I'm just about certain you are way overreacting to this. Stores sometimes ask for your phone number to see if you're in their system (if you've been to one of their stores before) so they can do things like track your purchase history and send you promotions. I don't know why they asked for your name but I doubt it's anything nefarious.

Oh my God. Retail staff are not oppressors.

Clearly OP's store just has a system that relies on calling customers' names... It really isn't that serious. Every fast food place around me asks for a name to call out when the order's ready, but unless they're checking my government ID before pickup, that's literally just so the staff can tell who is who.

I'd wager good money there's security cameras in-store and in the car park; your every move can be traced anyway, especially if you just have a phone on your person.

I use the local Papa John's phone number, because I hate everything about it.

More likely: saves on a fight over lost proof of purchase in the event of a return which– if it's a purchase of hundreds of dollars– makes good sense. Just recite the details you gave and they can probably pull up the receipt.

I don't know of a single retailer that doesn't have a POS system, as opposed to the old-fashioned dumb register where totals are entered manually and receipts printed ad-hoc and not saved digitally. I work retail and we used to have a system where if you didn't print your receipt, it was a huge kerfuffle to get one after the fact. Now it's as simple as searching the time, date, and register number... details customers obviously don't always remember themselves so scanning your loyalty card is easier. Which you can of course sign up with under a fake name and mailing address.

Just a theory but...

That's probably to aid in the event of a return or refund for faulty goods, but you've lost the receipt. Paying cash leaves no other proof of purchase.

I’m like this, a simple “no thanks” has worked for me and I don’t have to construct a whole narrative about being a hermit.

Just say you'd rather not give your phone number and give any generic name you want. What you're doing increases burden on store workers and also raises questions which I assume you don't want

my name ? Seymour Tit, Biggus Dickus, Donald Trump etal

They don't care either way.

They are working retail jobs and harassing you for personal information is just one in a long list of things they have to do to get paid.

I myself just go with a "no thanks" , "I'm good" or sometimes a "I don't believe in (thing they are asking for)"

And if we don't want to be in their system tracking purchases and stuff?

I can't remember what I was buying or where this happened now, but recently I was buying something (by cc) in store and they would not let me pay without providing a phone number

588-2300

Local area code? Hell no --> 805

If you gave me that i would but your name down as Jenny

I've never gotten pushback with "I'd rather not".

Mike Hunt.

I can just use my own name while traveling. They have no idea how to spell it. And even if they ask and get the spelling correct, the next person has no idea how to pronounce it.

No some shit is stupid. I once took 20 minutes on phone trying to cancel ADT because "I had to give a reason" to which I refused.

My name is Sargent Slaughter and my phone number is 867-5309.

"Because I don't want it anymore" should be reason enough.

Why the heck did they ever need to call your name? For stuff like starbuck, sure, but then it's entirely unnecessary since number can works too. These practices are unnecessary as heck and work as a way to gather data. Unless required by law(pharmacy, for tax reason, etc), If any shop asked for name/phone i would've just say no, if that's unacceptable i would walk.

867-5309 is from a popular song in the 80's. The song is Jenny, by Tommy Twotone. The lyrics are about seeing some "For a good time, call Jenny 867-5309" graffiti on a dive bar bathroom stall. The singer, being drunk and lonely at the bar, decides to call the number on a whim. Since the song was popular and lists the digits as part of the chorus, it is easy to remember... Memes were a thing, even in the 80's before the internet. And basically any GenX person can recite the number, even decades later.

Which means it is commonly used as a fake number wherever you can make a loyalty account with only a phone number. So if the place has a loyalty/rewards system, the popular fake number probably has real rewards to be redeemed. I can usually get a few cents per gallon off at the gas station, for instance. Because with dozens of people using the same phone number all over town, the fake accounts quickly rack up loyalty rewards.

Sometimes called the Jenny Discount by those who use the number. Worst case scenario, you give the store a meme number and nothing happens.

Aren't they literally a member of the company? Quite literally "in on it."

That's some top notch irony 😄

A purchase should be a one time thing. Especially with cash. You give me whatever I need, I give you whatever you ask for. No more interaction. Certainly not asking for my phone number without a valid reason. You wanting to track my purchasing history possibly to sell to third parties is no valid reason.

So... "If you did nothing wrong, you have nothing to hide" amirite?

Elver Galarga in my case

Kathy Terr

I'd dare say not even Starbucks needs to know your name. You should get an order number/code like everywhere else.

Raúl Diaz

The other option is "Jon Withanhache". You can then complain they spelt it wrong too.

It would technically be false imprisonment in most places. Kidnapping would require taking you away/hiding you.

God damn, I grew up in the '80s and I would have sworn that was a Huey Lewis and the News song.

With Starbucks, they just need a name - not necessarily yours.

My of my uni friends used to pick ever more ridiculous names just to hear them call it out when his drink was ready.

That's not what I said at all. Did you make a thread with a sincere question or were you seeking validation? Seems like the latter.

No, they really don't. Order number is more than sufficient.

Okay, maybe I put the cart before the horse with my reply. Sorry.

Still, asking someone's phone number for no discernible reason, and then asking them their name when they least expect it may raise an alarm. See my other comments.

You win.

You shouldn't have to provide a reason at all, period.

As a webdev, I'm proficient in coming up with names to test the limits of the interface. I would probably have to stick to ‘Konstantin Konstantinovich Konstantinopolsky’, since they are unlikely to accept the last name of ‘O'er-thirtythree-thirtythreefootfences-Istretchmyleg’.

No thanks is the best because it's pretty universal.

"Do you have a loyalty card?"

"No thanks"

Answers both the initial question and the, "would you like to sign up" follow-up. Saves everyone time.

Machine Mart (UK) has done this for decades. Back in the day, before the internet was a thing, they would use this database to send catalogues. I became suspicious of it and started providing bogus names. They currently greet me as Yuri Tarded and I say 'not so bad yourself'

I work in retail at a small business. Our boss wants us to get the name and email of everyone we can. He's got some belief that it's useful. It is nice to get someone's name just so we can connect a receipt to a name in case of a return. None of us really push it much though, I don't even ask if people are buying something small.

A bit odd, because the US is specifically the one country that definitely has an area code that's mostly reserved from civilian usage, i.e. 555. Although not all numbers in it are reserved, afaiu they aren't given to randos anyway, and the store's spam system could be set up to never text or call these numbers.

I once looked up if there are numbers that I could safely use for testing purposes in my country, and we only have numbers from old popular songs, which curiously were also later referenced in tv shows. But it's a toss-up as to whether they're definitely unregistered in any particular area code. I'll probably have to use ‘+1555...’ instead.

That's a completely valid concern about privacy and anonymity and every opportunity we have to not provide information in these scenarios is a reasonable response. But be aware of all the other ways you're already "in the system". A cellphone, even if you aren't using it, communicates thousands of times a day with outside systems. Then let's talk about inference. It means deducing something about a person without getting direct information from them. You leave so many disparate pieces of information in your daily activities that it's possible to infer a number of things about you with a high enough degree of accuracy that it's useful. This information should be private and should only be available to others if we choose to allow it. But it's not.

And if you find yourself in a situation like OP you don't have to say something ridiculous and obviously untrue like "I don't have a phone", you can just say "I don't want to provide that". And it's probably fine to give someone your first name in a situation like this.

I use Cape on a GapheneOS phone so neither my cell provider or my phone knows my name.

I understand that people can only limit the data that gets collected and Incognito/Deleteme etc. can't get all the rest. In my opinion the only way to prevent the further exploitation of our data is for people to just not play.

I always give a fake name. Tell them your name is Willie Nobody. As for phone number, if you give them a xxx-555-xxxx number, those don't exist.

Relevant Curb Your Enthusiasm clip:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mstWOTSEVg4

Absolutely. 'Please cancel my account' should be enough, on the first try, always.

In every situation it should be just as easy to cancel a service as it is to sign up. If you can sign up online you should be able to cancel online.

Give a number if you prefer a number. Batista will not care if you say “just write ‘123’”

My name's Mantis Toboggan, and my phone number is 8647 6767