Sears says there’s no Mosquito device at any of their locations. The person who picked up the phone at the Sears our reader complained about said there’s no high-pitched whining or buzz noises going on by the entrances or inside, intentional or otherwise. She had read the buzz about the complaint “on Twitter” and sent several “young associates” to check it out and they found nothing out of the ordinary, besides, of course, the plastic humanoids frozen for all eternity, forced to display an ever-changing array of affordable and sensible garments. A commenter says he thinks the real culprit is a cheapo CRT monitor:

blue j writes:

I’ve actually noticed this a lot visiting stores like Sears over the years.. I’ll walk in the doors only to be greeted by a high-pitched, ear-peircing whine. In my case, though, it’s never one of the anti-teen ‘mosquito’ devices.. it’s a CRT monitor.

Sometimes it’s hooked-up to some ancient store computer for inventory lookups. These days, it’s usually one of those cheap, B&W televisions mounted by the entrance to show CCTV footage.. a subtle reminder saying “We have you on tape. Please don’t steal”

As someone who’s particularly sensitive to high-frequency tones, I can confirm that these cheapo CRT monitors can be as ‘down right debilitating’ as reader Jonathan described. I would guess that this is what he heard, and I believe searsholdings when they say it’s not a mosquito device.

(Photo: frankieleon)

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