Tuesday, September 29, 2015

Big Brother is here, and his name is Payless



I was out running errands the other day and decided to pop in to Payless.

"Good morning!", said the sales clerk.  "We're having 30% off everything today!  And lots of items are on sale!"  and blahblahblah as she went on to enumerate all the great! specials! they were having that day.

I did find a pair of cute summer shoes for seven bucks, and poked around a little longer, and then went to check out.

"Your phone number?"  asked the clerk, as she rang up my shoes.

"No, thanks," I said.

yeah yeah yeah, I understand why they ask for the phone number (because corporate says), but I also don't always feel like giving it out.  I'M NOT A SHEEPLE, DAMMIT!  Ha.

"Oh!" the clerk said.  "Well, if you don't give me your phone number, I don't get credit for the sale, and corporate needs to know that every single person who comes in makes a purchase, and even if it's a family of eight, if they only buy one pair of shoes then I get seven "no sales", and ...

blah blah blah she went On and ON and ONNNNNNNNN.  I didn't give her my phone number, out of flipping SPITE at that point if I may be honest, and she finally sold me the damn shoes.

okay, I left the store with two thoughts:

(a) That sounds like a terrible place to work.

and

(b) Regardless of (a), that was one annoying clerk, and I'm sorry if I took bread out of her kids' mouths by not giving her my phone number, but jeez louise, SORRY NOT SORRY just SHUT UP AND SELL ME SHOES.

Holy cow.  I'm turning into a right bitch in my old age, ain't I?  IT FEELS GREAT.


12 comments:

~~Silk said...

If they have your phone number, they also have your name and address (via an internet search), and whether you own your house or are renting, how many people live with you, and a record of everything you've ever purchased from them or any other companies they are associated with.

I don't give out phone numbers or email addresses, either. I also no longer use the "check cashing cards" at grocery stores or drug stores, for the same reason.
CVS Clerk: "Do you have your card?"
Me: "Yes, but I'm paying cash, so we don't need it."
Clerk: "But you need it to get the discounts."
Me: "I'll forgo the tiny discount for the privilege of retaining my privacy."
Clerk: "Oh. Ok." Pulls out her OWN card and runs the sale.

rockygrace said...

With a lot of those store cards, too, like Big Lots and A.C. Moore, you have to spend a ton of money before you actually get any savings. Bah.

I understand why employees cross-sell (do you want fries with that?)- it's because Corporate says they have to. But once I say "no, thank you", that better be where the conversation ends. Sheesh!

I was talking about this with a friend, and she once had a sales clerk tell her that she (the clerk) would LOSE HER JOB if my friend didn't donate to some charity thing at check-out. I think she might have lost her job a little sooner than expected, because my friend talked to the manager of the store THAT DAY about the tactics her employee was using. Ha.


fmcgmccllc said...

Yep, hate the phone number, the email, the donate, buy a teddy and save a whale crap. I only want to buy whatever it is and that is the end of that discussion. I think if they really pursued it I would just walk out. There is a "Payless" on every corner here. I hate to say it but that is one reason I love Internet shopping, no human interaction.

spiffikins said...

First off - I have to say that Payless holds a special place in my heart - as a teenager with giant size 10 feet, there were NO SHOES in the stores in my town, and the day that we made a pilgrimage to Bellingham, WA, and I walked into the Payless there, and saw a WALL OF SHOES all in my size - well, that was one of the best days of my life :)

That being said, I routinely fail to give out my phone number, and my response to that cashier's story would have been "wow that is a really terrible policy - your company sucks" - and I would DEFINITELY not have given out my number on sheer principle - I said no, and you harassed me, forget it :)

On the "club cards" and such - I never use my real phone number - I have one that I made up a long time ago, and it works fine. I realize they are tracking my spending habits, but I'm ok with that at this point. Not to mention my Safeway club card, currently being used in the US, which is the only one hooked to my real name, is Canadian, and is hooked to an old Canadian address and very old Canadian phone number - so hopefully I'm really screwing up their metrics :)

Becs said...

If I pay by debit card at BP, I have to give them my zip code. Otherwise no sale. I hate that.

rockygrace said...

fmcetc., but can you buy shoes on line? My shoe size ranges anywhere from 7 to 9, depending on the shoe. I'd have to send shoes back, like, a million times to get a pair that fit. It just seems easier to go to the store and try them on.

spiff, ain't nothing wrong with Payless, unless you get the clerk I got. Ha.

Becs, I wonder why they need the zip? A security thing, maybe?

I realize that the computer age and the internet have basically ruined any privacy any of us once had. Everything we do and buy is tracked, it seems. And most of the time I don't care - if the world knows that I bought a $7 pair of out-of-season, made-in-China shoes, so be it. But if I decide that I don't feel like reciting my phone number in front of a bunch of strangers in a store, then dammit, I want to be able to do that without getting shamed by the sales clerk! *end rant*

Connie - Tails from the Foster Kittens said...

any response other than "okay, thank you" to your not wanting to part with your personal information was completely inappropriate.. even if it was 100% true (and I highly doubt it is) it was wrong.

spiffikins said...

Oooh actually you can order shoes online - I've ordered from Amazon - and I didn't like them - free return shipping. I ordered some online from Target - I kept one pair and returned the others, at the store down the street - the ones I wanted weren't available in store. And once I ordered 4 pairs of boots - 2 styles, 2 sizes, from Payless online, and ended up actually returning them all - the lady didn't even blink. But the Payless store never had the boots in stock - so when I saw them online, I grabbed them.

spiffikins said...

The gas stations in my neck of the woods all require a zip code to use your credit card and pay at the pump - it is a security thing there, so it might be for you as well?

rockygrace said...

Tails, yep, once I say "no", the clerk needs to shut it. *ahem*

and spiff, doesn't it get to be a pain, all that shipping back and forth and stuff? I dunno, I guess I'm just lazy that way. :)

and I dunno about pay-at-the-pump - I always use cash, because I am ANCIENT. Ha.

p.s. spiff, if you ever decide to plan another trip, let me knowwwwwww ...

Becs said...

Just got back from Target where I bought a twin pack of DayQuil/NyQuil and I (look at me! The wrinkles! The gray hair!) had to give my date of birth. I look like Paula Deen, not some meth cooker.

rockygrace said...

haha that's too funny, Becs. I can't remember the last time I got carded. :(