I recently walked in to a store that sells two wheeled vehicles. There were three associates on the floor.,

[Firestorm49]

One employee was waiting on a customer. The other two couldn’t have cared less that a potential customer was in the store to buy something. When nobody approached me, I eventually walked out. I prefer not to have to beg someone to take my money. I expect some form of service in exchange.

The next day I received a survey (!!!) to tell of my experience at the store, which I did in vivid pissy detail. The whole point of this diatribe is that I was offended (majorly pissed) that I was identified simply by walking in their door and subsequently asked to do a survey. To me, this was an infringement of my privacy.

I don’t know to him I should bitch - my Senator, Ron Johnson? Fat chance. I doubt that he can even read. Tammy Baldwin. Perhaps but she’s not my Senator. Someone locally? I don’t know.

We are all being identified on a daily basis and I for one object in the strongest of terms. I am writing this after reading the Tic Toc post on DU. Yes, this post is somewhat unrelated to the basis of the TicToc post, but still falls into the realm of that soon to be forgotten word, PRIVACY!

[Blues Heron]

1. just make eye contact next time, maybe raise your hand a little?

some people dislike being swarmed immediately upon entering a store.

[Firestorm49]

9. Yes. I agree. When I ran our business for thirty six years we would greet the customer, give them a minute, then ask

what we could do to make their day better.

[niyad]

23. Mine was "Good morning/afternoon/etc. Let me know if I can help you

find anything."

[Firestorm49]

28. Absolutely. Pressure tactics are outdated. Common courtesy should be the norm.,

[Mossfern]

67. My dad had a furniture store

and when I was there (as a young child) he would let me greet people at the door and bring them to an interior decorator to help them. The customers thought it was cute and I felt important!

[edisdead]

61. Agreed.

The new sales technique is to let people browse and NOT swarm them.

[niyad]

2. What do you mean, Tammy Baldwin is not your Senator? Senators are

for the whole state, not districts.

[Firestorm49]

12. My mistake. Sorry. I will certainly get in touch with her.

[Voltaire2]

3. How were you identified if you did not interact with anybody?

[CrispyQ]

8. By his smartphone?

I've never had this happen, but I don't allow location services & I lock out applications' access to my phone.

We've traded our privacy for convenience. Pandora's out of the box. There are things one can do to minimize one's digital thumbprint but most of us like the convenience of doing business online. Should the corporations act ethically & respect their customers privacy? They're corporations!

[Midnight Writer]

22. They can also pick up the chip in your credit card, if it is not sufficiently shielded.

[Firestorm49]

11. That's my point. I don't know how I was identified. To me, this was an intrusion.

[TxGuitar]

34. You didn't interact with them online beforehand at all?

Did you go to their site the day before (or day of) your visit, maybe check their opening hours or look at their address/locaiton map? Don't know how that would let them know you were there, but it could be part of it?

[Firestorm49]

44. Yes, I did look in the windows on a day that they were closed.

[riversedge]

36. seems odd, dangerous? to be identified just by walking into a store. It would mean the store

folks would have to purposely pull up your name?? Is that even legal?

[DFW]

69. It happens all the time, and it's not new.

Over ten years ago, in our small town outside Düsseldorf, my wife and I were walking through the center of the town one evening. She paused at one shop window to look at some piece of clothing. Before we had gotten ten paces away, her phone buzzed, and she was both scared and angry that her phone had just been sent an ad from the store whose window we had just stopped at.

[Liberal In Texas]

59. OK, you didn't get a survey from them. Probably from Google.

The location tracker on your phone will send surveys when you go to restaurants or stores to give a star rating and write a review if you want. I get them all the time. Sometimes I get them for a store I didn't go to because it was next door to one I did. Or I was just in the shopping strip going to a dentist or something. There is an option to say "I didn't go there."

If this bothers you turn off the tracking feature. All phones have this ability, it's a law or something. Anyway, I don't mind as I like to support the places I do like and give the ones that were crap the what-for. It'll also tell you where you left your phone if you misplace it. Like I did once at Kohls.

Google the model of your phone and disable tracking if you want to stop it.

[drmeow]

65. Do you have location services

turned on on you cell phone?

[Firestorm49]

14. Damn good question! I don't know and I don't like it.

[Lefta Dissenter]

4. Tammy Baldwin is your senator

If Ron Johnson is your senator, then Tammy is, too. They are both statewide officials, and you’ll have opportunity to vote for Tammy in the elections this year!

[Firestorm49]

15. 👍

[WhiskeyGrinder]

5. Leave your phone in the car next time.

[orthoclad]

7. "smart" phones put Big Brother to shame

The greatest surveillance devices ever invented.

And get a Faraday wallet to shield your cards.

[Firestorm49]

21. Far out. I just got the Faraday wallet. Thanks for the tip.

[orthoclad]

27. If you have a "smart" phone,

which I absolutely refuse to use, get a Faraday pouch/holster for it.

When it's in the Faraday cage, it will run the battery down trying to connect, so remember to turn it off.

[sarisataka]

13. DING DING!

This is how the poster was identified.

People worry about "Big Brother" watching us but will pay for the privilege of carrying the greatest tracking device ever built with them everywhere they go.

[Firestorm49]

16. Right on

[Firestorm49]

25. You know, you just don't realize the extent of surveillance until something ridiculous like this happens.

[dickthegrouch]

51. That is a VERY BAD idea

Unless you turn the phone, tablet, laptop off when leaving it in the car. The constantly transmit signals looking for known Wi-Fi hotspots. Thieves can zero in on exactly which vehicles have devices in them even if they’re hidden in the trunk.

[obamanut2012]

6. How is Tammy Baldwin not your Senator?

[Firestorm49]

17. My mistake. No excuses.

[MOMFUDSKI]

10. Call the Store Manager.

Vent your spleen.

[Firestorm49]

19. The owner of the store was a customer of mine for years. I'm not quite sure how to breach the subject.

[MOMFUDSKI]

45. Oh.

Then your call.

[usonian]

18. Stepping behind the counter always gets their attention.

So fill in the survey. Employees sometimes BEG me to do so because it affects their job reviews.

And buy online. The internet (almost) always is there for you. Use a vpn or tor browser so they don't know who you are.

DU gives me crap when I forget vpn settings and log in from Asia.

[Firestorm49]

20. VPN - very good point. I do use VPN. Now I have to remember to always have it on.

[usonian]

38. Use airplane mode on the phone while near or in the store.

And wear a mask? I still wear an N95 mask in stores.

And buy online! I do prefer retail, especially for food! But I live in the boondocks. My neighbor gets one UPS and one FedEx a day, it seems. But I actually do visit the "big" city now and then.

You can't buy a shirt in this town unless it's Carhart.

[Firestorm49]

49. Thanks, that's another good idea.

I had no idea I’d get so many responses. I’m going to have a good day. Cheers.

[yagotme]

24. Yeah, I'd be rather perturbed also...

"You can identify me walking into your store for a survey, but you can't say "Hi" to me, or ask me what I need, while I'm there." Sheesh.

[Firestorm49]

29. Ironic, isn't it?

[yagotme]

33. Yup. Seems customer service is in the trash can. nt

[doc03]

26. When I walk onto a car dealership lot and 2 seconds later a salesman shows up

I tell them I am just looking today. If they still follow me around, I say thank you and walk out. Same goes for an appliance store,
electronics or furniture store. When I decide to buy a car or whatever I do my research and 9 times out of 10 I know more about their product than the salesmen.

[Firestorm49]

32. Nobody likes to be hounded and similarly, ignored.

[CrispyQ]

43. Employees should be trained to say hi & let us know if you need anything today.

Acknowledging your customers is Customer Service 101.

[usonian]

40. I told a salesman that one model has 1500 more pounds towing capacity than another.

What?

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

58. Those people earn commission on what they sell,

so they are very motivated to stick with you. I'm going to guess that the sales people in the OP don't get commission.

[Scrivener7]

30. That is very creepy. What store was it?

[Firestorm49]

35. It is an Indian motorcycle store. I just wanted to get a price on a Vespa scooter.

When I married my bride 53 years ago, I knew that her three brothers all had bikes [cycles) and her first words to me when I considered getting one was “Over my dead body”. I’ve never given up on the fact that a small two wheeler would be fun. My stop at the store was more just curiosity than actual purchase intent.

[Scrivener7]

41. Oh, cool. I would love a Vespa. Have you ever seen the Eddie Izzard bit on Italians on Vespas?

Very funny,

[Firestorm49]

46. No, but thanks for the tip. I'll check it out.

[Scrivener7]

50. It's in Dressed to Kill.

[usonian]

42. I know someone whose husband died in a motorcycle accident.

She still drives one. A three-wheeler, IIRC, but to each their own.

Please be careful. Another friend broke his leg just standing there when the bike fell on him.

[Firestorm49]

47. Well, it's been 53 years since she told me "over my dead body" so I'm doubtful it will happen.

I guess that I value our history together more than need a Vespa.

[sdfernando]

54. Speaking of Indian motorcycles.

Have you seen the movie "The Worlds Fastest Indian" ??? At first glance I thought it was about a Native American runner...but that was totally off base.

Its a very good movie with one of my favorite actors.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0412080/

[Firestorm49]

62. Thanks

[Prairie_Seagull]

31. Next up, facial recognitian everywhere.

I have a hat from on old Halloween costume that has long hair sticking out of it. This, some shades and a hoody, Just perfect to be arrested. Great just stay home. Hell the TV even watches us if we let it. Fun fun fun (he says sarcastically).

[Firestorm49]

37. All the better to nab you.

[brooklynite]

39. Why is Ron Johnson your Senator but Tammy Baldwin is not?

[Firestorm49]

48. It was my error. I hopefully apologized in earlier posts.

[mackdaddy]

52. You can 'turn off' location tracking on android.

I am skeptical on how much turned off it really is, but it is an option on android.

I was annoyed how many requests for rating and reviews I was getting from Google and decided to turn it off. Some of the places I just walked by going to another nearby store.

This location data as well as just about everything else in you 'phone' is available to about every app you install if look at the terms of service during the app install. And all your data is available for sale somewhere.

There have been some recent court cases where police departments just buy a suspects data rather than subpoenaing it.

We have all sold our rights to any privacy by carrying out little rectangle of knowledge with us everywhere.

[Conjuay]

68. Yeah

Google is always promising a better experience if I'd tell them where I am.

[GP6971]

55. First of all, Hello. Second, Goodbye.

[SYFROYH]

56. They need a motivational talk from Blake.

[leftyladyfrommo]

57. I've been worried about that for a long time.

Easy identification can be a good thing but in the wrong hands it could be awful.

[EYESORE 9001]

60. I don't understand why you feel it's necessary to contact your congressional rep

Or even your state’s AG. Are laws being broken of which I am unaware? This seems more of a customer service problem than anything else - one that the dealership must address. If that fails, you could contact the OEM (original equipment manufacturer) and tell them about the slack-asses hanging out at one of their franchised locations.

[Firestorm49]

63. Simply to ask, when is enough, enough?

[EYESORE 9001]

64. Personally, I'd rather address those with a stake in the business

and hope they understand that disgruntled potential customers are leaving their showroom ready to rip them apart on social media and via word-of-mouth.

[tavernier]

66. There were three associates on the floor.

I have to tell you, when I first read your article, I thought you had walked in where a robbery was taking place. I vividly pictured three salesmen lying on the floor, and perhaps a gunman standing somewhere in the background. I’m very relieved that that wasn’t what was going on. I guess my imagination just takes me to some crazy places at times. I’m sorry that you were ignored, but you have to admit, my version would make a better movie.

[DFW]

70. Reminds me of something that happened to me in 1985.

I was in Germany, in the town that would become my permanent residence later on. I needed a car available for my increasingly frequent trips there. The dollar was ridiculously high due to Reagan’s DoT jacking interest rates up. So, one rainy cold day in February, I took the afternoon off to visit the three main car dealerships in town. I wanted a locally (German) made car so that repair would be readily available. I first went to Audi, but their trunks were way too small. I then went over to Mercedes, but they said it would take 18 months for delivery. I then went to BMW, but by that time I was dripping wet, and didn’t look the part of a prospective customer, so none of the ten or so salesmen even said “hi.”

Frustrated, I went to the center of town, where I had to make a stop at the bank where my outfit had its German bank account. When the guy in charge of our account asked me what car I had selected, I said none, and told him why. He said the BMW dealership was family owned and had their account with him. He asked my permission to call the owners and have a talk with them. I said sure, knock yerself out. Well, he called, and they were horrified. They had no idea, and said if I was not too thoroughly pissed off, would I please come back and ask for the owner’s daughter, who was also the manager. I did, and she took care of me personally.

Since the dollar was so high, I was able to order a new BMW four door sedan with the few things I wanted for less than $16,000, and it was ready in six weeks (those were the days). The manager also told me that within six months of my initial visit, they had replaced their whole sales staff. She said, “how the hell are we going to sell cars if the salesmen won’t at least say hi to everyone who walks in the door?” After all, if someone walks into a car dealership of their own free will, it’s reasonable to presume he’s not looking to buy dog food. Besides, even in status-conscious Germany, people didn’t walk around with their net worth on signs hung around their necks.

She was really upset, not least because she had let the problem fester right under her nose without realizing it. She and her husband got to be friends with me and my wife, and we got together regularly before her family sold the business and moved away several years later.