Gawd I hate Best Buy

[Reorx]

http://web.morons.org/article.jsp?sectionid=8&id=6131

If I was this guy, I'd sue the crap out of Best Buy, then go buy a better receiver.

Reorx

 

[Rob Babcock]

Man, that's a new low.

 

[sjdgpt]

I am not a fan of BB, but gosh darn, that aint the fault of BB. It is an idiot clerk, and more importantly, the people that manage her, that are at fault. This same incident could have happened at any business in the USA.

Want to blame somebody, let's start with the school district that failed to properly instruct this child in proper USA currency. Or maybe it is the fault of her parents. But BB should not have to train their employees on the proper USA currency denominations.

 

[Mudcat]

Let's all start paying for our DVDs at BB with $2 bills. If we get arrested or harassed we'll have legal recourse to sue or demand that 60 inch samsung monitor.

 

[Audioholics]

This truly is more of a statement on our education system than Best Buy.

 

[JoeE SP9]

With the money he will get from the law suit he can go to a real audio shop and buy some really good stuff. He can then drive his purchases home in his new Maybach. It might be worth it all in the end.

 

[Xsound]

I am not sure I see how this is an indictment of our educational system. As a former retail manager, one of the things I did was to make sure that I personally trained as many of my cashiers as possible. It is one of the most crucial points of interaction between the customer and store. That includes how to deal with incorrect ID, questionable checks, or potential counterfeit bills. Our cashiers were also instructed on when to call for managers, etc.

If for some reason one of my cashiers was unfamiliar with $2, I can't imagine how, a manager would have immediately been involved. The fact that this man was chained to a pole in a store, would seem to indicate that more than just the cashier was involved. It is indeed an indictment of that Particular BB, and whether it is fair or not, of BB as a whole. It wouldn't surprise me if the manager of the store, or possibly the whole management team, suddenly became gainfully unemployed.

 

[bobman1235]

This story has been out for a while now. While the initial cashier may not have been familiar with two dollar bills, the "official" story is that they were suspicious of forgery because the bills had "smudges" and sequential serial numbers - both of which were verified by law enforcement officials. To say that the cashier was too stupid to recognize a two-dollar bill is jumping to a lot of conclusions, and indicting our education system for not having kids recognize outdated currency is just ludicrous - I think there's more important things we should focus our childrens' education on.

Anyways, while it's obvious no one would want to forge TWO dollar bills, as it's not exactly an inconspicuous denomination, the employees of Best Buy were just following policy relating to forgery. I'm not a fan of the corporation either, but no one SHOULD be sued over this. THAT would be an indictment of our legal system, IMHO.

 

[ducker]

This story has been out for a while now.

If you feel 5 days is a while I guess so. but it's most likely new to many people; as it was to me.

You don't believe that the guy that was handcuffed and treated as a criminal in front of everyone at the store is entitled to some type of compensation? At a minimum BB should be giving him the item he purchased for free... if not give him more.

 

[bobman1235]

You don't believe that the guy that was handcuffed and treated as a criminal in front of everyone at the store is entitled to some type of compensation? At a minimum BB should be giving him the item he purchased for free... if not give him more.

I feel bad that the guy was "treated as a criminal", but they thought he WAS a criminal. Listen, false arrest sucks, but he went home an hour later. Sure, Best Buy should throw him a gift card or something, but people are talking about thousands of dollars in restitutions, not to mention getting the entire story wrong.

Look, if he was REALLY arrested because a cashier, a manager, and two cops did NOT know what a two dollar bill WAS, I would say sure, he should sue, that's ridiculous. He was instead brought in over (admittedly thin) suspicion of counterfeiting. It sucks, but it happens. You suck it up and move on. You don't shop at that Best Buy. You get your story to have national attention and cost Best Buy millions in sales because people get the story wrong and don't go there. But an hour of your time is worth, what, 30 bucks if you have a good job? Here's a fifty dollar gift card, sorry for the inconvenience.

If he tried using two TWENTY dollar bills that looked suspicious to a cashier, and this SAME EXACT thing happened, no one would even notice. But because they were two dollar bills, people found a way to twist the story and make it into something it's not.

Like I said, I don't even LIKE Best Buy, but I hate the way this story is getting all twisted, and people say he should sue the store and the police for essentially making a SMALL mistake.

 

[ducker]

Did you read the full article at the Baltimore Sun?

Finds himself transported to the Baltimore County lockup in Cockeysville, where he's handcuffed to a pole for three hours while the U.S. Secret Service is called into the case.

This is absoultely ridiculous. What happened to the whole innocent until proven guilty idea? I'd be royaly BS if I was hand-cuffed in public, and taken down to the station while they sorted it out.

Sounds like there were a whole host of idiots involved with this situation. The employees, managers, and the police. Yea it's a big conspircy, people are now paying in two dollar bills purchases of over $100. Insane.

 

[shokhead]

I am not a fan of BB, but gosh darn, that aint the fault of BB. It is an idiot clerk, and more importantly, the people that manage her, that are at fault. This same incident could have happened at any business in the USA.

Want to blame somebody, let's start with the school district that failed to properly instruct this child in proper USA currency. Or maybe it is the fault of her parents. But BB should not have to train their employees on the proper USA currency denominations.

Blame the school district? Gee,lets not blame the parents for anything. Speard your legs and let it out and after that,its not my problem.

 

[Briant73]

I'm sorry but the guy has a serious case against that BB store from what the article says, especially when you learn he had already been deceived by the BB store about his stereo installation. Just horrible this happened and I'm sorry but being an innocent shopper who is paying in good faith if with a bit of a twist of humour, is no reason to be handcuffed to a pole for any amount of time or taken to prison. They treated this person as guilty when in fact he wasn't but even if the bills were counterfit doesn't mean he was the counterfitter in the leastl. How would you like it if you went to pay a bill and because your cash looked slightly supscious you got handcuffed to a pole in a retail store, got treated rudely and then had to go visit a prison as a guest. Sorry but anyone who thinks that's not too big of a deal doesn't care much about their personal rights.

I wonder if at this BB store if they suspect you of shoplifting if you just get the death penalty right there and then. (I'm joking... somewhat)

 

[sjdgpt]

Blame the school district? Gee,lets not blame the parents for anything. Speard your legs and let it out and after that,its not my problem.

I did mention the parents in my tirade. But when I was a kid, about 4/5/6 when mom taught me how to distinguish money, there were no $2 on the market. Grandmom gave me one for a b-day some time later and I thought it was play money.

Move ahead, in High School I took a "personal business" class (it was a filler class). Taught how to write checks, fill out tax returns, how to make change etc. Kid in the class didnt know what a 50cent piece looked like.

 

[bobman1235]

I'm getting sucked into this debate, but just cuz I hate the overreactions.

First, someone mentioned this customer's treatment with regards to the car stereo. That's the reason I hate Best Buy - they treat their customers like crap, and they lie. They're just not a good business.

That being said. First of all, how can you trust that Baltimore Sun article for any real information, when it's written like an editorial? I don't trust one fact from that article. It's all just the author's opinions. That's not how you report a story, that's how you write opinions.

Second, everyone's saying that this guy was "guilty until proven innocent." If I go out and commit a crime, and people see me doign it, I'm going to be arrested, and I can be held for 24 hours without even being charged. An officer thought this man was in teh act of distributing counterfeit money. He was arrested, and then released. That's the way our justice system has ALWAYS worked. Maybe it should change, but no law was broken.

Third. I care very much about my personal rights. But this guy was ADMITTEDLY trying to be a ****. So he caused a commotion, I'm sure he expected a reaction. Once the police were called, it was OUT of Best Buys hands -- they didn't try to deal with their customer politely, and I fault them for that, and woudln't do business with them, but everything that happened next had nothing to do with them. Maybe local police departments should be more well-versed in counterfeit money, but if ANYONE should e blamed, it woudl be the police, and I BARELY blame them, as they were dealing with someone who had SET OUT to cause trouble. It specifically said in that bogus article that the police man was the one who noticed evidence of counterfeiting, and decided to bring him in.

I don't even know my point anymore. I'll fully admit that if I were in this man's shoes, I'm sure I'd be pissed off too. I would register a complaint with the city, and never shop at Best Buy again (I already don't). But I also wouldn't have stormed in there trying to cause trouble. If you have a problem, talk to a manager. If he didn't think he should pay, why would he pay?? If you've decided to just give in, why try and be a jerk about it? If he thought he was being treated badly, talk to someone. I'm not saying it's his fault he was arrested. He just got stuck in a really unfortunate set of circumstances. He shoudl complain. Beyond that...

 

[bobman1235]

If you feel 5 days is a while I guess so. but it's most likely new to many people; as it was to me..

BTW, I just saw this - it happened on February 20. Almost two months ago, at least by my calender. Unless you have a different way of telling dates, I'd say that almost two months is "a while", yes.

If you want to be conservative, that opinion piece was originally published March 8, over one month ago. Still "a while".

 

[ducker]

ops.... my, VERY bad, oversight... march, april... I'm still wondering where spring REALLY is...

Thanks for pointing that out. That is quite some time ago.

 

[Briant73]

I agree the article sounds like an editoral of reported facts but if the story and facts of it are being giving more or less straight then it's a pretty bad way to spend a day. I don't understand why the police officer didn't take him outside and put him in his police car while waiting for further instructions, being handcuffed to a pole in the store and if the article is to be believed, in public eye is just plain bad judgement. Also can't police take your personal information, verify it and release you on personal recognizance while the issue is being investigated? As for the guy paying in two dollar bills being a jerk, I guess I don't find fault with that, IMO a commotion would be refusing to pay and causing a scene, not trying to pay in legal tender, albeit a rarely used form of it. That's just being a smart *** in my book, now paying in pennies that's different

As for BB treatment I know if I was the BB manager I would not want any suspected criminal handcuffed in my store but led outside the store to be taken into custody. This guy probably deserves a big apology from the police and a store credit from BB of say $114.