Customer Finds Racial Slur On Receipt After Returning Some Shoes
KMBC in Kansas City, MO says that a local man found a racial slur on his receipt after returning a pair of shoes at a store called Journeys. He got his money back without a problem, but found a nasty surprise waiting on the receipt.
By the time the Slaters noticed the racial slur printed on the receipt, the store was already closed for the day.
Hoping to get answers about how the words got on the receipt, the Slaters returned to the store the next day. But they said they never got a full explanation, only that the employee entered a generic code.
"And it pulled up six or seven different choices, and the choice that she (the employee) chose was the very last choice," said Slater's father, Keith.
"I really don't doubt that this is the first time it happened. I'm sure it's happened before, but this is probably the first time that somebody noticed their receipt and came back and asked about it," Linda Slater said.
The store has fired the employee in question and issued the following statement:
"While we are continuing to investigate this incident, it now appears that an employee in one of our stores entered highly inappropriate statements in a form used to process a merchandise return. Needless to say, such an act was not authorized by Journeys, and will not be tolerated. This employee has been terminated.
"At Journeys, we pride ourselves on valuing and respecting every customer. We are shocked and sickened that a former associate could be responsible for an act so out of keeping with our culture and our values. We profoundly regret this incident."
Man Finds Racial Slur Printed On Receipt [KMBC] (Thanks, Taryn!)
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Comments:
Sounds like they took care of it. Maybe a free pair of shoes for the guy wouldn't hurt, but they fired the asshole responsible and sent out a we're sorry. Problem solved, example made, done.
Ouch! That hurts. I wonder how many people have had similar things printed on their Journeys receipts but never noticed.
Should read: Employee:Dumb Nitwit
It is terrible that it happened, but kudos to Journeys for the prompt action.
Smart enough to reprogram the system, dumb enough to use it.
Journeys response was very reasonable, much better then the automated "We take racial slurs very serious" that many other companies might have issues.
@mariospants: If I remember from having worked in retail, when someone returns things you get a list of "reasons" they are returning the item to choose from and then you have to enter the customer's identification info to prevent fraud. Perhaps when the register asked for identification info, the employee just typed those words as the name. Pretty basic, if that is the case.
How could the employee not have known someone would see this, and worse, how could they assume it wouldn't be tied back to them if someone caught it?!
How do we know what it really says, its blurred out. Nincompoop?
Journeys is so goth now, I don't shop there anymore.
@midwestkel:
If you really need help with what it says...
Look at the keyboard in front of you, press the ANY key repeatedly...
Wow, epic fail. This is one where the company did the right thing once they found out what that lowlife had done.
@midwestkel: I find it unlikely that the newspaper would run this story and that the company would fire the employee if it didn't actually say what the customer says it did.
Still, they should have let their viewers see what it said uncensored.
We at least they aren't "taking this very seriously".
The company did the right thing in firing that schmuck out the door. Seriously, what was he thinking? I check my receipts all the time. That, in additon with the follow up apology is good enough for me.
I'm impressed with Journey's response to this.
So whats the slur? All I see is an N. Nitwit? Nerd? Nobody?
kudos to Journey's for terminating the employee. What I'm surprised about (may cuz I live in the left coast and in the SF Bay Area) is that this sh*t still happens. But hey, it was in one of the flyover states, eh?
Pat: "Ok, Mr. Marsh. The category is... People that annoy you..."
Ok, in all seriousness. Yay for log keeping. If their point of sales system was really crappy, they may never have found the person responsible. I'm glad this company took appropriate action.
Don't stop believin' - there are a few good companies left after all.
I got a gas receipt once that said "Golden Panty" instead of "Golden Pantry."
Not the same thing I know. I'm glad they fired the person who did this, and I hope she has a really hard time finding a new job.
talk about your all time backfires. hope that employee learns something from this, though i doubt it.
I'm still not getting how this happened. Customer names are almost always keyed in manually, particularly if it's a return. As the slur appeared in a customer name field it makes sense that someone would have to manually type it in. Or, if the CSR did a phone number lookup, they would verify the name ("I have you under Bob Smith at 123 Generic Road, is that right?") before proceeding. I'm not sure I'm buying this "six or seven different choices" business.
Am I reading this right?!? Is that actually an option in their computer system?!?
@midwestkel: Journeys? Goth? We must go to very different malls then, because our Journeys have been immersed in white kid hip hop culture for years.
@El_Fez:
"Dumb" already implies that the employee thought the customer was stupid; it makes sense that the next word would most likely be a noun.
I really doubt it would cause this much reaction if it were nitwit, nerd, or nobody.
Looks like the company did the right thing here.
@kittenfoo: If you buy Land O' Lakes butter at Giant Eagle stores, your receipt shows you as purchasing LOLBUTTER.
The boyfriend and I discovered this last Thanksgiving, and it's still awesome.
@zibby: Alright, enough gawker for you.
And if I EVER see you use Bankster, you know I'm calling you out. Pistols at sunrise.
@warf0x0r:
I was just thinking that. The employee would had to have selected it AND it was an option?!
"the employee entered a generic code."
"And it pulled up six or seven different choices, and the choice that she (the employee) chose was the very last choice,"
I work at a LBS, its not a chain, and we track customer info incase there is an issue with the product or payment, and we need to track them down. We use a system where entering a bit of info brings up several options. One we found the other day was Mexican. Thats all it said. If it was used (it was saved so somebody used it) an angrey customer would have had the right to come and unleash hell. Glad they fired that person.
@kittenfoo: I got some loaded potato bites at Arby's and the receipt said "Pot Bites." But Golden Panty is better.
Note to companies and their PR departments everywhere: this is what you should mean when you say you're "taking it seriously."
Maybe I'm just skeptical, but when I hear a statement from a company like this, I can't help but wonder if they actually fired the offending nutsac or are just saying it to save face.
I could see how someone would be pissed off if they saw "Dumb Nagger"
When I worked in a nightclub, we were encouraged to keep track of our open tabs by typing in some descriptive words about the customer so we wouldn't mix up charges. Maybe Journey's employees can do the same thing.
Wonder if they really fired the employee or just claim they did. That Journeys store in question is just blocks from my house.
@midwestkel:
Does it matter what the "N" word was? About the only acceptable thing you could put after DUMB would be "NOWAY" or "NOT" (even then you're asking for trouble), and I'm very certain it doesn't say that.
Racial slur or not, the customer had a valid complaint on the first word, never mind the second.
Does anyone think that this receipt could be faked ? It is rather simple to do.
@h3llc4t:
Perhaps this person's last name is Dumass? The system could easily do a lookup as the employee types, giving suggestions along the way. After "DUM" you probably wouldn't have many choices left, and the cashier got stupid/lazy.
Okay, likely story, but it's not out of the realm of possibility.
Oh man did I laugh.
I think I'm going to hell.
I'm guessing they meant, "The employee picked the 'generic' option, and had to enter some text. They chose poorly." However, I confess I would love to see a company try to explain away something like this with:
"It's not the employee's fault at all! They accidentally picked the 'Dumb Nblur' code from the list of 6 or 7 choices."
Wow that is terrible!