After telling this story to my mom she just shook her head a said “this could only happen to you”.:rolleyes:
Tonight I went into a Speed Way (A.K.A. Super America) for a soda. A sign had all Pepsi 12oz. cans on sale 2/.95. They didn’t have what I wanted (regular caffeine free Pepsi) in the cooler, so I went on the shelf and tore open a 12 pack and removed 2 cans. After all, they stock the cooler with the packs from the shelf (I’ve seen them do it). At the check out the clerk was suspicious because the can was warm. “Did you get this from the cooler”, she asked. I replied “No. From the shelf”. 100% honest answer.
She rang up the sale, total w/tax: $1.
I was right in the middle of the area where the gas pumps are (I was walking home) when she comes running out of the building, grabs my 2 cans of soda, and flings my dollar back at me. We don’t stock caffiene free in the cooler! You’re not allowed to do that!" she screamed.
I have to confess, I was stunned and speechless for a minute.
When I went back into the store the manager (who looked younger than me, by the way) told me I violated his store by ripping open the 12 pack, and I should get out of his store.
I left, but only because I already have a juvi record and I don’t want anymore contact with the cops.
Anyway, regardless of whether or not I shouldn’t have ripped open the 12 pack, she already sold me the soda. My position is, even though she gave me the buck back, it was now my soda and not for sale. I feel I’ve been a victim of strong arm robbery.
Do I have any legal ground for my position?
Ripping open a pack of sodas sitting in the shelf and making your own singles is not SOP in any retail environment I am familar with. It is possible they are being foolish in not stocking your preferred brand as singles, but what you did without asking permission, was thoughtless, annoying and rude. Call it a draw.
But what if the soda I wanted was regular Pepesi, which they do normally stock in the cooler? I ripped open a twelver. Big deal. Put the remaining 10 in the cooler.
My point is, she already sold me the 2 cans. What right did she have to run out and take them from me. they belonged to me now! And what kind of moron kills a sale? At 2 cans for a buck, that’s $6 for a 12 pack, which is more than they get for selling a 12 pack. Duh on their part.
I was going to call you a punk (I have before, haven’t I 'Duke?:D)
Until you said that. Your right. What kind of moron does kill a sale?
Well…a moron.
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: At one point or another, ALL relationships are about power. that clerk, who probably doesn’t make a cent over $7/hr, got her power kick for the day by doing what she did to you. The manager got his power kick by first authorizing the clerk to do what she did (why do you think there was a delay?), and then another power kick by throwing you out of “his” store.
You want your power kick by either A) having us at the SDMB side with you, or B) some how getting revenge with the store.
I’ll side with you in saying only a moron kills a sale. Otherwise, you’re a punk.
Having worked in a convinience store (I must admit not knowing what a Speed Way is), I will say that while opening the 12 pack is not SOP, I don’t think I would have chased you down outside the store. More bother than the dollar is worth. Like you said, I’d put the other cans in the cooler and be done with it. Besides, you already ripped the 12 pack. Had it been a 6-pack I would have even appreciated if you had put the rest in the cooler - 4 cans of a less commonly purchased drink (maybe why they didn’t have any in the cooler?) would be quite alright. Maybe they are more uptight in Wisconson - I guess, for next time, ask. Either that or vote with your dollars, and go to another store with cold regular caffeine free Pepsi!
well, I won’t call names in a GQ thread, myself, but I don’t see where you have a legitimate claim of robbery. You had the same situation before the store vs. after (no pop, same amount of cash), you damaged property in their store (the 12 pack container), and they negated the sale.
Stores aren’t required to break open sets, in fact, some packaging mentions this.
No “Duh” on your part. You just honestly don’t get it do you? You keep focusing on the silly individual can transaction as being the main issue and missing the larger point, which I find very difficult to believe as you seem fairly intelligent.
Your “big deal” response speaks volumes about how non-clued in you are to basic polite behavior and consideration, and I suspect this is not the first time you’ve been told this. It’s not about the P&L statment for the damn can. Regardless of your opinion of their lack of retailing acumen, you don’t just go into a store and start making decisions about what they should, or should not, be opening up to sell you singles of. It’s rude and it’s annoying. Didn’t your mother explain any of this to you when you told her your tale of woe?
I think just opening the 12 pack was rude too. But…the time for the clerk to call 'Duke on it was BEFORE the sale took place, not after.
what if he was already off their property? He wasn’t, but what if he was?
Rude or not on Hayduke’s part, only a moron kills a sale. That clerk maybe should have came out and told him they didn’t appreciate that 9or better yet, like I said, told him that before the actual sale) but only an idiot gives money back to a customer and kills a sale like that. What kind of a dumb ass does that? Is capitalism that dead? Yes what hayduke did was rude. He should have asked if they’d sell him those 2 cans. But they had what they are in business for: Cash!!! What kind of a moron is in business then denies a sale?
While I agree in principle with the idiocy of the clerk, more from the POV that you could as well have been some violent ass as opposed to the general foolishness of getting up in arms over this.
That store is the “house” of the owner or manager and that person sets the house rules. The clerk is responsible to maintaining those rules no matter how foolish they may seem to you or I. Perhaps caffeine free Coke was/is an item that has a different pricepoint than the other solo sold cans. Frankly if I was an owner of any store and you came in and took it upon yourself to rearrange my inventory in a manner affecting the price and value at the register I’d likely have called the police and charged you with shoplifting and 86 you from the premesis.
As an afterthought if what you did is so clearly in the right, why didn’t you simply ask before tearing the case?
what did that communist do with those 2 cans of soda? Put them back in the pack and tape it up? Put them in the cooler? Throw them away? I’ll bet she threw them away.
I’m sorry, but, that clerk and managers stupidity and anti-capitalism out weigh Hayduke’s rudeness.
I don’t see how you could call the police over a “robbery” where you were given money back.
If the clerk hit you and hurt you, you could try for assault and battery (depending upon if the punch landed), but robbery? Over a buck? Over two cans of soda?
Look, when I walked into the store, I saw the glorified stock boy (aka the manager) putting soda in the cooler from the 12 packs on the shelf. Then he went into the back area. i wanted a caffeine free pepsi, there was none in the cooler. I opened the pack, because that’s what I say him doing. How was i to know they didn’t normally put that flavor in the cooler? What kind of shit head puts every flavor but one in the cooler? DUH!!!
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by BobT * a buck? Over two cans of soda?
Say you have a car worth $500. I drag you out of your car, give you 2k, and drive off with it. Are you saying that being forced to give up something is justified if your paid for it?
Don’t answer that!
This is turning into a debate…a really stupid debate!
I’d bet 50 sodas that had Hayduke asked them to break up a 12 pack they would have. But it all goes back to the power thing. The clerk and manager got more pleasure from busting his balls than making a sale!
and, it also can be that there are some brands/versions that they’re not allowed to sell as singles. that’s not necessarily an unusual set up.,
You’re at a department store, see a 3 pack of underoos, but you want only one. Do you **really ** believe that since in some cases they sell some brands/versions of underwear as singles that it’s fine for you to rip open the pack and purchase just one?
The kind who is doing what his boss has set as policy? Seriously, you are using the same kind of logic that so many people use to justify their own actions when they mistakenly assume that because they think something makes sens everything shold naturally work that way. This is possibly the same kind of thinking you were using when you aquired your jeuvenile record?
Once the sale is final and the customer has left, I don’t think the clerk is justified in coming out and physically taking the item, no matter what happened before.
Suppose the clerk had acted deceptively somehow and got the customer to buy an item he didn’t really want to buy, or wasn’t allowed to buy. The customer leaves and while walking away discovers the deception. He returns to the store, puts the item back, and physically takes his money back from the register. He does not ask the clerk if this is okay, but yells at the clerk instead.
Would the clerk shrug this off? Or would he demand the money back, kick the customer out, and/or call the police? I highly suspect the latter.
The appropriate action for the customer in this case would be to ask for a refund, and failing that, call the police or file a lawsuit. I think the clerk should be held to the same standard.
If you want the legal answer, Duke, you were not robbed. Do I feel bad for you? Yes. I almost wish it was me without a juvi record that it happened to so I could raise some holy hell.
People that are getting their panties twisted about Duke being “rude” should chill. Human interaction is part of the game of life. Duke here knows that. He won that day, the clerk lost.
No one was hurt, and if any loss was realized by the store it’s the fault of their own ignorance.
If I were you I would honestly call up a corporate office and explain the whole story to them exactly as you did to us. You’ll probably get a lot of apologies and a bunch of coupons for speedway and maybe even some free gas. Otherwise are you sure that your wrist wasn’t sprained, it’s all on camera. (Just kidding, I wouldn’t fake an injury). BTW what city are you in??
