RadioShack Stops Being Nosy 774
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.
Never required (Score:3, Informative)
No, I was instead pissed because all I wanted was a $9 cable for my $ELECTRONICDEVICE and they made me give them my info every time. Even though they already have it, both from my cc number and from the last time I was there!!!
Re:Solder??? (Score:1, Informative)
Pronunciation: 'sä-d&r, 'so-, British also 'säl-d&r, 'sOl-
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English soudure, from Middle French, from souder to solder, from Latin solidare to make solid, from solidus solid
Date: 14th century
1 : a metal or metallic alloy used when melted to join metallic surfaces; especially : an alloy of lead and tin so used
2 : something that unites
RS is Irrelevant (Score:2, Informative)
I mean, for chrissakes, I went there looking for a book of radio frequencies (shortwave... found the WRTH at B. Dalton). They don't carry them. RADIO Shack? Puhleeze. I don't know what market they're going for these days, but radios have got very little to do with it.
Re:Messin' wit the Shack (Score:5, Informative)
Between local stores like Active Electronics [future-active.com], the utterly-amazing variety of electronic parts on eBay [ebay.com] and topnotch mail-order houses like Digi-Key [digikey.com], Jameco [jameco.com], and Mouser [mouser.com], it's pretty darned rare for me to set foot in a RatShit store these days. Their 1/4-watt resistor assortments are still a killer deal, though.
Re:Don't be so chicken! (Score:3, Informative)
And here's a map [tinyurl.com] if you get lost.
Re:So what? (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Its about time! (Score:3, Informative)
But I always gave them a fake name and address. No I'm not paranoid.
Hey, if the shoe fits....
But seriously. I worked at Radio Shack for many years and most people didn't mind giving out that information. Of course, back then, only Radio Shack actually asked for that much information and the current privacy issues were less numerous than they are today.
Most people didn't realize it, but Radio Shack not only measured what percentage of customers gave their names and addresses to an individual store, but we tracked it at an employee level. Anything below 80% was unacceptable, but to be blunt, 90% was easy and didn't require badgering anybody. Anybody who got below 90% was just not asking. Hell, I once led my city in names-and-address percentage when the other 25 stores in town had gotten their point-of-sale systems up and running and my store was still stuck with handwritten receipts.
Never gave it... (Score:1, Informative)
Saw the interview on CNBC (Score:5, Informative)
I imagine you have a lot of fake information collected, I never give my correct information when I go to RS.
The CEO looked kinda stunned at first, like he got belted in the head with a brick, then rather annoyed. He didn't say anything about it but I got the impression he was rather surprised to hear that this was common pratice. Or maybe surprised it was being discussed on TV while a bunch of his investors watched.
Judging by the comments here me and the Squawk Box guy weren't the only ones doing it. What's next, Radio Shack management discovers that pushing extended warranties on 50 cent batteries is considered somewhat amusing?
For the humor impaired (Score:3, Informative)
The joke in small words:
Solder is an easy word to get wrong.
Solder is spelled correctly, while so many other easier words to spell are not.
It's funny. Smile.
For those of you that still don't get it, allow me to rephrase:
"While in the past it has been commented upon that the spelling errors here are frequent and notable, it strikes me as somewhat humorous that a word such as 'solder' was spelled correctly."
Re:So what? (Score:5, Informative)
So what? Most people are in the habit of doing what they're told. Your average person isn't aware that their information is being sold without their knowledge. Many people would object if they thought about it, but it's easier to reply than to consider the ramifications. If too many people get into this habit we'll move toward a society where it is expected and required. If I can't purchase books and health supplies without being tracked, democracy is going to have some problems.
All that said, I "Just Say No" myself. I'm always amused at the cashier's response. It usually takes a second for the cashier to realise that I've said "I'd rather not", snapping them out of their automated work mode. You can also tell the places that get alot of flack about it. Best Buy's cashiers are all used to being told No when asking for a zip code. The casher Party USA was completely baffled and had to call over a manager ("What do I punch in?"). Depending on my mood, I'll occasionally make up information. I usually did for Radio Shack since they were so insistant.
Re:Just say no (Score:2, Informative)
Don't loose your reciept (Score:2, Informative)
I never liked asking for Name/Address I did b/c
I had to. There is one good reason to give your
name and address. If you loose your receipt we
can look it up. If you don't give the name and
address make sure you keep the reciept or don't
bother to try and return something (we can't
accept returns w/o a receipt). You wouldn't
believe how many people loose the reciept.
Um, they're still asking ... (Score:3, Informative)
He asked me for my name, address, zip code.
Re:Now? (Score:3, Informative)
Yes, actually you can. Catch is, you have to go to the same store that got your info in the first place, as they can only remove people from their local database. And about 1/4 the time it doesn't work anyways because the system decides there is some type of 'pending transaction' in your name, but it's still worth a shot.
And as a side note, now instead of asking if we can have your name and address we ask if you'd like to receive our monthly sales flyers, then get your info if you say yes. We've only been doing this for 1 day so far, and I'm absolutely blown away by the number of people who say 'yes'. It's something in the 80% range.
Even stranger is the probably 10% who say 'I already get them.' Some of our guys started exlpaining to those people that if they don't make a purchase and give their name and address once every 90 days, they'll stop receiving the flyers. Probably half of them say 'Oh, really? In that case, my name is...'
And one final note, since several posters have mentioned catalogs, getting on our mailing list won't get you a catalog because we don't print them anymore. It's all on our website, and on a really crappy behind-the-times CD that we're supposedly going to eventually start giving away. (For the moment, each store only has 1 CD for it's own use.) Not giving out catalogs pisses off a lot of people. But hey, it's kind of comforting in a way that they haven't completely decided to listen to the customers, that would just be freaky.
true story (Score:5, Informative)
Anyway, I went back to the same store I got it from, talked to the manager, told her I was not amused over this incident. I mean, what if I had milked the batt dry and had tossed it?
From then on I always refuse this info when asked at ratshacks or wherever, latest was at some car parts store, I tell them it just slap ain't happening, they can enter any name or whatever to make their cash register work, or "no sale".
This data mining stuff I can see two sides of, but my default is it's too likely to be misused and as such I'm against it now.
It also happened to me once some fool at a job I worked snagged my soc sec # and used it somehow (probably gave or sold it to someone, I never found out exactly) to get some utilites turned on, like a year later I get this bill for gas service at someplace I never lived at. No amount of arguing would make them drop the bill, and the threat was pay it now or lose gas service at the place I lived. What a crock, I HAD to pay it or lose use of my hotwater heater and stove and furnace, not an option at the time.
Can of worms, society needs some sort of ID to go about your day to day business, but too many ways it can be misused or stolen. It's totally fubared now, because no solution addresses privacy concerns. Caych 22 "Danged if ya do danged if ya don't" deal there.
Don't be too hard on the clerk (Score:1, Informative)
--ex-RadioShack Employee
Re:So what? (Score:1, Informative)
I'm glad that Radio Shack has decided to stop this privacy-violating practice, but it's still going to take years for the general feeling of ickyness to fade whenever I walk past one.
So what? So misinformed I can't believe it! (Score:2, Informative)
RadioShack doesn't sell their info to anyone. Safeway on the other hand is a different story. Next time you go to a RadioShack why don't you read the signs they have next to the register? There are, of course companies who do use these practices. I know every time I buy something online part of the reason it's so inexpensive is all those ads I'll be recycling but RadioShack isn't one of them. If you don't believe me, fine; but don't come at me with your recorded message about how democracy is falling apart. Give me some evidence. Show me an instance. Go to RadioShack and ASK that they put you in their database - but give them an appartment number with your houses address. That's the way to prove it. That's how I know Safeway thinks I *REALLY* *REALLY* need a credit card. Whatever you do, don't go fucking calling wolf when there's no wolf, these issues do deserve our attention and actions like these will only disenchant the populace.
Re:Well... (Score:5, Informative)
As an EE, it would be nice to have a place in short driving distance where you can get a decent selection of parts but these days mail order (ie digi-key) is really your best bet.
Re:Well... (Score:1, Informative)
The idea is simple...there is a ton of profit margin in parts, but the sales associates have plenty to focus on at the front of the store that make them more money.
Actually, despite all the paranoia... (Score:3, Informative)
And for people who are offended by the idea of needing the name and address for warranty stuff, well, you shouldn't be. Warranties on most items (other than things like wireless phones or computers) are NOT tracked by serial number, contrary to popular belief. The serial number of that 900 mhz cordless bargin bin phone you just bought is not on the bar code of the box, and therefore it's not entered into the computer when the clerk scans in the UPC.
I work at a radioshack, and I hated asking for names and addresses as much as customers hated giving it out, but it never ceased to amaze me just how many people thought that the shack was in cahoots with the FBI, despite signs on the front of the cash register which say "WE DONT GIVE YOUR INFO TO ANYONE AT ALL."
Anyway, no one ever seemed to mind the whole name and address thing when they wanted to get a refund on those little items like karaoke machines they happened to buy on a friday and bring back on a monday (it's like a free rental service!), but forgot their receipt. Now if someone wants a refund on something but they've forgotten their receipt, they're screwed.