Are the people who work at Kevin’s local FedEx office in the Midwest classist, racist, or just lazy? He doesn’t understand why it is that their drivers have a strange inability to find his apartment building, mostly because the local station manager believes that Kevin’s neighborhood is unsafe. [More]
profiling
Hobby Lobby To Couple: Only Women Can Carry Bags
By 9.15.10
A Hobby Lobby employee asked Joe to leave his Maxpedition Versipack–I was going to call it a man purse, but it’s so aggressively utilitarian that I think it gets a pass–at the front counter before he shopped in the store. That’s unfriendly but not that weird, considering the loss-prevention strategies some stores use. However, they let his wife continue with the exact same bag attached to her hip, I guess because women can’t steal. [More]
United Hates U.S. Diplomatic Relations With Pakistan
By 9.1.10
United has already mastered guitar bashing, so now the airline is moving on to more ambitious projects: screwing up diplomatic relations with other countries. [More]
Best Buy: Silly Girl, Video Games Aren't For You!
By 8.6.10
After Alexandra and her boyfriend both (but separately) ordered the same game from Best Buy, the retailer canceled thousands of orders due to a pricing error. It happens. However, she reports that while her boyfriend received a coupon code along with his cancellation notice, she received nothing. She thinks that Big Blue and Yellow profiled her. Best Buy? Profiling their customers? No way! [More]
HP Face Tracking Camera Doesn't Track Black Faces?
By 12.21.09
If you want to take advantage of this HP web cam’s face tracking feature and you’ve got dark skin, you’d better, I dunno, sprinkle glitter on your cheeks first or something. The software doesn’t seem to be able to recognize you otherwise. [More]
Are Banks Blocking Large Walmart Check Card Purchases?
By 11.3.09
Josh finds himself unable to use his Bank of America check card to make large purchases at Walmart. When he calls customer service, he’s told the bank blocks large purchases at the store because such transactions are “considered a risk.”
JetBlue Passenger Forced To Cover Arabic Shirt Gets $240k From JetBlue, TSA Employees
By 1.7.09
In 2006, Raed Jaer, an Iraqi-born U.S. resident, was forced by TSA officials and JetBlue to cover his t-shirt—it read, “We Will Not Be Silent” in both Arabic and English—before he could board a flight. The airline and the two TSA officials (TSA was not named in the suit) settled out of court last week for $240,000, although JetBlue still denies they did anything wrong, and the TSA says they don’t “condone profiling in any way shape or form.” [More]
AirTran Removes Muslim Family From Flight, Refuses To Reseat After FBI Clears Them
By 1.2.09
AirTran removed a Muslim family and their friend from their flight, had them questioned by the FBI, and then refused to re-seat or rebook them after they were cleared by the FBI.
Safeway IDs Everyone In Your Party When You Buy Beer
By 9.5.08
Daniel went to his local Safeway with his brother to buy some beer. Daniel had his ID, but his brother didn’t—but that’s okay, because Daniel was the one buying the beer. The cashier, however, felt otherwise, and wouldn’t complete the transaction without carding both of them. The store manager told him “the policy is, at the discretion of the clerk, to check the ID of every person present.”
BMW Denies Test Drive Because You Are Not A "Serious Customer"
By 3.23.08
BMW of Columbia refused to let reader Barry test drive a 135i because he was not a serious customer. The dealership didn’t tell Barry what would make him a serious customer, but they seemed offended when Barry explained that he wasn’t going to buy a car that day.
Store Owner Demands Spanish-Speaking Customers Show Social Security Cards
By 3.13.08
David C. Richardson, the owner of Rhode Island Refrigeration in Providence, Rhode Island, overheard two customers speaking Spanish to each other, so he asked them to produce proof of citizenship. According to them, he then threatened to call Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and make a citizen’s arrest, although Richardson denies he picked up the phone, but not that he made the threats. In fact, he says he’s done this “fifteen or twenty times” in the past and refuses to do business with those who won’t show their Social Security cards.
