Audrey’s mentally disabled uncle was snookered by a mall skin care kiosk worker into buying $300 worth of product he doesn’t need. When his niece found out, the kiosk refused to do a refund saying it was “against policy.” Now her special needs uncle has only $40 left to live on for the week and the kiosk manager is ducking her calls.
Audrey writes:
I’m not sure if anyone can help us out, but I figured it was worth a shot!My uncle is physically 25, he’s never been properly evaluated, but it’s obvious he’s highly functioning, autistic.
He’s a wonderful and smart boy, but also just that, a child.
About 6 years ago, he wanted to take on more responsibility, and help my Grandmother out (his main caregiver) after my Grandfather passed, so he got a job. He works a few hours each week as a bag boy and sometimes cashier at a local grocer.
Well, we went to the mall the other day, per usual he was told where to meet us and when, one hour at the entrance. He’s a creature of habit, always goes to the same stores, the same route and meets back at the exact time you tell him too.
And this time was no different, except once I got up to him to ask him what he got, I noticed that next to his usual FYE bag of Pokemon games and Walden books purchase of Garfield comics, he had a cloth bag the read “Organic skin care.”
The problem started there, I gathered his receipt and learned that he was hussled to the the tune of 300 dollars (292.87 to be exact) by a man running a skin care kiosk. He swindled him out of his hard earned money and got him to buy a nail shine kit, body butter, toner etc. He sold this all to my uncle, someone I have to motherly remind to brush his teeth and take a bath. He has no interest in skin care obviously.
I went back and spoke with the sales clerk, who continued to insult us by telling me it was my fault that my uncle was alone, while I do understand if I want him fully protected I need to be right with him, I just stupidly assumed he wouldn’t be taken advantage of by a grown man AND at one of the most uptight wealthy malls ever. No refund was made, he stuck by the store policy rather then a moral one.
I was given a number to call to get in touch with the manager over him, I’ve yet to get so much as a “We’re looking into it” all I get is voice mail.
Obviously there is a lot more to this story and I will be more then happy to write it all out if
it seems like something you can pick up.Thus far I’ve called daily, left 3 messages on her voice mail, contacted two news stations and once I’m done writing this I’ll contact more and the BBB.
This isn’t even about the fact that his account had less then 40 bucks left for him to live on for the week, this is about the mentally disabled being taken advantage of and victimized, someone, everyone needs to know what sort of dirt bags are employed at this mall and what sort of ones are managing them.
They’re just hoping you’ll go away. Don’t. Continue to pursue the manager. Perhaps you can look her up and see if there’s any other contact info for her you can find? Also, the mall has the power to revoke the stall’s lease. I would suggest contacting the mall management and telling them about this store’s abominable behavior. Familiarize yourself with the threat of public humiliation tactics I wrote about in “How To Kick A Scammy Car Dealer In The Nuts.” Everyone has got a leverage point.
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Definitely try mall management. Kiosks are on short term leases with kickout clauses and malls do NOT like them harassing patrons. Most even have rules in their leases regarding selling tactics.
I actually had this happen to me, but with another product. I didn’t realize I was buying a used, faulty product being presented as a new product….but I digress.
I’m assuming this wasn’t purchased on a credit card, but if it was, definitely file a dispute.
Also, I’m sure if you look up this company, I’m sure their BB rating isn’t that good. Make sure to call the Mall manager and explain this to them. The company I was dealing with had a BB rating of F and I asked how a ‘ritzy’, ‘high-end’ mall could let a company like that operate within their mall.
I called the kiosk manager over and over and over. I repeatedly showed up at their kiosk day after day and threatened to make a scene, but this was to no avail. I had to file a complaint with the BB, the mall, etc. But don’t give up!!! Take it as high as you need to go! The local news, write to the paper, etc.
They didn’t operate in the mall there too much longer and I received the monies back on my card. Which I didn’t understand. All I wanted was to return the product and then they could’ve sold it again, but I ended up with my money back and the product. I explained this to the manager at the kiosk, but he STILL wouldn’t give me my money back.
Most of these ‘kiosks’ are meant to operate this way. And they are told to NEVER refund. I believe their jobs are on the line if they do so. Scam artists, is what they are!
Some good links about the abundance of overly aggressive mall kiosks:
http://www.labelscar.com/uncategorized/excuse-me-sir
http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/article_6143fb2e-f200-515d-9cf2-d7e49b9d6b17.html
http://biznik.com/articles/what-small-business-owners-can-learn-from-kiosk-salespeople
http://marynewsom.blogspot.com/2009/02/kiosk-sales-at-malls-too-aggressive.html
Yikes. On one link, in the comments someone said the guy dragged her back to the kiosk and was touching her. I’d be screaming bloody murder and he’d have a broken nose if that happened to me. Then I’d call the cops.
I can’t stand aggressive sales tactics. I don’t care who it is, even if I initiated the contact. I won’t respond to people who get in my face.
The kiosk that screwed the OP’s uncle needs to just go out of business. No one needs this junk anyway.
I’m a little surprised at how many posters are suggesting that the OP take this issue up with the mall’s management. I think that is putting your energy in an unproductive direction. Look for media coverage AND file suit in CC court claiming that your son lacked the legal capacity to enter into the purchase.
Whoa, folks.
What is the alternative? A shop clerk telling someone “You look autistic to me, I’m not selling anything to you”? Can you imagine the outcry from groups advocating for the disabled if something like this happened? There’ would be pickets in minutes.
And on top of that, are you really demanding that minimum wage clerks make snap judgments on people’s mental capacity based on their appearance and voice? C’mon.
The guy had money and used it to purchase goods. The goods are the kind that can’t be returned. Would you buy skin care products that had been bought and then returned by someone else?
Nothing to see here, move along.
If the uncle is “obviously” high-functioning autistic, it’s mind-boggling to me that he hasn’t been properly diagnosed. Shocking negligence on the part of his family. And if he’s too impaired to make financial decisions, it’s also negligent to allow him access to money he’s not free to spend.
I’m pretty sure the no-returns policy is at least partially for sanitary reasons.
That being said, high-pressure sales tactics are scummy in general, and mall kiosk workers can be astonishingly annoying and pushy. If the salesperson knew the guy wasn’t mentally competent to make a reasonable decision and pressured him anyway, that’s reprehensible, but it’s his family that really let him down.
The kiosk really should be evicted, though, if there is a provision in their lease allowing it. Such unethical business practices are likely to damage the mall’s reputation, which is what the mall will care about.
Yeah, I really can’t understand his not having been diagnosed. Even if there is no money for insurance and medical care, he ought to be able to apply for some kind of aid if he truly does have a disability. He should have been evaluated back when he was in school, anyway. It doesn’t make any sense to me that he has a disabling problem that hasn’t been diagnosed and keeps him from being able to be left on his own very much, yet is somehow able to earn enough money that he is expected to live on, apparently.
Oh… my god. I didn’t think I could feel any more vitriolic hatred towards mall kiosks but I have been proven wrong. I dread going to the mall because of these people, I can’t even walk past the HerStyler stand anymore without those bimbos practically tackling me to get me to stop so they can talk me into buying a $100 flatiron. They have one of those skincare stands where I live too & they’re always trying to snag people out of the crowd to push products on them. They don’t seem to have any regard for the fact that if people want something, they will SEEK IT OUT, and it makes me angry any time someone buys anything from these scumbags. It’s disgusting when regular people get taken by these scam artists, but 1000 times worse when they prey on people who aren’t totally there. DON’T drop the issue, whatever you do. Go see the mall manager & tell them what happened, I read a story once about a lady who was able to return some hair extensions to a similar kiosk by involving the mall manager.
This is pretty terrible. No one with a conscious would have done anything of the sort. Understanding policies and refunds, this definitely meets the criteria of a special exception if there is one. Especially if he needs the money to live on for the rest of the week.
Who’s got the number? I’d love to call and have a conversation with the manager about how she can live with herself.
How about naming this kiosk and mall? This kind of greedy, immoral behavior deserves some negative publicity!
Contact the mall management and file a fraud report with the police.
A lawyer would be the next step.
I have a brother in law who has Williams syndrome and was also taken advantage of by these skin care kiosks. Did this happen per chance in a mall outside of Philadelphia? These folks need to be kicked out of the mall – preying on mentally disabled folks is despicable behavior.
Local Media outlet, CONTACT THEM! The Kiosk worker is within her rights legally, but Ethics, they are a bit murky in the workers brain.
What about the ethics of the family who knows their relative is mentally impaired but won’t get him help? Doesn’t sound too ethical to me.
“My uncle is physically 25, he’s never been properly evaluated, but it’s obvious he’s highly functioning, autistic.”
So he’s never received special education services and has a typical iq? No one has guardianship of him? IF he is not severe enough to be declared incompetent and have another adult act as a guardian, then he is culbable for his actions–including getting scammed by others. I don’t see any legal recourse. You will have to resort to public shamming.
How did your uncle PAY for the products? Via credit card? Could you do a charge back? IF he is carrying that much cash, then he needs to stop. IF he wrote a check, he might be out of luck.
Your family needs to decide whether or not to pursue guardianship so that someone else controls his money and he can’t enter into binding agreements. This protects many of my former students.
If he’s not that severe, can you not get him into an adult services program to help him learn some skills? I wonder that he has never received any type of help. How did he get through school?
Huh.. story about ripping off a retarded person generates a lot of comments, eh? Consumerist editors are taking note!
I’ll only drop this devil’s advocate idea: The OP herself describes her uncle as “high functioning” — MAYBE the salesperson meets a lot of zipperheads in a day and didn’t see a distinction.
AND maybe the salesperson doesn’t have the authority / capability to refund a sale. Not crazy to think only a manager can approve that. So calls to the manager need to be returned.
If the manager had called Audrey’s family back, we would never have heard of this story. So even with the devil’s advocate position, the kiosk kinda sucks.
There is a guy in SD sitting in state prison for scamming a bunch of elderly people who were not within their ability to make these kinds of decisions anymore into buying insurance policies they didn’t need. I would call the police and the state’s attorney office in your area.
Mall Kiosk’s. One step shy and a lot less talented than carnies.
While I think they should refund his money b/c they were being sleezy, I also wonder why a man, who has to be reminded to brush his teeth probably shouldn’t have $300 in his wallet or free reign with his debit card if he needs the money to live on. Maybe you could work on budgeting with him and ask him if you or your grandmother could give him an appropriate allowance at the mall.
THIS, That was my thought, then I thought maybe they are trying to let him live an normal as he can life. The dude should not had access to that many funds, pay the bills, THEN go to the mall.
For some reason, mall kiosk people never approach me. Maybe it’s the murderous look they see in my eyes. I also never had a stranger try to touch my pregnant belly. Looking like you are ready to kick someone’s ass has it’s advantages. Maybe they need to teach him some “looks” so people will leave him alone.
I am the legal guardian of my 42 year old autistic brother. In many ways he is independent, but he is also passive and at high risk for exploitation. I can see how this could happen, easily. I would recommend finding disability advocacy offices that have some type of legal help.
This is disgusting, that someone would do this.
Audrey went back to explain to the person at the kiosk that her uncle is mentally disabled, but given that the uncle hasn’t been diagnosed, why should the person at the kiosk believe her? I haven’t had much interaction with mentally disabled people so I don’t know how difficult or obvious it would be to tell if someone was a highly functional autistic person. But you want a person working a kiosk to make a diagnosis?
I hate dealing with salespeople because I find it very difficult to say no to people. I don’t want to be rude and just cut them off at the beginning so I usually get sucked in to listening to their spiel and may or may not end up shelling out money for something I don’t want/need. I even signed up for a newspaper subscription to a kid canvassing the neighborhood, even though we were already subscribed!
Anyway, back to the OP – perhaps they should consider not letting the uncle walk around with $300 in cash! That’s a lot of money, for anyone to carry. If you are going to be take responsibility (at least some of it) for your uncle, then you should be take responsibility for him. If the kiosk has a no return policy, then that’s what they have (not sure about the legality in no returns). Get your uncle evaluated for his own sake – I highly doubt Audrey has a medical degree and can make a diagnosis (considering this person is her uncle and he’s 25, which means she’s probably younger than that? I guess not necessarily).
I feel really sorry about the situation. But all the posters ragging on the OP about letting her uncle walk around with that much cash: did you ever think for a moment that maybe he just got payed and that’s the reason he had a large amount of $ on him? Heck, maybe the kiosk agent got to know when salaries are scheduled to drop and started targeting workers from certain stores at certain times of the week and just got lucky with this guy.
I feel for you and I think that you can probably get something done by being annoying. However, I’ve got to wonder what is this “kid” doing walking around with over $300.00 in his pocket?
Ok, Is anyone really surprised by this? How many times have you run into these skin care product kiosk? Most that I have seen have fairly attractive female employees grabbing every walker bys hand trying to rub that stuff on and get the sale going. If you’re male, they are coming onto you hard with the ” stripper eyes”. Don’t be fooled though..it’s all for the money.
I always have the impression that these folks would cut your throat for the sale if they could.
Also, are they all Israeli or is it me? No hate intended there, just an observation and a question.
Yes. I’ve chatted with them in both Ohio and New Hampshire. Pretty far apart, yet the same people are working there.
I’m going to be a little mean here. I’m going to give benefit of the doubt that probably shouldn’t be given.
But I read this, and I think: he’s functionally autistic. He can work. So he might, not to sound terrible, just seem “a little dumb” in the 2 seconds that the retail guy spent talking to him before going into his spiel.
And he’s never been evaluated.
So they get a call from some chick, saying she’s mad, who doesn’t have him professionally evaluated because “they just know” he’s “autistic”. The stand has a no-return policy. I presume that they’re assuming she’s trying to scam them, and that her uncle is just dumb, rather than at the level where it would be considered a “handicap”. And they have a point (that a few others mentioned), why did he have 300 if he can’t be trusted not to blow it? I am not calling shenanigans on her story, but I don’t necessarily blame a retailer out for profit for doing so.
Though I’m sure the product is crap/a scam.
Of course, I can’t see how “obvious” his disabilitly is, so maybe I’m just being a jerk.
Kick him in the nuts!
If the uncle is a sometimes cashier at a local grocer he can obviously handle money.
If your the grocery store owner your not going to put someone that is incapable of understanding money in front of a cash register, you’d be broke in no time.
Granted he was taken advantage of, but he knew what money he had.
Handling cash register money, and making decisions on how to spend your own money are not the same things. A job working a register requires you take the money from the person, count it, and put it in the register. That process involves no decision-making skills, just repetition of that task as required.
I’m not trying to blame the OP here, but I’m not sure I think her uncle was “swindled”. He paid for and recieved products. From the kiosk salesperson’s POV, he may not have realized that her uncle is mentally incapable of making financial decisions for himself given that he has a credit card in his name and was unaccompanied by a caregiver. Also, if your uncle appeared to be mentally handicapped and wasn’t (had some other condition), the salesperson could get in trouble for NOT selling him products.
Since your uncle paid for this with a credit card (I’m assuming since you’re talking about an account balance), I’d see if they could reverse the charges. Or look on the product packaging and see if there’s a customer service number you can call to get a resolution. Another option that may work, is to agree to pay a restocking fee to the kiosk (say 10% of the total sale) if they’ll allow you to return the products.
I have a son who is autistic and i understand the daily dilemma of how much independance you should allow them .he is very high functioning and if you dont know him it would be easy to assume hes just a rude jerk! (he often doesnt answer people when they talk to him unless he feels hes got something to say ) .but it is obvious after interacting with him he is not 100% normal .i think the sales person lucked into finding something that appealled to him about the product and suckered him .its unfortunate but it happens .ive worked with my son as much as i can .with money handling etc.also “small talk ” with people .and i admit i dont understand what she means by not being properly evaluated .perhaps his family never followed up past his diagnoses? it needs to be done for his own good .Although kodos to her for trying to help him get it rectified .
Oh Honey…TOTALLY STAND IN FRONT with a picket sign and hand out fliers. Put his exact quote to you…Seriously. I’d YELL at the guy for you.
I would contact the mall operator, who should have some leverage with the kiosk operator.
It would probably help to be able to use the threat of media exposure, but that could end up exposing your uncle to unwanted attention.
You could probably sell the stuff on eBay, but at a fraction of the overpriced cost.
If your uncle is capable of forming a contract, you wouldn’t have a case. If he’s not, you would, but probably only for a lawyer who wants to help you out, since the amount in question is so small.
Any readers in the area? You know these places give ‘free samples’ trying to get anyone to buy in. If you live near this mall, walk in, it puts the lotion on it’s skin or else it gets the hose again, then scream and cry about how it burns. Make a big ruckus. If enough people do this, scaring off real potential customers, maybe these guys will have a change of heart. Or maybe we can just put them out of business.
Could he have Asperger’s Syndrome?
I’m an Aspie, and can unfortunately empathize w/this man’s plight…
Could he have Asperger’s Syndrome?
I’m an Aspie, and can unfortunately empathize w/this man’s plight…
1) What law was broken here?
2) Who thought it was a good idea to send an adult with development issues into a mall environment unsupervised with his entire pay envelope on him, in cash?
3) Why was it the clerk’s responsibility to determine that the uncle had developmental disabilities? Was the uncle wearing a sign stating he had developmental disabilities?
YOU let your uncle walk into a mall with a pocketful of cash. By this point he should have learned the concept of stranger danger and of not buying expensive things without checking with someone in his family. YOU, not the store clerk, are responsible. If they have “no refunds” posted, then they have no moral obligation to accept returns on anything. Those policies come about because people make impulse buys and then regret them. YOU are going to have to take care of your uncle and YOU are going to have to tell him it is his own fault that he only has $40, because he did not remember the rule about not talking to strangers. There’s too much whining going on in America today. Stop sending your uncle alone into a mall, which is a monument to separating people from their money, now that he’s proven that he’ll blow his cash on stuff you don’t approve of.
It’s Audrey.
Thank you to everyone who has responded to the situation, I had no idea the site had posted it last week so I was pleasantly surprised to see this many helpful comments!
I can elaborate a bit on my uncle for those who had questions.
He is 25, and like someone else said, that doesn’t mean I’m younger, because I’m not. He’s actually 2 years younger then I am, my Grandmother became pregnant late into her 40′s with him.
That being said, both parents were/ are obviously older, behind the times, unprepared whatever you want to call it.
Would I raise him differently? Have him enrolled in every program that could help him? You bet, can I? No, I’m not his legal guardian, all I can do is try to politely suggest things, but who wants to hear “You’re son needs more help then you can offer?” Not any old southerner that I know, unfortunate, horribly, but I’m trying to do what I can!
They never had anyone work with him, I hate that with a passion, I hate that he’s not stimulated and adjusted better, but I do what I can when I can, I also live 3 hours away now, so it’s not easy to raise my children and be there to help him every weekend, but I try.
He gets a lot more independence then I think he needs, but like one of the above, unless you’ve raised or took part in raising a challenged person, you have no idea how hard it is to find that balance. He’s able enough to know that he isn’t like others in some areas, for instance, he understands he can’t drive, he understands he won’t live alone and so on, an average 25 year old guy would hate that, does he? No, because he’s disabled enough to not be worried about it.
Someone else suggested that he’s possibly just dumb. His parent’s never had him evaluated in school, they were just blind to it or didn’t want the embarrassment, I have no idea honestly, so he was in average classes with average people his entire life, and he never received a grade below a B+. I wish I could say the same for myself.
So no, he isn’t dumb. He’s like most mentally challenged people that I’ve had the pleasure of meeting, horribly smart in some areas and very very naive in others.
Any how, I figured I would clear that up, I had no idea so many people were commenting, I’d like to thank you from the bottom of my heart. This feels so hopeless sometimes. I’ve continued to call the mall manager, the kiosk manager etc and I get nothing, no one wants to talk about it.
I have one week until school starts here, I planned on having this situation resolved so we could spend it at home, but since I’ve heard nothing, I’ll be making the 3 hour trip in a day or so to that coast. And as a lot of you suggested, I’ll spend my day making signs tomorrow so I can have a few days outside of the kiosk with them.
And someone else asked when I went back to the kiosk. We split and met back in one hour, I was back at the kiosk within the hour asking for a refund, with my uncle.
And no, there is no doubt that he’s challenged. Despite this guy yelling at me “HE’S NOT DISABLED HE HAS A.D.D” it’s clear (to everyone but this guy) that it’s not A.D.D for crying out loud. He also threatened to take me to court, I have no idea what for.
And I agree, he shouldn’t be walking around with a debit card with that much money on it, but again, I’m not his parent, I just try to help as much as possible when I’m there. These days it’s just him and my Grandmother, so it’s not easy on her I’m sure, but it’s not fair to him either, I agree 100%.
And no, he will never be homeless, I’ve spent my life thus far helping him at school and home when I lived close, and I’ll spend the remaining after my Grandmother passes, doing the exact same thing.
I think I got most of the questions answered, if not, I’ll answer whatever you guys need.
AND I’ll be doing every single thing you all suggested until this is worked out in one way or another, I can’t thank you all enough.
Also, I contacted 2 news stations here (were in south Florida) the day I contacted The Consumerist, I’ve heard nothing from them so far, I’ll be contacting the remaining stations today. Thank you again guys!
~Audrey
Hi Audrey, thanks for the reply! Please keep us in the loop…I’m hoping this situation gets resolved for you.
This is pretty common among mentally disabled people. Another pet peeve of mine is when places ask if you want extra “features” with your order. So when they say do you want to super size that or do you want to upgrade to a large for 50 cents more. Mentally handicapped people will simply respond yes everytime and if someone isn’t with them supervising the transaction these scumbag employees will just take whatever they can get.
I would try contacting the DA’s office and see about filing charges against this person.