# Best Buy is run by idiots, Part MCMXXI **URL:** \ **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:** 2
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2005, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-buy-is-run-by-idiots-part-mcmxxi/298515/21 "2005-04-10T06:52:13Z")
**Polycarp** , **mhendo** : Okay, I’m probably wrong. The $2 bills _were_ in payment for a debt he’d already incurred and under the law **mhendo** ’s cite quoted it seems that Bolesta may actually be in the right. However, the state may have laws about how much small currency a business is obligated to accept in payment of a debt, and Best Buy (maybe not the corporate HQ, maybe just that specific store) could have its own policy about what kind of currency it’s willing to accept. Even **mhendo** ’s cite says that legal tender is a valid _offer_, and that the offer doesn’t have to be accepted. My argument is down but not out. We need more facts. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2005, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-buy-is-run-by-idiots-part-mcmxxi/298515/22 "2005-04-10T06:56:16Z")
As a final note, the legality of tacking on fees like that contrary to a prior oral agreement is somewhere between scummy and outright fraud. It’s completely orthogonal to the discussion about legal tender we’re having here, though. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2005, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-buy-is-run-by-idiots-part-mcmxxi/298515/23 "2005-04-10T07:13:32Z")
> [@Derleth](#): > > However, the state may have laws about how much small currency a business is obligated to accept in payment of a debt, and Best Buy (maybe not the corporate HQ, maybe just that specific store) could have its own policy about what kind of currency it’s willing to accept. Well, all questions of legality aside, i’m willing to bet that this whole episode was NOT, in fact, a product of Best Buy corporate policy; it seems more likely to me that it was the result of a moronic cashier and an even more stupid and self-righteous manager. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Vorlon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@The\_Vorlon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Vorlon)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2005, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-buy-is-run-by-idiots-part-mcmxxi/298515/24 "2005-04-10T13:10:19Z")
I’ve used $2 bills at Worst Buy. Hilarity Ensued. /Rod serling voice Imagine, if you would, our hero enters the loud, minimally staffed retail emporium. He proceeds to find the DVD he was searching for, and goes to pay. Upon reaching the cashier drone after an indeterminate wait, he decides to have a little fun. Since the total with tax is 20.95, out comes Jackson and Jefferson. This proved to be a little much for the bottle-blond, facially pierced, gum chewing drone. She managed to give back the change the register told her to, (and Og knows she could not have figured it out herself…) but was then left with the insurmountable problem of WHERE in the till to place the bill. Our hero exits, whistling at the chaos he so easily caused, as the fourth staffer showed up to figure out where the bill went. /meek voice “But where does it GO??!!!” /meek voice Submitted for your approval /Rod Serling voice ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2005, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-buy-is-run-by-idiots-part-mcmxxi/298515/25 "2005-04-10T14:28:37Z")
> [@Fear Itself](#): > > 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): So was he arrested because the cops thought the $2 bills were counterfeit, or because they didn’t know $2 are legal tender? ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2005, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-buy-is-run-by-idiots-part-mcmxxi/298515/26 "2005-04-10T14:43:53Z")
> [@ivylass](#): > > So was he arrested because the cops thought the $2 bills were counterfeit, or because they didn’t know $2 are legal tender? A little of both: > [@](#): > > Unfortunately for him, the cashier did not seem to understand that the $2 bill is indeed legal US tender, since the bill itself is not often used. After rudely refusing to take the money, the cashier accepted the bills, only to mark them as though they were conterfeit. Supposedly, the suspicion of counterfeit was due to a smearing of the ink on the bill, but Secret Service agent Leigh Turner stated to the police that the bills were indeed legitimate, adding that “Sometimes ink on money can smear.” ---
**Author:** ![ethanwinfield](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/96bed5/32.png) [@ethanwinfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ethanwinfield)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2005, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-buy-is-run-by-idiots-part-mcmxxi/298515/27 "2005-04-10T15:38:37Z")
Is there a lot of money to be made by counterfeiting $2 bills? I must admit I don’t have much experience with them. They seem more like a novelty than a convenient method of payment. We used to get them at the race track when I was a kid. Sometimes the tooth fairy would leave them in exchange for teeth. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2005, 7:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-buy-is-run-by-idiots-part-mcmxxi/298515/28 "2005-04-11T07:54:44Z")
> [@ethanwinfield](#): > > Is there a lot of money to be made by counterfeiting $2 bills?. I’ve known a lot of skeevy people in my day, but I’ve never run across anyone who would take the time to counterfeit $2 dollar bills. $20s yes, but not $2s. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2005, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-buy-is-run-by-idiots-part-mcmxxi/298515/29 "2005-04-11T19:07:57Z")
> [@ethanwinfield](#): > > Is there a lot of money to be made by counterfeiting $2 bills? Probably not in much volume. But I could see someone small-time doing it. After all, you’re still printing money, and you have a few advantages: 1. Most people don’t really know what a $2 bill looks like very well 2. They don’t have new security features. 3. Really, who would suspect that a $2 was fake (aside from moronic BB cashiers). Not worth counterfeiting, right? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Hamster\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8edcca/32.png) [@The\_Hamster\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Hamster_King)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2005, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-buy-is-run-by-idiots-part-mcmxxi/298515/30 "2005-04-11T19:26:21Z")
[“If I got the right group of people, I could probably end up in jail.”](http://www.digiserve.com/eescape/closet/silly/2-at-Taco-Bell.html) ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2005, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-buy-is-run-by-idiots-part-mcmxxi/298515/31 "2005-04-11T19:28:56Z")
The major problem with your theory, **walrus** , is that a counterfeited five isn’t gonna get a second look, whereas most people are going to look very closely at a counterfeited two. How often do you see a $2 bill? I haven’t seen one in years, and if one passed my way, I’d look closely for the sheer novelty of it. I’m curious about a related issue: I work for a humane society/animal shelter, and a few years ago an angry guy paid his $100 (or something) impoundment fee for his dog entirely in pennies. Not rolled or anything: he just brought in a gigantic tubful of pennies and slapped it down, and we accepted it, having no idea whether it was the right amount of money. Could we legally have turned away his payment? Could we have required him to roll the pennies? Could we have required him to take it to the bank and exchange it for bills? It was a royal pain in the butt for us. Daniel ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2005, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-buy-is-run-by-idiots-part-mcmxxi/298515/32 "2005-04-11T20:05:21Z")
You shoulda made him wait while you counted it. ---
**Author:** ![NurseCarmen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5daacb/32.png) [@NurseCarmen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NurseCarmen)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2005, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-buy-is-run-by-idiots-part-mcmxxi/298515/33 "2005-04-11T21:08:13Z")
I see this as more of an indictment on the Baltimore education system than Best Buy. But there is also an issue of smearing ink on a two dollar bill. Granted, the only reason the idiot checked the bill was because she thought it was fake, but when checked it appeared to be smeared. I think I’ll blame the Secret Service on that little snafu, for not communicating that to folks responsible for checking those bills. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2005, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-buy-is-run-by-idiots-part-mcmxxi/298515/34 "2005-04-11T21:20:55Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > You shoulda made him wait while you counted it. Heh! Given that it sat around for months before we finally scammed a volunteer into agreeing to count and roll it for us, that woulda been pretty great. But then we woulda had an angry smelly\* guy in our office for months, which woulda sucked. Daniel - I wasn’t there, so I don’t know that he was smelly. But I bet he was. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2005, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-buy-is-run-by-idiots-part-mcmxxi/298515/35 "2005-04-11T21:25:59Z")
> [@NurseCarmen](#): > > I see this as more of an indictment on the Baltimore education system than Best Buy. In my experience, if Best Buy implemented a “Don’t talk out your ass” policy for their employees, it’d solve about half their problems. Daniel ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2005, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-buy-is-run-by-idiots-part-mcmxxi/298515/36 "2005-04-11T21:39:31Z")
> [@](#): > > My experiences with Best Buys have all been positive. > [/quote > > It’s really a matter of store management. And for some reason, BB has a bad habit of getting bad managers. They tend to be obsessed with moving people through the store rather than getting good staff. > > > [@](#): > > > > It’s not clear from the link…was the guy actually arrested, or were the cops called to investigate and let him go? > > Both. In many states, the line between detention pending investigation and arrest is neither clear nor bright. The cops don’t have to read you your right immediately; they jsut can’t question you as a suspect until you do. But then, IANAL, so my understanding could be faulty. > > I think I’ll blame the Secret Service on that little snafu, for not communicating that to folks responsible for checking those bills. Huh? They came out and told everybody to cool AFAIK. The fact that ink sometimes smears of bills isn’t exactly their fault. ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2005, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-buy-is-run-by-idiots-part-mcmxxi/298515/37 "2005-04-11T22:17:06Z")
I am more amused by the idea that this guy thought paying a $114 bill with $2 bills was some sort of great burn on Best Buy. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2005, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-buy-is-run-by-idiots-part-mcmxxi/298515/38 "2005-04-11T22:19:05Z")
> [@Gangster Octopus](#): > > I am more amused by the idea that this guy thought paying a $114 bill with $2 bills was some sort of great burn on Best Buy. Playing that game, I would have paid entirely in old, crumpled $1 bills all turned in different directions. It would have been worth the wait for the drone to turn them all the right way before putting them in the drawer. ---
**Author:** ![ParentalAdvisory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/53a042/32.png) [@ParentalAdvisory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParentalAdvisory)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2005, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-buy-is-run-by-idiots-part-mcmxxi/298515/39 "2005-04-11T22:33:20Z")
I find it worrysome that people don’t know what a 2 dollar is. We’re one of the richest nations in the world, there’s simply no excuse. I’ll let one person go if they’re unfamiliar, but a whole fucking store? > [@](#): > > He remembers the cashier marking each bill with a pen. Then other store personnel began to gather, **a few of them asking, "Are these real?"** Holy fucking christ. I feel the need to cash in and get a bunch of 2 dollar bills, this is gonna be great. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2005, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-buy-is-run-by-idiots-part-mcmxxi/298515/40 "2005-04-11T22:34:22Z")
> [@ParentalAdvisory](#): > > Holy fucking christ. > > I feel the need to cash in and get a bunch of 2 dollar bills, this is gonna be great. Be sure to keep a few aside for your bail. 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-buy-is-run-by-idiots-part-mcmxxi/298515.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-buy-is-run-by-idiots-part-mcmxxi/298515.md?page=3)