I've had to start putting my foot down with these people.
I was buying a Valentine's gift for my mom at Ulta Beauty and had to stand in a rather long line before getting to the counter*. Instead of a greeting, the woman began by asking me for my e-mail address. I go to this place once a year at most, so I don't want coupons or a rewards program or any of that crap. I said I'd give her mine if she gave me hers. It wasn't flirtatious--it was just my way of making her think about whether she'd be so quick to give out her personal info to a stranger. She was obviously a manager who'd been roped into running a register to clear out the line of customers; she didn't immediately catch the deadpan look on my face. After the awkward silence I said I just wanted to pay for my stuff, and didn't want to "give out my personal details". So she hit some button on the register and I ran my card in silence. I thanked her sweetly and took my stuff and I don't even remember her saying thank you or anything. Ever since then I've adopted a hard line against these "20 Questions" people, telling them I just want to pay for my stuff and get out.
In previous times, chain stores would sometimes ask for your zip code in an effort to find out how far customers traveled to shop there. The store would use the data to determine where to build new stores. THAT I can understand, but now I see that was the foot in the door to asking 101 questions, hoping to learn stuff they really don't need to know.
* I'll bet the reason for the long line was the cashiers giving everyone the third degree when they just wanted to buy their stuff and leave.
