I can’t imagine ever doing that. I mildly dislike shopping, and if I’ve made it this far, I’m not going to let some jackass force me to start all over. If they were that annoying, I’d take my purchase to a different lane, or else I’d unleash my angry teacher voice on them and make them feel like a naughty seven year old.
I like some kinds of shopping (books, hardware) and dislike others, and I absolutely hate car shopping. Now that I’ve thought of it, though…I HAVE refused to buy a car, not because the salesman was pushing some program, but because he was extremely patronizing to me. So yeah, I’ve started over on at least one occasion.
Step 1: “No, thank you.”
Step 2: “Do you have a complaint card, please?”
Or if it’s CompuServe or AOL: “Cool! Is there another lawsuit against you? Because I’m pretty sure this is what you just got a HUGE fine for!”
I hear you, but that’s why we have the Internet, order online and have it sent out
This is one of the sales techniques I was taught when I sold time shares–play on the mark’s fear of social scorn. Depending on the situation and how much I want the product, I sometimes say, “You’re right! I do want to save money! Thanks!” and walk away.
About 10 years ago my then future wife and I went to make a purchase at American Appliance. The cashier asked for my wife’s phone number and she refused. The cashier refused to ring up the purchase. We walked.
Shortly thereafter American Appliance went out of business, and stiffed many customers who had put deposits down on sizable home entertainment products.
I can’t tell you how many times my wife has been ripped off buying things off the Internet. If there’s a problem, its a major hassle to get a resolution, while with a brick and mortar store, theres a location you can go to, with your defective merchanside, and a real live person you can talk to face to face to get a resolution.
I would say that over the past ten years, my wife has lost over $1000 in purchases with defective, ill fitting or otherwise unsatisfactory products that cannot be returned. The only thing I’ll buy over the Internet are books, CDs, videogames, and DVDs, almost always from Amazon or Barnes and Noble, never had a problem or mis-ship yet.
This just made me think about the time someone gave my Dad the “Don’t you want to save money?” crap and got a lecture on the overuse of revolving credit from a personal finance and larger economic perspective. My Dad’s a verbose and boring lecturer. I’m certain the episode was far more painful to the cashier than any obscenity-laced tantrum.
I’ve worked at Kroger, JCPenney, Borders, and Macy’s. The general rule that I’ve ogtten at every place from the manager is “Ask twice. No more, no less.” If you’re getting asked a lot more, well, it’s a bad manager.
I normally only asked once, unless it was a free card (Borders, Krogers). Usually "Do you have a card? If you sign up you can save, blah blah, blah.) I don’t force it. They only time I’ve asked more than that was with one guy who could’ve literally saved $60. He still didn’t want one because he was in a hurry, even though it would have taken less than 30 secs. Of course, the same people who refuse to give any information are also the same people who get angry when they lose their receipt and can’t make a return for the full price.
Last week I finally got fed up with the dentist that sends us flyers everyday. I called and asked to be taken off their mailing list. The woman who answered was very pleasant, as was I…that is, until she asked for my phone number, and e-mail address. I said, politely, no. She said she couldn’t take me off the mailing list without my phone number and/or e-mail. What???
I raised my voice only a little, telling her they had quite enough of my personal information. They had killed enough trees in my name and I was definately NOT giving out my number or e-mail.
Her response was “Well, I guess you don’t want off the list THAT bad.” :eek:
I repeated my request as a demand and she said "I’ll try and hung up.
I just flat-out don’t ask anymore (speaking as a retail drone). I don’t point out the survey at the top of the receipt, I don’t ask if you want to sign up for Easy Pay (putting a credit card on file to pay for prescriptions), or if you want to get your prescriptions automatically filled. I assume that if you REALLY do, you’ll read one of the hundreds of signs around the pharmacy telling you that these services exist.
I think I love you.
This is fine so long as there’s no negative consequence to you.
When I worked for Pizza Hut and they introduced “Pizza Pairs,” after a customer placed an order we were required to ask “And would you like a second identical pizza for $5 more?” The near-invariable answer to this was the answer I myself would give if a customer: If I wanted two pizzas, I would have ordered two pizzas. So PH discovered they had very bad employee compliance with this “suggestive selling.” So then they started calling and placing orders, or having people come in as Secret Shoppers, and if you didn’t suggestive sell you got in trouble. After I got in trouble twice I started doing it because I didn’t want to lose my job, but then when peopel got shirty with me over it I’d just tell them, don’t blame me, they make me ask that.
I am a guy who is big, ugly, old & can look kinda scary. I don’t have trouble with clerks and checkout peoples.
YMMV
Now THAT would piss me off. In the past when people have given me flak about asking to be removed from mailing lists (or being placed on “Do Not Call” lists), I’ve started going on about federal laws and how they’re currently in violation of those laws, at which point I ask for THEIR personal information in preparation for a complaint with the relevant authorities. They get mouthy about it, but they get me off their list.
I had put in a fake work phone number for my HSBC credit card because I teach school and I don’t want them calling me at work. I couldn’t remember what I’d put, so when they tried to verify it to activate my new card, we hit an impass. I wouldn’t tell them the real one (even though the lackey on the phone claimed they would never use it), couldn’t remember the fake one, and he refused to proceed without it.
Shoot, why do I have two credit cards anyway? I told him to just cancel the account then, and he did. Forget that mess.