Incognito

I was looking for a charger for my old Samsung mobile phone in an electronics store in the mall, but my daughter said that she wanted to give me a new mobile phone. I opposed to that, but she insisted and persuaded me by saying that it would not cost that much, and said that still I could use the Nokia charger for my old Samsung unit.

It was an AndroidOne device, Nokia 5.1 Plus, which was being promoted at AED599 (normal price according to sales clerk was AED799). Well in the past I was a Nokia mobile phone (and Nokia Suite platform) lover until I got hooked to Samsung.

The sales clerk's persuasive skills dominated my 'no' more so when he said that he would give a speaker worth AED199 to my daughter, and presented four (4) colors of that, and she got attracted with red color, with her sister in her mind. But that had a condition -- she must buy using a debit or credit card, and they must register her data using their laptop to go online.

I am a certified digital marketer, and yes, I know that was a customer acquisition strategy. It is like buying one person's data for AED199 to be stored and retrieved for future reference and use. I did not like the idea of instructing my daughter to stand up in front of their laptop (which I thought was included in those displayed items for sale) with many cameras on the ceilings. I told my daughter to pay in cash and ignore the perks. I knew she loved the speaker so I asked the sales clerk how much would it cost and he said again, "AED199, madam." 

When the sales clerk began to enter the item information, he explained that it would reflect AED299 for the item. I just did not know how the remaining AED300 would be itemized because I immediately told my daughter I did not like it really so they stopped it. He noticed my rejection of the idea, and recommended that if my daughter really wanted a speaker without paying going through that process he recommended, he would give a free speaker, but a little one. My daughter got very disappointed and before leaving the laptop, saw to it that she deleted all her 'bread crumbs' in the laptop.

I asked the sales clerk if no information was stored and he said that my daughter already erased all and the transaction did not finish anyway. I knew that she would not understand me by that time because of that impulsive thought to grab the perk without thinking of the privacy security.

Millennials sometimes, if not most of the times, reject the suggestions of the GenX people. She told me, "It's nothing, mom." You know mothers and their gut feelings. I did not care about what she felt at that time, which was dominated by impulsive buying behavior.  All that I cared for was to protect her without getting that blunt and rude. I told her that I would go out and went outside the store so she would hurry up. After 30 minutes of waiting, I returned to the store and saw her exiting through the other side with the purchased unit. I checked the invoice and she assured me that her information was all deleted.

Would not the stores like cash better than receivables (like those from card payments)? Why do they insist on card payments for the buyers to get better perks? If they want card payment for the customers to get perks, then sell incognito cards but not require customers to register all their information (like debit or credit card PIN) on their laptops with all the cameras on the ceiling.

We have the right to protect our privacy. See, Chrome has private browsing or we can run on incognito mode. It is privacy feature to disable browsing history and the web cache so that the local data cannot be stored or retrieved at a later date. Web buyers love PayPal as it uses industry-standard security features and can purchase online without registering their information.

It will be good if merchants will give the same perks to customers when they promote items, regardless of the mode of payment, as a reward for trading the value of their money, and allow them to experience that ease of purchase without gluing them to a station to have their data within their grid.

It is the awareness of one's vulnerability that will make him/her safe. When I was young I was too brave to always think about non-vulnerability. But as I grew I realized that in this world we are vulnerable and this must be guarded. We must passionately manage our emotions and behavior when it comes to decision-making.

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Photo credits:  Pixabay