Haven’t these two companies ever tried to figure out how much business they lose each year by asking obnoxious personal information questions at checkout?
If I’m buying a pack of batteries with cash, I take offense at being asked my phone number and my entire address. Ditto with Toys R Us. I will not shop at either of them.
Doesn’t this piss anyone else off?
If they have done studies, aren’t the results obvious? It works, so they persist. You are under no obligation to provide personal information.
I hate it to and politely decline. You might want to start having some fun with it. Check out this recent thread on Great/funny fake names.
I always give them the time and temperature number. Back when I lived in a college town, I’d alternate between the city police non-emergency number and the campus police non-emergency number.
You’d be surprised how few people recognize those numbers…
Corr
Ah, get over it…if you’ve ever applied for credit, I’m sure ALL of your personal information is all over the U.S. anyway. You sound like one of the people that calls up the Secret Service and says you’re being watched by the Russians. 
I just make a point of telling them, “Look, I’m just here to buy batteries and stuff, you don’t need my name for this, okay?”
They seem fine with that.
I used to work retail at a company who did that. I hated asking those questions, they wanted your address to buy a pair of shoes. The upside was if you needed to do a return and didn’t have a reciept, they could find it for you. (Well, the nice clerks would anyway.)
If you refuse to give them info, they’re not going to refuse your money. As a cashier, I just put in a row of 9’s to get it out of the way. I know that that company used the info for telemarketing for their other products. Not sure if they still do, it’s been a while.
I always give them the phone number for Dominoes, and thier own address. None of them have ever figured it out.
This is more of an IMHO than a general question.
bibliophage,
moderator, GQ
Lol. You told them their own address and they didn’t recognize it? That’s hilarious.
You can just tell Toys R Us “no”. I do it all the time, and haven’t had any problems.
One of them said “Wow, you live pretty near here huh?”
It also very fun to do stuff like, “Yeah, my number is 336-911-4870.” They RARELY catch on to the 911. I have never tried giving them their own address, but I suspect that would work. Oh yeah, another thing that is kinda off topic, but it really pisses people off when you call, say, Papa John’s or Dominoes, and they ask if you can hold. Just tell them “no”, and they will go ahead and take your order. 
[Hijack ON]
Ummm… do you really want to upset the people that are making your food that you can’t see what horrible food-altering procedures and products and secretions and detritus and then they bring it to your house and you eat it and meanwhile they are GONNA LAUGH AT YOU!
[Hijack OFF]
-Rav
There’s a reason we do that, and generally it’s because we’re already talking to someone on line #1 when you call on line #2. If you insist on giving your order right then and there, rather than holding like you were asked, you’ll esentially be cutting in line. Most of us learned not to do that in elementary school.
If I can buy something anywhere else, I go there.
A different spin, but same result, at Best Buy and CompUSA. They insist on checking your bags on the way out, and sometimes are very insistent. I refuse to allow them to. But, the result is, I never go in there when I have bags anymore, which means I almost never go in there. I am a gadget and computer nut, so they lose a lot of business.
Also, at Computer Discount World (CDW) - I never go into their store anymore - they combine the worst of Radio Shack and Best Buy/CompUSA. If you go into CDW, you have to relinquish you bags at the door, and if you buy something, they insist on getting a name. I finally gave up once and gave my name as “Ronald Reagan” - he was President then. The guy kept asking me how to spell it, etc. The guy behind me was laughing his ass off. I gave the address as 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue - he still didn’t get it. The phone number was “classified”.
I carry a backpack. TRU always makes me leave it at the customer service counter. But, they let women carry purses! I asked about this and was told that purses conatin “wallets and personal stuff”! If customers trust the employees not to steal from them, then all bags should be turned in. I feel I am being discriminated against as a 20 something with a backpack. Additionally, the customer service counter is often left unattended. Since it is right by the entrance, it would be easy for someone to steal my bag and walk out. IMHO, if you’re going to make me leave my stuff you had better take care of it.
Radio Shack asking questions makes more sense. A large percentage of RS customers buy components to make illegal devices (usually related to cable TV, though I'm sure they get the occasional bomber.). I've often wondered if the FBI keeps track of certain parts.Back when I worked in a pizza place, I used to love it when I would ask someone to hold and they said “no.”
I would always say “oh, ok” and hang up on them. The way I see it, if they can’t hold, there is no use in me taking up any more of their time, since I wasn’t about to reward them for being impatient.
The best part was when they called right back (and they always did). Again, I would ask if they could hold, and this time I got an obviously grudging “yes.” “Thank you” I would say politely, and continue my work with a minimum of stress.
When I go in Toys’R’Us all they ask for is my zip code, which I give as 12345 and nobody has batted an eye over it. Don’t know about the Shack, haven’t shopped there in at least a decade.
I have three standard answers for these types of questions. If the store asks for my zip code I give them “90210.” Should they want my phone number they get “867-5309.” Thanks to Tommy Tutone that number’s not used in most area codes anymore. If the clerk gives me trouble (and the guys at Radio Shack have on occasion), I ask them to tell me their address. Usually they back off after that.
Zappo
At Toys R Us, I sometimes screw with whatever demographic they’re trying to get.
I live in Baltimore, and all the zip codes around here start with “21,” so just make one up that starts with “8” or “9.”
I’m sure some marketing exec somewhere is trying to figure out why so many West Coasters seem to shop at that one Maryland Toys R Us.