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Stores That Require Membership


forcebwithu

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I needed a sports item so went shopping at the Pattaya Decathlon store today. It used to be the only question asked when making a purchase was for a phone number. In the past I just gave them a fake phone number and completed my purchase with no further hassle. Today they didn't ask for a number, but instead asked "are you a member". Some stores offer membership cards, so a simple "no" to the question is usually sufficient to complete the purchase. Not Decathlon though. Seems you now have to be a member to make a purchase from their store.

I'm aware of a few stores that require membership in order to shop at their stores. Most will offer some type of discount in exchange for giving up personal information to gain membership. Not so with Decathlon. Seems to be a very one sided deal with this store. You give them your personal details, and they'll let you have the honor of shopping at their store. I've very protective of my personal details, so Decathlon has lost a customer. Wonder how many other potential customers they have lost because of the membership requirement?

 

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1 hour ago, forcebwithu said:

I needed a sports item so went shopping at the Pattaya Decathlon store today. It used to be the only question asked when making a purchase was for a phone number. In the past I just gave them a fake phone number and completed my purchase with no further hassle. Today they didn't ask for a number, but instead asked "are you a member". Some stores offer membership cards, so a simple "no" to the question is usually sufficient to complete the purchase. Not Decathlon though. Seems you now have to be a member to make a purchase from their store.

I'm aware of a few stores that require membership in order to shop at their stores. Most will offer some type of discount in exchange for giving up personal information to gain membership. Not so with Decathlon. Seems to be a very one sided deal with this store. You give them your personal details, and they'll let you have the honor of shopping at their store. I've very protective of my personal details, so Decathlon has lost a customer. Wonder how many other potential customers they have lost because of the membership requirement?

 

You used to give a fake number. Don't you have a fake name and addresses too?

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5 minutes ago, boydeste said:

You used to give a fake number. Don't you have a fake name and addresses too?

Can't be arsed to take the time to fill out forms, even with fake info, to gain membership. If the store had something I really wanted, then it might be worth the time and effort.

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1 hour ago, forcebwithu said:

I needed a sports item so went shopping at the Pattaya Decathlon store today. It used to be the only question asked when making a purchase was for a phone number. In the past I just gave them a fake phone number and completed my purchase with no further hassle. Today they didn't ask for a number, but instead asked "are you a member". Some stores offer membership cards, so a simple "no" to the question is usually sufficient to complete the purchase. Not Decathlon though. Seems you now have to be a member to make a purchase from their store.

I'm aware of a few stores that require membership in order to shop at their stores. Most will offer some type of discount in exchange for giving up personal information to gain membership. Not so with Decathlon. Seems to be a very one sided deal with this store. You give them your personal details, and they'll let you have the honor of shopping at their store. I've very protective of my personal details, so Decathlon has lost a customer. Wonder how many other potential customers they have lost because of the membership requirement?

 

Had the same experience in the Pattaya store, just gave them a less used email. It does mean you get an electronic receipt, on top of the paper one. Which is handy if like me you are excellent at losing receipts😀

Coincidentally bought  a few items in Decathlon in the UK yesterday in store, no need for membership but you are asked if you are a Decathlon member at the check out.

Feels therefore that this a policy just being implemented in LOS

Shame and I do understand you not wanting to become a member./give up your details. Sad thing though is their gear is excellent, cheap and really high quality.

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2 hours ago, forcebwithu said:

Not Decathlon though. Seems you now have to be a member to make a purchase from their store.

 

1 hour ago, Lemondropkid said:

Coincidentally bought  a few items in Decathlon in the UK yesterday in store, no need for membership but you are asked if you are a Decathlon member at the check out.

I'm wondering if the stores (or store staff) are being incentivised to sign up new members, and the Pattaya store is operating outside of its brief.

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29 minutes ago, Bazle said:

I'm wondering if the stores (or store staff) are being incentivised to sign up new members, and the Pattaya store is operating outside of its brief.

TIT, so it's quite possible store managers told staff to encourage sign ups. The Thai staff then took this to mean everyone needs to sign up for membership.

Encountered something similar years ago. Buy a rice cooker, coffee maker, or other electric gizmo and the clerk would open the box, both to make sure it worked and to remove the warranty card. You were asked then and there to complete the warranty card. Most times they accepted the excuse I'll fill it out at home, which I had no intention of doing. A couple of times the clerk would insist the card be completed at the store and stated if I didn't do so there would be no warranty. Which of course is BS.

Again, probably a case of a store employee misunderstanding instructions they were given on how to handle a sale. With Thai culture such as it is, the lowly employee would never think to challenge an instruction, or ask for clarification, with the result more grief for the customer.

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1 hour ago, Bazle said:

I'm wondering if the stores (or store staff) are being incentivised to sign up new members, and the Pattaya store is operating outside of its brief.

Possible

Reading a little more online,  Decathlon has expanded quite aggressively into Thailand with 9 stores- maybe a more aggressive marketing strategy, and forcing people into memberships is an idea that stems from that? Obviously just speculating.

Thinking more on the topic, had the exact same in  a Pro Cook store, where on sale I had to give an email. That then sent me a receipt and spam 😀

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just saw this and was laughing.  yesterday went to central in Phuket.  wanted some stuff and saw a wallet.  mine was falling to bits.  nice one and 30% off   (yeah I know)

 

so chose it and went to pay.

 

you have member card?  no.. Ok I give you then u get extra 10%.

 

so went thru the rigmarole.  then she gave me the final price.  which was more than if i took the advertised 30% off. ffs.

 

quite a stormy woman when I told her i didnt want the card .

 

but got for the proper price

 

Had home pro, Big C and fascino for years, they are all worth having and foodland has one online too now

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8 hours ago, Lemondropkid said:

Had the same experience in the Pattaya store, just gave them a less used email. It does mean you get an electronic receipt, on top of the paper one. Which is handy if like me you are excellent at losing receipts😀

Stores wanting an email address from me get an email address with the store name (and no more than that) in front of the "@". I will even receive the email they send. But I will know it when they give/sell it to another store. And if all I receive is spam, all email thereafter gets automatically rerouted to the spam box, to be automatically deleted when I sign off. Having your own domain for email (with a catch all) is very handy and cheap enough. 

Edited by Freee!!
grammatical typo
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Had similar at Decathlon a couple of months ago but to become a member all I had to give was an email address, so if you previously gave a false phone number you could now give a false email instead.  My biggest annoyance was them not offering a bag for my goods - not even one to purchase.

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13 hours ago, KWA said:

Had similar at Decathlon a couple of months ago but to become a member all I had to give was an email address, so if you previously gave a false phone number you could now give a false email instead.  My biggest annoyance was them not offering a bag for my goods - not even one to purchase.

Good to know. If there's ever anything I really need, and Decathlon is the easiest place to get it, I'll come prepared to give them my garbage email address.

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