I want to buy, but refuse to be manipulated

@Asylum (47893)

Manchester, England

August 1, 2016 11:20am CST

As some members will remember I recently had a problem when I lost one of the screws holding the arms in my lawnmower. After searching in several hardware stores I finally resorted to checking online. Armed with the make and model of the lawnmower I began a search via Google, which obviously returned many results. Despite the abundance of websites listed, I only managed to locate the required screws at 3 sites. I was quite prepared to pay a reasonable price and also the shipping costs, but once I went to the checkout page I changed my mind. Each of the sites insisted on asking for my email address and would not continue without it. I realise that these people want such email addresses for a mailing list, but do not want to receive a constant flow of emails over the years. Yes, I do want to buy their product, but absolutely refuse to be manipulated into providing data that I do not want to.

13 people like this

11 responses

@OKennedy (1130)

• United States

1 Aug 16

Many times they do use your email for the purpose but not always and you can always give it and then unsubscribe once you have made your purchase and have your product. Some sites like walmart require it to use their online site to buy stuff but I don't get any mail from them. With walmart I get an email letting me know what has been shipped etc. Or you can also use a email just for stuff like that and then just dump out the mailbox when you go to use it again.

2 people like this

@Asylum (47893)

• Manchester, England

1 Aug 16

They do not need email addresses to monitor the amount of sales because the item has been sold irrespective of any mail address. As for unsubscribe, many websites have unsubscribe links which do not stop emails from arriving.

1 person likes this

@Asylum (47893)

• Manchester, England

1 Aug 16

@OKennedy The lack of reliable unsubscribe links is what deters me from such email requests.

1 person likes this

@OKennedy (1130)

• United States

1 Aug 16

@Asylum I wasn't talking about them needing it to monitor the amount of sales walmart uses it to email me and keep me posted on my shipment. My email is linked to the account and it has my purchase history as well as payment information stored and when I order if the information doesn't match it won't allow a purchase to be made. As for the unsubscribe links that don't work I too have had that happen and it sucks. I have had to go to the actual original site and talk to live people to make it happen.

1 person likes this

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ElizabethWallace

@ElizabethWallace (12069)

• United States

2 Aug 16

How else are they to give you a receipt or tell you the product is on the way? I have a spam blocker that keeps out unwanted emails. Problem solved.

1 person likes this

@Asylum (47893)

• Manchester, England

2 Aug 16

I never use such items as spam filters because they simply redirect emails once they arrive. There is also the danger of genuine emails being filtered wrongly.

1 person likes this

@Asylum (47893)

• Manchester, England

2 Aug 16

@ElizabethWallace I prefer to simply not receive it in the first place.

1 person likes this

ElizabethWallace

@ElizabethWallace (12069)

• United States

2 Aug 16

@Asylum I find it easier to scan through spam when it is in a folder all by itself. This way I don't accidently open anything I should not. It's pretty easy to notice a good one among the spam and send it to the right location. Saves me time and stress. Nothing is deleted for a week, so that's not an issue either.

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@marlina (154103)

• Canada

2 Aug 16

I understand perfectly well how you feel on this one.

1 person likes this

@Asylum (47893)

• Manchester, England

2 Aug 16

I find it such a liberty to insist that I should place myself on their mailing list in order to spend my money with them.

1 person likes this

@Asylum (47893)

• Manchester, England

2 Aug 16

@marlina Yet they still make such absurd demands from customers. I cannot be the only person who has declined to buy from them because of this.

1 person likes this

@marlina (154103)

• Canada

2 Aug 16

@Asylum I guess merchants are desperate for sales.

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@pgntwo (22405)

• Derry, Northern Ireland

1 Aug 16

At the checkout in a department store last weekend, I was asked "can I have your e-mail address to send you an electronic copy of the receipt in case you lose the paper receipt?". They don't give up...

I'm not as green as I am cabbage-looking...

1 person likes this

@Asylum (47893)

• Manchester, England

1 Aug 16

Argos have been doing that for years now. Of course it becomes totally absurd when the option to buy is dependent on providing your email address.

1 person likes this

@Asylum (47893)

• Manchester, England

1 Aug 16

@pgntwo Yes, I am constantly being emailed by PayPal and probably many PayPal spoofs.

1 person likes this

@pgntwo (22405)

• Derry, Northern Ireland

1 Aug 16

@Asylum I agree entirely. e-payment services, like PayPal, are just as bad. Insidious (ab)use of customer data follows.

1 person likes this

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@TheHorse (238349)

• Walnut Creek, California

4 Aug 16

I'm the same way, but different. I don't mind giving out my email to retailers, but if they use too many "sales techniques" on me, or add surprising charges at the end, I'm outa there.

1 person likes this

@Asylum (47893)

• Manchester, England

4 Aug 16

I just hate the attempt to force me to accept their email junk.

1 person likes this

@Asylum (47893)

• Manchester, England

4 Aug 16

@TheHorse Why would I need a confirmation email? The site can simply display confirmation.

@TheHorse (238349)

• Walnut Creek, California

4 Aug 16

@Asylum I reckon they need it to send you order confirmations and such like. I just delete the superfluous stuff.

1 person likes this

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@Jeanniemaries (8237)

• United States

17 Aug 16

So the saga hasn't ended. How tall is your grass now? I paid my guy ahead of time to mow three times while I was gone and I came home days ago and it hadn't been done. My grass is probably filled with snakes it's so tall. I haven't seen him yet.

1 person likes this

@Asylum (47893)

• Manchester, England

17 Aug 16

Mine certainly needs to be mowed again, but is not too critical yet.

@Asylum (47893)

• Manchester, England

17 Aug 16

@Jeanniemaries Sadly it gets watered regularly due to the frequency of rain. During the summer months with the intermittent rain showers and sunshine the grass becomes quite savage.

@Jeanniemaries (8237)

• United States

17 Aug 16

@Asylum It probably grows slower than mine in the cooler climate.

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@SIMPLYD (90717)

• Philippines

17 Aug 16

Yes, after that order they will deluge you with offers of their other products if you give them your email address.

1 person likes this

@Asylum (47893)

• Manchester, England

17 Aug 16

I booked a holiday via an online travel agency and the agency provided my email address to the airline when reserving the seats. I now get regular spam from Easyjet, who I have never dealt with direct.

1 person likes this

@SIMPLYD (90717)

• Philippines

17 Aug 16

@Asylum Oh that is just so sad , my friend . sigh !

1 person likes this

@amadeo (111937)

• United States

1 Aug 16

Is there someone there can make this for you?Can you modify it

1 person likes this

@Asylum (47893)

• Manchester, England

1 Aug 16

That may be feasible but would not be an easy task.

@Drosophila (16568)

• Ireland

1 Aug 16

just create a email especially for spam... I do that

1 person likes this

@Asylum (47893)

• Manchester, England

1 Aug 16

I have done that many times, although I begin to wonder why I should bother. If a supermarket or cafe insisted on your email before they would serve you they would quickly be out of business, so the same should apply online.

1 person likes this

@Drosophila (16568)

• Ireland

2 Aug 16

@Asylum that is a fair point

1 person likes this

@Inlemay (17712)

• South Africa

2 Aug 16

I know - they want your whole pedigree before even sending you a login code

1 person likes this

@Asylum (47893)

• Manchester, England

2 Aug 16

If I am going to be the one who is spending money then I will also decide what the conditions will be.

1 person likes this

@JamesHxstatic (29410)

• Eugene, Oregon

1 Aug 16

I think that you can always unsubscribe once you get that first unwanted email. That has worked for me.

1 person likes this

@Asylum (47893)

• Manchester, England

1 Aug 16

Agreed, but the unsubscribe does not always work.

1 person likes this