address."

"I don't need to know your name and address."

"You will sell me this battery."

"Seven twenty five Please."

"SEVEN TWENTY FIVE! Are you nuts?"

"I am nuts."

Re:Found you at last!!!

[Havoc'ing]

You b*****d I found you at long last!!! Love, Dick

Re:Awwwwww.

[Software]

I really wanted to get their catalog, but I'll be damned if I'll give them a name and address.

Um, if you didn't want to give them a name and address, you wanted to get their catalog how? By extra-sensory perception or something? Maybe Santa Claus could bring it?

Recording our conversations

[Ted_Green]

I don't believe all radio shacks do it, but in a number I've been to (Fairfax VA area) the employees (or somthing) is fitted with a microphone and this transmits the conversations into the back stock room.

It always freaked me out to be looking for LEDs and hear a disembodied voices saying:
"can I help you?"
"yes do you sell power adapters?"
"we sell all sorts of power sir."

Re:FREE BATTERIES....DISGUISE REQUIRED...

[Anonymous Coward]

How have you been? Actually, I was boosting the power of my walkie-talkie to launch missiles and interfere with air traffic control.

I want to give my adress

[denisbergeron]

They send my this beautyfull catalog with a lot of guzzy techky bidules.

Thank you Dick Dick, for your purchase.

[jason99si]

I refused to give my name once, and on the receipt, it said "Thank you Dick Dick, for your purchase" (or something like that).

I noticed before I left, and was sure to thank the Dick helping me.

Re:So what?

[redherring22]

I can't think of Radio Shack without the obligatory Simpsons quote:
Homer: We'll search out every place a sick, twisted, solitary misfit might run to!
Lisa: I'll start with Radio Shack.
(www.snpp.com)

I Always Gave Them The Data of Someone I Disliked

[DoctorMabuse]

That way they got Radio Shit catalogs up the wazoo.

true stories..

[libre lover]

"May I have your last name please?"

"Shack. S-h-a-q."

"And your first name?"

"Rat. R-h-a-t-t."

"And your address?"

I then proceeded to give him the address of the store I was in. Only then did he get the joke.

On another occasion when I was asked for my last name I said "Cash" and I looked over at the screen as he entered "Cash" into the last name field and up popped the "Johnny Cash" account.

Here's how to deal with people asking your address

[btempleton]

Follow this example, one of the winners of the 1991 rec.humor.funny comedy awards

Q&A at Radio Shack [netfunny.com]

But...

[dlelash]

... now people won't get this joke [google.com] anymore.

Re:So what?

[rutledjw]

We had a company in Denver who was pretty good as far as selection and price went, BUT they demanded your home address and phone number. If you refused a manager had to OK the sale. The manager then wanted to know you didn't want to give out this info and tried to convince you to cough it up.

All in all, it added 20 minutes for me. The store has great prices so we compromised. I gave them my ex-girlfriends phone number and home address.

I'm sure that spiced up dinner conversation when her husband finds my mail in his box!

Re:Pay with Cash.

[Anonymous Coward]

I pulled the "it's legel tender, you have to take it," and the manager pointed to the "we reserve the right to refuse to do business with anyone," and sent me on my way.

That Radio Shack never saw anything but my middle finger after that, and went out of business a couple of years later - the manager (yup, same guy) was caught embezzling.

Har. There is a god, and she has a vicious sense of humor.

Re:But you still pay a psychological price.

[Anonymous Coward]

Nicely-put: "I only have a limited amount of rudeness at my disposal and I like to save some of it for when I need it, instead of having to fritter it away constantly on Radio Shack salespeople, telemarkers, or people that ask for my social security number..."

Re:There goes my fantasy social life

[fobbman]

It was a Radio Shack clerk. How good could that have been?

Re:So what?

[WasteOfAmmo]

I think you are giving to much credit. It would be closer to:

"What is your name and address please?"

(* wave hand *)

"You don't need to know my name and address."

"I said what is your name and address?"

(* wave hand *)

"You don't need to know my name and address!!"

"Yes I do and stop waving your hand. What do you think you are some kind of Jedi Hobbist! I'm a Sales Droid, mind tricks don't work mindless minions. No name and address then no batteries!"

that was me!

[Anonymous Coward]

later installments with my local pin-head RS manager would go like this:

cashier: Name?
me: none
cashier: that's your name? None?
me: yep
cashier: OOOk what's your last name?
me: none

minutes of fun

last spring , there were 3 other people behind me waiting to pay and the same mgr-bonehead was still playing the game with me, but he knew I didn't want to give my name, or ANY name.

following verbatim (as I remember it)

cashier: You know, we don't make any money off your name.
me: then why do you bother?
cashier: it makes it alot easier if you want to return this item.
me: I'm not returning it, I'm paying cash and never coming back
cashier (rings up sale), .....Fine...you don't want me to make any money.... (actual words)
me: What did you just say?
cashier: nothing
me: You just said I didn't want you to Make Any Money!!!! I'm in your Store, I'm BUYING an item. I'm paying YOU money. Are you telling me that if I DON'T give you MY NAME, YOU don't make any money? It's MY NAME! You don't make money with MY NAME! That's MY JOB, not YOURS!
cashier: next

Re:You've got questions, we've got cellphones!

[Guppy06]

"Shack Sales Clerk: Uhmm... That's like a VCR, right? We've got all our VCRs on that wall right over there."

Radio Shack: You've got questions? So do we!

Re:Well...

[red_dragon]

"You've got questions...we've got blank stares."

E.g., the one time I was browsing around the nearest Radio Shack to see if they had Memory Stick cards for my Clié. The guy looked at me, stalled for a second, and said "uhhh... whazzat?"

The only things the guy really knew about were the ZipZap cars, and then only so much.

When asked for your name/address....

[linuxelf]

Just say:

Alan M Ralsky
6747 Minnow Pond Dr.
West Bloomfield, MI 48322

Re:So what?

[domninus.DDR]

yea thanks no one understood the reference until now

My trick

[ocie]

This usually works on the weak-willed. If they don't have a weak will when they start working at RS, a couple of months on the job will give them one:

Me: I'd like to buy these batteries
Sales: I need your address
Me: You don't need my address (wave hand -- this part is very important)
Sales: I don't need your address
Me: You serve your master well and will be rewarded.

Re:But you still pay a psychological price.

[bear_phillips]

Next time just yell out "Stop touching me! I'm not that way!". They leave you alone real quick then.

It never bothered me.

[SatanicPuppy]

I just lied to them. How the hell are they going to know?

Oh yea, and if any radio shack people are reading this, my address is:

1600 Pennsylvania Ave
Washington DC, 20500

Re:So what?

[Tassach]

When some nosy salescritter asks for my address, I always give tell them it's 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington, DC 20500. Sadly, 90% of the time they don't even get it.

For clerks of the same sex (usually works:)

[E_elven]

...
"May I have your address?"

"Are you asking me out?"

"Er."

"Well, then you don't need to know."

Re:But you still pay a psychological price.

[Hayzeus]

But I only have a limited amount of rudeness at my disposal and I like to save some of it for when I need it, instead of having to fritter it away constantly on Radio Shack salespeople, telemarkers, or people that ask for my social security number...

You see, there's your problem right there. Rudeness is not like some fixed container of liquid (like, say, a keg of beer) which is exhausted quickly with use. Rather, rudeness is a muscle; use it or it atrophies. Use it frequently, and you'll find you have more available when you need it. I'd suggest the following three-step regimen:

• Start with a pet. A goldfish is a good for newbies -- if you don't have one get a feeder from the local petstore. Or you can win one at the local carnival or state fair. Start with subtle insults, and graduate to screaming like a drill sergeant. When you feel ready, move up to a small mammal, maybe a cat.
• Ready for people? Telemarketers are an obvious choice. No need to jump into outright rudeness immediately. You can start out by just being sullen and evasive, and move up to passive-aggressive when you've gained a little confidence.
• The next step is to go shopping for a car. Once you've spent about 10-minutes or so with the "undercoating guy" you'll really feel ready to get in touch with your inner bastard. Trust me.

Follow this easy program, and in no time at all you'll find you posesess seemingly unlimited reservoirs of rudeness at your disposal. You'll actually look forward to returning items to Wal Mart. You'll even be able make nasty remarks to elderly ladies with WAY more than 15 items in their damn shopping cart without the slightest hint of discomfort!

Hope I've helped -- m

Re:So what?

[ipjohnson]

I think if he found anyone's "mail" in her box he'd be pissed ...

My RS nick

[Anonymous Coward]

RS: Name?
Me: Cash
RS: First name?
Me: Justin
RS: Address?
Me: Read the name - aloud.

Re:Well...

[shades66]

Ha..I am glad I wasn't the only one that did that!. I used to work for Tandy (The UK division of Radio Shack) and got so fed up of being told you have to get ~90% addresses. I dredd to think how many times family members were entered onto the system because I was so fed up with asking everyone for Name&Address when all they bought were some fuses or the odd (overpriced!) LED's

I agree with a comment earlier about how they used to stock all sorts of component items (A few followed me home too occasionally...) anyway then they slowly stopped that and started selling just overpriced items (most of which always used to come back within a few weeks with problems) and the computers they sold were a joke. The number of times kids used to come in and format the hard-drive for us...

Glad I left that job!!!

Anyway most of the stores seem to of closed now.. I wonder why!?!?!?!

Mark.

Re:So what? They are nice...

[letxa2000]

It couldn't be tune to reach certain frequencies,

Yeah, I bought my phone with no 5's and my calendar with no 7's at Radio Shack, too.

Re:So what?

[scotch]

Hot chicks in radio shack? Please. What is the world coming too?

Now I don't get to ask the clerk's address anymore

[jbrownc1]

I always countered the request for personal information with a whole slew of questions of my own, such as the clerk's name, phone, address, sometimes I'd ask for blood type or favorite color. Usually managed to get out of the store pretty quickly...

Same goes for wait staff at restaurants who, with forced perkiness, say, "Hi! I'm , and I'll be your server today!", at which point I introduce the whole table, start asking them to tell us a little more about themselves, etc.