I don’t blame the cashiers, it’s usually corporate policy that they have to ask for it. You’ll notice that nobody who makes corporate policy actually has to deal with customers. 
The White House switchboard, time and temp, the atomic clock - all good choices. The rejection line above is good too.
-Ben
This is precisely why I asked the question. I don’t want to annoy cashiers. It’s not as if they signed on to be telemarketers. That would cast a different light on things 
:rolleyes:
Telemarketers are basically cashiers on a slightly higher pay scale. No need to be rude to them either. As a matter of fact, I think I’ll start my own thread. Ask the Direct Marketing Professional.
I guess the consensus is that you can just politely say you do not want to give out your number for personal reasons. I havent really tried that tact since I dont want any arguement with a newbie cashier who will whine about how their supervisor told them to ask for telephone numbers and they gotta have it.
I always give them my dedicated fax line. You wouldnt believe the amount of rings it gets with no fax afterwards.
Heh. I’ve been in charge of training newbie cashiers since the week after I was hired, and I always told them that if the customer says no, DO NOT ASK AGAIN, because if they did I’d have to kill them.
I think this should be communicated to all cashiers. Don’t bother people twice for nonessential information, or racinchikki will have to kill you.
This does not apply, of course, if the cashier wants your telephone number when you are placing a special order. In that case, it IS essential information, as otherwise how will they contact you to let you know your stuff is ready, or to warn you in case of a problem or delay with the order? But I’ve been working in this thread under the assumption that we’re talking about standard-issue “phone number please?” in order to be checked out for an ordinary purchase.
Oh boy. Eyes rolled at me.
Don’t worry. I try to dismiss telemarketers as politely as possible. After all, they are just people like myself trying to pay the bills.
That said, I think that more than one person on this board would agree that there is a slight distinction between a question asked of me during the middle of a business transaction I initiated at the cashier’s place of business and an unsolicited cold call.
I seek out cashiers. Telemarketers find me. Big difference.
Ain’t that the truth!
When I worked in retail management, it was for a store that requested phone numbers. Each and every one of my employees hated asking. Hated it. Yeah, we knew it was an invasion of privacy and that it pissed people off.
Corporate policy was, when someone refused, to try to talk them into it! Gah! It was awful. My district manager (a lying sack of shit in any case) constantly bugged us about our low capture rate. He claimed other stores had a 99% capture rate. I suggested that perhaps those weren’t all legitimate numbers–that the customers and/or the cashiers were making a lot of them up. He insisted it was legit. That was a load of bullshit, but he was really getting on us about it–so we stopped entering 999-9999 and started entering bogus numbers, and we were complimented on how well we were doing!
Hostile responses from the customers just made it worse. Saying “you don’t need to know that” is hostile. Joke answers weren’t bad, but we’d heard them all a thousand times. Answers like “no thanks,” “I’d prefer not,” “my number is unlisted” were all great. Either giving a fake number or lying about why you can’t give your number doesn’t really help in the long run.
And please remember–if the cashier tries to talk you into giving your number, it’s not because she really wants to. It’s probably because her asshole district manager is watching. Just repeat your polite refusal, and make the poor girl’s life a little easier.
Heh. If you’re not careful you’ll get a :smack: too. 
Oh, I readily admit I agree there with rainchikki. I place a special order and want to know when it’s coming, I MUST avail myself of the delivery dept. That always means, a phone #.
Like someone else said above, I just tell them I don’t own a phone. There’s no arguing that.
If they ask for my name (I can’t remember where, but it’s been asked) I make one up. The clerks are only doing that because they are forced to, and I feel for them.
I handle these “nosey” questions differently in different situations.
If the cashier asks for my zip code, I give it willingly. I’m happy to help a store I like determine where customers are so they can site another franchise.
If they ask for my phone number and I’m alone, I just say no.
If they ask for my phone number and one of my young children is with me, I say “No, neither my children nor I give out our phone number to strangers, that’s not a safe thing to do.” Never miss an opportunity to train those kids, I always say.
The sad thing is, my phone and zip code are both on my checks, so the cashier (and store) have access to the information.
Go figure.
Not to be rude, but ther are some times when you need to tell the cashier you actual zipcode. At the store I work at (Wal-Mart…I know, I’m evil) anytime someone pays for something with an American Express card, we ned to type in their signature to validate that they are who the credit card says they are. If it’s not the zip code matched to the card, it gets rejected. Of course, other stores I have worked at didn’t need that info for AmEx cards, but for some reason Wal-Mart does. So just keep in mind that if you pay with a credit card (some stores might do it with all kinds, I don’t know) you might actually need to give it, unless it’s a place you know you don’t need it, iun which case bitch all you want, cause then they are bastards for asking.
WalMart is just doing an abbreviated form of billing address verification - like when you order at many on-line sites. It is WalMart’s choice to do this and most other large retailers could do so - it is not hard to add the function to any programmable POS system.
As for giving phone numbers, I just say no. Politely but firmly. I’ve never had a problem. It is pointless taking it out on the cashiers as they don’t make policy.
Cartooniverse, I’m trying to understand your dislike of the Sears system. When I make a standard credit card purchase, the store generally gives me a slip to sign. I sign that slip with a pen and give it back to the cashier. That signature is ‘proof’ that it was me making the purchase, and not a thief.
At Sears, they place the receipt into the capture device, I sign with a pen, and keep the receipt. The store doesn’t get the ink signature, only the digital one. How is Sears’ digital signature system worse than a regular store’s pen and paper signature system?
I might even think the Sears system is MORE secure since the cashier can’t take a copy of my sig home with him.
I don’t know of any stores in my area that still require a phone number, though if they did, I’d just give 'em my cell phone. Last time I checked there were still no cellular number directories, and I don’t think they’re really going to personally call everyone who’s ever bought a $2 item or whatever.
I did used to work at a store that asked for zip codes. It always amazed me that people would refuse and then go on to say, “I don’t want you sending me anything.” If they’re just that private, fine, but did they really think we were going to mass mail their entire town if ONE person bought something? The store didn’t even do any direct mailing, they just used the info to target their newspaper ads. The part that really cracked me up was that these people invariably paid with a credit card, and they’d get really mad when I pointed out that if we were that bent on getting their info, it was all in the magnetic strip anyway.
I do the “I’d prefer not to…” for both my telephone number and my zip code. I used to always say 90210 to cashiers asking for my zip code, but eventually it got boring, so I stopped.
Ahhh, Hartsdale. Just a stone’s throw from Tuckahoe. 
Here’s my take on the problem. If I buy something and hand back the store slip, I can actually find out WHO that employee is, and if a fraud takes place, there is a trail of responsibility starting with that particular employee.
My signature, once captured into their system, is there to be abused by anyone with access to those terminals, anywhere there is a Sears. To me, that’s much more dangerous a situation. There is no trail and so no accountability. That bothers my paranoid little mind.
If by “those terminals” you mean the POS terminals, you are not correct. You cannot go to any POS terminal and pull up a captured signature. The signature will be viewable by certain authorized personnel at Sears in the same way that the paper-based transactions are viewable using Electronic Journal and similar applications. These people already have access to credit card numbers. Giving them access to a picture of your signature is minimal extra risk.
In comparison with electronic signatures, where computer technology is used to limit access only to authorized employees, a signed credit slip passes through the hands of many people, starting, as you say, with the cashier. Then the supervisor who does the pick-ups, then cash control people who balance the drawers. Then they may get sent to regional or head office for filing (by lowly paid clerks), or kept at the store, in case of need in dispute resolution. And at any time the signature can be “stolen” using a photocopier or scanner.
With electronic signatures, note that although the cashier can see the signature, s/he has no way of printing it to “steal” it. Once that transaction has finished, the cashier will not be able to see the signature any more. In comparison, a signed slip will probably stay in the drawer for the entire shift, susceptible to copying.
I was ripped off by a cashier once who took my credit card number and used it with a totally fake signature. The store pulled up the electronic representation of the signature and I was easily able to prove that it was not mine. That was one whole lot easier than trying to get them to find the little bit of paper 3 weeks after the event (I didn’t know it happened until I got my bill).
So, if you are paranoid about security, you should be frequenting stores that use signature capture and avoid paper slips like the plague.
You could say country code 1133, number 43-234-12-43
It wouldn’t make it go any smother but you would confuse the crap out of them, which could be fun.
<hijack>
As far as I can see, your signature is absolutely useless as a security measure.
And nowadays hardly any cashiers seem to even bother to look at the signature at all. Many hand the card back to me while their register is printing out the receipt for me to sign. The card with my official signature is already back in my wallet in my pocket by the time I sign.
At Christmas, I was in line at a toy store, behind a lady who happened to have a VISA card from the same bank, with the same picture on the card. Somehow, the cashier ended up switching the credit cards when giving them back to us, and neither of us noticed this. In fact, we both continued shopping the rest of the day, using each others cards, and signing our names to them, all the rest of that day. And clerks in many different stores accepted this without question! (And our signatures were nothing alike – completely different names, even different gender.)
The only way we found out about this switch was late that afternoon, when she bought a fur coat & a matching diamond bracelet & cufflinks set for her husband, and hit the credit limit on my card (apparently a considerably lower limit than she was used to!). Then the clerk actually looked at the card, and noticed that it was not her name on it.
We exchanged cards, and got the charges all switched back with no problem. The credit card people even said “it happens all the time”. But this experience sure made me scrutinize my credit card bill closer from then on.
I’ve seen a website (can’t remember the url) of a guy who has fun going around and signing outrageous signatures to his credit card slips: George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Adolf Hitler, even Jesus Christ. Clerks accept them without even commenting.
So I don’t see signatures on credit slips being much use for security. But they might be useful if someone else charges against your account – you can at least show that it’s a forged signature.</hijack>