# Best Buy is run by idiots, Part MCMXXI
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-buy-is-run-by-idiots-part-mcmxxi/298515
**Category:** The BBQ Pit
**Created:** [April 9, 2005, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-buy-is-run-by-idiots-part-mcmxxi/298515 "2005-04-09T02:40:59Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)
#### Post date: [April 9, 2005, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-buy-is-run-by-idiots-part-mcmxxi/298515/1 "2005-04-09T02:40:59Z")
[Morons.org article](http://web.morons.org/article.jsp?sectionid=8&id=6131)
Not much else to say.
---
### Author:  [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)
#### Post date: [April 9, 2005, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-buy-is-run-by-idiots-part-mcmxxi/298515/2 "2005-04-09T03:08:08Z")
Well, that was dumb but its hard to fault Best Buy as a whole. That fact is, the individuals in the story thought they were fake.
---
### Author:  [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)
#### Post date: [April 9, 2005, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-buy-is-run-by-idiots-part-mcmxxi/298515/3 "2005-04-09T03:17:24Z")
> [@jnglmassiv](#):
>
> Well, that was dumb but its hard to fault Best Buy as a whole. That fact is, the individuals in the story thought they were fake.
That they thought they were fake is incidental: The salient point is _the cashier said Best Buy wouldn’t accept his payment._ The ‘legal tender’ language on US currency doesn’t prevent someone from refusing to accept it as payment, and in that case it falls upon the _buyer_ to make new arrangements more palatable to the seller.
This isn’t legally ambiguous. The guy is in the wrong here.
What worries me (angers me, pisses me _right_ the hell off) is this quote:
> [@Baltimore County police spokesman Bill Toohey](#):
>
> “It’s a sign that we’re all a little nervous in the post-9/11 world.”
Fuck the hell off, you stupid fucking fuck. 9/11 doesn’t have a damned thing to do with this little provincial clusterfuck. It is a matter between Best Buy and Mike Bolesta and the situation doesn’t need the emotional baggage of an association with a _real fucking disaster_.
(Fuck him, fuck me, fuck the Constitution. Yet another example of using 9/11 as an excuse for whatever you damned well please, _even if you aren’t actually wrong._)
---
### Author:  [@Neurotik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neurotik)
#### Post date: [April 9, 2005, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-buy-is-run-by-idiots-part-mcmxxi/298515/4 "2005-04-09T03:21:13Z")
That comment by the Baltimore police dude is the truly pittable portion of that article.
I probably wouldn’t accept money where the ink was smeared, either. I’ve never heard of that before and it would immediately cause me to think it was counterfeit currency.
---
### Author:  [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)
#### Post date: [April 9, 2005, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-buy-is-run-by-idiots-part-mcmxxi/298515/5 "2005-04-09T03:44:03Z")
I hate to encourage the “sue 'em all” brigade, but this sounds like a time to call a lawyer. He probaly couldn’t get anything on the cops, but there is a chance he could get Worst Buy for something. Defamation of character, if nothing else. Needless to say, I’d also refuse to pay the fee they told him didn’t exist, too.
---
### Author:  [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)
#### Post date: [April 9, 2005, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-buy-is-run-by-idiots-part-mcmxxi/298515/6 "2005-04-09T03:59:18Z")
Here is the part I don’t understand:
> [@](#):
>
> After buying a stereo, finding that it would not work, having a new stereo model installed, and being told that he did not have to pay an installation fee, Bolesta was contacted by the store, and **was threated with police action if he did not pay the fee** he was told before did not exist.
Why didn’t he just tell them to fuck themselves sideways? He hadn’t committed any crime. If Best Buy wants to file a civil suit against him, they will have to explain to a judge why they released the vehicle upon payment of the bill sans installation fee. If he has a receipt for payment of the bill, he is in the clear.
---
### Author:  [@meara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/meara)
#### Post date: [April 9, 2005, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-buy-is-run-by-idiots-part-mcmxxi/298515/7 "2005-04-09T19:07:13Z")
> [@Derleth](#):
>
> That they thought they were fake is incidental: The salient point is _the cashier said Best Buy wouldn’t accept his payment._ The ‘legal tender’ language on US currency doesn’t prevent someone from refusing to accept it as payment, and in that case it falls upon the _buyer_ to make new arrangements more palatable to the seller.
I may be wrong, but isn’t it the case that a creditor cannot refuse legal tender in satisfaction of a debt?
If I read this story correctly, the guy had already received services and was now being hassled to pay extra fees. It seems to me that if they had asked for full payment beforehand, then they could have turned him away for offering $2 bills. However, once they’d rendered services, they were obligated to accept any legal tender as payment of the debt (or just write it off if they were that opposed to the form of payment).
Of course, all of that is just a side issue to the counterfeit allegations, which seem to have been handled rather poorly.
---
### Author:  [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)
#### Post date: [April 9, 2005, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-buy-is-run-by-idiots-part-mcmxxi/298515/8 "2005-04-09T20:31:20Z")
I like the idea that spending $2 bills is dangerous in this post 9/11 world. Next thing you know, the terrorists will be flying $2 bills into tall buildings, and bringing them down with those green pictures of Tom Jefferson and Monticello…
---
### Author:  [@whiterabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whiterabbit)
#### Post date: [April 9, 2005, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-buy-is-run-by-idiots-part-mcmxxi/298515/9 "2005-04-09T20:44:15Z")
I work at a gas station, and a guy paid me with a two dollar bill just a couple of days ago. I thought it was cool. Of course, I have a couple of those stashed away because I think they’re cool. I also think they would be very useful these days.
Heck, I don’t know how BB does it, but at the end of my shifts when I fill out a little sheet detailing how many of what bills and rolls of coins I have left in my drawer, the listing starts at $1 bills, then $2, then $5…I mean, if there’s a spot for them on the verification sheets, I’m thinking they’re real money.
I don’t take checks, though. Everything else, but not those.
---
### Author:  [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)
#### Post date: [April 9, 2005, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-buy-is-run-by-idiots-part-mcmxxi/298515/10 "2005-04-09T21:50:03Z")
> [@](#):
>
> This isn’t legally ambiguous. The guy is in the wrong here.
They accepted his money, and have no corporate rules against 2$ bills. He may have been mean in giving them 2$ bills, but it was alright. Their jumping the gun and threatening police action, and then calling the police because they’re idiots is bad.
The 9/11 quote wasn’t an actual excuse. It was some dumb cop trying desperately to pretend it was an excuse.
---
### Author:  [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)
#### Post date: [April 9, 2005, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-buy-is-run-by-idiots-part-mcmxxi/298515/11 "2005-04-09T23:27:46Z")
This thread has inspired me to go to the bank Monday and get $100 in $2 bills. I’ll leave them in the truck, and use them for service-people who annoy me. 😃
Thanks for the idea!
---
### Author:  [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)
#### Post date: [April 10, 2005, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-buy-is-run-by-idiots-part-mcmxxi/298515/12 "2005-04-10T00:00:37Z")
> [@Derleth](#):
>
> That they thought they were fake is incidental: The salient point is _the cashier said Best Buy wouldn’t accept his payment._ The ‘legal tender’ language on US currency doesn’t prevent someone from refusing to accept it as payment, and in that case it falls upon the _buyer_ to make new arrangements more palatable to the seller.
>
> This isn’t legally ambiguous. The guy is in the wrong here.
Well, according to the website of the [U.S. Treasury](http://www.treas.gov/education/faq/currency/legal-tender.shtml?IMAGE.X=0&IMAGE.Y=0):
> [@](#):
>
> **Question:** I thought that United States currency was legal tender for all debts. Some businesses or governmental agencies say that they will only accept checks, money orders or credit cards as payment, and others will only accept currency notes in denominations of $20 or smaller. Isn’t this illegal?
>
> **Answer:** The pertinent portion of law that applies to your question is the Coinage Act of 1965, specifically Section 102. This is now found in section 392 of Title 31 of the United States Code. The law says that: “All coins and currencies of the United States, regardless of when coined or issued, shall be legal-tender for all debts, public and private, public charges, taxes, duties and dues.”
>
> This statute means that all United States money as identified above are a valid and legal offer of payment for debts when tendered to a creditor. There is, however, no Federal statute mandating that a private business, a person or an organization must accept currency or coins as for payment for goods and/or services. Private businesses are free to develop their own policies on whether or not to accept cash unless there is a State law which says otherwise. For example, a bus line may prohibit payment of fares in pennies or dollar bills. In addition, movie theaters, convenience stores and gas stations may refuse to accept large denomination currency (usually notes above $20) as a matter of policy.
So, i guess the answer in this particular case depends on whether the money that he owed Best Buy is legally defined as a debt to a creditor, or a payment for goods and/or services.
---
### Author:  [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)
#### Post date: [April 10, 2005, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-buy-is-run-by-idiots-part-mcmxxi/298515/13 "2005-04-10T00:04:03Z")
Also, according to [Snopes](http://www.snopes.com/business/money/pennies.asp#add), private businesses are free to determine what currency they will accept in exchange for good or services, but that those businesses “should specify their payment policies before entering into transactions with buyers.”
If Best Buy never made clear to the guy that $2 bills were unacceptable payment for this type of service, it seems that he’s well within his rights to offer those bills.
---
### Author:  [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)
#### Post date: [April 10, 2005, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-buy-is-run-by-idiots-part-mcmxxi/298515/14 "2005-04-10T00:05:41Z")
> [@Derleth](#):
>
> That they thought they were fake is incidental: The salient point is _the cashier said Best Buy wouldn’t accept his payment._ The ‘legal tender’ language on US currency doesn’t prevent someone from refusing to accept it as payment, and in that case it falls upon the _buyer_ to make new arrangements more palatable to the seller.
>
> This isn’t legally ambiguous. The guy is in the wrong here.
And you are precisely, unequivocably **wrong** on that point.
Yes, the store does not have to accept a particular variety of legal tender for a retail transaction. We’ve been through this several times in GQ, GD, and for all I know ATMB as well.
This was a service, which they originally said would be at no charge, which they then decided to impose a charge for.
That makes it a debt which he owes the store, unless he chooses to fight it in court based on their original statement that it would be at no charge.
Now read the language on the bill. Then read the Legal Tender Act.
It strikes me that if you owe money for a service, that constitutes a “debt public or private.”
Or are we saying that the store can ignore Federal law, and demand payment in Albanian leks if they feel like it?
---
### Author:  [@sinjin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sinjin)
#### Post date: [April 10, 2005, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-buy-is-run-by-idiots-part-mcmxxi/298515/15 "2005-04-10T00:30:56Z")
For what it’s worth Mr. Sin has for the past 10 years, gone to Kinko’s with fistfulls of two dollar bills and had them glued into packs with decorated cardboard covers for our kids and assorted relatives as Christmas presents. The kids have then gone to stores and peeled the bills from the packs to purchase trifles. All of the store-keeperes have been amused and somewhat bemused, but, all have taken the money. No one was arrested :smack: Or threatened. WTF.
---
### Author:  [@danceswithcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/danceswithcats)
#### Post date: [April 10, 2005, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-buy-is-run-by-idiots-part-mcmxxi/298515/16 "2005-04-10T00:43:47Z")
My experiences with Best Buys have all been positive. When purchasing a multi-media system for intallation in the fire company training room, they were helpful and delivered a better price than Circuit City or Tweeter.
The other day, I went to Best Buys looking for a digicam case. A gentleman was dusting products in the aisle, and I asked him _joking_ if dusty cases could be had at a discout. He laughed, and asked what camera I had-directing me to a good case which protected it and did everything else I’d have wanted. Quality help-in and out of the store \< than 10 minutes.
---
### Author:  [@thirdwarning](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thirdwarning)
#### Post date: [April 10, 2005, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-buy-is-run-by-idiots-part-mcmxxi/298515/17 "2005-04-10T02:09:15Z")
> [@](#):
>
> This statute means that all United States money as identified above are a valid and legal offer of payment for debts when tendered to a creditor. There is, however, no Federal statute mandating that a private business, a person or an organization must accept currency or coins as for payment for goods and/or services. Private businesses are free to develop their own policies on whether or not to accept cash unless there is a State law which says otherwise. For example, a bus line may prohibit payment of fares in pennies or dollar bills. In addition, movie theaters, convenience stores and gas stations may refuse to accept large denomination currency (usually notes above $20) as a matter of policy.
What I got from this is that any kind of money that is identified as U. S. legal tender is valid to be used to pay for anything, but that none of it specifically has to be accepted if it is outside of the stated policy of the business.
I don’t think it’s differentiating between debts owed to a creditor, as in credit cards or things like that, and payments at a business. I think all it says is that the money is legal, but no business has to accept it, if they have a policy against it.
I do think the sales clerk is a dipstick, though. I understand how the ink being smeared might be questionable, but I got the impression that it was the $2 thing that was the initial problem.
---
### Author:  [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)
#### Post date: [April 10, 2005, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-buy-is-run-by-idiots-part-mcmxxi/298515/18 "2005-04-10T02:58:46Z")
It’s not clear from the link…was the guy actually arrested, or were the cops called to investigate and let him go?
---
### Author:  [@meara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/meara)
#### Post date: [April 10, 2005, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-buy-is-run-by-idiots-part-mcmxxi/298515/19 "2005-04-10T03:14:32Z")
> [@thirdwarning](#):
>
> I don’t think it’s differentiating between debts owed to a creditor, as in credit cards or things like that, and payments at a business. I think all it says is that the money is legal, but no business has to accept it, if they have a policy against it.
I agree that no business has to accept it. It’s perfectly fine to turn someone away at the checkout counter, sign or no sign.
However, if they’ve already given over the goods or services (thus establishing a debt), and they then refuse the legal tender offered in payment, then I wouldn’t think they have any legal footing to try to force the debtor to pay in some other way.
---
### Author:  [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)
#### Post date: [April 10, 2005, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-buy-is-run-by-idiots-part-mcmxxi/298515/20 "2005-04-10T03:24:07Z")
> [@ivylass](#):
>
> It’s not clear from the link…was the guy actually arrested, or were the cops called to investigate and let him go?
From[the article referenced in the OP’s link](http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/bal-md.olesker08mar08,1,76004.column?coll=bal-local-columnists&ctrack=4&cset=true):
> [@](#):
>
> For this, Bolesta, Baltimore County resident, innocent citizen, owner of Capital City Student Tours,\*\* finds himself under arrest\*\*.
>
> Finds himself, in front of a store full of customers at the Best Buy on York Road in Lutherville, **locked into handcuffs and leg irons**.
>
> 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.
[Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-buy-is-run-by-idiots-part-mcmxxi/298515.md?page=2)