Bed, Bath & Beyond Common Sense.

@joemono: I smell new tag!

Awesome statement from BB&B...training all around!

But they don't take small children locked in hot cars very seriously?

People don't have cell phones in Lexington?

They said you cannot call no one. That's a double negative. So they could call. I love hitting employees with that kind of logic.

As part of their new training program, employees are going to be locked in a hot parked car for 8 hours.

@Wes_Sabi:

Obviously not. You wasted time writing that? Not everone has a cell phone on them every single moment of the day.

I understand BB&B's point of view - if we call police and there is no problem with the kid we can get sued - or something like that.

Of course, if I even had that thought flash through my head I'd have said screw that and called 911 myself.

The customer did ask the store to contact the authorities, the store suggested that the customer, who had witnessed the situation, contact 911.

Holy shit -- did corporate actually write that? That's absolutely reprehensible.

"We are pleased that the manner was addressed in a timely manner..." - BY THE CUSTOMER! (if it were the customers who contacted the police, article didn't say)

What a statement from the corporate office "We are pleased that the manner was addressed in a timely manner..." No thanks to the boneheaded and ill-advised actions of the employees in the store. So if the car was on fire, would they get involved? "Training opportunity", indeed.

"The customer did ask the store to contact the authorities, the store suggested that the customer, who had witnessed the situation, contact 911."

Wow, what a way to spin a potentially deadly situation...

Hmmm....toddler locked in a hot car....

Training opportunity!!!

This deserves some kind of George Orwell award.

@Git Em SteveDave is starlost: Ebonics?

Bed, Bath, and Beyond our front door is not our concern.

@HalOfBorg: I really think ignoring a potentially dangerous situation would be a better way to get sued than calling emergency personnel to look into it, and I can't believe that BB&B training would state otherwise.

I understand BB&B's point of view - if we call police and there is no problem with the kid we can get sued - or something like that.

When someone is declaring an emergency, that's not for anyone at BBB to decide. In fact, BBB is at greater risk of a lawsuit by interfering in an emergency than just being an intermediary in a false alarm situation. This is a classic case of asshole store management and an awful corporate response trying to back him up 100%.

@Wes_Sabi: Well, they did have a cell phone, but who (in today's economy) really wants to use up all their daytime minutes on trivialities like these?

Heck, if the people in the store refused to call 911 then I would have simply gone over and pulled the nearest fire alarm. It would have cleared out the store, cost them money, and gotten the police & fire department there very quickly. Same end result but more costly to the store. I seriously doubt you'd get into trouble over a false alarm once everything is explained to the police.

If they told me it was my responsibility I probably would have just started throwing merchandise on the floor. I bet they would call the cops at that point.

The customer should have used his/her cell-phone. And failing that, BB&B shouldn't have engaged in douchebaggery.

Someone at Corporate needs to explain to the store manager that, where customer relations are concerned, there is such a thing as bad press.

Oh yeh - like I said, I'd have just called 911 myself right off.

@IphtashuFitz: You probably would with the fire department. You could also have injured someone, which would get you a charge of reckless endangerment. Heaven forbid the fire truck was then delayed to a real fire. Also you would have to deal with the alarm companies fees. Not a good idea. Your best bet would be to just break the window itself. I always keep a center punch in my car in case I get trapped in water. Let the mom press charges for breaking her window.

@timmus: Wouldn't the good Samaritan law protect them in this case from being sued?

@HalOfBorg: "I understand BB&B's point of view - if we call police and there is no problem with the kid we can get sued - or something like that."

No, you should be covered under the Good Samaritan Law, but I can see the employee getting hit with a low degree child endangerment charge. She was told of the situation, and decided to restrict the person from using a phone to get emergency services. Rather or not she'd get convicted, I don't know, but if I was the D.A., I sure as hell would, at least to send a message to the stores if nothing else. And yes, if it's in your parking lot, you're sure as hell liable. At least that's how it was when I did mall security. If it's in the parking lot in front of your store, it's your problem, too.

@timmus: "Holy shit -- did corporate actually write that? That's absolutely reprehensible."
Yeah, that blows my frackin' mind too.

@WisconsinDadof2: "So if the car was on fire, would they get involved?"
No, they would suggest you go to Sears for a sale on grills.

I never pass an opportunity to burn Sears.

Damn, I'm on a roll today.

There are at least 3 issues here..

Bad parenting.
Poor employee training.
The disappearance of pay phones.

Sure, cell phones are great. But not everyone has them. And 911 operators can find your exact location faster if you're calling from a landline, whether it be from a pay phone or BBB phone.

In most (all?) states, it does NOT expose you to any liabilty to call 911 to report a (suspected) crime. Only if you use 911 for knowingly false or malicious use could you ever expose yourself to any liability.

Obviously the person who asked the store to call didn't have a cell phone, or they would have used it.

If the citizen was unable to find an alternate phone and the child died, then BB&B COULD have been liabile, IMHO, for refusing to cooperate, when notified of a potential life-threatening situation.

To the employee who feels that things beyond their door is not their concern (if you are still employeed), a rapist / murderer / robber is in your parking lot about to enter your store. Would you like notification?

I now have a good reason to never step foot into a BB&B. If corporate wants to 'back' their employees for making the WRONG call, then I can't see rewarding them with my money so they can make a profit.

@LatherRinseRepeat: The disappearance of pay phones.

no kidding! & even if you can find one, your odds are 1:100 that it works. once i ditched my car in a snowstorm (in a "dead zone" - so much for cell phones), so i walked 4 miles to the nearest payphone (center of a middle-of-nowhere town). i get there & some jerk had torn the receiver off the unit.

had to trudge around until i could find a house w/ lights on. not fun.

In Texas, citizens have a duty to report a felony or risk being charged with a Class A misdemeanor (PC § 38.171). Child endangerment happens to be a felony in Texas, too (PC § 22.041). Of course, YMMV in other states.

@Daemonstar: I don't mind being beaten to the punch on this one. Thanks D! Of course, we in Texas could have just pulled our concealed weapon and used the butt to break the window. Thanks go the Good Samaritan laws, the damage would be forgiven and the idiot mother would still be rotting in jail (I wish that jail were a car in the prison lot with the windows rolled up!).

I dunno-- what's the law say on my smashing the window in myself and keeping the kid from being boiled alive?

I'll be damned if I'm going to wait for BB&B to grow a pair over their phone policy, and/or wait for the police to arrive. In an intense heat, seconds matter.

I would hazard a guess that if the customer had said a man in the parking lot was strapping on body armor and loading an assault rifle, 911 would probably have gotten a call.

We had a similar situation involving a puppy in our Best Buy parking lot two months ago. It was at least 90 outside with our deep South summer and a very young puppy was locked in a car without any ventilation. A customer alerted us to it. We contacted animal control but nobody showed up. About an hour later, the DB customer comes in and asks to speak to a manager. I come see him and he's livid that someone broke his window and took his dog. I still don't know who rescued the puppy, but I told the guy I had zero sympathy for him, and that his dog could have died in that car. I can't imagine knowing a situation exists where an innocent can be hurt and doing nothing. Those employees need to have their heads checked!

What the hell were they wasting time calling 911 for? Go smash the damn window, /then/ call 911 to get an ambulance there, just in case. Those five minutes count!

Those store personnel are pretty idiotic, much like the cafe staff who charged firefighters to buy bottled water the morning of 9/11. Sometimes people simply lose sight of the decent thing to do in the face of corporate stupidity.

But I think it is reasonable for only the person who saw the incident to make the call, not that that is what the morons were technically saying if they told the customer "to make the call." 2ndhand reports of anything are not usually very useful, or at least not preferred to an actual witness.

On a side note, I'm curious to know, would it be within a private citizen's reasonable good samaritan rights/liability to smash the window of a hot car with a child locked in it?

Could it be that the person who went in to BB&B and asked to use the land line because they were not too sure of the address of the building, and by using a land line the 911 operator would be able to pinpoint the location better than using a cell phone?

@Crymson_77: Why a car? Just put them in a glass room in the yard in direct sunlight with no ventilation. Why be so nice?

@kepler11: "On a side note, I'm curious to know, would it be within a private citizen's reasonable good samaritan rights/liability to smash the window of a hot car with a child locked in it?"

Hell yes.

@Daemonstar: Isn't that how Dwayne "Dog" Chapman got thrown in jail?

@ViperBorg: You know...you make a very, very good point there! Even better is putting them in the glass room in the center of times square. Again, no ventilation. Would certainly make a statement!

@zentex: This and their useless 20% off everything (except for everything) coupons.

I actually just remembered a similar incident at Home Depot (warning - HD praise ahead).

I saw a child in a car seat, in a car with no adult around. I waited a few minutes, to see if the parent was about to return, perhaps loading purchases. When that didn't happen, I went inside to store security. They paged the mother and store staff went outside and kept the vehicle under constant survelliance (it was warm, but not very hot out and the child did not appear to be in distress). When the woman did not respond to the page (they gave her 5 minutes or so) they contacted the police. The police and the mother arrived at the car at the same time.

Say what you will, but bravo to HD in this instance. (Evanston, Illinois).

@Daemonstar: Interference With Emergency Phone Call is also a Class A misdemeanor (PC § 42.062). You can't prevent or interfere with someone from calling emergency services. I knew that was somewhere; it just took me a bit to find it. :P Again, this is in Texas, your YMMV in other states.

@HalOfBorg:

I highly doubt someone who uses language like "You cannot call no one" is thinking about the legal liability of allowing someone to use the phone.

Well, to debate the legality of that law slightly -- I doubt it applies to the case of someone withholding use of their private telephone to call 911. It sounds like the law is designed to make it an offense to interfere with someone who is in the process of making an emergency call.

What people (especially in positions of management/authority, even minor) should understand, is that in an emergency, where time is of the essence, much can be forgiven/allowed, even by idiotic corporations, and you should do what is humanly decent and necessary to solve a developing situation. You will generally be praised than criticized for acting quickly.

Here's an update. The URL says it all:
[bluegrassbeat.bloginky.com]

I actually saw a situation like this happening at the local teacher supply store (yes, a teacher of our small children did this...) There was a car parked right out front when I entered with a three month old-ish baby in a car seat in the back. It was about 110 outside and as I walk in, I hear the security guard asking for the owner of the car. He found the woman who actually had the nerve to say "But I'm only in here for like 5 minutes!" as she's standing in a 10-person line with a cart load of stuff that had to have taken way more than 5 minutes to gather. They ended up calling in the police and charging her right there.

Break the window, grab the kid and provide aid, it's a no-brainer. I would have done it with a witness present however. There's no defense for leaving a child in a vehicle unattended whatever the weather. I don't imagine any cops would side with the person who had left the child.