Say No To Compulsory Sign Ups !!!!!!!!

amandada

I like to think of Mickey Mouse in Disneyland receiving all my junk mail from Matalan as that's the name and address I gave when they insisted I have one of their cards

codger

amandada wrote: »

I like to think of Mickey Mouse in Disneyland receiving all my junk mail from Matalan as that's the name and address I gave when they insisted I have one of their cards

As a variation, you can always use this one (though remember, initial only for Christian name: sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't):

Mr C Lyon
506 Prince Albert Road
Regent's Park
London
NW1 4RY

superscaper

I've found the following useful for some sites you need to register for (not for shopping sites). Useful if you're just after some info from some sites etc:
http://www.bugmenot.com

codger

superscaper wrote: »

I've found the following useful for some sites you need to register for (not for shopping sites). Useful if you're just after some info from some sites etc:
http://www.bugmenot.com

Looks interesting. . . !

Contains_Mild_Peril

I do get annoyed by companies insisting I must give them my phone number in order to make a purchase. A few even require my home phone number. Those companies do not get my custom. Not everyone even has a landline phone number these days, and those of us who do would rather not be bothered with unsolicited sales calls at inconvenient times perhaps for years after making a single one-off purchase. I have sometimes tried entering bogus numbers (e.g. 0000000000) to be told that I must enter a valid UK phone number.

IvanOpinion

Contains_Mild_Peril wrote: »

I have sometimes tried entering bogus numbers (e.g. 0000000000) to be told that I must enter a valid UK phone number.

Give them the phone number of the local police station or the samaritans or the Jehovahs Witnesses

ivan

taxi97w

The compulsory registration gets me too, but in a different way.

I frequent the Freebies and Competitions board quite a bit, and they are usually threads with links to a site. I would say 80% of these sites ask you to register first, before you can fill in your freebie or competition form. :mad:

IvanOpinion

thriftymanc wrote: »

*Obviously the guy on the phone didn't actually say 'male appendage' but I think you know what I mean by this, just don't want to risk offending anyone by putting what was actually said!

Big toe? That wouldn't offend me but there may be some toe-ists out there

ivan

kennyboy66_2

taxi97w wrote: »

The compulsory registration gets me too, but in a different way.

I frequent the Freebies and Competitions board quite a bit, and they are usually threads with links to a site. I would say 80% of these sites ask you to register first, before you can fill in your freebie or competition form. :mad:

What do you expect?

I though the purpose of 90% of freebies / competitions on the internet is to gather a customer database.

codger

kennyboy66 wrote: »

What do you expect?

I though the purpose of 90% of freebies / competitions on the internet is to gather a customer database.

So very true -- though I'd reckon it was more like 100%.

The problem with the Freebies Board is that it's frequently littered with 'freebies' that aren't worth the hassle of even bothering with, yet still attract enthusiastic attention because they're, well, um, free.

But nothing is.

What is being traded in exchange for some absurd tat -- 'hair shampoo sachet' (whoa-hey!) or tacky A5-sized desk calendar (gosh, golly!) -- isn't money but something of infinitely greater value: an individual's identity.

I nearly said, "as we all know" it's that identity the marketeers profit from by flogging on to others. . . yet even after all this time, it seems there're still thousands, if not millions, out there who don't know. Or don't want to.