I Told You So

My reaction to this kind of thing is a firm, and not-always-polite "No," repeated as necessary when the clerk gives me a 'you-can't-do-that' look. I refuse flatly to give any personal information to any store that doesn't need it--i.e., if they're delivering something to me, fine, you can have my address and a contact number--work, not home. Otherwise, you don't have any business having that information, and I'm not giving it to you, especially if I'm paying with cash (I've long since quit writing paper checks at stores). I used to avoid Radio Shack stores explicitly because of the third-degree they'd give me when all I wanted to do was buy a patch cable (they've since quit asking for your name, address, and a note from your mother for every purchase).

As for the business about 'We need the phone number before we can let the merchandise leave the store', no offense to James, but that would have sent yours truly into a frothing gimme-my-damn-money-back-and-who's-the-biggest-boss-I-can-yell-at rage. If I'm paying you for something, don't you ever tell me you're going to hold my privacy hostage before I get what I've already paid for.

Maybe it's just me, but life's too short for that crap. I would hope the smarter retailers have figured that out--but BestBuy has never been accused of hiring smart people, have they?

Update:

I was going to see Star Wars tonight -- it's just after midnight London time. Then I got busy doing really fun stuff, and put it off until tomorrow.

Well, tomorrow is coming up awfully fast, and we're already making other plans...

There's a slight chance I won't see the movie until after we get back to the States -- the movie I've been waiting to see for 28 years.

But you know what? If I have to wait a week, London makes the wait more than worth it. I'm in love with this town, and with the people even more.