BIGUN
Gold Member
You go Bob! /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif I’m with you, except for the phone number thing. That’s not a biggy to me; I’m listed in the book anyway. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
Do you give your phone # to stores???
- Thread starter Bob_Skurka
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Junkman
Super Member
How about your age Bob......... are you willing to give that out?????? ROFLMAO....... /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
This reminds me of when I call a company and ask for a certain person. The operator always asks "may I tell her who is calling?" and I always reply "NO"...... She then knows it is me anyway. Here is my number ..... 800-696-6624.... use it any way you wish, just remember to tell them that "Junkman sent you"......... /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif
This reminds me of when I call a company and ask for a certain person. The operator always asks "may I tell her who is calling?" and I always reply "NO"...... She then knows it is me anyway. Here is my number ..... 800-696-6624.... use it any way you wish, just remember to tell them that "Junkman sent you"......... /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif
srs
Veteran Member
</font><font color="blue" class="small">(
Nor I am willing to relinquish my responsibility for my own actions.
Nor am I willing to relinquish my phone number!!!! )</font>
You got that right!!! Being a retired vice/narcotics detective sergeant my telephone number hasn't been listed for many, many years. I too do not give out my telephone number. If totally necessary I'll give my cell number. Both home and cell numbers are listed under phony names anyway to protect the family. With caller ID I'm always aware of who I call. Paranoid or just being careful????? /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif
Nor I am willing to relinquish my responsibility for my own actions.
Nor am I willing to relinquish my phone number!!!! )</font>
You got that right!!! Being a retired vice/narcotics detective sergeant my telephone number hasn't been listed for many, many years. I too do not give out my telephone number. If totally necessary I'll give my cell number. Both home and cell numbers are listed under phony names anyway to protect the family. With caller ID I'm always aware of who I call. Paranoid or just being careful????? /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif
OP
Bob_Skurka
Super Member
- Joined
- Jul 1, 2003
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- 7,615
<font color="red"> Paranoid or just being careful????? </font>
Or maybe it is NONE OF THEIR BUSINESS and the fact that I WANT MY PRIVACY when I am at home! And maybe they DON'T REALLY NEED my phone number anyway.
But it just seems silly that when a customer is paying with cash that it should even be an issue. Take the money, give me my goods, let me leave happy, and deposit my cash in your bank account knowing that you don't have to worry about it "bouncing" like a check might do, and be happy that the credit card processing center didn't take 5% off the top to handle the transaction. But no, they have to hassle the cash customer.
AND WHILE I AM STILL RANTING, why does the supermarket open up a special cash register for people with 6 items or less who only spend a couple of bucks, but leave me, and my full cart worth $100 or more standing in line? Shouldn't they open up more cash registers for people who are dropping a car payment worth of cash on their counter and hauling out mass quantities of goods? It seems to me they are confused. They show preference to the small customers and make the big customers stand in line LONGER. Go figure. I guess that is the new type of customer service we can come to expect.
Or maybe it is NONE OF THEIR BUSINESS and the fact that I WANT MY PRIVACY when I am at home! And maybe they DON'T REALLY NEED my phone number anyway.
But it just seems silly that when a customer is paying with cash that it should even be an issue. Take the money, give me my goods, let me leave happy, and deposit my cash in your bank account knowing that you don't have to worry about it "bouncing" like a check might do, and be happy that the credit card processing center didn't take 5% off the top to handle the transaction. But no, they have to hassle the cash customer.
AND WHILE I AM STILL RANTING, why does the supermarket open up a special cash register for people with 6 items or less who only spend a couple of bucks, but leave me, and my full cart worth $100 or more standing in line? Shouldn't they open up more cash registers for people who are dropping a car payment worth of cash on their counter and hauling out mass quantities of goods? It seems to me they are confused. They show preference to the small customers and make the big customers stand in line LONGER. Go figure. I guess that is the new type of customer service we can come to expect.
I don't to everybody that asks - but for example my Deere dealer tracks me by the phone number - and they track all the equipment I've bought by that as well. I have to say it's a convenience when I go in for parts, they just pull my account up and know exactly what I've got. The place I bought the Deere has also sold me a chainsaw and 2 trimmers. So I have to say I enjoy the convenience of it. Not too many stores get a real number though. If someone asks at ... say a Radio Shack... they get bogus numbers. I worry that the chain stores will sell the info to telemarketers.
daedong
Veteran Member
<font color="blue"> why does the supermarket open up a special cash register for people with 6 items or less who only spend a couple of bucks, but leave me, and my full cart worth $100 or more standing in line? Shouldn't they open up more cash registers for people who are dropping a car payment worth of cash on their counter and hauling out mass quantities of goods? It seems to me they are confused. They show preference to the small customers and make the big customers stand in line LONGER. Go figure. I guess that is the new type of customer service we can come to expect.
</font>
I agree on this Bob, there is a first for everything /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif
</font>
I agree on this Bob, there is a first for everything /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif
frank_f15
Super Member, Rest in Peace
Radio shack was noted for that, go in to buy a battery, and they wanted your life history.
I'm an ex-programmer who bought a fairly generic POS system for my store and massaged it to work for me. One of the requirements for the database was a unique ID for each customer. I don't like using arbitrary account numbers because neither my customers nor I could remember them Too many of my customers had the same names, and I didn't like the idea of using "Skurka23" and "Skurka24" for the same reason as account numbers; who could remember which Skurka they were?
But, all of my customers had unique phone numbers, and they could all remember them when I asked. So, that's what I chose to use as the account number. It had nothing to do with marketing, just a form of ID. I liked to track the sales by customer for my own, internal decision making; I really wasn't interested in who they were or what their phone number was, it just didn't help me to have a big number of customersnamed "Cash".
The only type of communications we had with the customers who were willing to give their personal information was safety info or recalls of their purchases (we also tracked all purchases by each customer, including serial numbers, etc), and they always seemed to appreciate that type of communication (for example, we sent everyone a brief explanation of why their propane tank valve design was being changed, and the effective dates, when the OPD valves were introduced).
Also, stores such as TSC often request the phone number sho they can see the areas from which their customers are coming. This helps them determine locations for additional stores. When our Fort Pierce Tractor Supply noted that many of their customers came from Okeechobee, it helped them determine that and Okeechobee store would be economically viable, and they opened one.
With all that said, we still ran into two circumstances where the phone number wouldn't work -- people without phones, and people who refused to give their phone numbers. If it was a small sale, such as a routine propane refill, we set up a customer named "cash" with a phone number of 000-000-0000. All we had to do was type in one "0" and the program would find the cash customer. For the others, if they were willing to give us name and address, we ourselves set up a fake phone number. Invariably, we used "666" as the area code -- out of a demented and slightly warped sense of humor (because, while we never let them know, we really didn't like the customer who had so little trust in us that they wouldn't give us their phone number -- it goes both ways).
We could still find them in the computer, because the program could seach by last name and other fields; it was just a lot more cumbersome and slow because that was not the primary index and involved extra steps.
So, bottom line, yeah, I give my number. No one has ever called me on the phone as a result, so I can't see the big deal. Besides, unless I place myself on the "no solicitation" lists (and I have, both state and federal), having an unlisted number is no protection against solicitation -- the dialing computers just dial all of the numbers in sequence, listed or not.
But, all of my customers had unique phone numbers, and they could all remember them when I asked. So, that's what I chose to use as the account number. It had nothing to do with marketing, just a form of ID. I liked to track the sales by customer for my own, internal decision making; I really wasn't interested in who they were or what their phone number was, it just didn't help me to have a big number of customersnamed "Cash".
The only type of communications we had with the customers who were willing to give their personal information was safety info or recalls of their purchases (we also tracked all purchases by each customer, including serial numbers, etc), and they always seemed to appreciate that type of communication (for example, we sent everyone a brief explanation of why their propane tank valve design was being changed, and the effective dates, when the OPD valves were introduced).
Also, stores such as TSC often request the phone number sho they can see the areas from which their customers are coming. This helps them determine locations for additional stores. When our Fort Pierce Tractor Supply noted that many of their customers came from Okeechobee, it helped them determine that and Okeechobee store would be economically viable, and they opened one.
With all that said, we still ran into two circumstances where the phone number wouldn't work -- people without phones, and people who refused to give their phone numbers. If it was a small sale, such as a routine propane refill, we set up a customer named "cash" with a phone number of 000-000-0000. All we had to do was type in one "0" and the program would find the cash customer. For the others, if they were willing to give us name and address, we ourselves set up a fake phone number. Invariably, we used "666" as the area code -- out of a demented and slightly warped sense of humor (because, while we never let them know, we really didn't like the customer who had so little trust in us that they wouldn't give us their phone number -- it goes both ways).
We could still find them in the computer, because the program could seach by last name and other fields; it was just a lot more cumbersome and slow because that was not the primary index and involved extra steps.
So, bottom line, yeah, I give my number. No one has ever called me on the phone as a result, so I can't see the big deal. Besides, unless I place myself on the "no solicitation" lists (and I have, both state and federal), having an unlisted number is no protection against solicitation -- the dialing computers just dial all of the numbers in sequence, listed or not.
Bird
Rest in Peace
Makes sense to me, Don. Come to think of it, in addition to Tractor Supply Co., I think Circuit City must do the same thing.
OP
Bob_Skurka
Super Member
- Joined
- Jul 1, 2003
- Messages
- 7,615
Don, I understand your position but I tend to think that businesses exist to serve customers. Some customers value privacy and have unlisted phone numbers and will not release those numbers. Some customers feel differently.
In the case of my purchase, I doubt that I will buy from them until I need a new trimmer, hopefully a decade from now. And in the mean time I might use them for a repair, or I might use a different shop. So giving them my phone number is not something I would consider doing because I don't think I expect a regular relationship with them. On the other hand, I do give my phone number to a SELECT FEW businesses. My Kubota/Cub dealer has my number, my New Holland dealer does as well. But I have relationships with them. Now the random cashier at Circuit City, he or she has no chance of getting my phone number. Ditto the supermarket, the discount store, or any store that I might occasionally purchase an item from.
Now going back to the business of customer service, I run a business too. And we have multiple ways of pulling up customers from our database. Name, account #, zip code search, etc. Computers are supposed to be designed to HELP you run your business. The better designed the system, the faster it is to use, and the more flexible it is to serve your customer.
I simply was asking to be served without giving too much personal information, especially since I was paying with CA$H. I don't think that is too much to ask.
In the case of my purchase, I doubt that I will buy from them until I need a new trimmer, hopefully a decade from now. And in the mean time I might use them for a repair, or I might use a different shop. So giving them my phone number is not something I would consider doing because I don't think I expect a regular relationship with them. On the other hand, I do give my phone number to a SELECT FEW businesses. My Kubota/Cub dealer has my number, my New Holland dealer does as well. But I have relationships with them. Now the random cashier at Circuit City, he or she has no chance of getting my phone number. Ditto the supermarket, the discount store, or any store that I might occasionally purchase an item from.
Now going back to the business of customer service, I run a business too. And we have multiple ways of pulling up customers from our database. Name, account #, zip code search, etc. Computers are supposed to be designed to HELP you run your business. The better designed the system, the faster it is to use, and the more flexible it is to serve your customer.
I simply was asking to be served without giving too much personal information, especially since I was paying with CA$H. I don't think that is too much to ask.
