Do you give your phone number out to stores that ask?

[angelmav]

I can think of two places we frequent that ask, Lowes and Safeway. Lowes doesnt do anything for you if you give them your number so we always decline there, figure their tracking our spending for marketing purposes. Safeway has our club card tied to the phone so if I dont have the card I dont mind as it's saving me money (though there probably using the info for the same purpose, at least I see a benefit in return).

 

[Becky2005]

I usually didn't mind but I'm getting to the point of I'm tired of being TRACKED everywhere. I'm starting to feel way too big brotherish -- especially when I'm paying CASH. I really just want to be untraceable more often than not nowadays (of course, watching too many crime shows can also make you a bit more paranoid -- not that I'm doing anything illegal but sometimes it's nice to just be invisible).

Considering anybody can find out anything they want about you. I really don't think they need to know my phone number for the $3.00 balloon I'm buying for my kid's birthday ESPECIALLY when I know they already HAVE me in their system as I've given the number out before for orders I've pre-placed, etc...

 

[DVC-Don]

I give the non-emergency number for a police dept I used to work for.

 

[Becky2005]

Nope I don't give out my phone number but if they insist I usually smile and say 867-5309 Once in awhile I'll get a giggle out of the cashier for that one

I got SOOOOO in trouble for that number when I was teen. I had no idea Chicago was considered "long distance" from our area back then, we had the same area code.

My parents were ticked when they got the phone bill just so I could listen to "thank you for listening to "X radio station" (I think WLS but I haven't got a clue anymore)". I only did it because my friend told me that is what I would get with calling....so of course I called, about a million times for the fun of it.

At first I denied calling Chicago UNTIL my parents said "the number is 867-5309" -- I was so busted then but I really didn't know what they were talking about & thought I was innocent until they read the number off.

 

[MouseketeerOvaHere]

No, I tell them its my work phone.

 

[ShuisFan584]

I don't think I've ever gone to a store and not been asked for my zip code/phone number/email address. It's so annoying - I really don't understand why it's necessary.

 

[EMom]

I'm guessing he got caught and is in jail right? How did you find out about it?

One thing I left out of my previous post is that one the day I met him, he so unnerved me that when I checked out, I mentioned his behavior to the checkout girl. She asked me to describe him since I couldn't remember his name, so I started to give his eye color, hair color, etc. Then I mentioned he was very attractive and that he actually reminded me of an old boyfriend, "John Doe." She said, "Oh, that's ____ _____. Yeah, he's like that."

As I said, he would shadow me when I went to that store, so I started either making sure DH was with me or making sure I spotted the guy first so I could avoid him. At some point, I realized I just wasn't seeing him anymore. (Turns out, they fired him.)

About a year later, women started going missing and that made the news. Then just before the noon news one day, they made an announcement that an arrest had been made, so I watched at noon. They showed his picture and I knew I knew him from somewhere, but it didn't click right away. I called DH and told him about the news and that I wanted him home by the evening news because I was sure we knew the guy. We watched and he was clueless. (They still had not mentioned his employment history, so I didn't connect the dots.) I watched the 10:00 news, but still DH didn't recognize him and I was positive I did.

Then DH said, "Well, like you said, he's a good looking guy. Maybe he reminds you of some actor on a TV show or movie or something." I said, "No, that's not it. If anything, he reminds me of my old boyfriend, John Doe." And then it was like a lightning bolt....I remembered saying those very words about the guy at the store and I knew it was him....and I remembered his name too. So I told DH where I knew him from......But back when it happened, I'd never told him that the guy had been coming on to me in the worst way. So he said, "What guy was flirting with you? You never told me that." I reminded him that since no one was ever going to get anywhere flirting with me anyway, what was the point of coming home and bragging to him that a handsome man had come on to me? "Oh, okay........"

The next morning, they released more details, including the fact that he had indeed worked at that store. When they gave the "ideal woman" description and it was ME, I was so shaken up that even though he was in custody, I didn't leave the house for two days. I followed the case, but we moved before it went to trial, so I had a lawyer friend follow it for me and keep me updated.

Turned out he had a HORRIBLE criminal history dating back to his teens. But because he was so handsome and charming, he was often left go with a minimal sentence and sometimes even probation......over and over and over. The detailed a case in which he raped and left for dead two women (when he was 17 or so) that was so famous in Texas that even though it happened hundreds of miles away from where I grew up and took place decades before, the case was still burned in my memory. He barely served any time for it. I was stunned. Seriously, I figured who ever had committed that crime would have been in prison all those years, the offense was so godawful.

They only had good enough evidence to perhaps convict on one murder because the other bodies were too decomposed/evidence was degraded, etc. So the fear was that one more time, he'd charm the jury and get a light sentence. By some miracle, his defense attorney allowed in evidence of what a "great guy" he was and that opened the door for the prosecution to refute it by showing what a bad guy he was......meaning the jury got to hear some details of his past criminal history. No attorney could believe his attorney made such a mistake. On some level, I wonder to this day if the attorney was so horrified by the guy (everyone suspected he'd left a trail of dead women over the decades) that he made a "mistake" that let the prosecution introduce the very evidence that would blow his charm right out of the water. No one will ever know. It would be incredibly unethical as an attorney, but the mistake was so rookie that you have to wonder.

He was convicted and I think he got life in prison. Maybe the death penalty, but I can't remember. I don't think he's ever getting out though. Wonder if all that charm helps him in prison?

 

[LuvLDM]

I don't think I've ever gone to a store and not been asked for my zip code/phone number/email address. It's so annoying - I really don't understand why it's necessary.

Completely OT but your wedding pic is wonderful, what a lovely bride

 

[Katie's Butterflies]

Fashion Bug, Lane Bryant (wait, they're owned by the same company I think!), Toys R Us, Bath & Body Works, Shoe Dept are just a few I can think of off the top of my head that have asked for my number.

Thanks for listing the stores I guess that explains it; I haven't been in most of those stores in a long time and some I've never even heard of! lol I'm not much of a shopper

 

[Katie's Butterflies]

EMom: all I can say is

 

[hereyago]

I give them this 867-5309 and ask for Jenny, some of the younger crowd has no idea about that song and it's fun.

 

[aprilgail2]

I give out my phone number, zip code or email address if they want it- doesn't matter to me in the least. Certainly not something I am going to bother taking astand about.

 

[Darsa]

We did have to ask for name adress phone etc details when doing a refund though, and boy would some people get shirty.

Okay, tell me what shirty means, exactly! I love it

 

[allison443]

I give out my phone number, zip code or email address if they want it- doesn't matter to me in the least. Certainly not something I am going to bother taking astand about.

Another rebel like me!!

 

[scrapquitler]

I give out my number, it doens't bother me. I've never noticed that I actually get any calls from these companies as a result. However, I DO get lots of Yankee Candle and ToysRUs coupons as a result, and to me that is a Good thing And of course, as a former retail employee, I know that the cashier is only doing what they are told to do by management, and I know that they get hassled by the supervisors if they do not ask.

Overall, I get very few telemarketing calls, so I don't worry about them. The only ones I seem to get are from charities and political groups (which I think are exempt from the whole do-not-call thing). I do get many from the locally owned chimney cleaners and roofing companies, which seem to be the contractors wife randomly calling people, but they are usually polite when I ask them not to call back.

As to the zipcode thing, I LIKE giving my zipcode...it is very anonymous (fifty thousand people share my zipcode, it covers the whole town) and giving my zipcode when I am at a store in another area makes it more likely that eventually a store I LIKE will open closer to home, which I see as a good thing.

 

[happygirl]

I have never been asked for my number. If I did I would give it to them. I'm going to assume it's for marketing purposes.

 

[C.Ann]

No.. I have an unlisted number and only give it out when absolutely necessary..

 

[Grumpy's Gal]

I say "sorry - it's unlisted and we don't give it out -- we've had problems in the past." and no one ever says anything else about it.

 

[Mickey's Minion]

No, I never give my number if they ask.

The reason I don't give it is because the minute you actually give them your number, you have just voided the no-call list for them and all their affiliates. Since you gave them your number, they can call you as much as they want.

My number is in the phone book. If they want it so badly, they can look it up. But they can't place any marketing calls because they are bound by the no call list.

 

[lacrosse_lady72]

Phone number or e-mail address, no.

Zip code, yes.

Those are only ones I've been asked for.

OK well, if I go to Albertsons and I forget my preferred card, I give my phone number to still get the discount.