Woman Arrested for using Gift Cards at Best Buy

[Sam Fisher]

http://consumerist.com/2010/02/best-buy-sends-customer-to-jail-for-paying-with-amex-gift-card.html

http://consumerist.com/2010/02/update-on-woman-sent-to-jail-for-using-gift-cards-at-best-buy.html

 

[xwolverine2]

wtf!... i would kill everyone!

 

[Motown Marvel]

she seems to be an unfortunate subject of this situation, but i cant say best buy or the cops acted out of order. all of the facts seemed to point to fraudulent gift cards and all parties involved acted accordingly.

 

[chaseter]

They should have investigated the issue further there before carting her off to jail. That is what the back room at stores are for. They had no proof and they arrested her without justification. I would be pissed and they probably lost a customer for something that was probably their fault to begin with.

 

[Motown Marvel]

the back rooms of stores are not for detaining potential criminals while police investigate the matter. at best, they're to hold someone until the police can come take them, and then proceed with their criminal investigation.

 

[katie_girl09]

How terrible.

 

[Paroxysm]

That's brutal. Glad she got everything all sorted out.

 

[Sam Fisher]

http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=43685

Man arrested, cuffed after using $2 bills

Best Buy customer on being jailed:
'At this point, I'm a mass murderer'

Posted: April 07, 2005
5:12 pm Eastern

© 2010 WorldNetDaily.com

A man trying to pay a fee using $2 bills was arrested, handcuffed and taken to jail after clerks at a Best Buy store questioned the currency's legitimacy and called police.
According to an account in the Baltimore Sun, 57-year-old Mike Bolesta was shocked to find himself taken to the Baltimore County lockup in Cockeysville, Md., where he was handcuffed to a pole for three hours while the U.S. Secret Service was called to weigh in on the case.


Bolesta told the Sun: "I am 6 feet 5 inches tall, and I felt like 8 inches high. To be handcuffed, to have all those people looking on, to be cuffed to a pole – and to know you haven't done anything wrong. And me, with a brother, Joe, who spent 33 years on the city police force. It was humiliating."

After Best Buy personnel reportedly told Bolesta he would not be charged for the installation of a stereo in his son's car, he received a call from the store saying it was in fact charging him the fee. As a means of protest, Bolesta decided to pay the $114 bill using 57 crisp, new $2 bills.

As the owner of Capital City Student Tours, the Baltimore resident has a hearty supply of the uncommon currency. He often gives the bills to students who take his tours for meal money.

"The kids don't see that many $2 bills, so they think this is the greatest thing in the world," Bolesta says. "They don't want to spend 'em. They want to save 'em. I've been doing this since I started the company. So I'm thinking, 'I'll stage my little comic protest. I'll pay the $114 with $2 bills.'"

Bolesta explained what happened when he presented the bills to the cashier at Best Buy Feb. 20.

"She looked at the $2 bills and told me, 'I don't have to take these if I don't want to.' I said, 'If you don't, I'm leaving. I've tried to pay my bill twice. You don't want these bills, you can sue me.' So she took the money – like she's doing me a favor."

Bolesta says the cashier marked each bill with a pen. Other store employees began to gather, a few of them asking, "Are these real?"

"Of course they are," Bolesta said. "They're legal tender."

According to the Sun report, the police arrest report noted one employee noticed some smearing of ink on the bills. That's when the cops were called. One officer reportedly noticed the bills ran in sequential order.

Said Bolesta: "I told them, 'I'm a tour operator. I've got thousands of these bills. I get them from my bank. You got a problem, call the bank.' I'm sitting there in a chair. The store's full of people watching this. All of a sudden, he's standing me up and handcuffing me behind my back, telling me, 'We have to do this until we get it straightened out.'

"Meanwhile, everybody's looking at me. I've lived here 18 years. I'm hoping my kids don't walk in and see this. And I'm saying, 'I can't believe you're doing this. I'm paying with legal American money.'"

Bolesta was taken to the lockup, where he sat handcuffed to a pole and in leg irons while the Secret Service was called.

"At this point," he says, "I'm a mass murderer."

Secret Service agent Leigh Turner eventually arrived and declared the bills legitimate, adding, according to the police report, "Sometimes ink on money can smear."

Commenting on the incident, Baltimore County police spokesman Bill Toohey told the Sun: "It's a sign that we're all a little nervous in the post-9/11 world."

 

[chaseter]

I hope he sues the police force and Best Buy. How idiotic.

 

[chaseter]

the back rooms of stores are not for detaining potential criminals while police investigate the matter. at best, they're to hold someone until the police can come take them, and then proceed with their criminal investigation.

When the investigation means calling best buy headquarters to see if the cards are legit...yes...that is what those rooms are for. You don't want to cause a scene so you ask them back there. You don't handcuff and cart of someone to jail when all you had to do was call to check on their authenticity. Dear God what world do we live in today Those back rooms are also for viewing tapes to make sure you have the right individual before police take them in. Carting off people to jail who you think did something wrong when it all could be straightened out in a back room in a matter of minutes is not a way to do business.

 

[Wolfwood]

Hmm, glad I never use my 2 dollar bills. I better bring straight up cash every time I go into Best Buy.

 

[SuperFerret]

I really hope these people learn their lessons.

 

[Motown Marvel]

When the investigation means calling best buy headquarters to see if the cards are legit...yes...that is what those rooms are for. You don't want to cause a scene so you ask them back there. You don't handcuff and cart of someone to jail when all you had to do was call to check on their authenticity. Dear God what world do we live in today Those back rooms are also for viewing tapes to make sure you have the right individual before police take them in. Carting off people to jail who you think did something wrong when it all could be straightened out in a back room in a matter of minutes is not a way to do business.

straightened out in a few minutes? sure, thats fine. but the idea of a police investigation leads me to believe its gonna take more than a few minutes. either way, if police want to move a suspect to their own facilities because it aids their investigation better than the back room of best buy, have at it.

 

[Manic]

The Gift Cards: I can't say I blame anyone here. Well, maybe AmEx's customer support for making a bad call.

The $2 Bills: You gotta admit, it looks mighty suspect for a man to have 57 $2 bills. I don't even think most banks carry that many $2 bills at any one time, these days. I'm not gonna roll into Best Buy and buy a DVD with 20 golden Sacajawea dollars, because common sense says that looks suspicious.

 

[Oddzball]

The Gift Cards: I can't say I blame anyone here. Well, maybe AmEx's customer support for making a bad call.

The $2 Bills: You gotta admit, it looks mighty suspect for a man to have 57 $2 bills. I don't even think most banks carry that many $2 bills at any one time, these days. I'm not gonna roll into Best Buy and buy a DVD with 20 golden Sacajawea dollars, because common sense says that looks suspicious.

Problem: Suspicious does not equal grounds to refuse legal tender. The CARDS came with a report from the AMEX rep that they were fake. The fault IS AMEX's at that point.

The SECOND GUY, with the Master Card problem may very well be a) a crook, b) victim of an incredible coincidental miscall or c) really bad judgement by the manager of the Best Buy. If the manager made the call of "The other one was bad, have this guy arrested too! he put himself and BB into one hellua bad position legally.

 

[Oddzball]

Hmm, glad I never use my 2 dollar bills. I better bring straight up cash every time I go into Best Buy.

Or use them with the ATM for cash. Then buy at BB.

 

[terry78]

When you pay with pennies or a bunch of any kind of obscure currency, people are gonna wonder about it, unless you just have a rep for doing it. When it comes to buying ****, don't draw attention to yourself.

 

[Darthphere]

The Gift Cards: I can't say I blame anyone here. Well, maybe AmEx's customer support for making a bad call.

The $2 Bills: You gotta admit, it looks mighty suspect for a man to have 57 $2 bills. I don't even think most banks carry that many $2 bills at any one time, these days. I'm not gonna roll into Best Buy and buy a DVD with 20 golden Sacajawea dollars, because common sense says that looks suspicious.

Meh, apparently, you don't live in Miami.

 

[Manic]

Meh, apparently, you don't live in Miami.

If that's not uncommon, then I'm glad I never worked retail in Miami.

 

[higrass]

I feel ashamed!