** Reply to note from Donald Henderson <[log in to unmask]> Fri, 14 May 2004 13:37:37 +0100
> 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.
>
> This suggests several things to me (other than how awkward I can be).
> Firstly, Next's policy obviously takes some kind of account of consent
> although no-one seemed to be interested in telling me why they wanted
> it. Secondly, they don't actually need the information anyway since they
> processed the transaction without it. Thirdly, what on earth do they
> want to collect the information for in the first place - I can only
> think of reasons that seem mildly sinister....!
>
> Any thoughts ?
>
> Donald
Hi Donald,
Och aye, another good Scottish name like mine.
Maybe they want to work out which post codes are made up of tight
b@gg3rs who buy clothes, go to the ball and then return them two days
later. Then the next time you walk in the shop theywill identify you through
your CCTV image (the post code is just a diversionary technique) and
refuse to sell you.
Personally, I don't shop at Next as its sizes are a tad small for me, unless it
would look cool to wear shirts where the sleeve reaches half way down the
arm and the circumference of the fabric is about a foot short, in which I will
need a medallion too.
Who is next?
Charles
--
Charles Christacopoulos, Management Information Officer,
Planning & Information, University of Dundee, Dundee, DD1 4HN,
Scotland, United Kingdom. Tel: 44(0)1382-344891. Fax: 44(0)1382-348845.
http://www.somis.dundee.ac.uk/ ::egothor http://www.egothor.org/
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