Pressure In Stores

Ronni · 05-29-2008, 07:24 PM

After 2.5 months of searching, I finally landed a job. YAY.

The catch is that it's not a high-paying job, and I need to wear professional dress clothes. Everyone told me to check out TJ Maxx, etc. But most of them aren't short and relatively thin. I normally wear juniors, but they don't make many professional clothes for juniors that are affordable. I had to go to stores such as NY & Co. for tops, and The Limited to find pants that fit.

I'm not a big shopper anymore, so the past couple of days exhausted me. One thing I noticed is that when you get to the register, they offer their credit cards. I tell them "no, thank you," but many of them won't take that for an answer! I understand that they might get a bonus or something for every person who signs up under them, but I am a cash-only girl these days and I don't like feeling pressured to sign up for a credit card I don't want or need. I'm making a personal choice to be responsible, you know?

Do any of you deal with this kind of thing? How do you handle it? It's funny, they seem disturbed by my cash-only stance.

Looby · 05-29-2008, 09:28 PM

I've never had much of a problem- my standard response is a simple "I'm not interested thank-you". Only once has a staff member tried to push it a second time and that was met with "I'd really just like to pay and leave, thanks very much" a little brusque perhaps (although I kept smiling politely) but there is no point in letting them run through a whole spiel when I am not about to change my mind.

kav122 · 05-30-2008, 03:52 AM

I agree with Looby. I say "I don't DO credit cards." but I do it with a smile. That works for me

lucille · 05-30-2008, 04:48 AM

Some store force their employees to give you the card (or other) sales pitch three times. If they don't they can get in trouble. Other stores just pressure, give big incentives or have sign up quotas. NY & Co is one of them. I either pay cash or use my visa card (debt/credit). I give them the same line as Kav does. "I don't do credit cards". I try to not be nasty about it. I do the same thing when they badger you for your phone number. Stores don't need your phone number even if it for marketing purposes. They collect it for their third party marketing company like Choicepoint. Those third party data collectors then do whatever they want with that data even if the store promises it will only be used for that store and not sold. Choicepoint was also the source of a major data breach.

I find the credit card or contrived upsells they force store staff to inflict on customers to be a big pain in the backside and a tad insulting to me as a customer. I'm there spending my money that I could be spending somewhere else so quit treating me like my time isn't worth anything. If you want to complain, complain to the corporate office, they are the ones that do this, the store employees are stuck complying with the company rules.

I flat out quit shopping at Linens & Things because they kept badgering me about my phone number even after I politely told them I don't give it out. I also quit shopping at Petco because they insisted you use their perks card for every transaction and won't take no for an answer. They also won't take "I don't have it with me" as an answer, they will try to look it up for you. I got tired of $2 transactions being held up for this nonsense. So I buy things at Petsmart now.

The only time I had to actually be kinda rude with someone was at Sears. We were working on a car at home and the hubby sent me to pick up a wrench he didn't have so I was a bit in a hurry to just get it and go. I was paying cash. The sales guy gave me a rather long sales pitch for their credit card. I finally cut him off (it was that long) and told him I don't use credit cards, i'm paying cash and I really need to get going. He then proceeded to try to corner me on reasons why I should get one. I again told him I wasn't interested. He took a few more steps toward my transaction and then started at it again. Then I actually got a bit mad and told him there was no way I was going to get a credit card so knock it off and ring me up or I am leaving.

No wonder Sears is going out of business.

amyschiff · 05-30-2008, 04:51 AM

I usually say "Not today" or something similar. I think it backs them off a bit because it sounds more like you might eventually sign up to get one.

spencer · 05-30-2008, 05:12 AM

I just say NO firmly and usually this does the trick.

kav122 · 05-30-2008, 04:58 PM

yeah, I have to say...even more annoying than the cc questions are the phone number questions. I have had the same cell # since high school and I don't give it out for a reason. They act like you punched their dog when you say you won't give it out. I will do the zip code, but when they say "can I have your phone number?" I say "nope!" and smile. Really. Super annoying.

gt0163c · 05-31-2008, 01:23 PM

In most stores, I've found that a simple "No thank you" works just fine to convince store clerks that I really don't want to sign up for their credit card. Best Buy is the one that gets me. They seem to always ask about credit cards, magazine subscriptions, etc. It's gotten to the point that when I go up the register and they ask "How are you?" I respond with "I'm doing well and I don't need another credit card, magazine subscription or anything other than X (what I'm buying). How are you today?". I've never had a "sales associate" try to get me to sign up for or buy anything else after I've responded that way.
The other thing that gets me is when "sales associates" are prowling around the stores asking people to sign up for their credit cards. Target used to do this, although I haven't seen them do it in a couple of years. I always felt bad for whichever person got stuck on "credit card patrol", especially when there were very few people in the store. If I had time, I'd try to chat with them for a minute or so after I said "no".

Megan · 05-31-2008, 01:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by amyschiff

I usually say "Not today" or something similar. I think it backs them off a bit because it sounds more like you might eventually sign up to get one.

I say the same thing. Occasionally, I get the "Are you sure? You can get a discount."

Of course, this practice has meant that I ignore the opportunity to get things like free frequent shopper cards because I don't always listen to what they're saying when they offer me something.

Thatcantberight · 06-02-2008, 01:54 AM

Many years ago when one persistent store clerk asked me to sign up for a credit card I didn't want, I came up with a response that prevented any further sales pitch. It also resulted in excellent customer service at the time...

When the clerk asked me if I wanted to sign up for the credit card, I said:

"Sorry, I'd really like to, but with my criminal record for credit card fraud and identity theft, I'd probably not qualify."

My cash transaction was completed pretty quick after that.

05-29-2008, 07:24 PM	#1
Ronni Member Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Chicago, IL Posts: 92 Reputation: (25)	Pressure In Stores After 2.5 months of searching, I finally landed a job. YAY. The catch is that it's not a high-paying job, and I need to wear professional dress clothes. Everyone told me to check out TJ Maxx, etc. But most of them aren't short and relatively thin. I normally wear juniors, but they don't make many professional clothes for juniors that are affordable. I had to go to stores such as NY & Co. for tops, and The Limited to find pants that fit. I'm not a big shopper anymore, so the past couple of days exhausted me. One thing I noticed is that when you get to the register, they offer their credit cards. I tell them "no, thank you," but many of them won't take that for an answer! I understand that they might get a bonus or something for every person who signs up under them, but I am a cash-only girl these days and I don't like feeling pressured to sign up for a credit card I don't want or need. I'm making a personal choice to be responsible, you know? Do any of you deal with this kind of thing? How do you handle it? It's funny, they seem disturbed by my cash-only stance. __________________ - Ronni http://lilrongal.livejournal.com

05-30-2008, 04:48 AM	#4
lucille Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Posts: 511 Reputation: (33)	Some store force their employees to give you the card (or other) sales pitch three times. If they don't they can get in trouble. Other stores just pressure, give big incentives or have sign up quotas. NY & Co is one of them. I either pay cash or use my visa card (debt/credit). I give them the same line as Kav does. "I don't do credit cards". I try to not be nasty about it. I do the same thing when they badger you for your phone number. Stores don't need your phone number even if it for marketing purposes. They collect it for their third party marketing company like Choicepoint. Those third party data collectors then do whatever they want with that data even if the store promises it will only be used for that store and not sold. Choicepoint was also the source of a major data breach. I find the credit card or contrived upsells they force store staff to inflict on customers to be a big pain in the backside and a tad insulting to me as a customer. I'm there spending my money that I could be spending somewhere else so quit treating me like my time isn't worth anything. If you want to complain, complain to the corporate office, they are the ones that do this, the store employees are stuck complying with the company rules. I flat out quit shopping at Linens & Things because they kept badgering me about my phone number even after I politely told them I don't give it out. I also quit shopping at Petco because they insisted you use their perks card for every transaction and won't take no for an answer. They also won't take "I don't have it with me" as an answer, they will try to look it up for you. I got tired of $2 transactions being held up for this nonsense. So I buy things at Petsmart now. The only time I had to actually be kinda rude with someone was at Sears. We were working on a car at home and the hubby sent me to pick up a wrench he didn't have so I was a bit in a hurry to just get it and go. I was paying cash. The sales guy gave me a rather long sales pitch for their credit card. I finally cut him off (it was that long) and told him I don't use credit cards, i'm paying cash and I really need to get going. He then proceeded to try to corner me on reasons why I should get one. I again told him I wasn't interested. He took a few more steps toward my transaction and then started at it again. Then I actually got a bit mad and told him there was no way I was going to get a credit card so knock it off and ring me up or I am leaving. No wonder Sears is going out of business. __________________ Dark Style Blog http://darkstyleblog.blogspot.com/

05-30-2008, 05:12 AM	#6
spencer Member Join Date: May 2008 Posts: 48 Reputation: (10)	I just say NO firmly and usually this does the trick. __________________ Never spend your money before you have it. -- Thomas Jefferson Loans Financial Terms

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05-29-2008, 09:28 PM	#2
Looby Member Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 74 Reputation: (14)	I've never had much of a problem- my standard response is a simple "I'm not interested thank-you". Only once has a staff member tried to push it a second time and that was met with "I'd really just like to pay and leave, thanks very much" a little brusque perhaps (although I kept smiling politely) but there is no point in letting them run through a whole spiel when I am not about to change my mind.

05-30-2008, 03:52 AM	#3
kav122 Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Minneapolis, MN Posts: 510 Reputation: (238)	I agree with Looby. I say "I don't DO credit cards." but I do it with a smile. That works for me

05-30-2008, 04:51 AM	#5
amyschiff Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Lansing, MI Posts: 308 Reputation: (44)	I usually say "Not today" or something similar. I think it backs them off a bit because it sounds more like you might eventually sign up to get one.

05-30-2008, 04:58 PM	#7
kav122 Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Minneapolis, MN Posts: 510 Reputation: (238)	yeah, I have to say...even more annoying than the cc questions are the phone number questions. I have had the same cell # since high school and I don't give it out for a reason. They act like you punched their dog when you say you won't give it out. I will do the zip code, but when they say "can I have your phone number?" I say "nope!" and smile. Really. Super annoying.

05-31-2008, 01:23 PM	#8
gt0163c Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Texas Posts: 250 Reputation: (33)	In most stores, I've found that a simple "No thank you" works just fine to convince store clerks that I really don't want to sign up for their credit card. Best Buy is the one that gets me. They seem to always ask about credit cards, magazine subscriptions, etc. It's gotten to the point that when I go up the register and they ask "How are you?" I respond with "I'm doing well and I don't need another credit card, magazine subscription or anything other than X (what I'm buying). How are you today?". I've never had a "sales associate" try to get me to sign up for or buy anything else after I've responded that way. The other thing that gets me is when "sales associates" are prowling around the stores asking people to sign up for their credit cards. Target used to do this, although I haven't seen them do it in a couple of years. I always felt bad for whichever person got stuck on "credit card patrol", especially when there were very few people in the store. If I had time, I'd try to chat with them for a minute or so after I said "no".

06-02-2008, 01:54 AM	#10
Thatcantberight Junior Member Join Date: Apr 2008 Posts: 10 Reputation: (10)	Many years ago when one persistent store clerk asked me to sign up for a credit card I didn't want, I came up with a response that prevented any further sales pitch. It also resulted in excellent customer service at the time... When the clerk asked me if I wanted to sign up for the credit card, I said: "Sorry, I'd really like to, but with my criminal record for credit card fraud and identity theft, I'd probably not qualify." My cash transaction was completed pretty quick after that.