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

Halloway

If you do not register, how can you expect to be able to (for example) check an order progress? Bearing in mind that you have to give (a) name, (b) address (for delivery) (c) payment details (credit or debit card) and (d) possibly a phone number for contact in the event of difficulty, I don't see the issue with proving a username and password.

It seems a tiny and stupid thing to get upset about.

codger

Halloway wrote: »

If you do not register, how can you expect to be able to (for example) check an order progress? Bearing in mind that you have to give (a) name, (b) address (for delivery) (c) payment details (credit or debit card) and (d) possibly a phone number for contact in the event of difficulty, I don't see the issue with proving a username and password.

It seems a tiny and stupid thing to get upset about.

HUh?

WHY do you have to come up with a username and password for the online equivalent of walking into a High Street shop???

As I said at the start of this thread, don't we have enough names / passwords etc to have to contend with, without adding to 'em???

As for your point, it's been my experience that:

(a) an online retailer gets my real-world address, and a disposable email addy to send me the purchase confirmation;

(b) they then either let me know when the item's been despatched or give me an online reference number when I visit their website. Or

(c) they provide me with their email address (usually something like sales@) if I've a query.

This obsession with insisting on buyers opening up accounts with names and passwords is nonsense -- if you accepted it, you'd have usernames and passwords piling up by the dozen on your PC, not to mention you'd likely lose track of just how much personal information you'd unnecessarily released to so many different online retailers over the months / years.

Above all though, it's a real custom loser: this very afternoon, we wanted to purchase something for our 'van and were Googled to a company describing itself as "Europe's Largest Online Outdoor Store!!! (Wild day.com).

I want a couple of bags of moisture dessicant. That's all. Not a £100,000 Ferrari.

BUT: not only is it necessary for me to have to open an account with a username and password before I can shop with this outfit, they'd also very much like to know why I've never shopped with them before.

Well, yes.

Everyone, everywhere, has all the time in the world to sit there explaining themselves to Wild Day (or perhaps it should be 'Waste Day') and composing new usernames and passwords, and adding them to password safes or bits of paper that'll never be found again, and then finally, finally getting around to filling in the delivery address for a couple of sachets of dessicants whilst having to concentrate hard so that they don't inadvertently tick any boxes, or perhaps untick any boxes, that will transform their purchase into the basis of a life-long bombardment by snail mail and email of thoughtful offers from associated or non-associated companies.

Goodbye, Wild Day.

Hello Halfords instead. Because apart from the fact that they're almost half the price of Wild Day, they don't seem a bit bothered about me having usernames and passwords -- or in knowing why I may never have shopped with them before.


They sell. I buy. They deliver. How difficult is that???

NovaBlack_2

codger wrote: »

HUh?

This obsession with insisting on buyers opening up accounts with names and passwords is nonsense -- if you accepted it, you'd have usernames and passwords piling up by the dozen on your PC


...Everyone, everywhere, has all the time in the world to sit there .......composing new usernames and passwords, and adding them to password safes or bits of paper that'll never be found again

umm... you could use the same username and password for most sites..... then you have to remember one username and password

Rosemary7391

By the time I've got over my school/work/home/forum ids I can cope with a few more for internet sites quite easily. It depends how you intend to use the site. Ideally they would offer a choice - otherwise you always seem to have to sign up to the one that you only want once, and are endlessly inputting details into another.... Its not on to ask why you have never shopped with them before though! Perhaps they can deduce thier answer from looking at the purchases of people who have bothered to inform them of that...?

NovaBlack_2

hmm just my thoughts but..

you can browse most sites without an account. its only when you come to puchase you need to make one... so at that point wouldnt you be giving your name address/tel number anyway for delivery?

all you give extra is a username and password... which could be the same for all your accounts...

doesnt really bother me for the sake of 5 seconds.. n then when i come back my details are all saved securely...


each to their own tho, im not right or wrong, just my opinion

taxi97w

kennyboy66 wrote: »

What do you expect?

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

To sample a product whether it be by freebie or winning a comp and decide if I want to buy said product in the future.

I hate marketing:mad:

BoltonMinx

Contains_Mild_Peril wrote: »

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.

Some companies use this as an additional fraud checking mechanism.

BoltonMinx

olly300 wrote: »

Send a letter to the company by recorded delivery requesting that under the Data Protection Act 1998 they are to stop processing your personal data within 28 days otherwise you will report them to the Information Commissioner.

I have done this to some companies i.e. Egg, received an apology and no marketing from them.

I have yet to report any company to the Information Commissioner for marketing material as these letters seem to work.

I'm assuming this is for marketing purposes only? I always assumedd they'd need to keep your customer record if you've made a transaction for 6 years (or however many is required by law)?

codger

I'm guessing it's still something to do with exploitation of customer inertia.

The amount of time taken and aggro involved in setting up new online savings accounts nowadays is clearly enough to dissuade many savers from closing non competitive accounts and going somewhere else. Otherwise ING wouldn't still be in business.

Ditto compulsory registration e-commerce sites: they must hope that when you're in a hurry, you won't bother doing comparison shopping on the 'Net but will think, oh, well, I'm already registered with so-and-so site, I might just as well buy there rather than have the hassle of having to register somewhere else. . .

BritBrat

I give them a made up number, I do hope it's not one of yours