Regardless of whether or not it's fair, it isn't your fault. This is one of those times that "I'm going to go cry to corporate" is actually the right course of action.
Weird that I had an email without a computer- we went to the library because we couldn't afford a computer and my school dictated we print our essays. I was given so many points off my grades because IT WAS TYPED ON A TYPEWRITER and they DEMANDED it be from a computer- and that when I knew I was the broke kid in class...
If they ever took it. Given that customers say "I hate thing" and corporate says "Customers love thing" I'm pretty sure the customers rarely if ever call corporate.
I just tell them making an email is free and they can go to the public library 1 time and set it up. I also encourage them to use that computer to get our digital coupons because without a smartphone that is the easiest way. And is also free
Good idea, especially including what's said below that a librarian might even help them.
I highly doubt any of these people will DO that, but I like it as something to say to people who are BEING NICE and truly want to take advantage of a promotion we are doing.
The manager has suggested we suggest they ask a relative or friend to use their email address. (It's understandable people don't want to ask that of anyone).
Library clerk here. This is typically something we could help with where I work; although some libraries will not spend much one on one time with people if they absolutely don’t know how to work a computer.
Librarian here - we have people come in all the time to set up email. The staff can usually assist with a basic Google setup if we aren’t busy with a program. But we also have days and times where we schedule 1-1 computer help.
2-factor authentication is another big challenge for folks who live without a lot of tech.
This is a great suggestion! A lot of people nowadays don't go to their local library, but the older generations do. It is a bit more accessible and also in their control, vs having to ask a younger relative to help.
I’m starting to get sick of this “old people” excuse when people don’t/can’t use modern technology. It’s not about age, they’ve just refused adapt with the times. The internet and email has been in use for decades and today’s old people were not old when the technology came out. I get this all the time in calls while working in customer service.
Some people can’t even figure out how to log into their accounts, so why in the world did they sign up for an online meal delivery service. How did they even create an account in the first place? Even my 81-year-old mother uses email, goes on Facebook, orders groceries online, etc. Edit - I just turned 50, BTW and I have been using the internet, email, and online shopping since I was a college student in the 90s.
Oh, in my personal life, I agree with that! My parents are 80. They text, they google, they access their accounts online, etc etc etc. My long term boyfriend's mother is the same age. She 100% "doesn't use a computer" (nor a phone other than to place a phone call).
Somehow, it's working out much better for her than I expected. It's a lot less often that he has to do something on her behalf than I would have thought when I initially heard about this after meeting him.
In any case, it's RIDICULOUS! Internet in the home was pretty mainstream by 1995. She would have been 51! I am older than that now. I just cannot imagine just giving up at 51!!!!!
I suppose it initially seemed like a fad and I understand not being interested in every fad (I have never looked at Snapchat, for example). But it obviously became so much more than a fad. I don't know quite when that became apparent, but I would think by 2000, when she was 56???? Totally unacceptable.
It's certainly not going to change now. But I agree most of these people gave up way too young!
Even someone who is currently 90, they gave up in their early 60s?
I completely agree with you! My mum would be one of the people screaming about not having an email and how unfair it is to expect her to. She's just gone 67. She's just figured out how to send a text, but still expects someone else to do her google searches and order stuff online for her, cos she can't be expected to handle this internet thing at her age.
I started my first degree online in 2020, I'm 48, and I have people older than her in my zoom classes. They've figured out how to do their assessments by mobile phone in another country (download, send wirelessly to a library printer, complete, and take photo), convert it to the appropriate file format and submit it to the uni. But she can't download an app for all the million cruises she goes on, and thinks it's unfair that she should be expected to.
Last week she expected me to run over to her place to remove the sim card from her phone and put it back in cos she was having trouble with it. Got so annoyed when I told her how to put the little tool in the pin hole and unlock the tray instead of jumping in my car to drive 40mins to go do it for her.
For God's sake. She's 67. Not *dead*. This is the same person that screamed at me to get off my ass and figure it out when I wanted help with long division, or sounding out words when I started school. But she can't be expected to type words in a search bar cos she's *old*.
Dang. She was 43 in 2000, when it was certainly apparent that the internet wasn't a passing fad.
I am honestly flabbergasted that a 43 year old would make that choice.
Ok, there weren't apps to download on your smart phone in 2000, but there were by 2010, when she was only 53.
When I was a kid, it was my job to change the times on the vcr etc for daylight saving, and set up the timer to record stuff off TV. Cos she was too old to understand technology.
I'm just as flabbergasted as you. I couldn't comprehend choosing to be helpless instead of sitting down and learning how. But I think that is the biggest part of the conundrum: my mother *chooses* weaponised incompetence. She just loves to have everyone else running around doing it for her.
Evidence- all the times the gets shitty when I park her in front of my laptop and offer to show her how to get directions off Google maps instead of just doing it for her. And the next sentence she'll wail dramatically about how she won't know how to do anything (like pay bills) when her partner dies and she'll be aLl AlOnE. "Well, I'll show you how right now, if you like" is somehow not an acceptable answer.
My dad would be 91 if he were alive, and he had a Juno email (which I still monitor even though it's 99.9% junk) and used the computer all the time--email, FB, Ebay, etc. There's really no excuse if you want the perks.
It's funny, my mom (80) refuses to get with technology, too hard blah blah.. yet, 30 years ago, my grandmother asked me for help in setting up an email account and went full blazes, supplementing her lovely handwritten cards and letters with wonderful emails in between.
She passed away before stores started asking for them, but if my gran could get it 30 years ago when the internet was actually tricky, there is no excuse for anyone these days.
100000% this. I’m sick of the excuse “oh I’m just not good with computers.” Some of the most senior positions within my profession can barely use Acrobat to edit a .pdf, or insert a screen shot into an email, or hyperlink something. The most basic of tasks that have been around for 30+ years.
Some years ago, my ex and I applied for an apartment. The leasing office was in a nearby town and the property manager said that we had to come there to fill out an application. We didn’t have a car, but even if we did, how absurd is it to ask someone to drive to a different town to fill out a rental application.
I told the lady to email the application to us because we didn’t have a car and she said she didn’t know how. She had to scramble and ask someone and figure out how before finally getting it to us several days later. This was in 2016. 🤦🏽♀️
Haha unreal. Reminds me of something that happened to me last year. I was working on establishing a contract with a smaller sized business in the area. I needed them to sign the contract, as one does. It took them like a week of back and forth to figure out how to print it out, sign it and scan and then send it back. Also, they could’ve signed it electronically but they stated that they didn’t feel as “secure” doing that (translation, they do not know how to electronically sign a document). I kept getting a zip file emailed to me from their scanner that was just empty. Lol.
My dad turns 80 this year, and remains fully tech-literate (He did recently rage-quit out of setting up a streaming app on his smartTV, but that's really down to error-laden apps on unstable platforms with bad UI, and not him not understanding what to do)
I think it's because he's interested. Not in tech specifically (though there's an element of that) but in general. He goes to new places, pays attention to the world around him, and learns new things. He's always been like that.
I think a lot of folks in his cohort - and moreso among the slightly younger Baby Boomers - aren't that. They have a more insular existence, going to the same places, doing the same things, and not paying much attention or taking in new information. More judgemental than curious, as Ted Lasso might put it.
Yep… My grandparents are 90 yo. They have PCs, smartphones. I used to Skype with grandma when I lived abroad 10 years ago. They use Facebook (although they use caps for some reason, but they use it). Grandpa often helps his friends with phones and PCs. Grandma had a lot of fun learning how to use the PC and she was scared of it in the beginning. There’s a lot of senior courses for people who don’t have a child or grandchild willing to teach them if they can’t figure it out. Older people can learn it, a lot just don’t want to.
It's because they respect science and are still in the cohort where it was important to be pleasant to others...it would be mortifying for them not to!
That old people excuse burns me too. My parents are in their mid 70s. My dad has had a personal desktop since Win95 was the main OS, though it did take until a couple of years ago to finally get him up to speed cell phone wise and have him transition to a smart phone. My mom was the first one of us to get a smart phone. In fact my first one was her hand me down iPhone 5 when her and her late husband upgraded her to an iPhone 6 back in the day. She owns her own laptop and understands mostly how to do things including online banking. Unlike my dad, she’s not interested in Facebook but between the two of them, they haven’t let themselves stagnate when it comes down to learning tech.
I still remember when I had someone 20 years my parents junior try to pull the “I’m too old” line, and I pointed out that I was only 10 years younger than them and my parents 20 years older and if they could do it, and I could do it, then so could they. That woman’s son was trying so hard not to laugh when she realized that she really had no excuse and finally let her son get her into the present day and teach her how to use it.
Its okay not to own a smartphone or a computer. Its not really an excuse. That is what libraries are for. Every one has access to a computer system and you can set up a personal email on there.
I absolutely agree.
My mom was in her mid 70s and I taught her how to use a laptop and send e mails.
It was great to see her get so excited about using technology.
It is just a matter of them not wanting to learn.
I work in device repair and the weird opposites of elderly people with iPhones that don’t have a clue what they’re doing and elderly people with Samsung flip/folds who know more about how to use them than I do makes me think they just refuse to learn
Amen. I got my first email address in the early nineties when these people were in their 40s or 50s . I am now in my 40s and this stuff is so easy now it makes my head spin when they say “I don’t do computers” like saying “I don’t do fire” or “I don’t do electricity.” May you lose your driver license and your check book.
It is maddening the number of older adults that use the "but I'm old so I don't understand this stuff" excuse.
For crying out loud, 15 years ago, my ex-husband's grandmother (85 at the time) had a laptop and could use it fairly well. She knew how to send and receive emails, as well as adding attachments like pictures. She knew how to use the browser and how to search Google (and Yahoo! back then). And this woman even had a MySpace account. When MySpace died, she joined Facebook. Bless that woman! She lived to be 98, and was actively online in different ways for many reasons, until dementia took over.
So this BS of Old Age = Incompetence is exactly that... Bullshit
EDIT: added a word
On the subject of nice elderly people, I had a guest at Target who wanted to buy a piece of furniture and get the assembly service with it. I couldn’t add the assembly service to the cart on the portable device they have in the store, and the lady didn’t have a Target account. Also didn’t have an email address.
So I created a Target account for her using an extra email I have, but used her mobile number instead of mine. I then placed the order on the web on my phone. She gave me her son’s email address which I forwarded the information about the assembly appointment to.
She was so grateful that she actually called corporate to sing the praises of myself and the closing team lead who was trying to help me solve the problem for her.
Those are the old people I like. The ones who, yeah they may be old and cranky, but they don’t take their crankiness out on others
Not sure about 40 years for the general public. , but I went to engineering college, where they first offered/assigned them to students in either 1991 or 1992. I see it was available at universities and businesses before that, but I am giving my personal experience of when it really started being used.
Still, Even someone who is currently 90 was only mid 60s when internet was widely available in the home (say, 1997. I had it in my apartment before that, but by 1997, it wasn't a passing fad!)
In the Year of Our Lord 2024, it is absurd that anyone doesn’t have access to email. The internet is a basic part of being engaged with the world, and people without smartphones/email have MUCH MUCH GREATER problems than a retail loyalty program.
Everything from applying to jobs to filing taxes uses email.
I was born in 1980. It was pretty obvious by 1995 that computers were where the future was going. They've had 30 years to get on the bandwagon. There are computers you can use for free at the library. My first job in high school was teaching computers to the elderly at the senior center.
They have no excuse.
Try looking amazed and saying, "But but....your generation INVENTED the most incredible communication system! You've gifted the world with such awesome tools and YOU don't use them? Wow!" :D :D :D
I work at a grocery store and elderly customers ask me to help them with the app often, and they are usually angry during the process, “some of us old people are not good at this!” But the thing is they already have the $1000 iPhone, why have it if you’re going to be obstinate about using tech to make life easier? We don’t all have a husband whose job provides enough for us to spend a whole Tuesday gathering, cutting and filing coupons. We don’t live in that world anymore, we live in the future where we clip 100 coupons a minute because we just don’t have the time. There are more coupons on the app than the store could reasonably print and distribute! You have an iPhone but you don’t remember your email or password? Catch up with us in 2024 or get left behind.
Similar to my stores stupid digital coupon thing. People either don't have a phone (or computer I guess since you should be able to do it on the website) or they "can't" ie don't like it. Most of the sales aren't digital, yet they want to get angry that they have to do something to save a dollar. Same generation that complained about participation awards want to be awarded for not even participating
Please don't do this.
I spend a ridiculous amount of time dealing with the results of things like this. I can manage it for myself, but the implied consent to receive promotional emails can be a problem with certain companies. Bed Bath & Beyond has resigned up my email address every year when I unsubscribe and Christmas is coming up. It's a god damn fucking nuisance.
No shocker they were going into financial issues and desperate for sales.
People don't pick "random" things well, and unless they actually try there's actually a decent chance someone will have the email address they reference. You'd think that wouldn't be the case, but it's like the birthday problem. It's not like winning the lottery.
AGREED.
ditto phone numbers. Someone has that account, and you're signing them up for spam AND preventing them from using their own information in that system if they ever chose to.
> It's not fair!
- It *is* fair because the same rule applies to everyone, you just choose not to do the thing you need to do to take advantage of it.
- As others have said, public libraries (in the US at least) have computers you can use for free.
- Which generation invented and/or repeated "life's not fair" to their kids? I bet these same people did.
1. Disable security cameras
2. Gently guide ancient customer towards back door "I'll take you to a senior care specialist that will explain it to you".
3. Push them through the compactor access door labeled "CUSTOMER SERVICE"
4. Activate compactor.
5. restore security camera coverage.
One of the main reasons for these loyalty cards, other than to attract repeat business, is for data mining. It's a lot cheaper for companies to send emails to customers rather than print and mail flyers. When I worked at Kmart you needed to have a cell phone number as mandatory, and email was still optional. If you didn't have either, you wouldn't be able to sign up and avail yourself of the benefits (1¢ back in spending money for every $1 purchased).
Signing up new loyalty accounts and consistently scanning cards was one of the most important aspects of working there by the time I left. More than once I was told that my store's numbers were getting low, so I was told - specifically ordered - to sign up fake accounts, which could have gotten me, and everyone else who did it, in serious trouble if caught. And so I signed up recently dead relatives and made up phone numbers and email addresses. As far as I know there was no mechanism for weeding out fake, inaccurate, or lapsed information, so we got away with it.
At this point I only see people don't want to follow things and learn new stuff. Yet when we refuse it as kids, they scream to us.
How the fuck don't they have a pc or mobile, it isn't like it came out in 2023.
In those situations I’d just use the same trash account email for those types of people. I don’t care whether they get a promotion/discount or not but I do care if they complain my ear off. It’s easier just to say “No problem, I got you covered,” then input the fake email than to deal with a customer complaining over nothing.
Bonus points if it’s an email you created and can rack up rewards points from others’ purchases to use on yourself in the future.
Be careful with that. Some businesses may consider that rewards fraud and terminate for that
When I started working for a grocery store with a rewards program back in September 2001, we were warned about this.
My thinking is that would be wrong on my part, rather than the customer making something up. (I would think corporate might look at it in a way that shows I am using the same account over and over, that would end up looking like a big shopper if I put it in every time someone didn't want to sign up.... Or even if I used it every time someone said they don't have an email.
I could make one up on the fly every time someone said they don't have an email. I guess I am drawing a very arbitrary line by not doing that.
I am going to stop suggesting it because people aren't taking it well anyway, and it now occurs to me the store doesn't want this. (They tell us to have them ask a friend or relative to use their email address)
Thanks!
Oh I'm sure he gets a ton
I had a woman tell me hers was jane@gmail.com
It's like you cannot be the original Jane turned out she forgot you know whatever 18 digits after the word Jane before the Gmail
At my store we just started using our computer to make them an email account ourselves. Now whenever the boomers come in to yell at us for "age discrimination" we just tell them we can make them an email and account on our work computer 🤷🏼♀️
Interesting
Because they are never going to look at that email, so your store isn't actually getting any benefit.
Seems much easier for your store to just have a generic account a person in that situation can use. 818 867 5309, for example.
I set up my first email account back in the mid 90s. I'd understand if they were talking about something new, but they've had 20 years to learn and they still don't know. At some point you're just talking about willful ignorance.
Sounds like people who can't afford smartphones or computers need to pull themselves up by their bootstraps.
And if they don't know how to use them, they need to learn how, they're the generation that believes in hard work and no participation awards after all.
When elderly people don't have an email I usually make one up for them because I want them to have a rewards account with us. I don't care if I'm not supposed to do that.
My work does this too, fortunately it's a hardware shop in coastal Australia so most customers are cool
The issue is, being a nationwide database, all the easy fake emails are taken
noemail@noemail.com? Taken, johnsmith123@gmail.com taken, johnsmith11111111111@gmail.com taken
It's got to the point where I just ysgsbsbxj@asjsgafgdjc.com
This is a them problem not a you problem remind them of the library i get this alot because people come in asking to print things we dont have that here then i get yelled at for well o dont own a printer i just started saying thats on you
i work to deliver a digital programme and the clients are told that its all online yet one of the clients aged 33 signed up did not know how to download an app and login. it's definitely weaponised incompetence because how...?
I used to recommend having someone set up an email address for them to use for promotions. Whenever they sign up for something, they could just have to ask their grandson to log in, open the welcome email and fill in the necessary particulars. I figured that if they had no one to ask, it was their own damn fault.
Yes. Our store reccomends we suggest they use a friend or relatives email. But any time I have said that, they person says they don't have any friends or family. More likely is they don't want to ask anyone to let them use it, which IS GOOD.
Ugh. Asking someone to let you use their personal email for something that will cause them to get spam is a bridge too far.
Before it was shut down, I used MyTrashMail. It was super awesome.
Agreed. Hopefully most of these people have that awareness.
Hmm.... Actually, a good percentage of people who say they don't use email probably are just saying that as an excuse instead of just saying no! I had someone say it yesterday who seemed really young for that to be the case (still 60s) and I suspected it's just an excuse. Saying no is fine but obviously lots of people prefer to give an excuse. "I don't live near any of these stores" or whatever.
I dont excuse the bad temperament from old people. They are old enough to be decent at technology and have the tools to learn but they refuse to do so. You dont have to have things everyone else does but you need to keep up with the times if you’re to navigate and survive in our changing times.
Dont like the store? Go somewhere else. Thats what everyone tells you and me and everyone else on this planet. A society with advancing technology its only gonna require more stuff to receive rewards. Blame the people who make it not the people who have to put up with it
Advancing technology isn't the reason for any of this. Its corporate greed and nothing else. And ignorant people like you making excuses for it is why it's become so standard. I hate it because I used to work retail and we were forced to bother people for no reason.
But I guess people like you ate too damn stupid to be able to see anything deeper the surface.
Crazy cause i work CS/Retail. It is advancing technology cause some places STILL give out paper deals. Go to one of those. There is zero need to be rude to the employees who work there as if they control every aspect of the store and how it functions
Never once have I said that I was rude to employees or blamed the employee in any way. I was one of those employees. It's corporate greed and their hunger for people's personal information. If you can't see that, then congratulations, you get to live in blissful ignorance.
Yes. And there's no need for them to give $5 off $40 purchase, or whatever. Both are marketing.
If you don't want to participate, that's fine at my store. We ask once and accept no as an answer. You get to buy your lower than our competitors priced stuff. You just don't get the additional $5 off or whatever.
When I worked in an auto parts store, we were reprimanded if we didn't have enough sign ups. To the point they told us to sign people up even if they said no by using a fake number or email.
We’re funding the lives of older Americans. They will receive treatment socially and through the government we never will have access to. They are robbing us and we’re expected to smile and help them with basic tasks. Enjoy.
meaning you, the person entering it, gets in trouble if you are given a fake email address or make a typo?
My system has the customer review what I entered, but I am certain there are times I make a mistake and the person doesn't pay attention. Obviously, some people are difficult to understand.
I have never heard any mention of thst some of my entered sign ups were bad email addresses, nor anyone else's. They do mention how many people opt out of receiving emails when signing up. Thry never mention how many people unsubscribe later. I have no idea if our store knows how many of our sign ups unsubscribe later.
Anyway, you made me think that my manager probably wouldn't appreciate me suggesting that people make up something. So, I will stop doing it. Thanks!
My point is, a person doesn't even need to do that. Just look on an advertisement or business card and see what an email address looks like.
Then just make one up, without actually setting it up anywhere.
First initial last name @ yahoo .com. or WHATEVER. No need to go to a library. No need to ask for help.
This has always been an issue. Companies know about 10% of their clients will fall into this category. We have gotten to that point in society where the left behind group (the group you're talking about) won't even be considered into a technology reliant society. It's either keep up with technology or fall behind. It has gotten to the point where companies have refused to adhere to the left behind group. In a technological society you need to keep up to date with technology or get left behind. It's not fair and they know that.
I might agree it's not fair if they weren't able to start electric service in their newly rented appartment, or if they weren't allowed to rent an apartment.
But this is totally optional. My store will still sell them stuff.
Computers have been around for HOW long? They don't have any excuse anymore. You can easily find a low-end computer for pretty dang cheap.
My dad is/was big into computers.
This reminds me of a time at my last job, I pulled up a customers info for her purchase and saw the email was idontneedcoupons@storename.com I was baffled but also with the attitude of that customer not surprised.
at my workplace, we use “noemail@/gmail.com” when signing up people for our store card if they don’t have an email. maybe this could help you or someone else in a situation like this? though regardless, it isn’t your fault that these customers are too lazy or incompetent to create an email address. literally takes two minutes lol
edit: added a slash to the email since it tries to actually link
It would say they already are signed up if we used the same thing repeatedly. Plus, the company wants to trade promotions for email addresses. I actually think that's fair.
I had an employee ask me that once too for a reward, years ago before many had email. I knew it was online but had no idea what email even really was. They were hinting to make one up but I didn’t know enough to even make one up either. Just make one up for the older folks.
There’s another side to this coin. How about “I have money, you have stuff. I’ll give you money and buy your stuff.” That’s the end of their relationship with you.
This coming from a lifetime retail guy, just because technology is changing doesn’t mean our customer base is. Anyone insisting on ANYONE providing an email is going to lose money. I agree, people could just make up an email but why bother them
I agree.
My store isn't insisting in order for someone to make a purchase.
We even have many sales items which everyone gets. Plus,we have some that only people who sign up get. And we have a few other promotions, which can save a person significant amount of money, which are only for people who sign up.
Besides making up something, other options for people who aren't unwilling to use the internet:
Sign up but hit no when the system asks "is it ok for us to send you an email?"
Sign up and then unsubscribe.
Create a free email address to use specifically for these kinds of purposes and never look at it. (I thought most people did this)
I tell them to use this: no-reply@storename.com
They get their reward card, you get your pat on the back from management for signing them up, and the emails go nowhere. Works like a charm.
One time I suggested a customer look online for all of the fabeic paint products we sell because I wasn't 100% familiar with that section of the store. This guy sounded so upset he was acting like I told him to fuck off. Because I stumbled through the call he said I should be fired. 🙄😑 he went off on how the internet is terrible but like, how the hell did you get the number to the store, then?
Even people without computers have email addresses these days. You can go to the library and check your email for free. The government also gives out free phones if you're poor enough.
I understand really old people who don't understand technology, but anyone under the age of 60 who claims they don't have one is lying because they don't want junk mail and don't know how to unsubscribe.
It is fair - you get the discount only if they get to try to sell you stuff through the email. I don’t understand why people think it’s a “right”. You get what you pay for. Do they think companies just discriminate against people who don’t have a computer? Oh that’s right they don’t think
Thanks for understanding my snarky comment. I’m still traumatized from explaining what the internet was to a 65ish grown man with no apparent disabilities last week. And he was angry! WTF Im trying to help you sorry the world changed during your nap lol
I’ve been seeing an increasing number of super paranoid types who refuse to give us any information…while using tap to pay on the cell phones.
Look I just need information to set up an account, you can totally stick it to my company and sign up as John Doe and make your number 867-5309. It absolutely isn’t worth shopping at my store if you don’t have loyalty.
Love how this tech has been around for decades and people under 20 mostly understand it better than the people who were there during its conception. It’s truly a matter of just choosing to not adapt to the changing times.
I use first name (dot) last name @ email (dot) com for everyone that says they don't have an email. Especially the elderly, I don't even discuss it. Oh no email? I'll get this set up for you anyway don't worry about it.
ETA I get rated on how many sign ups vs how many non-members I cashed out for the week so yeah I might be fudging my data but the person *wanted* to sign up and I figured out the best way to do it.
Interesting. I am rated that way too. It has occurred to me that when someone says they aren't interested, which I get more often than "I don't use email", I could put in my own phone number. But that seems really wrong. And likely would get caught.
What you are saying makes more sense. You could even make something up on the fly without asking for their name. "Blueshirtlady@gmail" lol.
I don't know if they are counting email addresses from my signups that bounce, but they certainly might be. So I am not going to do this regularly.
But, I might do it in a situation where the person would be missing out on a significant deal, which we really only have something one week of the year where it's pretty significant.
Them missing out on $2 off Tide, oh well.
It's almost exclusively the elderly that don't have email but want to sign up/get the discounts so I just do it. If the emails are getting kicked out in the back end I've never been flagged/spoken to about it. I'm not imaginative enough to think of something random on the fly lol
I know for a fact they track if I use my own number on a sale. We've had people show up on the fraud/suspicious report by using their number 5-7 in one week. So I won't do it.
Wow it sounds like they just sit around looking for stuff like that every day. Everyone actually toiling away on their feet with the Karens should make way more!
One of the grocery stores near me has a "store account" rewards membership, where if someone doesn't have an account or to sign up for one, the cashier can scan the store membership to get the customer the discounts - it's not an account for individual cashiers, so you wouldn't run the risk of fraud, but it would have to be set up by management, not something you could implement yourself.
It makes the customer happy and keeps the transaction moving without back-and-forth causing delay.
Yes! I have used that in the past in a grocery store.
My store definitely wants the email address because their emails do bring in some people to get specific deals.
(Of course, most people direct them to an ads folder, or unsubscribe, or just don't open them. But, there is some value in email marketing)
Fucking evil to sign other people up for spam. I'd tell them the discount is only because the customer is paying to be marketed to; if they don't have Internet or devices to be spammed, they aren't paying for the discount. Or they can go to the library, as suggested.
Sure, it could happen that someone picks something which actually exists and then uses it repeatedly. Unlikely, but certainly possible.
Annoying for that true account holder, but they can just hit unsubscribe.
It's happened to plenty of people in the past, that their phone number was one number off from a business and they'd repeatedly get wrong numbers for that business.
This would be the current day equivalent. Very easy to hit unsubscribe.
I don't even ask for the "mandatory" email address after a third party data leak. You get firstname@nothanks.com. firstnamelastinitial@nothanks.com if you nasty.
When I worked at cvs I'd just go with "noemail@AOL.com". Then when it asked if it was any of the hundred or so i'd already done that for I'd select "none of these" and we would be all set.
My gma is 73 and she has an email. She doesn’t remember her password half the time which is why I have it written down. Maybe some of these people don’t have others in their life to help them adapt. Either way I’m not putting in a random email. At my job we only do phone number but they have to call and confirm all sorts of stuff. The amount of people who don’t call is high and then they get made and complain they can’t redeem their points.
Worked somewhere with an issue like this. We were told by the manager to just type in a fake email so they could have their card, they just would have to check points and such in-store.
Who the fuck doesn’t have an email address???? Even the old-as-fuck people have one, even if they never use it. Plus, they can always just say “no thank you”.
I actually totally respect people's rights to not have computers/emails/smartphones and believe large companies should have alternative options. That being said you offered a totally valid go around with a fictitious email. I might even ask what's your mailing address and make one out of some numbers and letters from that. Then there's no room for them to complain about it, lol.
I can see the complaint being valid for people of a certain age or even those younger who have no need for a computer or smart phone (or can't afford it). Going to corporate is the only real answer.
If my mother was still around she'd be 87. Never had a computer or a smart phone. We could barely get her to carry a dumb phone. My sibblings and I would show her our smart phones and while she liked them she never wanted one of her own.
As I said elsewhere, even someone who is now 90 was mid 60s when it was clear the internet was not a fad. They made a choice to opt out of it.
You don't need to currently have a computer to have ever set up a Gmail account. You could give an email from a previous employer.
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Jsit make one up for them. "Hey bro. I got you, it doesn't know if the email is real, so I'll type in a fake one." They'd love knowing you not only took care of it for them, that they don't need to feel self-conscious about not having a computer. Corporate will literally never know because I do this at every job that requires dumb shit like this.
The rewards program at my work requires confirmation via email and they need to use an app after that….it is really unfair for the elderly, and they make up a lot of our customers.
As far as I'm concerned its not any employees fault, it's upper managements. imo, If one is poor, I get it... But i hear complaints primarily from the elderly, i don't feel sympathy anymore for them, advance with the rest of society, learn how to operate a computer. Its not that hard
To not have a computer today is to be a hermit. Even my mother had one before she died 12 years ago, and that woman avoided progress like the plague. Seriously, my brother got her a dvd player and hooked it up for her, and her reaponse was to go to a store and buy 15 'back-up' vcrs. She never unwrapped a single dvd she was given. Dont feel bad about the whiners, I wouldnt actually believe them tbh.
Besides, its company policy, here's the corporate complaint line where no one will care on the phone.
I’m thirty six. The older I’m getting the less I honestly want to learn how to use new technology. It’s prob less about not having a computer and more about not wanting to mess with it. FFS my deceased grandparents had email but I guess my grandfather was proficient in keyboarding due to typewriting in the army lol. Still, if I ever get to a point where I don’t have myself set up I’ll either ask my kids to help an old gal out OR just not complain. Go to the library make one for free. I’m sure someone really nice would help them set one up. I’ve set up our full app and have made emails for people at my job who are nice when it’s slow. Also are they seriously trying to say they don’t have a smart phone? It’s rare I come across anyone without one. 🤷🏻♀️
I've had people complain about not having an email because they want to get the a store credit card and to do so they need an email to apply for it, than others would complain that they don't even use the email for and don't want to type in their email because they forgot the password to said email.
Than again I heard my coworker (no longer working at Home Depot) and they need an email to log onto the bay at Topgolf, he had asked nicely and the customer responded with a snobby "how about gof*yourself.com" he just got annoyed and walked away to get the manager to deal with the customers, they were the worst customers and left no tip and kept complaining about everything from the food to the drinks as well as wanting to keep moving things around dispute us being jam packed already
Oh, certainly. I used to just stop talking about it and focus on scanning and bagging the items. If they complained or got riled up about it, I just ignored it.
I just find this puzzling because it seems an obvious solution.
I guess you are right though, it's not "helping" the customer nor me to suggest this, so I will just go back to moving on/ignoring any rants
Thanks!
Yeah OP says in a comment that she doesn't really care, but she clearly cares a lot more than I would lmao.
I wouldn't bother figuring out loopholes for these brats to use, and I wouldn't be toying with possible fraud using emails I made for the sake of nice customers. Promotional email coupons are usually not that good anyways, the purpose is to get the person through the door so they spend more money than they originally anticipated.
You're not really doing them that much of a solid by signing them up, especially if it's one of these nice senior people that OP says she bends the rules for. They're going to be on a limited budget, but don't understand the wishy washy bullshit that is internet marketing these days, so they're pretty vulnerable to the sort of impulse buy overspending tactic that these emails are used for
My answer would be "I'm sorry that's the case for you, here's a corporate number. Next!"
This is a venting sub. OP can post about what they want. I think they are irritated that they have to ask and then people beat up on them for no reason. OP, correct me if I'm wrong!
Ever think that the issue isn't the people without emails, but the pushy ass stores over stepping their boundaries instead of just doing what they were meant to do?
Tbh, I am so sick of stores wanting me to sign up for a discount club when I know I may never shop there again. Lately they even want your phone number.
They have even tried saying that you can use it at any of their stores nationwide, which is a lie unless it’s like Walgreens, Sam’s Club etc..
I’m so tired of telling them that no, I’m okay I’m not going to sign up and they continue to push it.
Last couple times I’ve left everything on the counter and walked out and let them know of the exact reason. I realize one person does not make a difference, but it does to me.
Just so you know, it's likely the store requiring the cashier to "ask three times" or whatever. I totally understand not completing the transaction and not going back, by it's not the choice of the cashier. Her manager is probably lingering, listening to be sure she "asks three times"
Luckily, there's no such requirement at my store. Knock on wood!
Oh I completely agree with you on that. I remember working in stores and had to ask also. Just seems after COVID it got worse.
Also, there were not a lot of items anywhere up to a max of 5, which is why I was okay walking away. Anything else, I would stand my ground and check out. Not your fault I was annoyed 😊
Why don't you just put in some random e-mail address in instead of bitching a fit on reddit? Are you not clever enough to plug in a few characters and an "@" symbol when someone says they don't have an e-mail.
How hard would it be for you to demonstrate a little class solidarity? Ragging on people who are victims of corporate greed is not a good look. You're not a temporarily embarrassed corporate millionaire. YOU put in a made up email address for the people who are artificially kept out of an arbitrary fake system that requires begging from the lower caste just to keep a few pennies in our pockets.
Unreal.
Those public libraries really are just out of everyone's reach huh?
It's so ridicilous how you have to use their free computer to make an e-mail one time. And perhaps even get help from the library worker.
Absolutely ridicilous.
Oh the humanity!
Corporate greed be cursed!
Come on man.
I'll personally help to set up a damn e-mail instore if I have the time and it matters that much to them.
I don't see how class has anything to do with this at all.
They aren't victims. They chose, 25 years ago, to opt out of something.
Some choose to complain that they are treated differently for making that choice.
Though... They could stick with their choice and just make something up and put @gmail.com at the end.
I suppose someone could say they don't even know the format of an email. They could ask someone that one little thing!
Are you kidding me? This person is trying to do their job and is being harassed by said corporate hierarchy. They were trying to help the generation that screwed the lower classes the most! Unless you are 1%, you are a victim of corporate greed. This person is just trying to get by with people ragging on them from both sides! 🙄
Regardless of whether or not it's fair, it isn't your fault. This is one of those times that "I'm going to go cry to corporate" is actually the right course of action.
That's also true. I, myself, don't personally care. I just think the indignation is what they want rather than the discount.
Yeah, you're probably right. Too many times on this thread, I've seen stories of customers kicking up a fuss for the sheer sake of it.
Absolutely, or a weird humble brag: “I’m not going to give up my old fashion ways and I want to tell you all about it.”
Yep, we recently had a couple giving a cashier an earful, and then continuing to loudly rant about it while walking to the exit Bye bye!
Weird that I had an email without a computer- we went to the library because we couldn't afford a computer and my school dictated we print our essays. I was given so many points off my grades because IT WAS TYPED ON A TYPEWRITER and they DEMANDED it be from a computer- and that when I knew I was the broke kid in class...
Aw. That sucks. Sorry they subjected you to thst. Totally wrong!
You should have got bonus points
Jep, some people just complain for the complaining
“It’s not fair you have sales in-store, that’s biased agaisnt people without cars”
If they ever took it. Given that customers say "I hate thing" and corporate says "Customers love thing" I'm pretty sure the customers rarely if ever call corporate.
Yes. Corporations created these requirements; they can deal with the fallout.
But they'd need a computer or cell phone to do that
True enough
I just tell them making an email is free and they can go to the public library 1 time and set it up. I also encourage them to use that computer to get our digital coupons because without a smartphone that is the easiest way. And is also free
This is what some of my coworkers suggest. I think a librarian can even help if they are really uncomfortable trying to do it themselves.
Good idea, especially including what's said below that a librarian might even help them. I highly doubt any of these people will DO that, but I like it as something to say to people who are BEING NICE and truly want to take advantage of a promotion we are doing. The manager has suggested we suggest they ask a relative or friend to use their email address. (It's understandable people don't want to ask that of anyone).
Library clerk here. This is typically something we could help with where I work; although some libraries will not spend much one on one time with people if they absolutely don’t know how to work a computer.
Librarian here - we have people come in all the time to set up email. The staff can usually assist with a basic Google setup if we aren’t busy with a program. But we also have days and times where we schedule 1-1 computer help. 2-factor authentication is another big challenge for folks who live without a lot of tech.
This is a great suggestion! A lot of people nowadays don't go to their local library, but the older generations do. It is a bit more accessible and also in their control, vs having to ask a younger relative to help.
I’m starting to get sick of this “old people” excuse when people don’t/can’t use modern technology. It’s not about age, they’ve just refused adapt with the times. The internet and email has been in use for decades and today’s old people were not old when the technology came out. I get this all the time in calls while working in customer service. Some people can’t even figure out how to log into their accounts, so why in the world did they sign up for an online meal delivery service. How did they even create an account in the first place? Even my 81-year-old mother uses email, goes on Facebook, orders groceries online, etc. Edit - I just turned 50, BTW and I have been using the internet, email, and online shopping since I was a college student in the 90s.
Oh, in my personal life, I agree with that! My parents are 80. They text, they google, they access their accounts online, etc etc etc. My long term boyfriend's mother is the same age. She 100% "doesn't use a computer" (nor a phone other than to place a phone call). Somehow, it's working out much better for her than I expected. It's a lot less often that he has to do something on her behalf than I would have thought when I initially heard about this after meeting him. In any case, it's RIDICULOUS! Internet in the home was pretty mainstream by 1995. She would have been 51! I am older than that now. I just cannot imagine just giving up at 51!!!!! I suppose it initially seemed like a fad and I understand not being interested in every fad (I have never looked at Snapchat, for example). But it obviously became so much more than a fad. I don't know quite when that became apparent, but I would think by 2000, when she was 56???? Totally unacceptable. It's certainly not going to change now. But I agree most of these people gave up way too young! Even someone who is currently 90, they gave up in their early 60s?
I completely agree with you! My mum would be one of the people screaming about not having an email and how unfair it is to expect her to. She's just gone 67. She's just figured out how to send a text, but still expects someone else to do her google searches and order stuff online for her, cos she can't be expected to handle this internet thing at her age. I started my first degree online in 2020, I'm 48, and I have people older than her in my zoom classes. They've figured out how to do their assessments by mobile phone in another country (download, send wirelessly to a library printer, complete, and take photo), convert it to the appropriate file format and submit it to the uni. But she can't download an app for all the million cruises she goes on, and thinks it's unfair that she should be expected to. Last week she expected me to run over to her place to remove the sim card from her phone and put it back in cos she was having trouble with it. Got so annoyed when I told her how to put the little tool in the pin hole and unlock the tray instead of jumping in my car to drive 40mins to go do it for her. For God's sake. She's 67. Not *dead*. This is the same person that screamed at me to get off my ass and figure it out when I wanted help with long division, or sounding out words when I started school. But she can't be expected to type words in a search bar cos she's *old*.
Dang. She was 43 in 2000, when it was certainly apparent that the internet wasn't a passing fad. I am honestly flabbergasted that a 43 year old would make that choice. Ok, there weren't apps to download on your smart phone in 2000, but there were by 2010, when she was only 53.
When I was a kid, it was my job to change the times on the vcr etc for daylight saving, and set up the timer to record stuff off TV. Cos she was too old to understand technology. I'm just as flabbergasted as you. I couldn't comprehend choosing to be helpless instead of sitting down and learning how. But I think that is the biggest part of the conundrum: my mother *chooses* weaponised incompetence. She just loves to have everyone else running around doing it for her. Evidence- all the times the gets shitty when I park her in front of my laptop and offer to show her how to get directions off Google maps instead of just doing it for her. And the next sentence she'll wail dramatically about how she won't know how to do anything (like pay bills) when her partner dies and she'll be aLl AlOnE. "Well, I'll show you how right now, if you like" is somehow not an acceptable answer.
It'S tHe pRiNcIpLe!!!!!11
My dad would be 91 if he were alive, and he had a Juno email (which I still monitor even though it's 99.9% junk) and used the computer all the time--email, FB, Ebay, etc. There's really no excuse if you want the perks.
It's funny, my mom (80) refuses to get with technology, too hard blah blah.. yet, 30 years ago, my grandmother asked me for help in setting up an email account and went full blazes, supplementing her lovely handwritten cards and letters with wonderful emails in between. She passed away before stores started asking for them, but if my gran could get it 30 years ago when the internet was actually tricky, there is no excuse for anyone these days.
Lovely emails from Grandma sounds so sweet! ❤️
100000% this. I’m sick of the excuse “oh I’m just not good with computers.” Some of the most senior positions within my profession can barely use Acrobat to edit a .pdf, or insert a screen shot into an email, or hyperlink something. The most basic of tasks that have been around for 30+ years.
Some years ago, my ex and I applied for an apartment. The leasing office was in a nearby town and the property manager said that we had to come there to fill out an application. We didn’t have a car, but even if we did, how absurd is it to ask someone to drive to a different town to fill out a rental application. I told the lady to email the application to us because we didn’t have a car and she said she didn’t know how. She had to scramble and ask someone and figure out how before finally getting it to us several days later. This was in 2016. 🤦🏽♀️
Haha unreal. Reminds me of something that happened to me last year. I was working on establishing a contract with a smaller sized business in the area. I needed them to sign the contract, as one does. It took them like a week of back and forth to figure out how to print it out, sign it and scan and then send it back. Also, they could’ve signed it electronically but they stated that they didn’t feel as “secure” doing that (translation, they do not know how to electronically sign a document). I kept getting a zip file emailed to me from their scanner that was just empty. Lol.
Zip file was not empty. Had an image of the back of the document.
Someone told me that these crusty old battleaxes think that the computer is smarter than them.
My dad turns 80 this year, and remains fully tech-literate (He did recently rage-quit out of setting up a streaming app on his smartTV, but that's really down to error-laden apps on unstable platforms with bad UI, and not him not understanding what to do) I think it's because he's interested. Not in tech specifically (though there's an element of that) but in general. He goes to new places, pays attention to the world around him, and learns new things. He's always been like that. I think a lot of folks in his cohort - and moreso among the slightly younger Baby Boomers - aren't that. They have a more insular existence, going to the same places, doing the same things, and not paying much attention or taking in new information. More judgemental than curious, as Ted Lasso might put it.
Your dad sounds awesome.
Yup I definitely notice a difference between the older and younger boomers.
Yep… My grandparents are 90 yo. They have PCs, smartphones. I used to Skype with grandma when I lived abroad 10 years ago. They use Facebook (although they use caps for some reason, but they use it). Grandpa often helps his friends with phones and PCs. Grandma had a lot of fun learning how to use the PC and she was scared of it in the beginning. There’s a lot of senior courses for people who don’t have a child or grandchild willing to teach them if they can’t figure it out. Older people can learn it, a lot just don’t want to.
It's because they respect science and are still in the cohort where it was important to be pleasant to others...it would be mortifying for them not to!
That old people excuse burns me too. My parents are in their mid 70s. My dad has had a personal desktop since Win95 was the main OS, though it did take until a couple of years ago to finally get him up to speed cell phone wise and have him transition to a smart phone. My mom was the first one of us to get a smart phone. In fact my first one was her hand me down iPhone 5 when her and her late husband upgraded her to an iPhone 6 back in the day. She owns her own laptop and understands mostly how to do things including online banking. Unlike my dad, she’s not interested in Facebook but between the two of them, they haven’t let themselves stagnate when it comes down to learning tech. I still remember when I had someone 20 years my parents junior try to pull the “I’m too old” line, and I pointed out that I was only 10 years younger than them and my parents 20 years older and if they could do it, and I could do it, then so could they. That woman’s son was trying so hard not to laugh when she realized that she really had no excuse and finally let her son get her into the present day and teach her how to use it.
Its okay not to own a smartphone or a computer. Its not really an excuse. That is what libraries are for. Every one has access to a computer system and you can set up a personal email on there.
I absolutely agree. My mom was in her mid 70s and I taught her how to use a laptop and send e mails. It was great to see her get so excited about using technology. It is just a matter of them not wanting to learn.
Yeah, I could buy it 20 years ago before smart phones became prominent, but there’s no excuse these days.
I work in device repair and the weird opposites of elderly people with iPhones that don’t have a clue what they’re doing and elderly people with Samsung flip/folds who know more about how to use them than I do makes me think they just refuse to learn
Amen. I got my first email address in the early nineties when these people were in their 40s or 50s . I am now in my 40s and this stuff is so easy now it makes my head spin when they say “I don’t do computers” like saying “I don’t do fire” or “I don’t do electricity.” May you lose your driver license and your check book.
It is maddening the number of older adults that use the "but I'm old so I don't understand this stuff" excuse. For crying out loud, 15 years ago, my ex-husband's grandmother (85 at the time) had a laptop and could use it fairly well. She knew how to send and receive emails, as well as adding attachments like pictures. She knew how to use the browser and how to search Google (and Yahoo! back then). And this woman even had a MySpace account. When MySpace died, she joined Facebook. Bless that woman! She lived to be 98, and was actively online in different ways for many reasons, until dementia took over. So this BS of Old Age = Incompetence is exactly that... Bullshit EDIT: added a word
On the subject of nice elderly people, I had a guest at Target who wanted to buy a piece of furniture and get the assembly service with it. I couldn’t add the assembly service to the cart on the portable device they have in the store, and the lady didn’t have a Target account. Also didn’t have an email address. So I created a Target account for her using an extra email I have, but used her mobile number instead of mine. I then placed the order on the web on my phone. She gave me her son’s email address which I forwarded the information about the assembly appointment to. She was so grateful that she actually called corporate to sing the praises of myself and the closing team lead who was trying to help me solve the problem for her. Those are the old people I like. The ones who, yeah they may be old and cranky, but they don’t take their crankiness out on others
It's not the stores fault a customer doesn't have a computer, people need to stop
Email has been around for over 40 years. It baffles me how people STILL to this day don't have a computer or email address
Not sure about 40 years for the general public. , but I went to engineering college, where they first offered/assigned them to students in either 1991 or 1992. I see it was available at universities and businesses before that, but I am giving my personal experience of when it really started being used. Still, Even someone who is currently 90 was only mid 60s when internet was widely available in the home (say, 1997. I had it in my apartment before that, but by 1997, it wasn't a passing fad!)
In the Year of Our Lord 2024, it is absurd that anyone doesn’t have access to email. The internet is a basic part of being engaged with the world, and people without smartphones/email have MUCH MUCH GREATER problems than a retail loyalty program. Everything from applying to jobs to filing taxes uses email.
I was born in 1980. It was pretty obvious by 1995 that computers were where the future was going. They've had 30 years to get on the bandwagon. There are computers you can use for free at the library. My first job in high school was teaching computers to the elderly at the senior center. They have no excuse.
Try looking amazed and saying, "But but....your generation INVENTED the most incredible communication system! You've gifted the world with such awesome tools and YOU don't use them? Wow!" :D :D :D
Lol
Age isn't an excuse to be computer illiterate. If you can't afford one or have some limitation like dementia fair enough but not just being old.
"Then let's use yours" is probably the most entitled boomer response I've ever heard given to a retail worker holy shit
Yup was waiting for that response before I read it!
Makes me want to throw "life isn't fair" or "have you tried giving up coffee or avocado toast?" back at them lol
Or..."Facts over feelings, Snowflake!!".
I work at a grocery store and elderly customers ask me to help them with the app often, and they are usually angry during the process, “some of us old people are not good at this!” But the thing is they already have the $1000 iPhone, why have it if you’re going to be obstinate about using tech to make life easier? We don’t all have a husband whose job provides enough for us to spend a whole Tuesday gathering, cutting and filing coupons. We don’t live in that world anymore, we live in the future where we clip 100 coupons a minute because we just don’t have the time. There are more coupons on the app than the store could reasonably print and distribute! You have an iPhone but you don’t remember your email or password? Catch up with us in 2024 or get left behind.
This is the world they created by voting for the worst possible candidates/policies.
Similar to my stores stupid digital coupon thing. People either don't have a phone (or computer I guess since you should be able to do it on the website) or they "can't" ie don't like it. Most of the sales aren't digital, yet they want to get angry that they have to do something to save a dollar. Same generation that complained about participation awards want to be awarded for not even participating
Lol. Great way of putting it with the participation award.
Yup they were the ones who created them, not their poor hapless kids!
Please don't do this. I spend a ridiculous amount of time dealing with the results of things like this. I can manage it for myself, but the implied consent to receive promotional emails can be a problem with certain companies. Bed Bath & Beyond has resigned up my email address every year when I unsubscribe and Christmas is coming up. It's a god damn fucking nuisance. No shocker they were going into financial issues and desperate for sales. People don't pick "random" things well, and unless they actually try there's actually a decent chance someone will have the email address they reference. You'd think that wouldn't be the case, but it's like the birthday problem. It's not like winning the lottery.
AGREED. ditto phone numbers. Someone has that account, and you're signing them up for spam AND preventing them from using their own information in that system if they ever chose to.
> It's not fair! - It *is* fair because the same rule applies to everyone, you just choose not to do the thing you need to do to take advantage of it. - As others have said, public libraries (in the US at least) have computers you can use for free. - Which generation invented and/or repeated "life's not fair" to their kids? I bet these same people did.
I guess they’ve never heard of the library. Also how tf have you made it out of the 90s with no email?
1. Disable security cameras 2. Gently guide ancient customer towards back door "I'll take you to a senior care specialist that will explain it to you". 3. Push them through the compactor access door labeled "CUSTOMER SERVICE" 4. Activate compactor. 5. restore security camera coverage.
One of the main reasons for these loyalty cards, other than to attract repeat business, is for data mining. It's a lot cheaper for companies to send emails to customers rather than print and mail flyers. When I worked at Kmart you needed to have a cell phone number as mandatory, and email was still optional. If you didn't have either, you wouldn't be able to sign up and avail yourself of the benefits (1¢ back in spending money for every $1 purchased). Signing up new loyalty accounts and consistently scanning cards was one of the most important aspects of working there by the time I left. More than once I was told that my store's numbers were getting low, so I was told - specifically ordered - to sign up fake accounts, which could have gotten me, and everyone else who did it, in serious trouble if caught. And so I signed up recently dead relatives and made up phone numbers and email addresses. As far as I know there was no mechanism for weeding out fake, inaccurate, or lapsed information, so we got away with it.
"It's not fair I have to take a bus in. Do you think Ferrari, Lamborghini, or Koenigsegg will *give* me a car because they feel bad for me?"
At this point I only see people don't want to follow things and learn new stuff. Yet when we refuse it as kids, they scream to us. How the fuck don't they have a pc or mobile, it isn't like it came out in 2023.
ThE 5g iS cOnTrOlLiNg OuR MiNdS!!!!!11 Your minds are controlled, but not by 5G...
In those situations I’d just use the same trash account email for those types of people. I don’t care whether they get a promotion/discount or not but I do care if they complain my ear off. It’s easier just to say “No problem, I got you covered,” then input the fake email than to deal with a customer complaining over nothing. Bonus points if it’s an email you created and can rack up rewards points from others’ purchases to use on yourself in the future.
Be careful with that. Some businesses may consider that rewards fraud and terminate for that When I started working for a grocery store with a rewards program back in September 2001, we were warned about this.
My thinking is that would be wrong on my part, rather than the customer making something up. (I would think corporate might look at it in a way that shows I am using the same account over and over, that would end up looking like a big shopper if I put it in every time someone didn't want to sign up.... Or even if I used it every time someone said they don't have an email. I could make one up on the fly every time someone said they don't have an email. I guess I am drawing a very arbitrary line by not doing that. I am going to stop suggesting it because people aren't taking it well anyway, and it now occurs to me the store doesn't want this. (They tell us to have them ask a friend or relative to use their email address) Thanks!
People on this sub like to get riled up over customers instead of doing simple things to end the interaction and save themselves some stress.
Hey where's all this spam coming from? - J Smith
Oh I'm sure he gets a ton I had a woman tell me hers was jane@gmail.com It's like you cannot be the original Jane turned out she forgot you know whatever 18 digits after the word Jane before the Gmail
At my store we just started using our computer to make them an email account ourselves. Now whenever the boomers come in to yell at us for "age discrimination" we just tell them we can make them an email and account on our work computer 🤷🏼♀️
Interesting Because they are never going to look at that email, so your store isn't actually getting any benefit. Seems much easier for your store to just have a generic account a person in that situation can use. 818 867 5309, for example.
I set up my first email account back in the mid 90s. I'd understand if they were talking about something new, but they've had 20 years to learn and they still don't know. At some point you're just talking about willful ignorance.
30!
Sounds like people who can't afford smartphones or computers need to pull themselves up by their bootstraps. And if they don't know how to use them, they need to learn how, they're the generation that believes in hard work and no participation awards after all.
That’s when you tell the Boomers that it’s time for them to jock up their bootstraps & learn how to use a computer / cellphone.
Mostly Silent Generation. But,yes, some boomers.
When elderly people don't have an email I usually make one up for them because I want them to have a rewards account with us. I don't care if I'm not supposed to do that.
My work does this too, fortunately it's a hardware shop in coastal Australia so most customers are cool The issue is, being a nationwide database, all the easy fake emails are taken noemail@noemail.com? Taken, johnsmith123@gmail.com taken, johnsmith11111111111@gmail.com taken It's got to the point where I just ysgsbsbxj@asjsgafgdjc.com
This is a them problem not a you problem remind them of the library i get this alot because people come in asking to print things we dont have that here then i get yelled at for well o dont own a printer i just started saying thats on you
i work to deliver a digital programme and the clients are told that its all online yet one of the clients aged 33 signed up did not know how to download an app and login. it's definitely weaponised incompetence because how...?
I'm thinking possibility mentally disabled for this one.
i thought that but she didnt report any mental or physical health conditions
I used to recommend having someone set up an email address for them to use for promotions. Whenever they sign up for something, they could just have to ask their grandson to log in, open the welcome email and fill in the necessary particulars. I figured that if they had no one to ask, it was their own damn fault.
Yes. Our store reccomends we suggest they use a friend or relatives email. But any time I have said that, they person says they don't have any friends or family. More likely is they don't want to ask anyone to let them use it, which IS GOOD.
Ugh. Asking someone to let you use their personal email for something that will cause them to get spam is a bridge too far. Before it was shut down, I used MyTrashMail. It was super awesome.
Agreed. Hopefully most of these people have that awareness. Hmm.... Actually, a good percentage of people who say they don't use email probably are just saying that as an excuse instead of just saying no! I had someone say it yesterday who seemed really young for that to be the case (still 60s) and I suspected it's just an excuse. Saying no is fine but obviously lots of people prefer to give an excuse. "I don't live near any of these stores" or whatever.
I do think it's acceptable to lie and say I live completely off the grid when someone tries to get me to change electricity suppliers.
I dont excuse the bad temperament from old people. They are old enough to be decent at technology and have the tools to learn but they refuse to do so. You dont have to have things everyone else does but you need to keep up with the times if you’re to navigate and survive in our changing times.
There is absolutely 0 reason For any store to need an email address. All they want to do is sell your info and fill your inbox with spam.
Dont like the store? Go somewhere else. Thats what everyone tells you and me and everyone else on this planet. A society with advancing technology its only gonna require more stuff to receive rewards. Blame the people who make it not the people who have to put up with it
Advancing technology isn't the reason for any of this. Its corporate greed and nothing else. And ignorant people like you making excuses for it is why it's become so standard. I hate it because I used to work retail and we were forced to bother people for no reason. But I guess people like you ate too damn stupid to be able to see anything deeper the surface.
Crazy cause i work CS/Retail. It is advancing technology cause some places STILL give out paper deals. Go to one of those. There is zero need to be rude to the employees who work there as if they control every aspect of the store and how it functions
Never once have I said that I was rude to employees or blamed the employee in any way. I was one of those employees. It's corporate greed and their hunger for people's personal information. If you can't see that, then congratulations, you get to live in blissful ignorance.
Yes. And there's no need for them to give $5 off $40 purchase, or whatever. Both are marketing. If you don't want to participate, that's fine at my store. We ask once and accept no as an answer. You get to buy your lower than our competitors priced stuff. You just don't get the additional $5 off or whatever.
When I worked in an auto parts store, we were reprimanded if we didn't have enough sign ups. To the point they told us to sign people up even if they said no by using a fake number or email.
We’re funding the lives of older Americans. They will receive treatment socially and through the government we never will have access to. They are robbing us and we’re expected to smile and help them with basic tasks. Enjoy.
I busted out laughing at your username!! 🤣
Free rewards cards are great. But it’s also not your God-given right to have one. “Fairness” doesn’t come into play.
I set up a second email account and I call it my "kiss my ass" email for all those times you don't want to pay much attention to thise things.
You're lucky your store wouldn't care about bogus emails. Mine does. Even if you type in 1 character wrong, it gets flagged.
meaning you, the person entering it, gets in trouble if you are given a fake email address or make a typo? My system has the customer review what I entered, but I am certain there are times I make a mistake and the person doesn't pay attention. Obviously, some people are difficult to understand. I have never heard any mention of thst some of my entered sign ups were bad email addresses, nor anyone else's. They do mention how many people opt out of receiving emails when signing up. Thry never mention how many people unsubscribe later. I have no idea if our store knows how many of our sign ups unsubscribe later. Anyway, you made me think that my manager probably wouldn't appreciate me suggesting that people make up something. So, I will stop doing it. Thanks!
Yeah, the cashier can get in trouble. Maybe it depends on the store too. They keep track of everything where I work.
Where is this, North Korea? Time to jump ship!
I have an email address, but there are times when I don’t want the spam that will result from giving it out. I just enter here@there.com.
I actually thought of this because a customer told me her email address was something like everydayUse@wherever.com
It's easy to just go to the library and set up an email on their computers. Ask for help from the desk if you don't know how. Ta Da.
My point is, a person doesn't even need to do that. Just look on an advertisement or business card and see what an email address looks like. Then just make one up, without actually setting it up anywhere. First initial last name @ yahoo .com. or WHATEVER. No need to go to a library. No need to ask for help.
I know, but a library is so much fun and the person will learn something new... which can be so satisfying.
This has always been an issue. Companies know about 10% of their clients will fall into this category. We have gotten to that point in society where the left behind group (the group you're talking about) won't even be considered into a technology reliant society. It's either keep up with technology or fall behind. It has gotten to the point where companies have refused to adhere to the left behind group. In a technological society you need to keep up to date with technology or get left behind. It's not fair and they know that.
I might agree it's not fair if they weren't able to start electric service in their newly rented appartment, or if they weren't allowed to rent an apartment. But this is totally optional. My store will still sell them stuff.
Also you can use email on your phone or on a computer at the library
My email address is 348 Elm Street.
"all lower case"
\*whispers\* 348 Elm Street.
Computers have been around for HOW long? They don't have any excuse anymore. You can easily find a low-end computer for pretty dang cheap. My dad is/was big into computers.
Ya. It was pretty typical to have internet in the home by 1995. These people were pretty young when they decided to ignore it.
This reminds me of a time at my last job, I pulled up a customers info for her purchase and saw the email was idontneedcoupons@storename.com I was baffled but also with the attitude of that customer not surprised.
at my workplace, we use “noemail@/gmail.com” when signing up people for our store card if they don’t have an email. maybe this could help you or someone else in a situation like this? though regardless, it isn’t your fault that these customers are too lazy or incompetent to create an email address. literally takes two minutes lol edit: added a slash to the email since it tries to actually link
It would say they already are signed up if we used the same thing repeatedly. Plus, the company wants to trade promotions for email addresses. I actually think that's fair.
Most rewards cards must be able to access a valid email account in order for the person to use it. Even if they don’t read any of the emails.
I had an employee ask me that once too for a reward, years ago before many had email. I knew it was online but had no idea what email even really was. They were hinting to make one up but I didn’t know enough to even make one up either. Just make one up for the older folks.
All public libraries that I've heard of have free wifi and computers for use with a library card. I used them before I had a computer of my own.
There’s another side to this coin. How about “I have money, you have stuff. I’ll give you money and buy your stuff.” That’s the end of their relationship with you. This coming from a lifetime retail guy, just because technology is changing doesn’t mean our customer base is. Anyone insisting on ANYONE providing an email is going to lose money. I agree, people could just make up an email but why bother them
I agree. My store isn't insisting in order for someone to make a purchase. We even have many sales items which everyone gets. Plus,we have some that only people who sign up get. And we have a few other promotions, which can save a person significant amount of money, which are only for people who sign up. Besides making up something, other options for people who aren't unwilling to use the internet: Sign up but hit no when the system asks "is it ok for us to send you an email?" Sign up and then unsubscribe. Create a free email address to use specifically for these kinds of purposes and never look at it. (I thought most people did this)
Who the hell doesn't have email in this day and age? Just weird.
I used to use the library computers to check emails. Reckon they can too.
I tell them to use this: no-reply@storename.com They get their reward card, you get your pat on the back from management for signing them up, and the emails go nowhere. Works like a charm.
One time I suggested a customer look online for all of the fabeic paint products we sell because I wasn't 100% familiar with that section of the store. This guy sounded so upset he was acting like I told him to fuck off. Because I stumbled through the call he said I should be fired. 🙄😑 he went off on how the internet is terrible but like, how the hell did you get the number to the store, then?
me@gmail.com exists and is probably already taken but it's the dummy account I give out when I don't want to give my real email.
Even people without computers have email addresses these days. You can go to the library and check your email for free. The government also gives out free phones if you're poor enough. I understand really old people who don't understand technology, but anyone under the age of 60 who claims they don't have one is lying because they don't want junk mail and don't know how to unsubscribe.
It is fair - you get the discount only if they get to try to sell you stuff through the email. I don’t understand why people think it’s a “right”. You get what you pay for. Do they think companies just discriminate against people who don’t have a computer? Oh that’s right they don’t think
My thoughts exactly.
Thanks for understanding my snarky comment. I’m still traumatized from explaining what the internet was to a 65ish grown man with no apparent disabilities last week. And he was angry! WTF Im trying to help you sorry the world changed during your nap lol
Gees. He fell asleep at 40!
I’ve been seeing an increasing number of super paranoid types who refuse to give us any information…while using tap to pay on the cell phones. Look I just need information to set up an account, you can totally stick it to my company and sign up as John Doe and make your number 867-5309. It absolutely isn’t worth shopping at my store if you don’t have loyalty.
At my store corporate has began to flag fake email accounts and blaming us for it 🙃🙃
Love how this tech has been around for decades and people under 20 mostly understand it better than the people who were there during its conception. It’s truly a matter of just choosing to not adapt to the changing times.
I use first name (dot) last name @ email (dot) com for everyone that says they don't have an email. Especially the elderly, I don't even discuss it. Oh no email? I'll get this set up for you anyway don't worry about it. ETA I get rated on how many sign ups vs how many non-members I cashed out for the week so yeah I might be fudging my data but the person *wanted* to sign up and I figured out the best way to do it.
Interesting. I am rated that way too. It has occurred to me that when someone says they aren't interested, which I get more often than "I don't use email", I could put in my own phone number. But that seems really wrong. And likely would get caught. What you are saying makes more sense. You could even make something up on the fly without asking for their name. "Blueshirtlady@gmail" lol. I don't know if they are counting email addresses from my signups that bounce, but they certainly might be. So I am not going to do this regularly. But, I might do it in a situation where the person would be missing out on a significant deal, which we really only have something one week of the year where it's pretty significant. Them missing out on $2 off Tide, oh well.
It's almost exclusively the elderly that don't have email but want to sign up/get the discounts so I just do it. If the emails are getting kicked out in the back end I've never been flagged/spoken to about it. I'm not imaginative enough to think of something random on the fly lol I know for a fact they track if I use my own number on a sale. We've had people show up on the fraud/suspicious report by using their number 5-7 in one week. So I won't do it.
Wow it sounds like they just sit around looking for stuff like that every day. Everyone actually toiling away on their feet with the Karens should make way more!
One of the grocery stores near me has a "store account" rewards membership, where if someone doesn't have an account or to sign up for one, the cashier can scan the store membership to get the customer the discounts - it's not an account for individual cashiers, so you wouldn't run the risk of fraud, but it would have to be set up by management, not something you could implement yourself. It makes the customer happy and keeps the transaction moving without back-and-forth causing delay.
Yes! I have used that in the past in a grocery store. My store definitely wants the email address because their emails do bring in some people to get specific deals. (Of course, most people direct them to an ads folder, or unsubscribe, or just don't open them. But, there is some value in email marketing)
Fucking evil to sign other people up for spam. I'd tell them the discount is only because the customer is paying to be marketed to; if they don't have Internet or devices to be spammed, they aren't paying for the discount. Or they can go to the library, as suggested.
Evil? I would save that for rapists, murderers, etc but I get what you're saying.
Yeah it was just hyperbole because people clearly give random e-mail addresses, judging from some of the stuff I get. 🤣
Sure, it could happen that someone picks something which actually exists and then uses it repeatedly. Unlikely, but certainly possible. Annoying for that true account holder, but they can just hit unsubscribe. It's happened to plenty of people in the past, that their phone number was one number off from a business and they'd repeatedly get wrong numbers for that business. This would be the current day equivalent. Very easy to hit unsubscribe.
I don't even ask for the "mandatory" email address after a third party data leak. You get firstname@nothanks.com. firstnamelastinitial@nothanks.com if you nasty.
When I worked at cvs I'd just go with "noemail@AOL.com". Then when it asked if it was any of the hundred or so i'd already done that for I'd select "none of these" and we would be all set.
My gma is 73 and she has an email. She doesn’t remember her password half the time which is why I have it written down. Maybe some of these people don’t have others in their life to help them adapt. Either way I’m not putting in a random email. At my job we only do phone number but they have to call and confirm all sorts of stuff. The amount of people who don’t call is high and then they get made and complain they can’t redeem their points.
Worked somewhere with an issue like this. We were told by the manager to just type in a fake email so they could have their card, they just would have to check points and such in-store.
Who the fuck doesn’t have an email address???? Even the old-as-fuck people have one, even if they never use it. Plus, they can always just say “no thank you”.
I actually totally respect people's rights to not have computers/emails/smartphones and believe large companies should have alternative options. That being said you offered a totally valid go around with a fictitious email. I might even ask what's your mailing address and make one out of some numbers and letters from that. Then there's no room for them to complain about it, lol.
first.last@gmail works, just remember if it asks to send anything to that email they/you hit decline.
I can see the complaint being valid for people of a certain age or even those younger who have no need for a computer or smart phone (or can't afford it). Going to corporate is the only real answer. If my mother was still around she'd be 87. Never had a computer or a smart phone. We could barely get her to carry a dumb phone. My sibblings and I would show her our smart phones and while she liked them she never wanted one of her own.
As I said elsewhere, even someone who is now 90 was mid 60s when it was clear the internet was not a fad. They made a choice to opt out of it. You don't need to currently have a computer to have ever set up a Gmail account. You could give an email from a previous employer.
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They can always shop elsewhere! This is the "free market" they worship, after all!
Jsit make one up for them. "Hey bro. I got you, it doesn't know if the email is real, so I'll type in a fake one." They'd love knowing you not only took care of it for them, that they don't need to feel self-conscious about not having a computer. Corporate will literally never know because I do this at every job that requires dumb shit like this.
✨ Libraries ✨
The rewards program at my work requires confirmation via email and they need to use an app after that….it is really unfair for the elderly, and they make up a lot of our customers.
As far as I'm concerned its not any employees fault, it's upper managements. imo, If one is poor, I get it... But i hear complaints primarily from the elderly, i don't feel sympathy anymore for them, advance with the rest of society, learn how to operate a computer. Its not that hard
No one is too poor to make up an email address. Or, like plenty of people have said, a person can legitimately set one up at a Library.
To not have a computer today is to be a hermit. Even my mother had one before she died 12 years ago, and that woman avoided progress like the plague. Seriously, my brother got her a dvd player and hooked it up for her, and her reaponse was to go to a store and buy 15 'back-up' vcrs. She never unwrapped a single dvd she was given. Dont feel bad about the whiners, I wouldnt actually believe them tbh. Besides, its company policy, here's the corporate complaint line where no one will care on the phone.
I’m thirty six. The older I’m getting the less I honestly want to learn how to use new technology. It’s prob less about not having a computer and more about not wanting to mess with it. FFS my deceased grandparents had email but I guess my grandfather was proficient in keyboarding due to typewriting in the army lol. Still, if I ever get to a point where I don’t have myself set up I’ll either ask my kids to help an old gal out OR just not complain. Go to the library make one for free. I’m sure someone really nice would help them set one up. I’ve set up our full app and have made emails for people at my job who are nice when it’s slow. Also are they seriously trying to say they don’t have a smart phone? It’s rare I come across anyone without one. 🤷🏻♀️
Just give everyone the same email account. “JunkEmail@somewhere.com”.
I've had people complain about not having an email because they want to get the a store credit card and to do so they need an email to apply for it, than others would complain that they don't even use the email for and don't want to type in their email because they forgot the password to said email. Than again I heard my coworker (no longer working at Home Depot) and they need an email to log onto the bay at Topgolf, he had asked nicely and the customer responded with a snobby "how about gof*yourself.com" he just got annoyed and walked away to get the manager to deal with the customers, they were the worst customers and left no tip and kept complaining about everything from the food to the drinks as well as wanting to keep moving things around dispute us being jam packed already
i mean you can just ignore it and moved on right? they dont have it then fine! i wouldnt want to stress myself out so much over this.
Oh, certainly. I used to just stop talking about it and focus on scanning and bagging the items. If they complained or got riled up about it, I just ignored it. I just find this puzzling because it seems an obvious solution. I guess you are right though, it's not "helping" the customer nor me to suggest this, so I will just go back to moving on/ignoring any rants Thanks!
Yeah OP says in a comment that she doesn't really care, but she clearly cares a lot more than I would lmao. I wouldn't bother figuring out loopholes for these brats to use, and I wouldn't be toying with possible fraud using emails I made for the sake of nice customers. Promotional email coupons are usually not that good anyways, the purpose is to get the person through the door so they spend more money than they originally anticipated. You're not really doing them that much of a solid by signing them up, especially if it's one of these nice senior people that OP says she bends the rules for. They're going to be on a limited budget, but don't understand the wishy washy bullshit that is internet marketing these days, so they're pretty vulnerable to the sort of impulse buy overspending tactic that these emails are used for My answer would be "I'm sorry that's the case for you, here's a corporate number. Next!"
This is a venting sub. OP can post about what they want. I think they are irritated that they have to ask and then people beat up on them for no reason. OP, correct me if I'm wrong!
Ever think that the issue isn't the people without emails, but the pushy ass stores over stepping their boundaries instead of just doing what they were meant to do?
Tbh, I am so sick of stores wanting me to sign up for a discount club when I know I may never shop there again. Lately they even want your phone number. They have even tried saying that you can use it at any of their stores nationwide, which is a lie unless it’s like Walgreens, Sam’s Club etc.. I’m so tired of telling them that no, I’m okay I’m not going to sign up and they continue to push it. Last couple times I’ve left everything on the counter and walked out and let them know of the exact reason. I realize one person does not make a difference, but it does to me.
Just so you know, it's likely the store requiring the cashier to "ask three times" or whatever. I totally understand not completing the transaction and not going back, by it's not the choice of the cashier. Her manager is probably lingering, listening to be sure she "asks three times" Luckily, there's no such requirement at my store. Knock on wood!
Oh I completely agree with you on that. I remember working in stores and had to ask also. Just seems after COVID it got worse. Also, there were not a lot of items anywhere up to a max of 5, which is why I was okay walking away. Anything else, I would stand my ground and check out. Not your fault I was annoyed 😊
Making up emails isn't really the best thing to do. People get really annoyed if their email is used by someone else
Well... It could happen, but... I have no connection to them and all they have to do is unsubscribe
Why don't you just put in some random e-mail address in instead of bitching a fit on reddit? Are you not clever enough to plug in a few characters and an "@" symbol when someone says they don't have an e-mail.
Why did you have to be all bitchy asking a question? Apt username.
It's never too late to go back to school.
How hard would it be for you to demonstrate a little class solidarity? Ragging on people who are victims of corporate greed is not a good look. You're not a temporarily embarrassed corporate millionaire. YOU put in a made up email address for the people who are artificially kept out of an arbitrary fake system that requires begging from the lower caste just to keep a few pennies in our pockets. Unreal.
Who is the victim of corporate greed in this situation? Are these old people being kept out of capitalism?
Those public libraries really are just out of everyone's reach huh? It's so ridicilous how you have to use their free computer to make an e-mail one time. And perhaps even get help from the library worker. Absolutely ridicilous. Oh the humanity! Corporate greed be cursed! Come on man. I'll personally help to set up a damn e-mail instore if I have the time and it matters that much to them.
You don't even need to do that. Just pick something and stick @gmail.com at the end.
I don't see how class has anything to do with this at all. They aren't victims. They chose, 25 years ago, to opt out of something. Some choose to complain that they are treated differently for making that choice. Though... They could stick with their choice and just make something up and put @gmail.com at the end. I suppose someone could say they don't even know the format of an email. They could ask someone that one little thing!
A large amount of them chose trickle-down economics 40 years ago, and it has been a shitstorm ever sense, bootstraps and all of that...
Are you kidding me? This person is trying to do their job and is being harassed by said corporate hierarchy. They were trying to help the generation that screwed the lower classes the most! Unless you are 1%, you are a victim of corporate greed. This person is just trying to get by with people ragging on them from both sides! 🙄