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
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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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