Updated: Customer Thinks Sears Blasts High-Pitched "Mosquito" To Ward Off Teens In Store
UPDATE: We called the Sears in question and they say there's no high-pitched ringing going on at this store. They didn't install any Mosquito devices and they aren't having any malfunctions right now that would cause such a ringing. The woman who picked up in women's apparel said that in response to what was being said on Twitter, they even sent out some young associates to check out all the entrances and they didn't hear anything.
If you're under 25 and happen to be in Pennsylvania at Granite Run Mall, you're probably going to want to avoid shopping at Sears. Like many stores across the country, the Sears here is using an ultrasonic weapon known as the Mosquito to deter teens from loitering, according to the experience of reader Jonathan K:
This past friday I was walking into a Sears and almost fell to my knees. All I heard was an intense ringing sound in my ear. I wanted to make a tinfoil hat to keep the aliens or CIA out of my head, but it turns out it was the Mosquito. It was down right debilitating. I had a painful headache for about 20-30 minutes.
Though most adults and young children don't hear the Mosquito's high-pitched sound, teenagers do, and the effects can be quite startling.
Though the device was placed at the store entrance-presumably to deter loitering outside-it could be heard inside the store as well, say Jonathan.
Granted, not everyone has nearly as strong a reaction as Mr. Knippschild, but why would Sears use an approach that indiscriminately alienates a whole lot of people? If teenage loitering was a problem, the managers could have just blasted classical music or show tunes. That often does the trick and, besides, it's a lot funnier.
(Photo: ferret111)
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Uh, what about the employees? I'm guessing there's some folks between 16-22 that hear this and basically can't work there. Eesh.
They wouldn't do this if they didn't have a problem with these teens, who while loitering are likely not sitting quietly discussing their upcoming science test. I say more power to Sears.
But... but... when I was a teen I loved showtunes and classical music, and would loiter around stores with those types of music!!!
Don't they have young people working in the store? Didn't they think about their employees prior to installing this thing?
The problem with this approach is that I am 37 and I can still hear these noise-makers. And yes, they are disorienting to those that can hear them. I was slightly off kilter for at least a couple minutes after hearing it.
If they are desperate enough to loiter at Sears, they are desperate enough to loiter at Sears with their dog barking.
I'm honestly surprised that there were any teens to chase away from a Sears. I haven't been to one in years, but as I recall they're not exactly the hippest place in town.
I'm 38--and I can hear "mosquito" tones. This is just an epic fail on the part of Sears.
There's an iPhone app called Annoy a Teen, which does the same thing. Trouble is, I can hear the noise just fine at age 24.
Plus, you're just rewarding those nutty teens who have already blasted out their eardrums with their confounded rock and roll. Loiter away!
@treimel:
Same here, and I'm 35. Hear it just fine. Fortunately I avoid Sears like the plague after my last shopping experience with them.
I think the only people shopping at Sears now are people 45+ that never discovered internet shopping, or have fond memories of their dad taking them to Sears Roebuck for a Red Ryder BB Gun as a child. So, it should work out ok for them.
They got the idea from England, who came up with the retarded idea of discriminating against an entire age group.
Haven't courts ruled that the use of these things constitutes assault?
Anyway, in the town where I went to college, the owner of a theater used one of these things to get loitering teens away. The town ended up just banning the device.
Oh, and young children do in fact hear it. It's actually louder to them, and can do more harm than it does to teens.
I'm closing in on 30 and have extremely sensitive high-frequency hearing (thank GOD that CRT monitors and TVs are on their way out for good). No Sears for me!
But that's okay. I have no problems not giving my money to a company that clearly doesn't want to take it. And if they don't want money, that's their problem, not mine.
I'm 20... did I really need another reason to not shop at SEARS?
What about the young people who work there? Can't they file for age discrimination?
Sears warded me off years ago, but it was with its merchandise.
Aren't malls made so teens can legally loiter?
Let's see... ultrasonic sound to drive away the teens and deplorable service to drive away everyone else...
Looks like Sears has all the bases covered!
Seriously, I'm amazed Sears is still alive, after all the consumer horror stories we've heard.
I guess it takes a LONG time to sink the Titanic!
@SMSDHubbard: I wonder if this pain is "real". I recall a recent study involving people who had extreme "electromagnetic" allergies, I.E. they would get headaches, vertigo, nausea, etc... when exposed to electronic devices and the waves they put out, such as WiFi/Bluetooth devices. The funny thing was they experienced these same symptoms when in proximity to a "dummy" device, which did not function and/or had any electronics in it.
I was just reading a report which used guide dogs that exposed them to this device, and found the only reaction the dogs had was perky ears/trying to find the source. None of the dogs fled in panic, or clapped their paws over their ears, despite their hearing being better AND more sensitive than ours. The only difference is dogs rarely suffer psychosymatic mass hysteria.
@Etoiles: My wife is the same way. She can hear that noise, and whenever I used to leave my monitor on while we were gone she'd come home, and immediately go turn it off. We have had all flatscreen monitors and TVs for a long time much to her relief!
I'm 57 and can hear the tone. All Sears had to do was replace their flooring with astroturf and get a bunch of 70 somethings to stand at the front door and yell at the teens to GET OFF THE DAMN LAWN!!!
It's no wonder that Sears is circling the drain. They need to realize that today's teens are tomorrow's target market. I can just imagine the conversation that took place between the managers of that Sears: "I think I have developed a way to alienate an entirely new generation of people who are young and don't automatically recognize Sears as a bastion of ineptitude- The Mosquito." "BRILLIANT!"
Does anyone else have a strong desire to set up a bunch of these inside a local high school?
@treimel: I'm only 27, but certainly not the type to loiter and, as a new homeowner, probably someone they'd want to attract to their stores, not scare away. Not only can I hear the tone, it makes me somewhat physically ill. Guess I'll buy all my power tools and home appliances elsewhere!
@zacox: You'd think, but I suspect that malls think that loitering teens drive away spending adults. Which, in some cases, they may well do.
@henrygates: as a 30 year old with much of my hearing intact, I oppose these high pitch devices. I suffer tinnitus without hearing loss and this would keep me out of the store. Luckily, I avoid the mall like the plague.
On a side note, those recent radio commercials advertising tinnitus medication nauseate me when they play their "example" of what tinnitus sounds like. I have to switch the station every f-ing time.
@Eyebrows McGee (now with more baby!): @ShiningSquirrel: @Meat_Shield: Clearly you're all teenagers and therefore troublemakers according to the Sears demographic of 75 and up.
Also, please stay off the lawn and mind the gnome.
@TakingItSeriously: That noise drives me crazy. My parents have a computer in the room next to my former bedroom (where I stay when I go down to visit). Whenever they use the thing, the noise drives me nuts.
Maybe I should get them a flat panel for Christmas.
Wow. At 33 I can hear these things loud and clear. So can my wife. The noise is horrible. It causes me nearly instant pain and discomfort. The idea that only teens can hear it is laughable. See for yourself [www.npr.org] Keep in mind that you need to play it over an audio system of reproducing the sound so cheap desktop or built in laptop speakers probably won't do anything for you.
@GitEmSteveDave's$10SamsungTV: I went to a website that had a mosquito rington sample, and called my kids (5 & 8yrs) in the room. I started playing the ringtone. They heard it, and they said it was annoying (about as annoying as the "Daddy, Daddy, Daddy..." every two seconds to tell me that they found a blue crayon in their crayon bin that contains over 1000 crayons), but it was not painful. When I turned the volume up, they were really annoyed by the sound and walked into the other room while asking me to turn it down.
At 37, I can still hear these tones. My aunt has a television set that gives off an annoying high-frequency sound that affects me much like the Mosquito -- it drives me away.
Still, isn't using the Mosquito akin to blaring a stereo at full volume in a public place? It would be fun to get a young police officer on site and determine whether a ticket should be issued.
@zacox: Where my parents live, the mall is not the place where kids go to hang out and talk with their friends and flirt with members of the opposite sex like it was when I was growing up. The mall was effectively taken over by gangs who at best would torment and annoy paying customers, at worst would shove them down and steal belongings. The mall stepped up security, but if they can use technology to help keep people from congregating and to assist the security staff and police, all the better.
Is this even legal? If you're doing something, on purpose, that can irritate unsuspecting people's ears to the point of giving them a headache - how is that okay? What's the scientific evidence to prove that ONLY teenagers can hear it? I don't know. It all sounds really hokey to me. Like they're just asking for a lawsuit.
What about families bringing their kids in for back to school shopping?
I notice that all the references for this are from European sources . I wonder if the American manufacturers don't sell this technology for a reason . I'm sure a US manufacturer would have cloned this in a heart beat unless the patents or liability are issues .
@DH405: It doesn't cause pain, it just annoys the hell out of young people. My hearing's rubbish, though, so I'm immune and therefore pro-Mosquito.
If you go to "http://www.freemosquitoringtones.org/" you can play the various tones to see where you fall in the spectrum. I'm 37 and can hear all the way to 17.4khz, which says "24 or younger" on the website.
Granted, I never shop at Sears but this is just one more reason for me not to.
Seems to me there should be a simpler, more cost effective and less technologically gimmicky way to get teenagers to stop hanging out.