skeleem_skalarm

bicpen

Oh haha, the ratshack branded RadioShack Detectors, I remember getting one for $19 when the FCC told them to piss off cus it didn't comply with part 15. That thing sucked on reception too. After 6 speeding tickets in Arkansas I switched to a real detector, Escort Passport SRX with Laser Shifters. Haven't got a ticket since, and the thing keeps me alert when driving. As for the recording devices, my friend uses rat shack recording devices, but he has a ground loop isolator as well to get the hum out, with a ground loop isolator, they are actually okay. I liked the ones that record only when the phone is picked up, I found a way to defeat them though by attaching a resistor to the phone line -- came in handy when my friend's dad started recording his conversations and kept the equipment in a locked room, I gave him a phone cord with the resistor attached and he'd just plug his phone in that way when he had his convo's on the D.L., and let unimportant calls get recorded, it was great.

Lucky225

barty

If the sales reciept is the only posting of the return policy, the policy wasn't in plain view at the time of the purchase.

Take the store to small claims court, ask for the amount of the purchase in damages, and then the remainder of the 3000/5000 dollar limit in punitive damages.

Then, explain to the judge that if the return policy had been posted in plain sight, you would have shopped elsewhere.

You can't print a policy on a store reciept, since a customer doesn't get to see the policy until AFTER the sale has been made.

thejoker2099

Criminals ruin things for everyone else, and you should always read the return policy.

DrinksBreadIce

[environment.about.com]

Imaginary_Friend

That's because RatShack sells Rocky Mountain Radar(RMR), biggest scam on radar detectors in the world, and cobra which is prolly the 2nd worst radar detector in the world. Then these 18 year old kids get popped and don't even get an alert, or if they do it's right when the cop is in view. Then these kids who think RDs are a license to speed get pissed and return it to pay for their speeding ticket. FRS radios suck, advertised as if they're CBs, go as far as 49mhz kid walkie talkies, and the recording devices suck, way too much hum, no audio isolation. And then ratshack wonders why they have a high return rate.

Lucky225

@Gorky: Despite the rumors, there was never a list of "serial returners" when I worked at RS, though there were times I wish there was. Most of the folks I worked with got pretty good at spotting these people though and avoided them like the plague, usually having a manager ring them up since the manager didn't make a commission. Generally any time someone bought a radar detector, FRS Radios (this was when they still went for $40 a pop) or one of the telephone recording devices/portable cassette recorders, there was about a 90% return rate on those items at some stores. Oddly enough, the one store I had the biggest problem with people "renting" things was in one of the more affluent areas in our district.

As other former RS employees have chimed in, if someone refused to give a name and address, we just made something up. Since our name/address % didn't count dupes, and would actually flag an address after it popped up more than a few times in a week, we probably had a dozen or so addresses in the system that were completely bogus or were for other businesses/government offices in the area. Or we'd just choose one at random. The only downside to the customer was if they came back to make a return and refused to give their name at a minimum, it was an absolute PITA to look up a past transaction. We couldn't search past maybe two weeks in the computer. After that, we had to go sifting through the daily report(s) if someone wanted more than store credit.

barty

To clear up something else, this is verbatim from the FRONT of an RS receipt: "Your name, address, and the original sales receipt are required for all refunds. Sales and returns are subject to the terms and conditions identified on the back."

Most of the time, the salesperson taking your information doesn't really want to. They're just doing what they've been told is their job. They really won't care if you make one up.

beckalina

cristiana

There's a huge loss prevention industry that sits behind these requests for your data. Return data gets filtered into your dossier, which companies can then access, for a fee, to see if you are or will be a "good" customer, then reserve the right not to serve you, or to serve you with a lower tier of service.

There are legitimate reasons for some of this (habitual returners, or return fraudsters), but it's gotten way out of hand from the consumers' perspective.

Logical Extremes

cetiel

A few months later they gave up on the name & address on purchase policy. Blah.

Don't get me started on the rest of the crap they wanted us "sales associates" to do. I always refused, more or less. For example, I regularly told customers to buy the cheap cables rather than the $25 cables, and had lots of customers who always came to me as a result. But you can't retain a job there while maintaining any integrity, so people like me are forced out.

Oh, and I would regularly have to fix the display A/V systems since nobody had a damned clue how to hook things up. I used the cheap cables, of course, and things always looked great. RS sells crap anyway. This was around 2001, for the record.

cetiel

Me

Cycledoc

chrisjames

On another note, though, many retailers request this info when taking an item back for a refund/credit/exchange, so that if they later find something is awry with the product, they can track you down. Hannaford does this, also, just to name one.

kc2idf

Nick1693

stuartny

I will continue to give Radio Shack a fake address, like it or not.

Dobernala

@GothGirl: Indeed. I was told the address requirement for returns was to make sure we were returning it to an actual customer.

@Lucky225: Wrong. It's listed at all the terminals in the store, next to the notices about accepting checks. Asking for names and addresses for batteries/regular purchases was for marketing, which they found out didn't do so well with customers, so they scrapped it. They still like us to catch the info when we can, but it's not pushed as much.

@LibertyReign: Sad to say, employees tend to be a little inept about this. It's not just the random fake name and address that gets them caught, but a string of returns with suspicious information.

@Buran: Store associates don't make the rules. We just explain them. If you don't like it, I invite you, or anyone, to contact corporate. I tell people this all the time, but few listen or act on it. Nothing will get changed if customers don't complain. They listen to the customers more often than they do to us.

@avsfan123: Not any more. Didn't go over well with consumers.

ellastar

That would be 1060 W. Addison. Wrigley is on the north side of the street, so it's address must be an even number.

I checked it on SCMODS.

Jesterphun

If the product is defective and the customer paid cash, then yes, that is unreasonable. The store can return the defective merchandise to the manufacturer, so why hassle your cash-paying customers? If it was charged to a credit card, obviously, the card should be presented for a refund, but that's it.

As I said before, if these companies had not abused out info in the first place, this wouldn't be an issue. A few people have pointed out that we've been giving out this info for years; yes, that's true. And look where this has lead. People are bombarded at every turn with junk mail, SPAM, and annoying phone calls. Companies routinely sell, compile, and give away info on their customers to other businesses whom the customer wants no part of. There's an entire industry built on marketing analytics and harvesting people's info. We're sick of it and some people are going to the extreme of paying cash for all of their purchases so they don't have to deal with this crap.

These nosy merchants are shooting themselves in the foot. Customers will either find somewhere else to shop or start routinely giving false info. Requiring names and addresses solves nothing; it alienates good customers and does nothing to address the real problems of employee theft and organized shoplifters. Dishonest employees will continue to cause losses and organized crime rings will always be too smart to use their real IDs.

Imaginary_Friend

p.s. I hate Illinois nazis!

mizmoose

Flyinace2000

Very little of the junk mail I receive is actually addressed to me. Most of it is just bulk advertising that's delivered to everyone.

Most of the junk mail that is addressed to me is from credit card companies. I doubt that they bought my name from some retail store that I returned a package of batteries to.

hatrack

They rate you on name and address percentage.

80% is the goal.

You get reamed by mgt if you don't meet it.

avsfan123

Televiper

Stores have been asking for this info for returns as long as I can remember - at least 25 years. Move along.

Besides, unless your product is defective, the transaction is over and the store doesn't owe you a thing. You wanna return it, you play by their rules now.

glycolized

Again, area specific, just like new york. 0002 is miliwatt 1000 cycle tone in california, other areas it's 0020, it really just depends on where you are.

Lucky225

sgtyukon

KyleOrton

Sempera

Imaginary_Friend

pigeonpenelope

pigeonpenelope

Buran

Breach

Simple as that, no desire to put you on a double secret marketing list, just wanting to prevent employee skimmage, which is where most losses occur.

I'm pretty sure that today stores also use this information to track "serial" returners, folks that like to buy and return items they only have a short term use for.

From a consumer's point of view, it's to our benefit that stores try to control their losses, as it's difficult to offer good prices if your losing money on non-sales.

whydidnt

Amen. I love how Wal*Mart thinks they're so cute with ID required on returns, and only so many per month per ID. Only one problem - TX ID & DL #s are both different numbers, so you can actually get double the amount of returns just by changing which ID you choose to show them.

Lucky225

# The average American household receives unsolicited junk mail equal to 1.5 trees every year-more than 100 million trees for all U.S. households combined.

# 44 percent of junk mail is thrown away unopened, but only half that much junk mail (22 percent) is recycled.

# Americans pay $370 million annually to dispose of junk mail that doesn't get recycled.

# On average, Americans spend 8 months opening junk mail in the course of their lives.

I can think of thousands of better ways our time, energy, and tax dollars can be put to use.

Honest customers should not have to suffer because a store sells shoddy merchandise; let the store take it up with the manufacturers. And employee theft accounts for the vast majority of retailer loss, not "serial returners" as you call them.

Imaginary_Friend

Salespeople really have no control over this stuff. They're scrapping by at, or barely above minimum wage. The store manager has to sign off on these receipts and those guys are about as interchangeable as the salespeople.

RadioShack operates a veritable gestapo of loss prevention people. I recommend that you don't shop there unless you have to. The prices are always higher, and since they removed all of their own brands, the quality of their products is substandard.

Midtowner

MrBill38

CamilleR

Gorky

It's amusing that companies like Radio Shack, Target, Best Buy, et al lie to consumers constantly about what our private info will be used for, then turn around it sell it until we're bombarded with junk mail, SPAM, and telemarketing calls, and then have the gall to get pissy when customers refuse to disclose their info any longer.

If these companies hadn't abused our trust in the first place, most people probably would comply.

Imaginary_Friend

That would be the address to Radio Shack corporate sales office and the number to their main switchboard.

Craig

It only takes 5 seconds to give your address out ;)

//sarcasm

Lucky225

Never seen it on the back of any receipt from purchases I've made there or on any sign in the store, but I'll take your word for it for now.

Lucky225

witeowl

It's the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office.
Not too many people to complain there!

Greasy Thumb Guzik

conjecture

Buran

metaled

Yeah cause an employee can't make up fake info just as easily as a customer can.

Again.. it never ceases to amaze me how much crap people convince themselves of in order to feel better about being a slave..

Give your address to Tandy Corp or the TERRORISTS WIN!

LibertyReign

123 Freedom Drive
Liberty, California 90210

If the man in # 123 on Freedom Drive is reading this, I apologize sincerely for the last 15 years of junk mail and soliciting phone calls.

LibertyReign

fhic

Precisely why my work does it. though it's voluntary, as in if the customer doesnt' fill it out, they still got the refund.

But yeah, it's not about not trusting the CONSUMER, it's about making sure that employees aren't scamming the system.

randombob

I think you should always give the address/phone of a competitor. Like the nearest Best Buy.

SacraBos

as for the phone...there's always the stand by of
867-5309

Now, I dare you NOT to have that song in your head all day!!

mwaaaah!!

celticgina

I know someone in Westchester, it's always been 958 for number read back.
In any event I always give out test numbers as well =)

Lucky225

I kid, i kid, I thought 9901 was universal. In Westchester County, NY, dialing just 9901 reads you back your number (or at least used to).

Crim Law Geek

CamilleR

This is not a written policy of RadioShack, it's just something they do, you won't find it on the back of the receipt or on a sign in the store. They used to ask you for this info for marketing purposes just to buy a pack of friggen batteries, apparently they're trying to collect it on return instead.

Lucky225

GothGirl

1600 Pennsylvania Ave
Washington DC 20500

Phone :202-456-1414

I've been using the White House as my default phony address for 20+ years and even now it's very rare that the clerk gets the joke.

cheviot

Incorrect, in most of NEW YORK 9901 is the CO exchange test number, this is NYNEX specific pre-AT&T/verizon takeovers.

Lucky225

The store may have had issues of people buying with cash and then returining damaged or incomplete products back for full refund.

It is pretty easy for knowledgeable criminals to make packages look like they've never been opened or just return a fake/copied product.

So yes, in a way the store is saying they don't trust you if you buy with cash and are retuning an item.

There was a story a few days ago about a guy retuning computers back to BestBuy, but he had take out components from the systems.

Edge23

"Phone number?"
"646-559-9901"

Always end your fake numbers with 9901. In most of the US, this is a test number at the exchange. It avoids some poor sap getting telemarketing calls meant for you.

Crim Law Geek

This guy makes $6.25/hr at radio-f'ing-shack. He types values into a computer. If he can't click "next", no go.

1-2-3 Seasame Street
Anywhere, US 11111

photomikey

Dobernala