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The problem with grocery store cards is that without exception*, those grocery stores have higher prices than their cardless competition. They're paying for those cards and the processing of the same somehow, after all. The idea is that you'll go in there for one of the "sales" (prices reduced to almost as low as a cardless store's sales) limited to "registered customers" and then buy a couple of other items as well, all of which cost significantly more. I don't shop at stores with cards unless they're the only place open and I need one item that can't wait until tomorrow (it's happened), and I contact the corporate management of cardless stores and tell them how happy I am to be their customer.
As for Webscriptions ... ecommerce generally requires some information. I really don't worry about the people I'm buying books from knowing where to find me, any more than you worry about that junkyard knowing where to find you. They have your name! and your address! and your phone number!
I took a look. Quoting your post, it would appear that Webscriptions requires:
Answer a whole bunch of questions,
Name, address, phone number, email address, and pick a password.
Your credit card company insists on the name and address (and/or theirs does). Email address and password get you your books (they send zips by email) and get you back in to download them again, or in a different format, or when updated.
miss some, fill some in in the wrong format or something, do it over a bunch of times and have the machinery forget each time what I've already filled in,
If Webscriptions did that, it would be bad design. Very bad design. Thankfully, they don't. (as a side note, I'd really like to punch people who want me to do their formatting for them ... hello, dude, you're sanitizing that CC# before you let it near your database, I hope ... do your own formatting then)
pick a username that's already taken and have to start all over again,
Once again, that would be bad design (yes, I know it's done; it shouldn't be). And once again, Webscriptions doesn't do this. They don't even use usernames.
get the "capcha" wrong and have to start all over again...
Webscriptions doesn't use one.
and anyway why do they all need to know so much about me?
Your name, address, and phone number? Because they're doing business with you, and credit card companies utterly insist on having that information for anyone using a credit card. Kind of like the car parts place.
There are plenty of places you can tar with that brush of yours, but smearing it all over a company that doesn't do what you're objecting to is dirty pool. Oh, and so is getting me to go double-check how Webscriptions works, now I've got more on my TBR list. I didn't know the new Hammer's Slammers omnibus was out yet.... (note for my fellow addicts: #3 is now available)
*in my experience
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