On Fri, 14 May 2004, Donald Henderson wrote:
> It's Friday afternoon - I was out at the shops at lunch-time and got
> slightly annoyed...
>
> I was returning goods to Next and cheerfully got asked for my postcode
> which the assistant was about to enter via till. Sad, neurotic person
> that I am, I declined to give that information and was told "it is
> company policy". I pointed out that it wasn't actually necessary and the
> assistant went and got the supervisor. The supervisor happily skipped
> the address entry routine on the till, printed the credit note and asked
> if I was prepared to give my name. I declined and she gave me my money
> with a smile.
I had a similar case; I was returning something to a Focus/Wickes DIY
warehouse. They wanted my name and address, and I asked why. They
started off trying to claim that they needed the details to refund me;
under some questioning they admitted that wasn't actually true, it was
optional, and I got my refund anyway (as I should!).
I don't know if it is still true, but for a while buying larger technical
goods in places like Dixons seemed to 'require' you to give them your
address. However, in one case this was probably justified, as they
explained to me; it was a video recorder, and they needed it for the TV
licensing people or something. Another occasion was so they could deliver
large item (not that they managed that on the right day anyway) - but I
wonder what else they did with my address (about 5 years ago). Next time
I will make it clear that where they require my details for such purposes,
that they will only use it for such purposes and it will be removed from
any database when such purpose is fullfilled. That will probably cause
another call to the supervisor ...
I've also just started to put a bogus extra initial in my name where it
doesn't matter, just to see if it catches someone out and I see who sold
my address on.
> This suggests several things to me (other than how awkward I can be).
Don't see anything wrong with that!
Jethro.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Jethro R Binks
Computing Officer, IT Services
University Of Strathclyde, Glasgow, UK
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