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... I'm just trying to do my job!
Like many stores, Bustice asks for a home phone number, email address, and the month/year of the girl's birthday. This is for two reasons. First, we want to make sure our demographic information is up-to-date. We want to know where we might need to put a new store, and we want to make sure we're hitting the right age groups. Second, we want to send our customers coupons. We like helping people save money on our merchandise. So really, we're not trying to stalk our customers. It's all to help them. I know sometimes it's a pain to constantly give out your information, but our computers don't even save the information where we can see it. We get a blank screen every time.
I'd also like to note that it is company policy to ask for this information every time. We get in "trouble" when we're missing a certain amount of this information (my manager puts the three top offenders in each category up on the "wall of shame.)
Some customers have the most ridiculous reactions:
Me: May I have your home phone number? *in my usual cheerful manner*
SC: *mocking my tone* No you may not!
Me: *same*
SC: Sure *gives phone number*
Me: And the email address you have on file with us?
SC: No.
Me: Okay. And the birthday of the young lady you're shopping for?
SC: Just put January.
(Luckily, the little girl told me how old she was so I could figure out the year. When people don't give me the year, I just put in 2001 since most of the birthdates end up being that year.)
My AM: *asks for phone number*
SC: No. I don't give that out.
AM: *asks for email*
SC: *gives email address*
AM: And the birthday of the girl you're shopping for?
SC: No, I don't give that out. You can have your identity stolen that way. What do you want that for? No. I'm not giving it to you.
AM: We just use that information for coupons. It's a simple yes or no answer.
(I really, REALLY love this particular assistant manager.)
One time, I'd just finished up a transaction with a customer in which she'd used a mailer coupon we'd sent out. As I was the only one on register, the next customer (SC) came up behind her and witnessed the transaction.
Me: *phone number?*
SC: No.
Me: *email?*
SC: Nope.
There's no point in me asking for the birthday at this point, so I proceed with the transaction. At the end...
SC: How would I have gotten the discount?
Me: You would've needed to give me your phone number so we could send them to you in the mail.
SC: Oh. *walks away*
Oh, and my favorite:
SC gives me her phone number, but when I ask for her email:
SC: No, can we just keep this moving along, please? We're in a hurry.
Me:
*asks for birthday and continues transaction*
Now, I'm the kind of person who really does try to keep things moving if my customer seems to be in a rush. Especially since once again, I was the only one on register, and I had a line. But here's what gets me. I finish the transaction, and the SC and her friend continue to look through the clearance section for a good 5 or 10 minutes before leaving the store. Hurry, my rear end.
Like many stores, Bustice asks for a home phone number, email address, and the month/year of the girl's birthday. This is for two reasons. First, we want to make sure our demographic information is up-to-date. We want to know where we might need to put a new store, and we want to make sure we're hitting the right age groups. Second, we want to send our customers coupons. We like helping people save money on our merchandise. So really, we're not trying to stalk our customers. It's all to help them. I know sometimes it's a pain to constantly give out your information, but our computers don't even save the information where we can see it. We get a blank screen every time.
I'd also like to note that it is company policy to ask for this information every time. We get in "trouble" when we're missing a certain amount of this information (my manager puts the three top offenders in each category up on the "wall of shame.)
Some customers have the most ridiculous reactions:
Me: May I have your home phone number? *in my usual cheerful manner*
SC: *mocking my tone* No you may not!
Me: *same*
SC: Sure *gives phone number*
Me: And the email address you have on file with us?
SC: No.
Me: Okay. And the birthday of the young lady you're shopping for?
SC: Just put January.
(Luckily, the little girl told me how old she was so I could figure out the year. When people don't give me the year, I just put in 2001 since most of the birthdates end up being that year.)
My AM: *asks for phone number*
SC: No. I don't give that out.
AM: *asks for email*
SC: *gives email address*
AM: And the birthday of the girl you're shopping for?
SC: No, I don't give that out. You can have your identity stolen that way. What do you want that for? No. I'm not giving it to you.
AM: We just use that information for coupons. It's a simple yes or no answer.
(I really, REALLY love this particular assistant manager.)
One time, I'd just finished up a transaction with a customer in which she'd used a mailer coupon we'd sent out. As I was the only one on register, the next customer (SC) came up behind her and witnessed the transaction.
Me: *phone number?*
SC: No.
Me: *email?*
SC: Nope.
There's no point in me asking for the birthday at this point, so I proceed with the transaction. At the end...
SC: How would I have gotten the discount?
Me: You would've needed to give me your phone number so we could send them to you in the mail.
SC: Oh. *walks away*
Oh, and my favorite:
SC gives me her phone number, but when I ask for her email:
SC: No, can we just keep this moving along, please? We're in a hurry.
Me:
*asks for birthday and continues transaction*Now, I'm the kind of person who really does try to keep things moving if my customer seems to be in a rush. Especially since once again, I was the only one on register, and I had a line. But here's what gets me. I finish the transaction, and the SC and her friend continue to look through the clearance section for a good 5 or 10 minutes before leaving the store. Hurry, my rear end.
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