Of course many staff amuse themselves by making lists of customers who've irked them. And then there's the places you hold an account. An account on a computer where there's a screen to add special notes. Notes that amuse staff no end when the customers account is pulled on screen. Notes like 'check out this beardy weirdly. He looks a bit rapey.'

Best hope none of those people ever request to see the information you hold about them as is their right under the DPA.

I know of at least one (public sector) organisation that had a big problem with this sort of thing and has had to edit many accounts and no longer keep such "helpful notes" about clients.

Staff in that case were sacked, so I'd be very careful about just how "amusing" my notes about clients might be, especially any that go into electronic storage in theory indefinitely...

The first iteration of the Data Protection Act was 1984 (ironically).

Now I want to punch you in the face.

Seconded.

You seem to have missed the point ExFiF, I don't mind genuine friendliness. But what's annoying is when people behave like automatons and don't apply whatever instructions they have been given in a thoughtful manner.

Well maybe I have missed the point, maybe I haven't, don't know really.

These people ARE instructed to behave like this by their employers, with pain of sanction if they don't. All on the back of some musings by a retail psychologist bod, which is then applied in a broad brush sweep by management as cheaply as possible.

They forget that everyone is different. Customers are different, everything from people who love this, there must be one somewhere, via those like me who don't particularly care for it, but just go along with the flow having understood what is going on and trying to make life pleasant for everyone, to the grumpy old fart end of the spectrum as clearly present on this thread.

Problem is, till staff are also all different, some will be naturals and take to it like a duck to water, some will be uncomfortable with it and struggle, and some will just avoid doing it. At which point the sanctions apply.

If one considers a major UK bookseller, till staff are ordered to interact with customers this way with the purpose of making what is known as a link sale of the latest promotional book. Failure to do so, as noticed by management, will result in words of advice. This being the current HR weasel words for being put in disciplinary procedures. It defeats me why someone should be disciplined for failing to try to sell some worthless featherweight chick-lit romcom pap to a grumpy middle aged man who has just bought two heavyweight political - economic theory textbooks, but there you go.

If the retailer wants to play at point of sale psychology, then they should put some effort into giving their staff skills in reading body language and, perhaps, customer profiling so they can react appropriately, but they don't as that would cost too much.

In short, don't blame the till monkey, blame the management, and that is really the point.

I don't think they require photographic ID somehow

I find there's more variance in what's written on the cup when I do give my real name. It's three letters and one syllable. Yet has so far been all manner of things, the most amusing of which was "Lenno G" (as opposed to "Len, no G" as it kept gaining one).

Evidently there's something confusing about how I pronounce my own name.

Chirpy people exist to remind us that murder is illegal.