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RetailDiscrimination2012

Page history last edited by jerry 11 years, 10 months ago

RetailDiscrimination2012

 

 


 

Introduction/Definition/etc

 

Going into businesses can be hazardous to your health,

emotional well being and safety...

 

 

Disclaimer

 

IANAL I Am Not A Lawyer, and don't play one

on TV, nor on the web...

 

I am giving personal examples of experiences I've

had in stores and outside based on fairly recent

experiences in a few different jurisdictions...

 

 

 

Body

 

 

Case 1

 

So a few stores I've had problems with,

and need to let people know about,

ala Yelp, but not as restrictive, (my comments

on USDA's Farmer's Market and securities

nastiness about even using a bathroom,

were deleted, probably based on some

ill fated National Security ala Federal Building

code or I didn't take and use a photo of that Farmer's

Market when asked to take a photo for StreetSense.org's

front page, and they, editor and article author,

only wanted Dupont Circle's...)

 

Some places the concept of really Customer Service Oriented,

or even likely legal, as my rights seem

to be violated, seems foreign to them...

 

So I go back to a store I had bought some

tools from and they say I didn't pay some months ago,

now going on 6 plus or minus.

 

They say they reviewed their security camera

and the new cashier/ sales person didn't swipe

my card...

 

They proceed to ask me all sorts of personal

questions.

 

"How do we contact you about this" 

[ presumably special order? ]

 

"You have money?"

 

I'm looking for something in particular,

that I didn't see and most of the real stuff is behind

the counter, and the warning bells are going off in my head...

 

They are probably trying to follow me and get information

about me, but why?  They weren't that respectful last time

I was there...

 

They want all sorts of personal information

for $70 or so of stuff that the cashier ended

up paying for out of his salary or something,

they said, he wasn't doing his job,

was not that respectful in the first place,

the sign on the side of the register said something about

a return policy, but what he said verbally

was not what was what was written down,

nor on the receipt, IIRC...

 

And the snickering "I'm better than you" type attitude..

 

They want to know when I purchased something

so that they can find the records on their computer,

they say I will not have a bank statement record

of paying for something, I'm picturing legal

problems with them...

 

Maybe I paid in cash? I do that a fair amount of the time,

especially with sketchy or shady type business,

or places without brick and mortar establishments,

like Farmer's Markets.  If you can't go back there

and say this food made me sick, this product doesn't work,

do something about it, then they may not be there next day,

week, month, or year...

 

I gave enough information that they could contact me,

but regretted most of it, and said I don't do other stuff,

I wanted the piece of paper back that I put stuff on,

but I didn't take it back...

 

The manager/ owner was rude insisting on /

rushing me for an email...  I'm trying to think

of which one is best for that type of transaction...

 

 

Case 2

 

One place I've been going for many (8+) months

has turned freaky, to say the least.

 

Store owner/ or cashier/ relative

jokes turned nasty, and eventually a

police officer shows up, female similar

to one I'd seen there months before,

but I'm not positive.

 

She starts saying stuff like I wear gloves

because I don't want finger prints,

no actually, I didn't say, I haven't had the money

to buy fingerless gloves, since coming back from

WVA, the last new pair I bought... 

 

I have old stinky ones from seasons before,

but need a fresh set, washing bike gloves

in fake leather, real leather, or tanned and they

leak staining dyes, and generally disintegrate...

 

They try to get me to say things that aren't true...

Twisting words like a lawyer would into an accusation...

 

His wife "wears tops with low necklines to increase

sales", he says in not so many words...

 

It's not the clothes, it's that they are *nice*,

the guys working there aren't...

 

You snap at me about something likely irrelevant,

and I don't spend as much time considering what

I wanted to buy, and end up spending less

than I would if you hadn't opened your big mouth,

even joking...

 

I think the place should turn Coop, they don't want

to do so many hours, they want to stay open and

go home to rest, well, give a significant discount

and let people lower their bills, paid employment is something

else, saying stuff like "your pay is a muffin and a chocolate

milk" at the end of the month when I'm having problems

eating, making ends meet, and then they "are joking"...

I'm too tired, rushed and hungry to tell. 

 

First, I can't park one place,

jokes about paying $5 / minute for parking,

way too personal questions about my money,

"You have money?" "You're rich"?

I don't have money to eat, what makes them

think I would be rich?  Or are they fishing/

scheming or something?

 

First of all, it's none of their business,

can I pay for what I go in and shop for

is really all they need to be concerned with,

and even appearances may not reflect that.

 

"Don't touch anything"

 

"You can't be here"

WTF?

 

Police were apparently called, as

the female uniformed officer pulled up in a squad

car and "Want to talk to you" or very similar

I'm busy, basically and "we're leaving" I said.

Has she talked with me before?

 

One person working there says one thing,

and another says something completely

different, and contradictory...

 

If for some unknown reason I've been banned

from the store, then it's news to me...

 

Racism seems to be a part as well,

"One Dollar" Asian/Korean type mocking,

seemed odd and inappropriate...

 

"Get your stuff and get out"

was said to me one or more times...

 

How I take things said depends upon

how much sleep I've had, if a car

almost killed me or cut me off

on the way there, as has happened at least once,

and mostly how they talk to me

or interact with me.

 

It's a shame too, because it was a

"Farmer's Market with Better Hours",

as I haved call it...

 

But stuff costs $6/ jar...

And the main distributor is not someone I care

to support...

 

I found problems with the labeling,

red bell peppers are not spices, as the

ingredients label on a jar of Bread and Butter type

pickles would suggest.. Bell Pepper is not Spice...

Red (read hot) pepper probably is...

 

Or the missing manufacturer on the bread labels,

It's not the house brand, as they don't bake...

 

Or the wheel chair access, the back entrance

has stairs, and the isles were crowding up

so that I had difficulty with a bag on my shoulder

getting through the store, much less when

laden with purchases from that store...

 

I write stuff about disability, so I'm not intending

to write a store review, but I do write about how

disabled are treated/ mistreated, discriminated

against, etc...

 

And if you think I'm abusing kids,

I'm not that at all...

 

It's your anxiety disorder and probably

prejudices, not my issue...

 

 

Case 3

 

A store that follows you around,

watching you because you have bags,

backpack, etc or worse yet, want to take

your bags, and "hold them at the register"

or similar, is probably not a good place to shop... 

 

Do they think you steal?

 

If they think that, as one place I was volunteering outside,

why would you associate with them any longer?

 

I felt discrimination, talk of people having a

bolt cutter and taking tools, telling her buddies/

girlfriends while talking racist like,

assuming people are bad,.. I said I'm not like that,

she says to her friends, "he's listening"

"we know him" etc..

 

Plus "you can't bring that in here" or very similar...

 

So I returned something major...

 

She has me stand in one place, (warning sign)

(several stores have tried telling me where

to stand, ala BadWill2011

I have a right to go where I want,

if they are helping me or not.  Wait here?

Why?  Find me in the store when you are

ready/ find out the information I requested...)

 

No clerk has a right to detain you,

some $10/ hour at most person is going

to tell you what you can and can't do,

where you can stand? WTF?

 

And then I don't see the credit,

so have to keep going back to resolve

the issue? 

Encountering that discrimination

and snideness over and over?

 

Policeman there said "I have no issue with him" 

She was waiting for an officer, keeping me in line,

taking others before me, (and possibly using my discount

card on others purchases, maybe giving me credit for

stuff, which earns points too, AFAICT,)

but to have a police witness, of her giving me something,

which was only a paper receipt, not actual money,

as in cash back for a return when she took

my property that I was returning..

 

You see they had assumed I wanted the lowest end

model of something, without even asking me,

instead of one with all the accessories, or variable

speed, or cordless, much less usable in three different

ways, etc..

 

It was as if I was Black/ African American

and this was before 1950 in the USA, possibly deep south,

or really anywhere where discrimination abounds

and GentrificationKills , er, KillsMe.

as in the 5-10+ police gathered on the corner

on the way in there a previous week...

 

This store owner wants a private security guard,

basically at public expense...

 

The cop probably wants free stuff for

doing time there, ala The Big Easy or

something.  I wonder what the police policies

of taking stuff for free is? 

A free donut or something?

Here officer have some free coffee/ refill/ muffin/whatever? 

Is that taking a bribe?

Or common courtesy?

 

We support our troops/ local law enforcement,

like the bumper sticker/ State Trooper supporter

thing and the office lets you go with a verbal warning

instead of giving you a ticket?

 

Politicians have shopped or visited there,

so maybe they think it's their right to have a private

police force?

 

Rent a cops cost money, as does discrimination,

IMO...

 

 

 

Conclusion

 

Summary of experience or similar

 

If someone wants to call the police about you for being

in a store, let them.  Get the officers name and badge

number, and take it up with lawyers...

 

Lawyers probably won't take a case,

especially Legal Aid, but get a history of their

pattern of discrimination...

 

in my case I write about it, it is timestamped

up here, as published, and well recrimination/

retribution for complaints is probably illegal...

 

They do not have to serve you,

as in "right to refuse service to anyone"

but they should not treat you different

than anyone else there, that is the

basis of discrimination...

 

If they want all sorts of personal information,

like phone numbers, addresses, etc

WHY?

 

One store wanted my frequent buyer/

buyer's reward type card, upon entry,

I guess to ID me while walking around their store...

 

Her attitude was not respectful or even

professional, and I'd been shopping there

longer than she had been working there,

by a factor of probably 10 years...

 

I knew the managers, previous manager(s)

and techs...  And she wants to correct me

about a previous manager working locations,

when she hadn't even worked there then?

 

Being a retail clerk is not a badge to

harm others...

 

It's a low paying, probably thankless job

where you deal with the public and should

probably be trained on customer service

to even work there...

 

And if you discriminate against people

based on appearance or stereotypes

you may lose that job, and/or have

mandatory training in order to keep

that job...

 

And you may be written up by

a former journalist, or secret shopper,

or worse...

 

 

Discussion

 

A place for feedback on the page presented

 

Page History

 

20120603 Jerry

  • Jerry created this page to alert people of the problems some people face in day to day living ...

 

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