Best Buy fiasco - interesting story. [Archive] - Canon Digital Photography Forums

CoolToolGuy

7th of April 2005 (Thu), 12:57

This is right in my back yard. I remember reading the article and wanting to post something here, but something interfered.

The particular store that this occurred in is not in my normal path, so I would only go there if I was in the neighborhood or if they had something in stock that the other Best Buys didn't.

However, I keep promising myself to stop in the bank and get a handfull of 2s just to agitate Best Buy. I figure the story must have made it to the other Best Buys in town by now. Trouble is, I hope it also made it through the Baltimore County Police Dept. so they don't make my life miserable.

Have Fun,

PacAce

7th of April 2005 (Thu), 13:00

http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview.aspx?catid=38&threadid=1562162&enterthread=y

Read it...........and comment.

It's kinda funny in a not so funny way.

And yes, I know that they exist........I have one in my wallet for good luck.

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Ro1
Just hope it doesn't turn into bad luck when you have to pay for something and you realize that the $2.00 bill is the only money left in your wallet. :mrgreen:

roanjohn

7th of April 2005 (Thu), 21:59

Just hope it doesn't turn into bad luck when you have to pay for something and you realize that the $2.00 bill is the only money left in your wallet. :mrgreen:

.........so far it hasn't happened yet..............but the good news is that, so far, I'm always $2 ahead.....:lol::lol:

Ro1

pradeep1

7th of April 2005 (Thu), 22:29

You know, the guy can bring about some type of lawsuit against both Best Buy and probably the police department in this matter. Talk about defamation of character.

aam1234

7th of April 2005 (Thu), 23:17

mbze430

7th of April 2005 (Thu), 23:46

This should go with the other Best Buy thread about how stupid they are....

Seamless

8th of April 2005 (Fri), 00:52

Actually, it's illegal not to accept a legal tender.

A quick Google search on "United States Legal Tender" produces the US Treasury FAQ page regarding currency: http://www.treas.gov/education/faq/currency/legal-tender.shtml

On that page, we are advised:

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. (emphasis supplied)

aam1234

8th of April 2005 (Fri), 01:53

Thanks Seamless for the info. I think the answer there relates to denominations rather than the acceptance of legal tender. If I'm not mistaken, refusing to accept the US currency (in the US, and regardless of form) is illegal. At least that's what one economics prof. told us at grad school.

defordphoto

8th of April 2005 (Fri), 04:35

A co-worker is going to love this story! He just had a similar (no police or Secret Service though) fiasco with Best Buy. BB's service has gone into the toilet and beyond the last 18 months. I refuse to go into their stores anymore. My wife buys some of our DVD's there, but I will not enter a BB ever again.

Big_B

8th of April 2005 (Fri), 04:44

Actually, it's illegal not to accept a legal tender.

Reminds me of and old story. A tenant once paid his rent in 1 cent coins but the landlord didn't accept them. The case reached the court and the landlord was forced to accept the coins. Not sure if he got jail time too.

That's not the case in the UK. We've had a some high profile cases here where businesses have refused to accept large payment in coinage and won.

tim

8th of April 2005 (Fri), 05:25

CoolToolGuy

8th of April 2005 (Fri), 09:18

Why do Americans not see $2 notes? New Zealand got rid of $1 and $2 notes years ago, we just have coins now. They're talking about getting rid of 5c coins here too, the way they got rid of 1c and 2c coins a few years ago.

The rumor I heard is that the strategy was to get rid of the $1 bill, replace it with a coin, and have $2 bills as the smallest bill. But, try as they might, the US government cannot come up with a $1 coin that the public will accept. They tried the Eisenhower Dollar in the late '70s and that failed because it was too big and heavy, then they tried the Susan B. Anthony Dollar, and that flopped because it was too close to the size of a quarter (25-cent piece) and it was silver in color. The latest attempt is the 'Golden Dollar' with Sacagawea on the 'heads' side. That effort is floundering, too.

http://www.usmint.gov/mint_programs/index.cfm?flash=yes&action=golden_dollar_coin

I guess we just like our dollar bill - it is, of course, the most powerful object in the US, and the more of them you have, the more power you have. ;) :o

Have Fun,

PacAce

8th of April 2005 (Fri), 09:27

.........so far it hasn't happened yet..............but the good news is that, so far, I'm always $2 ahead.....:lol::lol:

Ro1
And how many horses can you buy with that $2 advantage? :mrgreen:

PacAce

8th of April 2005 (Fri), 09:33

The rumor I heard is that the strategy was to get rid of the $1 bill, replace it with a coin, and have $2 bills as the smallest bill. But, try as they might, the US government cannot come up with a $1 coin that the public will accept. They tried the Eisenhower Dollar in the late '70s and that failed because it was too big and heavy, then they tried the Susan B. Anthony Dollar, and that flopped because it was too close to the size of a quarter (25-cent piece) and it was silver in color. The latest attempt is the 'Golden Dollar' with Sacagawea on the 'heads' side. That effort is floundering, too.

http://www.usmint.gov/mint_programs/index.cfm?flash=yes&action=golden_dollar_coin

I guess we just like our dollar bill - it is, of course, the most powerful object in the US, and the more of them you have, the more power you have. ;) :o

Have Fun,
How about a $1.00 coin with a hole in it. That way no one can confuse if for a quarter or a half dollar coin. Just a thought. :confused: :D

mberney

8th of April 2005 (Fri), 09:43

roanjohn

8th of April 2005 (Fri), 10:02

And how many horses can you buy with that $2 advantage? :mrgreen:

None.......cuz' I'm $8 short!!!

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Ro1

Conk

9th of April 2005 (Sat), 11:30

Up here the Loonie replaced the $1 bill and the Toonie replaced the $2 bill, which sort of has a hole in it. No plans to replace the $5 or $10 bills, but nobody will accept anything over $20. Stick with PayPal.

I believe I've heard that at some point the $5.00 bills will be changed to coins. That's when I'll :confused stop carrying cash all together. :confused:

Meg C

9th of April 2005 (Sat), 11:51

I have to say that I've also had a Best Buy incident, although, not anything close to this! Some of the employees are not the sharpest pencils in the box...

I had been advised by a security professional at a conference to not sign my credit cards, but to write the words "PLEASE ASK FOR ID" on the back of my credit cards. (This was before a lot of places were already asking for ID) Most everywhere I purchased anything, I received comments like "Wow, that's a great idea, can I please see your ID?" That is until I found myself in a Best Buy purchase line.

I think I was buying a CD or some other small purchase... I handed over my credit card and the woman said, "I'm sorry, I can't accept this card because it isn't signed.". I explained that all of my cards asked for ID to help protect my cards. After several minutes of discussion, the woman said "You will have to sign your card if you want to use it in Best Buy, it's our policy." I said "I'm sorry, let me get this right... I'm going to sign the card in front of you? If I stole this card, you will have nothing to compare when I sign the credit card slip, so how would you know if this card wasn't mine?" She said "I won't, but that's Best Buy's policy"

We called a manager, the manager came over, checked my ID and told the employee to accept my card. It's not so much the policy that bothers me, but the lack of realization that if I stole the card and signed it in front of her, that of course the thief's sig would match that on the receipt. And not only that, but would clear the thief to use more in the future. Arrrggghhh...

Avalonthas

9th of April 2005 (Sat), 13:37

I would sue the store for damages, and sue the police for false arrest. Especially the police since they should be taught that ink can smear. In Canada although our ink doesnt smear, all police officers take a 1 to 2 day course on counterfiet money in the police academy and they teach u bout american currency. They should do the same in the states. He shouldnt have to pay for a 2nd installation fee especially after that.

Im lucky in live in Canada where there are only 6 best buys, and new currency that doesnt smudge and has all sorts of reflecting stuff to make counterfiet almost eliminated for the forseeable future. Trully a unfortunate story

Belmondo

9th of April 2005 (Sat), 13:49

I frequently shop at Barnes & Noble boostores. I have one of their discount cards which provides a 10% discount on all purchases. On a recent visit, I made a credit card purchase and used the discount card. The clerk asked to see some identification which I happily provided. The clerk commented that if it was a stolen credit card, it was awfully decent of me to get the discount for whoever was actually paying. We both had a good chuckle, and I've used that line a couple times myself since then.

As for Best Buy, the typical Best Buy clerk is only required to pass the 'Foggy Mirror' test. That is, the interviewer holds a mirror under the applicant's nose, and if it fogs up, they're hired.

CoolToolGuy

9th of April 2005 (Sat), 15:17

clorich

9th of April 2005 (Sat), 16:05

I handed over my credit card and the woman said, "I'm sorry, I can't accept this card because it isn't signed.". I explained that all of my cards asked for ID to help protect my cards.

I too have been displeased with BB lately, but if you're dealing with Visa/MC, I think you'll find that "NOT VALID UNLESS SIGNED" appears on the back of your card - a term dictated by the card issuer. As a merchant, I would be worried about not getting paid if somebody ever decided to push that issue on a card w/o a signature.

Citizensmith

10th of April 2005 (Sun), 16:04

This should go with the other Best Buy thread about how stupid they are....

Thread, they have a whole web site devoted to how crap they are.
http://www.bestbuysux.org/

DocFrankenstein

10th of April 2005 (Sun), 16:52

I had been advised by a security professional at a conference to not sign my credit cards, but to write the words "PLEASE ASK FOR ID" on the back of my credit cards. (This was before a lot of places were already asking for ID) Most everywhere I purchased anything, I received comments like "Wow, that's a great idea, can I please see your ID?" That is until I found myself in a Best Buy purchase line.

I think I was buying a CD or some other small purchase... I handed over my credit card and the woman said, "I'm sorry, I can't accept this card because it isn't signed."
Here's another question for you:

Have you tried to purchase anything at bhphotovideo.com ? They require you to send them a scan of your credit card from both sides.

Ask for ID would make in interesting decision.

Bruce Watson

10th of April 2005 (Sun), 17:03

Here's another question for you:

Have you tried to purchase anything at bhphotovideo.com ? They require you to send them a scan of your credit card from both sides.

Ask for ID would make in interesting decision.

Only the first time you buy from them and, to my knowledge, only for credit cards from outside the USA.

There is a tremendous amount of international fraud in credit cards, some USA online sites will not accept international orders, including Canada, for that reason.

Dirty Shirt

11th of April 2005 (Mon), 12:54

How about a $1.00 coin with a hole in it. That way no one can confuse if for a quarter or a half dollar coin. Just a thought. :confused: :D

Who wants to put a coin in a strippers g-string?? This is the real reason the dollar bill is still around. :lol:

GerryDavid

24th of April 2005 (Sun), 12:48

Up here the Loonie replaced the $1 bill and the Toonie replaced the $2 bill, which sort of has a hole in it. No plans to replace the $5 or $10 bills, but nobody will accept anything over $20. Stick with PayPal.

I use to hate the loonie, but then got use to it. I use to dislike the toonie, but now im use to it. When I went to the states it would be very weird using $1 bills. Its annoying to reach in my wallet for $1 as well, hehe.

Actually ive heard Canada has plans to do a $5 coin for circulation, which would be dumb since they just spent how much to redesign, print, distribute the new $5 bill.

I actually have a $5 coin, from the 80's. Its something to do with the olympics. Plus here is the 2005 one.

http://www.mint.ca/NR/rdonlyres/ejaotc44ujioi4l4bfalac63x7af6fjalg4z4vl75xvskuh7jh isj3o6sc4jf6kzm7t6ouqq3ugjnfty3wch56fsb5d/WWII_lrg..jpg

There are also $8, $10, $15, $20, $30, $75, $100, $150, $200, $300, etc Canadian coins.

www.rcmint.ca

There are even 50 cent coins still. I have never seen them in circulation except for last summer at a yardsale, they had 10 or so that they were using for change, hehe, so I got them all for $5.

There is even 50 cent paper bills nicknamed shinplasters.

There was even a $4 bill, because at the time 1 british pound = $4 canadian dollars. Or something like that.

There use to be half cents, dont think we ever had 2 cent coins. When I was in the Royal Canadian Miint we asked when they planned to get rid of the penny and they said never. Raw materials would be rounded up to the nearest cent, then it would keep getting rounded up the chain until it hit the customer and by then it will be much more expensive than what it use to be. At least that was thier reason. I think 1 canadian penny has 2.4 cents worth of raw material in it.

Theres silver coins, gold coins, platenum coins, coins with paint, coins with holograms, etc, hehe.

You dont want to use most of this when buying stuff though. *smirks*.

DocFrankenstein

24th of April 2005 (Sun), 16:19

Tis true... I have a silver 10 dollar coin laying around somewhere.

Canada has a very good and unique currency yard. Some other countries have printed their currency, Ukraine is one example I know of.

GerryDavid

24th of April 2005 (Sun), 16:31

And some towns have thier own dollar coin as well. I got one for Picton, ON last summer and a couple others from here and there.

Theres also a 3 cent coin, not sure if its a token though. You could get it with some stamps as a set.

dewmuw

25th of April 2005 (Mon), 04:07

Would these be the same police who just handcuffed a 5 year old girl who was misbeaving in class?

Sketcher

25th of April 2005 (Mon), 06:52

I use to hate the loonie, but then got use to it. I use to dislike the toonie, but now im use to it. When I went to the states it would be very weird using $1 bills. Its annoying to reach in my wallet for $1 as well, hehe.
I have Canadian family. I visited them for a week. I live in the US; I'm used to paying for everything with bills and then depositing my coinage in a jar at the end of each day. Not really giving the Canadian coins much thought I just deposited them in a sock in my suitcase. After the trip, I did sort of wonder how I went through money so fast. A few days later I finally decided to look at the coins I'd brought home. I had about $50.00 in Canadian coins! Those Loonies sure do add up :)

As far as BestBuy goes... They're good for what I use'em for... but then again, they haven't arrested me for anything ;)

PhotosGuy

25th of April 2005 (Mon), 09:52

Who wants to put a coin in a strippers g-string?? This is the real reason the dollar bill is still around. By George, I think he's got it!

Medic1

26th of April 2005 (Tue), 11:28

GerryDavid

26th of April 2005 (Tue), 14:54

Most use interact or credit cards now. Theres no real need to carry a $50, $100 or larger anymore. :0) Plus its safer this way.

vcutag

26th of April 2005 (Tue), 15:20

I don't want to vouch for Best Buy clerks, and I don't pretend to know Best Buy policies, but it is possible that Best Buy requires their clerks to follow policy, regardless of how stupid it seems. That would explain the responses the clerk gave, because the clerk could be fired if the policy wasn't followed. In such a case the fault rests with Best Buy, not with the poor shlub working there.

Believe me, I know there are work environments like that - I get to see it in action almost every day.

As a onetime poor schlub, I will say that management is rabid on checking credit cards. The store I worked at in suburban Richmond had several fraudulent card incidents during the few months I worked there (second job during the holidays, you can't pay me enough money to go through that again), including one grandmotherly type who ripped the store off for close to $5000 in merchandise.

When I'd work the front line, though, if a card said "Check ID" (like all of mine do), I'd do exactly that. The example someone mentioned about the clerk who was overridden by management is pretty accurate, it sounds like the clerk was having a bad day and decided to take it out on a customer which is inexcuseable. Either that or the clerk has a bit of a power trip.

Either way, I don't ever plan on shopping at a Best Buy again, based on my experience as a former employee.

Mycroft

26th of April 2005 (Tue), 18:44

I believe I've heard that at some point the $5.00 bills will be changed to coins. That's when I'll :confused stop carrying cash all together. :confused:

There was a big uproar about it a number of years ago. People hate coins in Canada (myself included), and nobody wanted to carry around yet MORE metal in their pockets. The loonie and toonie are more than enough, thankyouveryMUCH. :P

IndyJeff

26th of April 2005 (Tue), 22:24

Disgusting that this can happen....even in a post 9/11 world. I realize the need for caution, but c'mon. I think if someone were counterfieting they would find a better bill to duplicate than the $2.

I live in Canada, and Counterfeit bills have led to almost anywhere and everywhere refusing to accept $50's and $100's. Nice to know I am being punished for going to college, having a good job and being able to afford to carry large bills.....

I remeber here in Indy back in the late 70's there was a guy who lived not far from me at the time. He was retired and didn't have much to live on. He had been a printer by trade so, he began printing his own money. If I remember correctly he printed about $300 a month in 5's and 10's. The way he got caught was a small neighborhood grocery chain store was notified by their bank they were getting counterfit 10 dollar bills. One day he came in and bought groceries and paid with five 10 dollar bills, 2 of which were of the same serial number. The clerk noticed a funny feeling of the bills and notified the mgr after the guy left and the next time the guy came in, the Secret Service was called and busted him.
He was put on probation, his little home printing press was confiscated naturally, but he never spent more than the night in jail. He was pretty old, something like about 85 and I think he died about 2 years after it was all over with.

PhotosGuy

27th of April 2005 (Wed), 08:21

little home printing press was confiscated ... Too bad! Retirees need some sort of hobby to get through the day! ;-)

CoolToolGuy

27th of April 2005 (Wed), 09:45

The next round for the USA - a new proposal for 1 dollar coins -

http://www.usatoday.com/money/2005-04-26-dollar-usat_x.htm

Have Fun,

vcutag

27th of April 2005 (Wed), 11:42

The next round for the USA - a new proposal for 1 dollar coins -

http://www.usatoday.com/money/2005-04-26-dollar-usat_x.htm

Have Fun,

I'm still waiting for them to realize the coins aren't catching on because you can't use the damn things in vending machines.

Until that day comes, any effort at a $1 coin is doomed to failure.

Canadians/Europeans, how did your respective countries tackle that problem?

GerryDavid

27th of April 2005 (Wed), 11:47

They removed the $1 bills, then removed the $2 bills. You didnt have a choice. Also the vending machines were quickly updated to take the coins. Now we got some gumball machines that take $1 and $2 coins as well. I miss the days when the most they were were 25 cents, hehe.

vcutag

27th of April 2005 (Wed), 11:56

Yeah, that's about what I thought.

Let's see the government pass a law that's going to cost big business money in retrofitting/replacing equipment. /snark

GerryDavid

27th of April 2005 (Wed), 12:37

But according to the one article the us government would save 500 million a year in not printing paper bills anymore, plus they made like how many million or billion on the quarters from collectors? They could do th e same with the dollar coins. So they could probably help the companies out to redo thier machines. Besides it would probably make the drink machines a bit cheaper since it wont have to have the paper bill checker built into it, just a coin sensor. Im not sure if they read $2 or $5's, etc, I would think not since it would take to much change to give them money back and it would run out faster.

The dollar coin isnt that bad, once you get use to it the $1 bills are annoying.

vcutag

27th of April 2005 (Wed), 12:50

My point with the snarkiness was that, depending on your political bent, such a scheme would be either 'corporate welfare' or 'socialism'.

The US government is one of the most institutionally conservative organizations on the face of the planet, IMO.

I'm all for using a $1 coin, although I do sympathize with the view that it's a hell of a lot easier to carry $5 in ones for vending machines in your pocket than 5 $1 coins. (Adjust numbers to reflect your position on the pauper-prince scale) :-).

GerryDavid

27th of April 2005 (Wed), 12:59

I carried $20 in change last weekend for yard sales, wasnt that annoying, hehe. And most of the time I just carry a few dollars in coins on myself *loonie and toonie, I still think it should have been called a dubloon*. $2 coins reduces the number of $1 coins. Until the us government gets $2 coins perhaps the $2 bill would become more popular, unless you shop at best buy of course, hehe.

I dont see the big deal of using dollar coin, hehe. It would save tax payers money. And as far as the businesses having to change thier machines, change is part of business. If you dont change with the times, your left behind.

GerryDavid

7th of May 2005 (Sat), 22:34

Here's the best buy $2 story in todays comic. Foxtrot - May 8

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/uclickcomics/cx_ft_uc/latest

http://us.news1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/uc/20050507/lft050508.gif

I know of one of these comics that will more than likely be framed in some one's office. *smirks*

bergeror

9th of May 2005 (Mon), 14:08

I said "I'm sorry, let me get this right... I'm going to sign the card in front of you? If I stole this card, you will have nothing to compare when I sign the credit card slip, so how would you know if this card wasn't mine?"

I had the exact same thing happen a few years ago. I don't recall which store it was. I left the items at the register and left the store in frustration.