Fox Twin Cities says:

They asked the clerk if they should they come back the next day, he said no, they made the purchase, and headed for the exit.

They looked around and saw no one. Anthony, already in pain, went upstairs looking for the clerk.

They tried calling out from a store phone, while Anthony tried Sears on his cell phone, but then the lights went out.

Finally, they reached Maplewood police...

Eventually police arrived and sorted everything out.

Police checked the Brown family's IDs and receipts, and the Sears representative eventually let them out.

Hey, it's too bad Anthony was scheduled to have hip surgery the next morning — it might have been fun to spend the night inside a Sears.

Customers Accidentally Locked in Maplewood Sears After Hours [MyFox Twin Cities]

Because we didn't already have enough to worry about this week, the New York Times took a moment to remind us that recessions and crime go hand-in-hand. Consider:

• 1970s: New York almost dies, neighborhoods follow.
• 1987: Stocks crash. The next year, murders soar.

"Every recession since the late ’50s has been associated with an increase in crime and, in particular, property crime and robbery, which would be most responsive to changes in economic conditions. Typically, there is a year lag between the economic change and crime rates."

Nearly 80 police departments say that the subprime meltdown is already boosting crime rates. In Santa Anna, foreclosed homes have been converted to playgrounds for gangs and whores.

New York is enjoying record-low crime rates, even with 4,000 fewer officers than we had eight years ago. Of course, the police department is funded by tax revenue, and New York, more than most, depends on Wall Street for a double-digit chunk of budget grease. Former top cop Bill Bratton said:

Those are tough choices. Where are you going to put the scarce tax dollars? I would advocate it is the wrong thing to do if you start impacting police.

Mayor Bloomberg disagrees and told the police to slash $94 million from this year's budget. Next year, the cops are set to lose another $192 million.

Of course, these social scientists don't really know anything. Some think bad times and foreclosures lead to falling wages, unemployment, and crime. Others think crime is caused by the prosperity and gaudiness found in good times. So unlike the countless investors driving us inexorably towards recession and potential stabbings, you can take solace in the uncertainty.

Keeping Wary Eye on Crime as Economy Sinks [The New York Times]
(Photo: Getty)

The county attorney quoted in the Kentucky Lexington Leader-Herald article points out that common decency should always trump any store policy, misinterpreted or not. In fact, it's the law!

First Assistant Fayette County Attorney Brian Mattone told the Herald-Leader Thursday that under the duty-to-report statute, everyone has the duty to report dependency, neglect and abuse of a child if they have knowledge of it. Mattone said prosecutors thought that Miller, through witnesses, had knowledge of possible abuse or neglect. Moreover, there is language in the statute that says “nothing should relieve their obligation to report,” Mattone said.

The article also quotes another shopper who says she received a similar response from a different Bed, Bath & Beyond last summer when she saw a dog locked inside a car. Here's hoping that the company's "we're ashamed this happened" response is authentic, and that their employees learn that it's okay to offer help sometimes.

"Store clerk charged with failing to help child locked in van" [Herald-Leader] (Thanks to Michael and Donald!)
(Photo: Morton Fox)

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 )

"If they thought I was a cranky old biddy, they should just have given me my money and let me go," Christina told the Star-Tribune. "I paid in good faith, and I wanted my money back. That's all. It's the principle."

"They can put you in jail for this," she says a cop told her. "Well, I've got nothing else to do today," she replied. "Besides, I may meet a better class of people in jail."

The store wouldn't budge. Christina wouldn't bend. A stretcher was brought in.

Christina was strapped to it, and taken by ambulance to North Memorial Medical Center. Her physical and mental health was supposed to be evaluated.

Attention shoppers: You won't take a gift certificate? You must be nuts.

"They thought I was loony or something," Christina says, her voice still incredulous. "That's the real crazy thing. I just wanted my money."

In the emergency room, they looked her over and sent her home that day. She seemed to be an elderly lady who was upset. From Christina's account, she also seemed to have a good reason.

Target's Fransen says store employees were concerned for her health.

"It's not anything she did," he said. "Team members were concerned about her well-being and her safety, and wanted to make sure she wasn't endangering herself."

Perhaps, so. But this could be one case where three $10 bills would have done a lot more — and done it more cheaply — than an ambulance ride to a hospital.

Christina Brown wants an apology, she wants her money (including getting her medical bills from the unexpected hospital trip paid), and she wants this: "I want the staff trained in how to treat customers."

Christina won't get to help train them. Target signed a trespassing order against her, meaning she will be arrested if she returns to the Plymouth SuperTarget.

That, friends, won't be a problem.

"I wouldn't go back to that store if everything in it was free," she says. "If they're waiting to see me again, they're waiting for a cold day in hell."

'Cranky' lady tangled with 'Mr. Nasty’ [Star-Tribune]
(Photo: spinadelic )

I was at the Germantown Wal*Mart to buy four bags of sugar because earlier in the day I had been at Butler’s Orchard picking 10 pounds of strawberries to turn into delicious jam. And to make delicious jam, you need lots of sugar. I grabbed four bags and headed to the checkout, where I also decided I could use some refreshment. I grabbed a Mountain Dew from the cooler, but the cashier had already processed my card for the four bags of sugar. He apologized and rang up another transaction for the Mt. Dew. At that point, he crumpled up my receipt for the four bags of sugar and handed me the receipt for the Mountain Dew. I headed for the exit, and was greeted by Wal*Mart security who wanted to check my receipt. I produced the receipt for the Mountain Dew and explained that the cashier had tossed the other receipt for the sugar. I would repeat this explanation 6 more times before this affair ended.

At this point, I attempted to leave, but was told I could not. I immediately asked if I was being detained. I was told “no” but that I wasn’t allowed to leave unless I walked back to the cashier to get a receipt. I said that I was “happy to let the security guard talk to the cashier, but that I was heading home with my sugar.” I attempted to leave again, and the door was blocked. I asked again if I was being detained, and was told “yes.” I asked on what grounds, and the security guard said “Because you stole.”

I informed the guard I had done no such thing, that the sugar was my property, and I was leaving with it. This time I pushed passed him and left the store, with him following me demanding I stop. As I left, he grabbed my bags, ripping them open. As he followed me he attempted to grab my bags, and grab the items inside of my bags. At one point, he told me that he should “kick my ass.” As I reached the end of sidewalk outside the store and headed towards my car in the parking lot, another employee came running and blocked my path. Soon afterwards a manager arrived. I again asked if I was being detained. I was informed by the manager that I was. I again asked for what reason, and was told by the original security guard that it was for stealing. I once again informed them that I hadn’t stolen anything and that I was leaving.

At this point, the manager informed me that Wal*Mart policy did not allow me to leave the store without showing a receipt. I said that I had paid for my merchandise, that it was in fact a store employee that had thrown away my receipt, and that I was not compelled to prove that items that I legally owned belonged to anyone but me. Again I inquired whether I was being detained, and was told my only options were to go back in the store to talk to the cashier or have the police called. I informed the manager that she was welcome to call the police, because I had done nothing wrong. At tht point, she radioed for someone to call the police. Once again, I started to walk to my car as the two security guards again attempted to block my path in the parking lot.

At this point, and off duty police officer came to the scene (he appeared to be heading into Wal*Mart to shop, not the one called by the manager), showed his badge, and asked for an explanation. Everyone was calmed by this, and tensions visibly eased on the faces of the Wal*Mart employees. I explained my side, and Wal*Mart employees explained their side. After the explanations, I asked the police officer if I was being detained, and he said yes. I asked on what grounds, and he said “suspicion of theft.” The officer told me I could give them “their merchandise back” and leave at that point or I could go inside and talk to the cashier. I indicated that since he was detaining me, I was willing to go back into the store and speak with the cashier, but that the merchandise belonged to me. At this point, one of the bags of sugar fell from my ripped bags and split open on the pavement. It was an accident, but I could tell no one believed me when I said so.

On the way into the store, the officer informed me that it was his day off, he had important things to do, and he didn’t want to take me to jail. But I had one last chance to give them their merchandise back and just leave, because if I wasn’t telling the truth, he would personally drive me to the station. I agreed wholeheartedly with him, and told him so. I’m fairly certain he thought I had actually stolen the sugar at this point. He then asked what I needed so much sugar for anyway. At the time, I was literally covered with strawberry juice. It had stained my shorts and shirt red, and I thought it was fairly believable that I was going to make strawberry jam. He still seemed skeptical, asking where I had been picking strawberries, and only seemed to believe me after I was able to name Butler’s Orchard. He then asked if I had ID, what my name was, and how old I was. Upon telling him this, he said “You better not be lying to me,” so perhaps I was too quick to think he didn’t assume I was guilty.

Of course, upon re-entering the store and speaking with the cashier, he informed everyone that I had paid for the sugar and the receipt was found in his trash can. His story differed slightly in that he told them he had given me the receipt but I had thrown it into his trash can. That was impossible based on where his trash can was from the checkout counter, but it didn’t matter. The original security guard was cordial, shook my hand, and apologized. The Wal*Mart manager and police officer lectured about how next time if I just cooperated and gave up my rights at the beginning, it would have been much easier on everyone. Trust me, Wal*Mart, there won’t be a next time.

If you defend Wal-Mart for this treatment of an average customer, you are a slave. There are other ways to prevent shoplifting. How about the security guard follows the suspected shoplifter to his car to take down his license plate while radioing someone in the store to confirm whether or not his story is legit? Besides that, Ben had four bags of sugar in Wal-Mart branded plastic bags—the likelihood that he was shoplifting them was low, and the value of the sugar to the store was virtually nonexistent compared to other merchandise that was and is probably being stolen from Wal-Marts all over America this weekend. No matter how belligerent a customer is in this situation, the guard, manager, and officer should remember that if the customer is innocent, he has a right to be belligerent and offended that he's being harrassed to such a degree—especially over something as trivial as four bags of sugar.

Update: Ben wrote back to us, "To their credit, they did replace the bag of sugar."

"Detained by Montgomery County Police For Buying Sugar" [Metblogs] (Thanks to everyone who sent this in!)
(Photo: kaibara87)

Michael writes:

On May 8 2008 around 6pm, my wife was shopping at Rite Aid store # 11285 in Newport News, Va. She noticed an individual in the store wearing a heavy coat and nit cap with a backpack. It was warm out so she thought it a little strange. He paid for his purchase and left the store. She paid for her items and left. She has remote start on her car and started it from inside the store. When she got to her car and opened the door, the individual who was in the store ran up behind her an attempted to grab her.

She was able to turn and kick him and get into the car and drive off. When she got home we called the police. While we were waiting for them to show up we called the store and spoke with the manager. His name is Jim or John . We explained what just happened and he stated he remembered her being in there and he somewhat knew the individual as he comes in regularly and he might work for a Waste Management Company. He also stated the camera facing the right front side of the building where the attack happened was not working, but the one in the store was. Once we gave the description to the police, he went to talk to the manager. Later in the evening he called to let us know the manager refused to discuss the issue and would not let him see the security video of inside the store. The matter was turned over to a Detective the next day. Since the 9th, numerous attempts have been made to contact the manager, however he has not returned one phone call.

On May 27 around 1pm I called the Home Office at (717)761-2633. After getting bounced around to different departments and disconnected, I was finally able to get Karen Mcklintic (sp) at 503-977-5903 in the claims department. She listened and stated she would take this to her supervisor to act on. I heard nothing from her yesterday May 28, and left her a message today May 29. All I was asking for was for someone to call the manager and instruct him to call the detective and to give him the information he needs. I don’t know if the security video is still available or if it has been taped over.

I do not understand why he is reluctant to help get this resolved. My wife was attacked a few years ago and this is bringing back some bad memories. It makes it worse that the manager may know the individual and sees him in the store and is not doing anything. As a minimum the security tapes should have been pulled after we called and given to the police. I understand if a district or regional manager needed to be involved before the tapes were given or viewed, but to get NO cooperation from a Rite Aid representative is ridiculous. I have no problem taking a week off from work, having a sign made that states: MY WIFE WAS ATTACKED IN THIS PARKING LOT AND RITE AIDE WILL NOT HELP. SHOP AT YOUR OWN RISK.

Good idea. Make the sign, show it to the manager, and explain your intentions. Then, ask once more for the tape.

The corporate office really needs to step up and reign in their vigilante manager. Customer service complaints are inherently subjective, but we can all agree that it's a bad idea to interfere with a police investigation.

(Photo: Getty)

I would like to make you aware of an incident that occurred in your Burnsville, MN Circuit City yesterday. I read about your Unbeatable Price Guarantee on your website. I had an ad from Costco for a Magellan GPS that was significantly less than the Circuit City price. Before driving 20 miles in a snow storm, I called your Burnsville store and spoke with Tom. Tom told me that because Costco is a local retailer, I would be eligible for the Unbeatable Price Guarantee...

So I drove down to the store, brought the GPS and the Costco ad to the checkout. The teller called for a manager to override the price. The manager declined to do so. So I asked to speak with the store manager. I was introduced to Brad, who later refused to give his last name. I explained the situation to Brad, and he said he would not match the Costco price because it was a club. I told him that I looked on the CC website and that it didn't say club prices were not eligible; and I reminded him that one of his employees ensured me that the price would be matched. Brad said there are more limitations to the policy in a pamphlet. I asked to see the pamphlet and he refused. He then said it didn't matter what the pamphlet stated, because he made the rules in “his store” I persisted. I asked again to see in writing where club prices wouldn't be matched. He told me there was no way he was going to match the price and that I should leave. I said I would gladly leave once he proved to me that the club portion of the policy existed. He response: he called the police! I was there with my 5 year old son, who became very scared by Brad's irrational behavior. Of course, out of concern for my child, we left immediately.

I hope you are as outraged by Brad's irrational and arrogant behavior as I am. I have always been treated well by your employees in the past. I am interested in the true policy about price matching clubs. Does CC match Costco ads? If so, I would still be interested in purchasing the GPS from Circuit City.

Thank you for your attention to this matter,

Emmett

Don't ever let stores bully you around by conjuring up nonexistent policies. When a store denies a reasonable request, whip out your phone and call the corporate office. Even if the manager was correct, he should have known that calling the cops is the worst possibly way to resolve a customer service issue.

At the very least, Circuit City should honor the price match and apologize to both Emmett and his son for their manager's egregious behavior.

(Photo: Xurble)

Apparently, airlines can be fined up to $25,000 if passengers don't get off the phone, and passengers themselves can be fined as well. The passenger could not be reached for comment by the AP, but a business associate said that Mr. Jones' father was having a heart attack and and he was on the phone with the hospital.

"He expresses regret for the inconvenience that it caused the airline and its passengers, but he felt compelled because of the life and death nature of it to make that call," Clayton said in a story for Monday's online edition of the Austin American-Statesman.

Southwest passenger cited for refusing to get off cell phone [Houston Chronicle]
(Photo: Zonaphoto)

Recently Miden's police chief, T.C. Bloxom, had noticed some irregularities in the department's gasoline spending which began to arouse his suspicion. A subsequent investigation concluded that Officer Craig Bucknor was using a gas card assigned to a school resource officer and then using another officer's personal identification number. According to Chief Bloxom, Bucknor used the department gas card 9 times which totaled $400 in the month of April. Additionally, Bucknor used the card twice in March for what is described as "a small amount." The thirty-year-old Bucknor had been with the department since September, 2005. It's a sad state of affairs when even our law enforcement personnel are driven to crime by high gas prices.

Minden Police Officer Arrested For Stealing Gas From City [KSLA]
(Photo: KSLA)

"Ohmigod," Adams said as she recalled police breaking down her door and flashing the search warrant. "I just kept saying to them, 'you've got the wrong house.' "
 
Roehl said the drug task force was acting on a tip from a subcontractor for CenterPoint Energy, who had been in the home Friday to install a hot water heater.
 
"He got hit with a chemical smell that he said made him light headed, feel kind of nauseous," Roehl said.
 
The smell was vinegar, and maybe pickling lime, which were clearly marked in a bathroom Mr. Adams uses to mix chemicals for his salt water fish tank.
 
"I said, 'I call it his laboratory for his fish tanks,' " Mrs. Adams said, recalling her conversation with the CenterPoint technician. "I'm looking at the fish tank talking to this guy."
 
Police say there was no extended investigation, just an interview with the subcontractor.

Alex called Best Buy's corporate number, but was on hold so long that the police arrived before he could speak with anyone. After getting the manager's information, he left the store, then called Best Buy corporate again, where he spoke with a supervisor who told her that no, actually it's NOT Best Buy's policy to call the cops whenever a customer shares her experiences with another customer, unless it's "disruptive." Alex's email:

Dear Consumerist,

I absolutely love reading your blog and have learned a great deal about the horrors of Best Buy "customer service." But never in a thousand years did I think I'd be sending in my very own Best Buy horror story.

I had recently purchased the Jawbone headset from my local Verizon store based on good reviews, but I quickly discovered my supreme dissatisfaction with it and was looking to replace it with a different brand. On March 5, 2008, at around 9 PM, I entered the Best Buy store in East Brunswick, NJ to see their selection of bluetooth headsets.

The selection of headsets at this Best Buy was dismal, and the merchandising was less than appealing, but that's not why I'm writing. While I was browsing the selection, another customer picked up the Jawbone headset and was taking a look at it. I shared my disappointing experience with the headset and also alerted him to the fact that Best Buy was charging an additional $30 on top of both the manufacturer's price online and Verizon's price. All of this was said within earshot of a sales associate, and I walked away after sharing my experience.

Within 30 seconds, a manager named Tom approached me and asked me to leave the store. I thought he was joking, since I had done absolutely nothing wrong, and I asked Tom for the reason why I needed to leave. According to Tom, "it was policy."

I was incredulous. I've worked far too many retail jobs to know the extent of "power" a manager has over customers, and my intuition told me he was pissed that I lost him a potential sale. I refused to leave the store, based on the fact that I had done nothing wrong and that this so-called policy was pulled out of his ass. Tom walked away and directed an associate to call the police.

I was shocked that Tom treated me like a thief—the cops were coming! I asked Tom for the Best Buy customer service number and immediately called to speak with someone that would knock some sense into trigger-happy Tom. Of course, I had to wait for what seemed like forever to speak with a representative, but before I could actually talk to a live person, the cops came.

Two cops and about four Best Buy associates in tough guy poses stood at the front of the store, obviously creating a dramatic scene. I was calmly waiting for a customer service rep to pick up the phone. I gave up on the customer service line, got the store's phone number and Tom's full name and title and left as per police request.

I have never been so humiliated and infuriated in my life. I felt like my First Amendment rights were violated—all I did was tell a fellow customer my experiences with a product! When I got home I FINALLY spoke to Daniel, a supervisor at Best Buy's customer service line, and he was shocked and appalled at Tom's actions. Daniel confirmed that Tom COULD have asked me to leave, had I been disruptive, then stated that Tom had no right to police a conversation between two customers, regardless of what was said. Daniel apologized profusely, took all of my contact information down, and noted that I had requested to receive a follow up email from a district manager that would deal with the investigation and formal complaint.

As far as I'm concerned, Tom can rot in hell. But I know how retail works, and he'll most likely get some insignificant writeup and a slap on the wrist. What I really want is a massive gift card because of Tom's flagrant abuse of "policy" and for embarrassing the hell out of me in front of the whole store. What steps can I take to get Best Buy to make a customer happy, formally apologize, and give me a free gift card?

Thanks so much. I love the blog and tell all of my friends about it! Keep up the amazing work!

Best,

Alex

(Photo: ob1left)

Something pretty bad happened to me the other week that ended up being pretty cool, and speaks well to the quality of customer service at my local Burlington Coat Factory.

I bought a couple of shirts and a sweater there, and after which went to continued shopping. Upon returning to our car, my wife and I noticed that our doors were unlocked and that the sack of clothes from Burlington were missing. Someone had reach their apparently skinny arms into the crack we left in the window and unlocked the passenger side door.

My immediate reaction was, "bummer, but at least nothing else was missing and no one got hurt." My wife, with over a decade of retail experience, knew that our best chance of getting the stuff back was to go back to the store and ask them to look out for someone trying to return the items. A security employee named Justin took my information and said he would give me a call if anything came up.

Sure enough, 8 PM that night, Justin called and said that my items were back in the store after someone, who was still in the store, had attempted to rerun them. Since I had used a credit card, he couldn't get cash, so he was trying to find something he wanted in exchange. Justin also informed me that they had called to Police.

Great! So, what happened? Sure enough, the supposed thief tried to book-it out of the store once he saw the cop, and was apprehended. After a short and pleasant phone conversation with officer Rutherford of Clackamas PD later that night to corroborate my story, I was informed that I could come retrieve my clothes the next day.

Has one of your shopping expeditions ever ended with a loss? Tell us what happened and how you responded in the comments.

(Photo: aturkus)

Mr. [redacted]:

The situation with the Web site RateMyCop was absolutely NOT about censorship in ANY way.

The site's operator has publicly disclosed the concerns were over bandwidth. More accurately, Go Daddy's concerns were about how the RateMyCop site was far exceeding the amount of server usage for which it had contracted.

This customer paid for a shared server plan. The connections to his site were six times more than an entire 'shared server' accommodates. While he was paying for a service that cost $14.99 a month, his site actually required a much more extensive set-up.

Basically, he was paying for compact car, when he really needed a semi-truck.

The customer was not willing to work with our staff to resolve the issue.

While the "censorship" allegations certainly make for an edgy "story," they simply had nothing to do with this situation.

- Go Daddy
Office of the President

(Thanks to Mike!)

"Go Daddy Shuts Down RateMyCop Watchdog Site"
"GoDaddy Silences Police-Watchdog Site RateMyCop.com" [Wired]

RELATED
RateMyCop.com

One Consumerist reader sent Go Daddy the following letter this morning to voice his concerns that the company might be selectively censoring content (which certainly is within Go Daddy's right, but might turn off some customers):

I am writing to express my concern over Go Daddy's recent action in taking down the "RateMyCop.com" site hosted for one of your customers. Recent media attention has raised some controversy and your action was to suspend the site and post an "oops" page asking for the site's owner to contact you.

While I'm not necessarily a fan of "RateMyCop" or its message, the content of this site did not violate any laws, nor did it violate any normal standards of decency. That Go Daddy would censor this site, without warning or consultation to the site's owner, is deeply troubling to me.

I have been a Go Daddy customer for many years, and recently went through significant steps to transfer the last of my domains from previous registrars/hosts to consolidate under Go Daddy. I am now seriously considering taking my business elsewhere.

My domains are "hobby" websites, which I'm sure makes them very profitable for Go Daddy because I pay for Premium level services but place very little load on your systems, in that traffic is steady but not massive. I pay for this type of hosting so that I have absolute control over the content and presentation of my domains, free from advertising, bias, or other restrictions.

If Go Daddy is going to insist that constitutional protections extending to publications on other media do not apply when published on Go Daddy's servers, then I'm afraid I will feel the need to publish my speech elsewhere. And I promise to do so in as noisy and spectacular a manner as possible.

I look forward to hearing your response, and furthermore hope that you will reconsider your policies regarding censoring the content of the sites you are paid to publish.

"GoDaddy Silences Police-Watchdog Site RateMyCop.com" [Wired]

RELATED
RateMyCop.com

In addition to poor customer service and an inadequately maintained and stocked store, Matt says he was illegally detained by the Metropolitan Police and forced to return to the store to show his receipt to a Home Depot employee.

According to his police report, the officer stopped Matt without reasonable cause and forced him to comply with "store policy." Matt feels that this was a violation of his 4th amendment rights.

Why are the Washington D.C. police enforcing Home Depot's "store policies" as if they were laws? Nothing better to do?

Here's Matt's letter to Home Depot's CEO Frank "Li'l Frankie" Blake:

Dear Mr. Blake,

Since purchasing my home in March 2007, I've spent nearly $10,000 on various projects around my home; most of that was spent at my local Home Depot in Washington, DC. Despite the poor inventory, poor customer service, long check out lines, disorganization of the store, rummaged-through/opened/broken/incomplete items sold, and many other problems with the store, I've shopped there because it's local and has a good-sized lumber/drywall supply. After a recent incident, however, I'll likely not return and instead will probably drive a few miles further to a Lowe's in Maryland or Virginia in the future.

Long story short, I refused to show my receipt to exit the store, and was detained illegally (albeit briefly) by a uniformed Washington, DC Metropolitan Police officer in the 5th District on February 21, 2008. I've submitted a formal complaint to the police department, which is attached. I refuse to be treated like a criminal and be held at your store illegally in the future. As you probably know, most retail shrinkage/loss occurs as a result of internal theft by employees, not customers, so the store "requiring" customers to display receipts at exits likely isn't doing much good anyway (not to mention that customers are not legally required to display receipts).

In addition to this incident, I've experienced the below within the past few months:

-Lack of knowledgeable sales staff

-Discourteous sales staff

-Inattentive sales staff

-Trouble receiving replacement parts missing from a ceiling fan kit; the local Home Depot associate actually opened up a new box for a different fan, gave me parts he assured would work, and sent me on my way. The parts didn't fit my fan at all, and now the local Home Depot has yet another opened and incomplete item; the Chinese manufacturer was more efficient and shipped the parts to me as a courtesy.

-Saw used for cutting/ripping plywood and other lumber has been out of service for some time (forcing me to go elsewhere)

-Initial refusal by a cashier to allow an exchange of a Commercial Electric brand item; she claimed that the item was not purchased at a Home Depot, even though this brand is sold exclusively by Home Depot (after wasting 30 minutes of my time, a manager overrode the decision)

-Inaccurate inventory numbers, resulting in perpetually out-of-stock items (e.g.: one time, the store's inventory system indicated to a sales rep that the store had hundreds of an item in stock, yet no associate could find the large, oddly-shaped item, forcing me to go to a competing store out-of-state, which has helpful staff and plenty of the item readily available)

-A store security guard grabbing my person and my purchased items and not allowing me to leave the store; my father had the receipt and already left the immediate area (Again, this type of action is unlawful; store employees or contractors have no legal right to touch/assault customers or prevent them from leaving, even if no receipt is shown. After purchasing the items, a customer's obligation to the store ends.)

-Common items out of stock (one more than one occasion, I couldn't find a CPVC 1/2" elbow; this is a very common part, and it's frustrating to have to rig several components together to complete a project)

-A 40-minute wait to even speak to someone about ordering a sheet of laminate countertop material (I recently built my own kitchen cabinets and counters); three other associates were present and available in the department, but claimed that the one busy associate was the single person in the store who could give me a rough guesstimate of price (I gave up and drove a few miles out-of-town to Lowe's, which had a handful of popular styles of laminate sheets in stock, unlike Home Depot).

When I first arrived to DC, I was happy to hear that there was a Home Depot in town, as I was familiar with the "You can do it, we can help" attitude portrayed in advertisements. My experiences (only some are list above) have proven, however, that the Home Depot is most certainly not in a position to help as advertised. In fact, I wish I would have spend the thousands of dollars at Lowe's or other stores. Even with a further distance to travel and possibly higher prices, I wouldn't have left the store stressed out or frustrated nearly every time.

Mr. Blake, I realize this is a long e-mail, but I hope you— as Home Depot's CEO— will consider what I've said and work to institute changes at the Home Depot in our nation's capital; until then, though, I'll likely find a store that's well-organized and staffed with persons who are helpful.

In addition, I read today that Home Depot recently posted its first-ever annual sales decline, with a 27% drop in the fourth quarter of 2007. With those losses, I'm surprised that Home Depot hasn't gotten back to basics like having good customer service, sensible policies, and treating customers as they should be treated.

Please feel free to contact me via e-mail or telephone at [redacted] should you have any questions.

Yours,

Matt

UPDATE: Home Depot's CEO Has Responded To This Complaint

From the Daytona Beach News Journal Online:

Elizabeth Beeland, 35, a yoga teacher and holistic healer, was shopping at the electronics store on Nov. 26. As she went though the check-out line to pay for a gift she had purchased for her father, she received a disturbing telephone call from her husband regarding the couple's daughter.

Upset, Beeland stepped outside, leaving her transaction midway and her credit card with the Best Buy cashier. The cashier thought Beeland's behavior was odd and she flagged down a police officer who was already in the store investigating another credit card fraud case.

The casher told officer Claudia Wright that Beeland handed her a credit card and she wondered whether the card was stolen because the customer had gone outside without finishing the transaction.

Wright encountered Beeland just outside the store and told her to come back inside because there was a question regarding a credit card.

According to the officer's report, Beeland became agitated and began yelling and cussing at her.

At least one witness who saw both Beeland and Wright however, denied that Beeland screamed or cussed at Wright.

Best Buy shopper Darwin Ingram said he watched the drama unfold. Ingram said he was no more than "five to six feet" from Beeland and the officer inside the store.

"I just froze in place," he said recently. "She (Beeland) was frustrated and excited because she hadn't done anything. She was just stepping back with her palms up. The police called it resisting, but I just saw it as exercising her rights."

Ingram said Beeland was not yelling, and he never heard her cuss.

Officer Wright has been supported by the police department throughout the incident. Again from the Daytona Beach News-Journal:

Police Chief Mike Chitwood, who makes it a habit publicly to brand as "scumbags" individuals in confrontations with police, not only defended the use of the gun, but defended using violence on Beeland as a matter of course: "I was never raised on Tasers," he said. "I used nightsticks and slapjacks." (SECTION A; Pg. 4A, December 27th, 2007)

"No charges will be filed against woman Tasered in confrontation at Best Buy" [Daytona Beach News-Journal Online]
"Woman Tasered by officer at store won't be prosecuted" [Daytona Beach News-Journal Online]

RELATED
Video footage of Beeland being tasered
"Shopper Tasered After Using Someone Else's Credit Card At Best Buy"

Finally, after about 50 attempts, they just gave up. First they sent him a legal letter, alleging that his complaints are unsubstantiated and that he was hosting a commercial website, to which he responded with his own letter. Then, magically, for the past month or so, his internet has worked fine. He doesn't want to cancel. Finally, today, the cable company arrived at Jeff's house with a police escort and disconnected his cable:

Update 02-01-08 - Well, holy crap. They just came and disconnected my cable. They sent a uniformed officer from the Altamonte Springs PD with them. It's unbelievable. I never threatened them. Not once. I was never violent, what did they think I'd do? I hope they paid for the protection, because it was unwarranted by all imagination.

Jeffrey says:

I'm a BrightHouse cable customer in the Orlando, FL area. After 15 months of trying to solve random Internet drop outs, they have given up and told me go away. However, until a few weeks ago, they never denied my supposedly "unsubstantiated" claims. They even credited us $500 and I have a chain of e-mails from their local division supervisor readily admitting the problem. Though in November they started getting very confrontational and frustrated. 45 days later, the letter from their lawyers came..

I'm going to roll over and die. It's simply not worth it — if a cable monopoly wants to strong arm a little guy with a legitimate problem, so be it.. I figured I have nothing else to lose, so I posted the letter and my final rebuttal.

The ironic thing is, December 23rd, the connection has been stable. Did they fix it just after deciding I wasn't worth it anymore?

And his rebuttal:

On New Years Eve 2007, my roommate Rodney received an official letter from Frank Kruppenbacher, PA - an attorney for BrightHouse networks. Attached is the letter we received and below is our rebuttal. "Unsubstantiated claims" — BrightHouse has acknowledged in many e-mails and phone calls that there was indeed a problem with my connection. It was so bad that when a technician looked up my statistics, his first and only comment was a gasp and then "wow" — and this was only a few weeks ago. They even went so far as to issue a credit for many hundreds of dollars, acknowledging the service was poor. When is the last time you've seen a company grant a credit or refund when a clients claims were so baseless? If we had ever thought in the last 15 months that BrightHouse would suddenly start denying a problem they spent the better part of a year fixing, we would have kept much better records. It's a lesson learned on our part, but a chain of e-mails and a daily visit from a friendly technician who sat out in his truck on the coldest and warmest mornings verifying the problem was upstream is hardly an unsubstantiated claim. Mr. Kruppenbacher suggests there were ten visits to our home, there were no less than fifty! And they did so why? To appease techno-hypochondriac? No. They did so because they saw an alarming random drop out on their network that they knew to be abnormal and substandard. Mr. Kruppenbacher is twisting my roommate's words. Though we don't deny Rodney stated to the BrightHouse attorney that he was 'satisfied' with the service, Mr. Kruppenbacher's letter does not acknowledge that Rodney uses the service for a few minutes a day and only in the evening hours. The evening time has always provided a more stable connection than during regular business hours. My other roommate who works for a local phone company has seen and verified the problem we're experiencing. As someone who pays one third of the cable bill, he is not satisfied nor does he believe BrightHouse handling this situation fairly. Regarding the claim that we were running a "commercial website" from my account. This may get a little technical, but it is the only way it can be explained. The hostname of 'jeff.iddings.us' was setup as a dynamic DNS entry (meaning it would update every time my RoadRunner IP address changed). Though I did have port 80 (http://) open on that connection, it was NEVER hosting a site, nor was it commercial. It simply redirected anyone who tried to visit jeff.iddings.us to heliosj.iddings.us — my personal site, hosted with LayeredTech.com. At no time have I hosted content from our RR/BrightHouse cable connection, not personally or commercial. When the BrightHouse attorney mentioned the web hosting activity on December 13th, I immediately ceased forwarding that address and I have no idea why this is even a relevant matter.

And finally —the accusation that we denied access to our router and other equipment. This charge is halftrue. After the first year of plugging my laptop directly into the modem at the technician's request and verifying the problem was not inside my home, I began denying access to my equipment. It seemed like a wild goose chase and until they started grasping at straws in mid November, I was assured by the field technician who had been informally assigned to my problem that the problem was categorically not in my home and he would never have to come back in my home to bother me again. If they again want to peruse this route, they can do so, but it's a heck of a reversal from just a month or so ago. We want to keep BrightHouse's service, we feel as if in most cases they provide a quality product. This neighborhood/street must be an exception. We'd like a chance to calmly and rationally document the problem so it can be presented to upper management at BrightHouse so they can see my claims and the claims of others are not 'unsubstantiated' just because a divisional supervisor cannot find/fix a problem. Again, thanks for listening to our problem.

Merola said the McDonald's employees told her to wait there for her food. Merola was handcuffed behind her back and put in the cruiser. Another officer arrived and took her to the Pinellas County Jail .

Merola said she was searched, photographed and fingerprinted. Jail records show she was released about 90 minutes later on her own recognizance.

Imagine waiting until 75 to start your life of crime. What a procrastinator.

Grandmother Arrested At McDonald's Drive-Thru For Not Pulling Car Forward [Local 6 via BoingBoing] (Thanks, Everyone!)

Awhile back, I sold a ton of video games on Craigslist here in San Francisco. A buyer contacted me and agreed to purchase them and I was delighted. I didn't have the time to post everything on eBay separately and I wanted to get the transaction over as quickly as possible. A week later, I received a Wal-mart money order in the mail and shipped off the packages.

Little did I know that money orders are just as easily faked as any other form of payment, so after a day or so after depositing the bogus money order into my Wells Fargo account, I got notice that my ATM card had been put on hold, as well as my checking and savings account funds. Confused, I stopped by my local Wells Fargo, who alerted me that the money order was fraudulent and that more than likely, their Security and Fraud department would be permanently closing my accounts. Frustrated, I tried to ask them why I would be the one getting the punishment when I was an unknowing victim of fraud. Unfortunately, the on-location staff had no answer and suggested I give the actual department a call on the phone. But first, they would fill out a fraud report and forward it to their Security and Fraud department.

So, I did, and got even more frustrating results. The man I spoke to was disinterested and dismissive, telling me that I should probably just prepare for my accounts to be closed. When I asked if there was any sort of recourse or action I could undertake to try to keep my accounts open, he simply said, "that's not going to do you any good." Even more insane was the fact that they claimed not to have received the fraud report I had personally filled out at the Wells Fargo location near my place of work.

Frustrated, out of the items I had sold, out of the money I had been scammed out of, and staring at the bleak possibility of having my credit or bank accounts ruined, I decided to do what I think most people out there don't do - file a police report.

I'm not overly cautious person, but I was glad that I had saved every single email from the scammer, from the first email where he contacted me to the last. As expected, emailing the scammer didn't do much good, as he wouldn't response, despite the fact that I had put read-receipts on the emails I sent him and had gotten confirmation that they had been open. But, I did noticed that the scammer apparently was using an AOL account to access the Internet. And, if he was using AOL, he was probably also using AOL Instant Messenger. So, I added his AOL name to my AIM buddy list and voila, there he was.

Our exchange went down pretty much as I figured it was. I confronted him about the fake money order, he tried to defend himself by saying he had purchased them off eBay. I laid out to him exactly all the steps I was going through to protect myself (filing a police report in San Francisco, filing a police report in Pennsylvania where the scammer resided, filing a report with the State Attorney General's Office, etc). At that point he got extremely defensive, threatened me, and referred me to his legal counsel, which conveniently enough had a Yahoo email address (go figure).

After filing reports for what seemed like forever, I expected nothing to come of my claims. I was ready to cut my losses and learn a valuable lesson at the same time. Well, I learned my lesson, but was entirely surprised when I was contacted by a computer crimes officer in Pennsylvania who was investigating the scammer and needed my help. Luckily, I had saved all of my emails with him, including the AIM chat logs. Needless to say, this ended up being enough to get this guy arrested. Here is the link to the newspaper article that ran when the guy was arrested:It seems like he had been scamming folks for some time, but I'm happy to see that maybe, in some sort of way, my case was the straw that broke the camel's back.

Although it looks like I won't be getting back either the money I was scammed out of or the items I sent the scammer, this whole situation does give me some renewed faith in the police and the fact that reporting a crime, even one originating on the seemingly lawless Internet, can result in some justice.

Oh, and to give you an update on Wells Fargo, both the investigating officer and myself tried repeatedly to get them to fax us a copy of the fake money order for use in the criminal investigation. And, both times, Wells Fargo actually faxed both of us the wrong money order (and at that, money order's that are obviously from someone else's account). Needless to say, I think I'll be changing banks very soon.

But for those folks out there who've gotten scammed, I hope my story gives you a bit of hope that scammers do get punished.

Thanks,

Chris

Known Internet scammer in county prison for fake money orders

—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—
CENTER TWP — A reputed Internet scam artist is in the Butler County Prison today following his arrest Thursday for allegedly sending a counterfeit money order to a California man for more than 200 video games.

The case, according to state police Cpl. John Stepansky, a computer crime investigator at the Butler barracks, should serve as a reminder: let the online buyer beware.

Federal authorities already suspected Justin M. Castilyn, 28, of Holyoke Road, Center Township of scamming eight victims when the state police arrested him in the latest case.

Police said Castilyn by way of Craigslist.com, an online classified ads site, agreed in August to buy 212 video games from a San Francisco man.

The seller told police he shipped the games to Castilyn's home after receiving a money order for $1,950. But then learned the money order was fake.

Stepansky said that during his investigation he learned of the defendant's past victims after contacting the Internet Crime Complaint Center, a partnership of the FBI and the nonprofit National White Collar Crime Center.

Castilyn in those other cases failed to either provide merchandise or pay for products from online transactions.
Police got a search warrant on Thursday and seized two computers as well as 12 other suspected counterfeit money orders from the defendant's house, documents said.

District Judge Lewis Stoughton arraigned Castilyn on charges of forgery, access device fraud, receiving stolen property and unlawful use of a computer.

Already on parole for a 2000 conviction in a sexual assault case in Butler County, Castilyn remains in the county jail on $75,000 bond.

Police reminded computer users to be alert when buying products online. Stepansky recommended dealing with reputable businesses.

Police Reward Good Drivers With Coffee [AP] (Thanks To Moss Media!)
(Photo: Tengaport)

The company also runs "iSold it," an auction service that works with police departments to liquidate unclaimed personal property; we're guessing that's the "???" step that comes before "3. Profit!"

Just Stolen.net [via Metafilter]

RELATED
"Brookline cop works to reunite theft victims and their property" [Wicked Local]

Also, if you bring items out of a store and put them in your car (we mean trunk), don't immediately go back in; instead, get in your car and drive to a new parking spot, because loading a car with items and going back inside is exactly the sort of behavior thieves watch for in mall parking lots.

The article doesn't provide any good stats to prove that it's a growing problem or anything—but there's anecdotal evidence that the Christmas season is a good time to be a car prowler, because so many shoppers are already distracted, or filling up the back seat with gifts like it's a temporary sleigh.

A few other good dos and don'ts:

Don't:
• Leave your keys in your car (the police say it happens a lot more than you'd imagine).
• Leave identification or mail in your car.
• Leave your cell phone in your car.

Do:
• Lock the connection between your trunk and passenger compartment.
• Leave unneeded credit cards at home when going to a crowded shopping center.
• Jot down your parking spot so you don't have to search for it laden with packages.

One other good bit of advice, which doesn't fit the rest of the article but is useful nonetheless:

• Give children a card with contact information for you including a cell phone number.

"How to keep your car safe from thieves while shopping" [SeattlePI]
(Photo: Getty)

They both determined that an electronic device had been put above the actual credit card reader. It was a device that was used to scan someone's credit card when they swiped it through the slot. They were able to take the device off of the box and turn it over to the deputies on scene. The device was taken into evidence for processing.

At this time, this is the only report that detectives have received about this type of device being attached to a DVD rental box in the county. Deputies did check out other businesses close by and did not find any other of these devices.

Sheriff Weaver as well as the detectives who handle these types of identity theft cases want to remind citizens to be extra careful when using credit cards at these types of unmanned machines.

This could apply to ATM's, automated fuel station pumps, DVD rental boxes, vending machines, concert or event type machines, or any other machine that may ask you to scan your credit card without actually dealing with a clerk or employee.

The woman "was arrested on suspicion of filing a false vehicle theft report with intent to deceive and falsely reporting a crime to a peace officer." No word yet on whether she'll be charged for insurance fraud, although we would imagine that would be part of the whole "we found your unstolen car" package.

"LoJack undoes scheme to fake SUV theft" [Sign On San Diego] (thanks to Stacy!)
(Image: LoJack)

The 375 pounds of seized illegal cheese included panela, queso fresco and queso oxaca varieties, the [California Department of Food and Agriculture] says. It was a significant find, the department says.

"Illegally produced is cheese is serious threat to public health," says CDFA Secretary A.G. Kawamura.

Arrests drain bathtub cheese sellers [Central Valley Business Times via BarfBlog]
(Photo: jthorvath)

1) Walk around in the parking lot with said toy gun out in the open, uncovered.

2) Return the gun at 4 am.

An unidentified man from El Paso, TX could have used this advice. He caused a panic at his local Walmart, according to the El Paso Times.

The incident began shortly before 4 a.m. at the Cielo Vista Wal-Mart store when someone spotted a man in the parking lot with a gun.

Responding police officers evacuated the store and began a search.

The purported gunman was found and questioned at the scene.

He was released a few minutes later when it was determined that the man was not intending to commit a crime.

Police: Wal-Mart gunman was returning toy gun [El Paso Times]
(Photo:greenmelinda)

The public advocate has released a statement, according to the NYT:

Saying it appeared that her stepdaughter-in-law had been "manhandled" by police officers before her death in police custody in Phoenix on Friday, New York City's public advocate, Betsy Gotbaum, called yesterday for an investigation into the circumstances of the death.
...
"The family has not reached a conclusion as to whether her care and treatment were inappropriate, but the circumstances were highly unusual," Mr. Manning [lawyer] said. "This woman — who was 5 foot 7, less than 110 pounds — was without doubt emotionally disturbed, and at this stage the family understands why the Phoenix Police Department intervened, but it's what happened after the intervention that causes us concern."
...
"We are not jumping to any conclusions, but the circumstances surrounding Carol's death appear to be unusual enough to raise serious questions and warrant a thorough investigation," [Betsy Gotbaum] said. "She cried out for help at the airport, but her pleas appear to have been met by mistreatment."

NYC Public Advocate's Relative Who Died at Airport Was Heading to Rehab [Fox News]
Gotbaum Seeks Investigation Into Death [NYT]
Family seeks answers in airport death [Arizona Republic]

The woman was placed in handcuffs and taken to a holding cell where she was found dead sometime later. It's suspected that she may have been trying to escape the handcuffs and accidentally choked herself to death, but the exact cause of death is unknown.

From USA Today:

Carol Ann Gotbaum, 45, of New York, was arrested Friday at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport after a conflict with gate crews who refused to allow her to board a plane, said Sgt. Andy Hill, a Phoenix police spokesman.

The airline said the plane was already preparing to depart. She was rebooked on the next flight, but "she became extremely irate, apparently running up and down the gate area," US Airways spokesman Derek Hanna said Saturday.

Officers handcuffed her and took her to the holding room, where she kept screaming, authorities said. Hill said officers checked on her when she stopped screaming and found her unresponsive.

Hill said it appears Gotbaum may have tried to get out of her handcuffs, became tangled in the process and the cuffs ended up around her neck. A cause of death will be determined by the Maricopa County Medical Examiner.

Woman dies after airport arrest [USAToday]
(Photo:Roebot)

Our favorite myth?

Myth No. 6: You can make up an excuse to get out of the ticket.
Most police officers aren't interested in excuses. When an officer pulls you over, he already suspects you of an infraction. You'll have your day in court and many ways to fight the ticket. Remember: Any explanation you give about why you were speeding is an admission that you were speeding. If an officer logs those explanations in his notes, the statements could later be used against you in court. That's why, whenever an officer asks if you know why you've been pulled over, always answer "no" and just take the ticket.

"Never admit to speeding in the process of talking," says Aaron Quinn, communications director for the National Motorists Association. "I would say just to be polite with the officer. Reasoning with the officer is something that might help you out if you actually are on your way to the hospital. You can try talking, just don't admit guilt."

Read the rest of the myths at Bankrate. Oh, and if you get pulled over by the "GPD," that's the Gotham Police Department. They're not real. Just cool.

8 top traffic ticket myths [Bankrate]
(Photo:Zesmerelda)

Last Monday though, Procter received a call from Lt. Harold Kaufman from the Midlothian police.

Procter said Kaufman told her if she didn't pay, she could be subject to criminal charges.

"He didn't say what I could be charged with if I didn't pay. But I was so scared at the time, I didn't think to ask," she said.

Procter said Kaufman instructed her to get a cashier's check and deliver it to him at the police department and he would take it to Merlin's.

But after she got off the phone, Procter said she started to think something wasn't right.

So she called the Cook County State's Attorney's office to get their input. She said she was told she should go and make payment directly to Merlin's.

Procter has since paid her bill in full, but still resents the treatment from police and wonders if others have received similar calls.

Lieutenant Kaufman politely declined to defend his actions, saying: "I'm not going to comment any further for a ridiculous newspaper article."

Police as debt collectors? [The Star via Liz Weston and The Alabama Consumer Law Blog]
(Photo: Impactmedia)

From the Chicago Sun-Times:

"I have never heard anything like that in my life. This person was laughing uncontrollably. When she picked up the phone, she burst into laughter. She probably had been laughing for a while. I kept on saying, 'Hello. Hello.' But she couldn't talk. She never stopped laughing," said [Brigitte] Biver, 58.

"I finally said, 'I'd like to report some heavy fireworks activity.' She was still laughing as she asked where I was located. I said Norwood Park. Still laughing, she asked where in Norwood Park. Then, she said, 'Ma'am, you're gonna have to call back.' I said, 'Can I have your name please.' But she hung up on me."

"She didn't know what I was calling about. Somebody could have been having a heart attack here. If it had been a life-or-death situation where seconds count, that's very dangerous. It's highly unprofessional in any setting," Biver said.

A spokesperson for the Chicago Emergency Management and Communications Office says Biver has yet to file a formal complaint, and he cannot comment on anonymous 911 calls. He told the Sun-Times that the office is interested in investigating Biver's complaint.

911 caller gets an earful of laughter [Chicago Sun-Times]
(Photo:Keith Haler/Chicago Sun-Times)