[dead]

Could it be that everything I ever purchased at Radio Shack broke after 3 or 4 days of use.

I always liked having to give them my name, address, and phone number to buy a battery.

[iPod Shuffle]

I always liked having to give them my name, address, and phone number to buy a battery.

Yeah.. for me, it was always "Morry Lipschiz, PO Box 1, Reno, Nevada"

[Focault's Pendulum]

I always liked having to give them my name, address, and phone number to buy a battery

Same here. It used to tick me off, and I was a regular customer. So I finally went in under the premise of buying a computer (which, obviously I would never do) They had the carton on the counter, and when they asked for my personal info, I walked out. Next day I went back for some soldering supplies...not a peep out of them.

[G.Mason]

"I always liked having to give them my name, address, and phone number to buy a battery.

Bingo!!!

[bwteim]

They stopped it, I think - but too late. Turned off a lot of potential shoppers. Then factor in high(er) pricing and low(er) quality and you have a recipe for doom.

[Revolting cat!]

I always liked having to give them my name, address, and phone number to buy a battery.

I bet they've got a file on every man, woman and child in this country of ours. That's an asset they could sell to the Klintoon Mafia to go with their FBI files.

[operation clinton cleanup]

I always liked having to give them my name, address, and phone number to buy a battery.

Haha! Forgot about that. It was ok when they would send a free catalog. I think they collected tons of consumer data, but never actually did anything with it (except maybe sell it).

[CIB-173RDABN]

I always liked having to give them my name, address, and phone number to buy a battery.

---

That always bothered me as well. I pay cash for small purchases. When they start asking for name and address I asked them what part of cash sell do you not understand?

They look surprised that I would not willingly answer their questions.

I finally just quit going to Radio Shacks.

[Howlin]

I always liked having to give them my name, address, and phone number to buy a battery.

Heck, I have to do that to buy a box of Tylenol Sinus now.

[China Clipper]

I always liked having to give them my name, address, and phone number to buy a battery.

I never give it to 'em. It's funny to watch what those kids do when they ask for your phone and you say "Why do you need that?" and they say "just for our sales info", and then I say "you don't need that", and they leave me alone... Try it, it's a kick.

[Wordkraft]

When the folks at RS ask for my name and address I love giving them something from from movies or TV. I once told the goofy kid behind the counter that I was "Caspar Gutmann" (from "The Maltese Falcon") and that I lived at "1313 Blue View Terrace" (from "The Life of Riley" I believe).

[HoustonCurmudgeon]

I always liked having to give them my name, address, and phone number to buy a battery.

I always give an address I once had in Bridge of Don, Aberdeen, Scotland. Drives them nuts!

[TChad]

I always liked having to give them my name, address, and phone number to buy a battery.

I once wrote Radio Shack to complain about that. I liked the stores, and it bothered me that the company would institute such an annoying sales policy. They responded with a self-serving boilerplate letter explaining how the policy helped them better serve their customers. In addition, I was surprised to find that the letter granted me a sort of exemption. I was given the option to show the letter to Radio Shack's sales clerks instead of having to divulge my personal info. In other words, Radio Shack responded in a letter addressed to me by name at my correct address, to tell me that I was no longer obligated to give the company my name and address. Moreover, they actually expected me to carry that stupid letter around with me and produce it when I shopped at their stores.

I found another solution: shopping less often at Radio Shack.

[Not_Who_U_Think]

I've got to comment on this topic since I worked there as a part-time sales clerk in the 70's and the 90's.

Back in the 70's the name/address thing made some sense, receipts were still hand-written and you could handle the small stuff as cash. They used the info for direct mailing of course, and I guess it was somebody's bright idea for targeting. It became a focal point of performance, since it helped the higher-ups, it was a major job performance metric.

When they put in the computers it got much worse. Every transaction had to be rung up, and putting CASH in the N/A box was good for about maybe two tickets a day. They would threaten to fire you if you didn't keep your name/addy up in the 90% range. You don't know how many people quit over that, and many times you'd just make up a name rather than piss somebody off... but they got wise to that too. I know of no other store that has ever had a corporate policy so obnoxious to their customers. It just made me cringe to sell anything... by the time I worked there in the 90's it was a blessing to get the rare person who wasn't at least a little aggravated about it, and I had several people blow up right in front of me.

I don't think they gave it up until mailing costs went too high, but it has scarred their corporate image forever.