On 2007-07-04 21:28:02 +0100, Chris ] said:

Someone may be interested enough to help with this.
Apologies for its being slightly OT - but I don't know where to ask.
Please ignore the article ... unless you are kind enough and have time
enough to answer.

I went into PC World to buy a printer for a disabled friend.
He had given me enough cash to buy it.

When I got to the till, the cashier wanted full name and address details.
Even though I was paying cash.
This caused a lot of problems - because I didn't know his formal
address or postcode.

But do they have a right to demand personal data when selling something
for cash? It seems preposterous! I wouldn't want to give a company
personal information, which might be used for marketing. In fact,
that's why I would often choose to pay by cash.

What have you found?
Is it possible to buy things with cash without giving personal information?

No you are not required to do that regardless of the form of payment.
The request is for marketing. Just say no thank you.

Their other favourite trick there is to ask if you want a VAT receipt
or to buy for a business. If you agree to that, you are buying the
product as a commercial and not a consumer transaction, thus losing the
benefit of consumer legislation.

Finally, it is unwise to make medium to large purchases in cash. Again
you lose a means of using consumer legislation in the event of a
problem. If you pay by credit card and the transaction is for more
than £100, the card company becomes jointly liable with the retailer.
Even if your friend had given you cash, you would have been better off
keeping that and buying the product in your name with a card.

Finally, finally; if you are going to use PC World, it is worth using
their web site to order and then arrange to collect at the store. a)
the price is usually lower, sometimes a lot lower and b) they will
reserve the item for you for a day.

Finally, finally, finally. Watch out with PCW on consumables and small
items. They are bandits in this regard. Example from yesterday.
I needed a couple of 5m RJ11 leads to connect a router to two phone
lines for ADSL service. PCW price is £19.99 each. A very quick look
on the web, with no real attempt to find cheapest brought up
Broadbandbuyer for £3.41 for the same item. They were here this
morning.