[TriLUG] CompUSA closing stores

[Rodney Radford]

My favorite personal RS story:

I had just returned from a business trip and only had about 40$ in cash on me.  I buy some item, barely having enough, and then after the sale was complete, I realized I needed some batteries to go with it.

So I hand the sales manager a $20 travelor's check, but since the refund was more than $10, he refused it.  When I asked, he said it was to protect him from emptying out his cash drawer to cash checks.  When I pointed out that it was my cash he was returning to me, he was still undaunted.

So I told him I wanted to return the item I just purchased and I would carry my business somewhere else.  Then, while he was counting out the cash back to me, an evil thought struck me.  I decided I wanted to buy the items anyway, with the batteries, and then handed him 3 x $20 travelers checks.  It fit his store's policy, he had to complete the transaction, but he ended up with even less money in his register, and I ended up with even more cash than when I walked in.

He was unhappy, and I walked out with a smug smile on my face... ;-)

-----Original Message-----
>From: Magnus <magnus at trilug.org>
>Sent: Feb 28, 2007 2:35 PM
>To: Triangle Linux Users Group discussion list <trilug at trilug.org>
>Subject: Re: [TriLUG] CompUSA closing stores
>
>Steve Litt wrote:
>> They detained me 10 minutes
>
>And you didn't sue?
>
>There are laws against that ya know.
>
>Remember when stores used to have security goons at the door checking 
>your bags on the way out?  When they would say to me "Can I check your 
>bag?" I used to take great pleasure in telling them "No, thank you." 
>because really this was entirely optional and they had no right to 
>require you to present the bag with the item YOU now own (once the 
>transaction was completed).
>
>Best Buy nearly got in a lot of trouble over this very issue.  Notice 
>that for over a year now, Best Buy no longer has goons checking your 
>bags on the way out.  They actually tried detaining a customer that did 
>exactly what I do and the goon detained him.  Cops came, citizen calmly 
>informed the police of his own rights, and cops radio'd it up the chain. 
>  In the end the illegally-detained customer had the option to press 
>criminal charges against the Best Buy store manager and security goon 
>but opted not to.  Instead he wrote letters up the corporate chain 
>describing the incident and asking for their legal department to resolve 
>it.  In the end, the lawyers nixed the bag checkers.
>
>If you detain someone for shoplifting and it turns out they didn't, 
>you're in deep doo doo.
>
>If this story is interesting to you and you'd like to learn more about 
>your rights as a citizen that are trampled every day, you might like 
>this podcast: http://americanradioshow.us/
>-- 
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