My standard spiel:
“I don’t have a phone number, I don’t have a zip code, I don’t have an email address.”
That always works.
Yes, the new hair cutting place had a fit the first time I went in. But they were new at it. Now they don’t care.
My standard reply to retailers insisting on a phone number:
202-456-1414. That’s the White House switchboard.
I’ve been asked plenty by stores like Best Buy, Advance Auto, Circuit City, and Radio Shark. But only once or twice has my declining ever been a problem. Once was at Sears, the lady running the cash register got flustered and didn’t know how to do the transaction without the phone number. So I made up one.
After that I decided to get devious and wrote down the phone number of my local Better Business Bureau to give when I was “required” to give one, but I haven’t had to and it’s been a couple years.
Oh, and another thing. I’ve started noticing stores asking for ZIP codes instead of phone numbers. That I don’t have a problem giving out.