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Abraham wrote:seamusTX ,

I too use a credit card for almost everything. Certainly making a hotel or car rental reservation without one would be almost impossible.

However, I wonder if a quality hotel would refuse cash in advance in person for a night's lodging?

Anyone know the law regarding it's acceptance or refusal by business?

(I have seen TV commercials where some poor soul is trying to buy something or other while waiting in line - when all others have been using a credit card - and he's treated like a pariah for having the poor taste to use cash. This commercial was sponsored by a credit card company, naturally...)

When I was on my Ike vacation, the Holiday Inn (not the Express kind) we stayed at took cash up front. To make a reservation though, you needed to put a card down. Most hotels don't even use the card info unless you're a no-show or unless you tell them to use that as your payment method at checkout.

Abraham wrote:We'll have to agree to disagree.

I think too, maybe, it's a generational thing. Younger people seem not to care as much about safeguarding their personal information. They've been manipulated in this regard all their lives so as to be desensitized...

One more point: I don't like the act of being asked for this information. Whether or not it may benefit (my judgment to make - not anyone else) or not.

I find simply being asked inappropriate and annoying. Much like I don't like being pestered by street corner beggars with "hey, can you spare some change" I don't like to tell them to back off, but I do...

When I make a transaction to the benefit of whatever business entity I engage - I'm doing them a favor, not the other way around. They should remember this and not hound me for that, they have no right too.

Agreeing to disagree.

Abraham wrote:I'm perplexed at the folks who are on the side of intrusive merchant or are passive about this subject.

I don't need to be told that (in essence) "it's for your own good you give up your personal information - we know what's best for you..."

I don't think anyone here said you should give over information because "resistance is futile." I think those on the side of "don't care" just don't see the big deal in giving out zip codes or addresses IF it could be to their benefit. Sure I get a few BB&B coupons and Macy's flyers each month, but that's why there's a garbage can next to the mailbox. I also get special invitations to wine tastings, store coupons not released to the general public, restaurant gift cards, etc. If you don't feel that any of that stuff is worth giving out your info, then by all means decline. It's a personal cost/benefit analysis that everyone has to solve for themselves.

Also, I don't think anyone here has said you *should* hand over your info. At most, some have said it may be beneficial to do so, but everyone can most certainly decide to decline if they wish. Free country and all.

One thing that works for me is setting up a seperate email account just for subscriptions and spam. That way, I can sign up for all the birthday clubs (Cold Stone, Texas de Brazil, etc.) and check the account the week before my birthday (or even hollidays in some cases) and cash in. The spam just sits there, on hotmail, never hurting anyone, and my normal everyday email is safely tucked away on a seperate gmail account. YMMV.

nitrogen wrote:It IS against Visa and Mastarcard's merchant agreements to demand ID for credit card purchases as long as the card is signed.

While it IS their policy, it sure isn't enforced. Something like mandatory checking of ID's, which is on a company internal memo coming from corporate, would surely have been challenged by now if it is ever to be challenged.

ETA: It is allowed per Merchant Agreement for the merchant to phone in verification for a credit card transaction regardless of signature and in doing so wait on hold for an available operator, so while showing ID may not be *required*, it certainly will save you time.

LarryH wrote:When Radio Shack asks for my name, I tell them "cash".

"And how will you be paying today Mr. Cash?"

Russell wrote:I had sort of the same issues when I used to work at Circuit City in College Station. Ask for ID on a credit card and they'd go nuts if I refused the card because it wasn't their card to begin with.

"It's my boyfriends/father's/step brother's credit card and I have permission to use it!"

Too bad, can't take it. It's not yours.

Had one guy chase down a TN state trooper in the store that was there with his young daughter and asked him to arrest me for refusing his card for not showing ID. I can only imagine that had his daughter not been with him, the guy would have gotten more than a "it's not a crime. Have a nice day."

I'll give my information out if and only if it's not too invasive and it might be to my benefit. Let's face it, getting someone's address is as easy as opening one of the 30 phone books I have littering my front doorstep each month. Zip code? Fine, they're just trying to decide where their customer base is so they can send out flyers. Address? Maybe they have a customer incentive program. Maybe after $XXX.XX of purchases you can get a coupon or gift card that isn't normally distributed. If that's not your cup of tea, then yes, politely decline (clerks sometimes must ask and have quotas to meet, so try not to blame it on them).

When I worked at Circuit City, we were required to ask (not to get) customer's info so that we could have records of purchases w/o the customer bringing in a receipt. It was convenient for the customer not to have to keep up with scraps of paper and came in very handy when that receiver you bought 11 months ago fried and you needed to prove it was still under warranty. It also labelled who some of the biggest spenders were, and the company sent out extra coupons and such around holidays. I had plenty of folks refuse the offer the info, which was fine, totally their right to do so.

The problem I constantly ran into were people refusing to show ID for credit card/check purchases, and thinking that it was even against the law to ask.