UKC

In the last two months I have received two mail shots from a well known electronics retailer. At no time have I been asked if I would like to receive such information. When I am given the option - on web sites etc. - I usually decline.

I can only assume that I am now on their mailing list because the last time I made a purchase I was asked for my post code and house number. At no time did the shop assistant say that it was so they could send me mail shots. OK, I know I could have asked why they wanted my details or even refused to divulge them. However I think the onus should be on the retailer to say "May we have your address so that we can bombard you with advertising".

Anyone else had this happen?

In reply to mypyrex:
Far to many more pressing things in life to worry about.
Just lob it in the bin, if you don't want to read it

In reply to goose299:



Not the point, if you don't consent to it then they shouldn't do it. (If you have more pressing things to worry about then you can always refrain from reading posts on UKC)

In reply to mypyrex:

Not recently with postal stuff. However I have had similar with sales calls and not from the companies I had been in contact with. I suspect someone somewhere sold my contact details on. Though I get the occasional to frequent cold call on my normal mobile I have another I take out climbing, walking and biking of which only family, a couple of people at work and friends have the number. I ended up entering the number on a couple of online systems as I was going to be backpacking between some orders and their delivery. I now get PPI and similar crap a few times a week. Prior to this that number would get about 1 call/month (I assume "power dialled" rather than the number being known) that I never answered. I am less than warm to them when they bother me....

In reply to mypyrex:

Ukc is my more pressing thing to do

In reply to goose299:


You must be a sad case then.

In reply to mypyrex: "Anyone else had this happen?"

Yes.

In reply to Sir Chasm:



Odd, me too.

In reply to mypyrex:

If you are buying a TV or similar receiving equipment then they have to ask for those details. Other than that you should question why they want those details, if there's no legal reason then you are within your rights to refuse to provide them. I know it should be an opt-in system but all too often these days you and I are the product.

In reply to mypyrex:

I got asked if I was interested in receiving a free health & safety brochure once a month for a trial period. As it was free I thought why not. After the trial period they kept sending the flaming thing for a number of months before sending me a bill for over a hundred quid. This was for what amounted to little more than pamphlet each month.
I did a bit of googling and found the company try's this with various publications and from what I read some folks paid up. I gave them a email telling them to bugger off basically and forget any payment. They gave me a return email explaining how it was all my fault etc. They continued sending a couple of copies then gave up.

Scum.

In reply to fmck:

Disgusting but sadly believable nowadays

In reply to mypyrex:

I have had this happen when I've got a receipt via email from various shops, they seem to think that means I want to get signed up for any newsletters/promotions that they have. Now if a company asks for my postcode/email address etc I always ask them not to send me anything, they really should inform you before.

In reply to mypyrex:
It just seems like everyone is trying to sell their stuff to us.

It's really totally out of order isn't it?

In reply to mypyrex:
The thing is you should be given the option to opt out of mail shots, e-mails etc and also told and again given the option to opt out of having your details passed onto third parties and other companies. You are well within your rights to ask why and what the information you provide to them is going to be used for, it should be made clear anyway, you are allowed to request to see what information they hold on record about you. This and a few more points are covered in the Data Protection Act which companies must comply with. https://www.gov.uk/data-protection/the-data-protection-act gives a brief overview. I won't bore you with much more but it's interesting to find out a bit more and certainly after I had to do a course on this I became a lot more critical of what data is requested from me from companies.

In reply to mypyrex:

Until regulations get sorted for this kind of thing, we all need to be on our guard for retailers etc asking questions which are just superfluous to our purchase.

So I usual ask why are you asking for this information as it's not required and I do not want any correspondence etc to follow . If they persist, I suggest I can go and buy the product else where if they wish.

Be on your guard.

Davey