UPDATES: Charges Filed Against Bed, Bath & Beyond Manager Who Refused To Allow 911 Call
BB&B Responds To Customer Complaint Over 911 Debacle
Bed, Bath & Beyond refused to let some customers use the phone to call 911 after they saw a toddler locked in a hot car in the store’s parking lot. The witnesses told the local news that the employees told them, “…You cannot call no one, what goes on in the parking lot is not our concern.”
“I said, lady, there is a child out there in a hot car and it’s locked and it needs help. And I said, will you let us use your phone and call and she said no, we will not get involved.”
The Lexington police arrived, smashed the car window and gave the 3-year-old some water. The mother was arrested and charged with wanton endangerment. Meanwhile, Bed, Bath & Beyond has issued a statement about the incident.
“The customer did ask the store to contact the authorities, the store suggested that the customer, who had witnessed the situation, contact 911. We are pleased that the manner was addressed in a timely manner and will use this incident as a training opportunity.”
Police: Toddler In Hot Van For 45 Min. [LEX 18 News] (Thanks, Doug!)
(Photo: Morton Fox )
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New article on this in the Lexington Herald-Leader. The store manager has
been charged by police.
By Beth Musgrave
bmusgrave@herald-leader.com
Police have charged a Bed, Bath & Beyond manager who refused to help a
Danville couple trying to contact police after discovering a child locked in
a hot van on Saturday.
Lexington police Officer Tommy Puckett said Thursday that Elizabeth A.
Miller, 34, of Richmond is charged with duty to report dependency, neglect
and abuse, a Class B misdemeanor which carries a maximum $1,000 fine.
Randy and Nancy Belcher were at the Bed, Bath & Beyond off of Nicholasville
Road on Saturday when Nancy Belcher noticed that there was a boy in the van
parked next to their vehicle. The boy did not respond to repeated knocks on
the van’s windows.
Randy and Nancy Belcher then went into the housewares store and were
eventually referred to Miller, who told the Belchers that it was against
store policy to get involved with anything happening in the store’s parking
lot. The Belchers said Miller would not let them use the phone or make an
announcement over the store’s public address system to alert the mother or
parent that the child was in distress.
Eventually, police were called and they were able to remove Ryan Patel, 3,
from the van. He was treated at the scene for dehydration. His mother,
Tanuja Patel, was arraigned on Monday and pleaded not guilty to first-degree
wanton endangerment.
Patel’s lawyer has said the mother thought the car was running when she left
the toddler in the car.
A spokesman for Bed, Bath & Beyond told the Herald-Leader on Monday that
there was no store policy that would have prevented Miller from calling
police and said they were disappointed that the situation was not handled
properly.
How hard is it to get your cell phone out and call 911 yourself? When the customer was asked this, they replied that their cell phone was in the car..uh, weren’t you just out in the parking lot looking at the poor child?
Not a big surprise. Managers are well paid but receive little training and some have ZERO common sense. Big company, treats customers remarkably well and employees like trash. Managers are under stress to perform despite a goal that is never reached. I feel for this child and hope that the mother has therapy and rehabilitation as well as behavioral correction for these actions. The company will respond in this arrogant way as they DO NOT CARE. They are firing management across the board to make room for new management willing to be their zombies for less money. Hours are 55 per week on avg sometimes 60. they are abusive in the way they treat employees and are currently under investigation by the U.S. Equal employment Opportunity Commission for discrimination and retaliation.
I’ve never had a experience like this with BBB, but I remember an incident many years ago at McDonald’s. I was eight months’ pregnant and my car broke down at the drive-through window. Two men very kindly got out of their cars behind me and pushed my car to a nearby parking space. I went inside and asked to use the phone (there were no cell phones then). I was told, very rudely, that customers were not allowed to use the phone. I explained the situation and said I only needed to call my husband and it was a local number. I even offered to pay. The answer was still no. At that point, I was almost in tears. I left and walked several blocks until I found a pay phone. My husband and mother in law were furious; both of them called McDonald’s. The manager claimed he had offered to make the call FOR me but I had “flounced” out of the store. Point A, he did not make any such offer, and Point B, heavily pregnant women do not flounce. Think we had any of our child’s birthday parties at Mickey D.’s? H*** no!