Shopper Uses Valid Gift Cards, Winds Up Behind Bars

Gift cards s*ck! I've tried to use Amex gift cards, store gift cards and have had cashiers try to tell me they were invalid, expired or had no more $$'s on them. At one dept. store a cashier assured me there was no more $$'s on it and then offered to keep it for me (they "recycle" the cards she said)...I took it back, called the 800 # on the back and learned that I still had over $100 on the card. I think she knew it and wanted to keep the $$'s for herself! Did the above case really necessitate a trip to the police station? A simple call to Amex would have solved the problem.

I hope she has a great lawyer and takes them to the cleaners. No one should be treated like this. Looks like Christmas will come early for this lady.

@felixthecat, I had a ridiculous wild goose chase and a steaming pile of impossible arbitrary indifferent crapola presented to me at the BestBuy on 6th Avenue in Chelsea. One stupid, nonsensical, contradictory lie after another to exchange a camera that was under warranty, within the exchange terms on the receipt; a geeksquad rep arguing with me and another customer while others did their best to avoid helping the other 4 people on online behind us for 40 minutes, 6 staffers standing behind a register and none of them making eye contact in order to avoid assisting me or anyone else, customer service reps making up total bullshit which completely contradicted the information I received when I called the toll free number for assistance BEFORE I attempted to make the exchange, a $30.00 re-stocking fee was applied to my debit account and after a few angry phone calls to corporate headquarters, the exchange took place without the re-stocking fee as had been promised over the phone in the first place. I was led around and directed from one asshole in a blue shirt to another for over an hour and got nothing but aggravation. I am not a satisfied customer. So much so that although I live within a block from the store, I just bought a new flat screen on line and will have it shipped to me instead of going through any of that moronic horseshit again.

Get falsely arrested because of Best Buy.

Sue NYC and Best Buy for emotion damage and dafamation of character, (and if gotten fired by employer)

This is the best

Get rich quick scheme.

I've been to a few Best Buys in NY. The thing that is most surprising about this story is that the employees were even doing something that resembles work.

Good for you.

Well i guess its time to take my legitimately fake gift cards to the NoHo Best Buy.

It's a good thing she didn't try paying with cash! The cashier might have called the US Secret Service!

They've done that too.

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

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

This is why I buy everything online. It's way cheaper and I don't have to deal with stupid cashiers.

Plus no sales tax, as long as I avoid Amazon.com and Buy.com. Up yours, Paterson!

Of course, that's still no guarantee of good service. I once ordered a sale item from Bestbuy.com at over half off. After a few days, they sent me an email claiming it was out of stock. I went to their website and found the exact same item with a different SKU but at regular price, and it was in stock! They refused to acknowledge it was the same item.

And better selection, no travel or hauling boxes, no crowds, no annoying salesidiots, and even better customer service.

Best Buy stores leave me cold.

Artificial intelligence does not compute.

This is worse than that time I tried to pay using a 2 dollar bill at Taco Bell

Just don't use that $2.00 bill at Worstbuy either.

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

LOL, i didn't know sometimes ink could smear on them. LOL

Heh. The story PapiX was referencing was a USENET meme back in the pre-Web days:

http://www.snopes.com/business/money/tacobell.asp

I have a two dollar bill in my wallet right now. I could only imagine trying to spend it at a Taco Bell.

FTW, though the kids today have no idea what you're talking about.

For the love of God, just go to J & R.

You're out of your mind. Best Buy is full of idiots, but J&R is a bunch of crooks. I'd rather deal with idiots rather than crooks any day.

thanks, Bush Administration! now everyone's a qualified Detective!

remember kids, report anything suspicious! especially if you're retarded!

When idiots attack.

I can't blame the cashier for what they did. I was a near-victim of credit card fraud which was prevented by a cashier at a large chain supermarket in Connecticut when the thieves attempted to use a duplicated card.

Don't know what happened to the scum thieves, but I wish it was worse than what this woman went through.

I guess you missed the part where the dumb clerk "mistakenly provided the card issuer with the wrong card information."

It's one thing for a clerk to be vigilant about possible fraud and another thing for him to be just plain stupid. But why wasn't the store manager able to resolve this issue? Is he also totally incompetent? (For what it's worth, the managers at Best Buy are paid considerably more than the supposedly minimum wage clerks.)

Llona Klaver was handcuffed, put into a cop car and taken to the local precinct where she was searched, interrogated and put into a holding cell. Klaver was eventually cleared, but on her way out she recognized another customer from the same Best Buy(!) being brought in handcuffed. "I (Klaver] said, 'Please let me talk to him, let me give him my phone number if he wants to discuss the matter' and he [the cop] said, 'No it's different, they were MasterCard gift cards' - like it makes a difference."

It's difficult fixing stupid when it gets as bad as this.

"I (Klaver] said, 'Please let me talk to him, let me give him my phone number if he wants to discuss the matter' and he [the cop] said, 'No it's different, they were MasterCard gift cards' - like it makes a difference."

She probably wanted a class action lawsuit since it was just her.

Probably not. Do a little research about "class action."

Wasn't I mean.

is that for real? holy sh we's in trouble.

and I readily admit I ain't no brainiac.

Exactly.

The really good part: "When Klaver got out [of jail], she returned to Best Buy to try to get her money back, but the store reportedly refused and also declined to give her the DVD player." Arrogant @holes.

i can.

I can blame the store for how her situation was handled, but not the cashier. Guess it's because a cashier helped prevent a great deal of frustration and headache for me.

is this really how shit works? a fucking best buy cashier decides that you are committing credit card fraud and the police come to arrest you? they didnt even try to figure out what was going on? they just took the cashiers word and arrested the woman? this is fucking unbelievable. secondly, if the best buy cashier told me i must know someone who makes fake credit cards i would have to use every last bit of my patience to prevent myself from slapping her face

Good now let Best Buy pay her a nice settlement check. This has a lawsuit written all over it.

awesome, best buy is going to have to settle for $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$,

Best Buy just out and out sucks.

Thanks.

it's not just a question of the generally poor quality of service employee we get here, but likely an overdoing by management of prepping those employees to watch out for customer fraud. that said, a manager should have gotten better involved before the nypd arrived and she was arrested. no question that her lawsuit also sued the nypd as well for false arrest and malicious prosecution, as well as bb.

I didn't realize $5-an-hour cashiers were in any position to make such allegations.

Yep, the sheer foolishness (playing nice) of this entire episode is stunning.

Hope she cleans up...

I don't buy from BB, not since they canceled my account because I bought to many sale items. I do think they should change their names to Worst Buy, though. That's a better description.

Why the heck would anyone buy a DVD player at one of those stores anyway? Doesn't she have a computer? Could have got that thing on Newegg for less with no tax and free delivery.

I read this story awhile ago on a tech website. Its complete crap that she got arrested. And the same thing happened to someone else right after her.

Was it Consumerist?

Yes, the cashier was stupid, but stupid people need jobs, too, and they often end up taking minimum wage jobs. I guess no one would complain if the cashier quit her job and went on welfare instead?

What makes you think the cashier was female? The gender of the employee was never stated. Like that cashier, are you ASSuming something?

"What makes you think the cashier was female? The gender of the employee was never stated."

Actually, according to the linked article the cashier ran the transaction through. It was a manager -- referred to as "he" -- who then stopped her.

The only link in the above story is to NY1, and there is no mention as to the cashier's gender.

Exactly. But again, the cashier wasn't the one who detained her.

She should get a job cleaning toilets so she doesn't eff with other people's lives.

Be careful what you wish for. In an office building I used to work in, somebody once recounted that he walked into the men's room and saw the porter finish brushing down the inside of a urinal then proceed to brush the sinks and faucets with the same toilet brush.

Thats SOP for offices (seen it multiple times).

What's really scary is watching a cleaner in a clinic wipe down a red, medical waste basket and then use the same rag on the sink and faucet...

Forget the employees, what the f*&^ was the NYPD thinking?

The cops who responded to the call weren't detectives, so if a merchant is making a complaint and stating that the cards are invalid they're not in a position to dispute that. They're not experts on different types of credit cards, and they don't hold a trial on the spot.

After she was taken to the precinct, as detailed above, a detective called AmEx to investigate.

Wait. You need "detectives" to sort this shit out? You mean a normal human being with a brain can't figure this out? Does this mean if I clear this up with AmEx I get half of police pension in 20 years?

Weird, are you saying big box chain stores don't care about people?

Nooo...that can't be true!

I hope she gets a nice little settlement from Best Buy out of this. This woman was arrested and taken to jail because of some incompetent employee and now she deserves to be compensated. Maybe if these stores didn't employ the city's most ignorant for minimum wage, we wouldn't have to deal with this shit.

straight up. That's some serious wrongful imprisonment shit right there.

But why did NYPD also not call AMEX before arresting her.

Most stores would call up the credit card company to verify. You need tits and ass to get service at this particular Best Buy. It's service like this which lead to Circuit City's demise.

agree, the BEST buy staff at Chelsea _6th ave are awesome.

Yes. I go out of my to go to that store instead of the others.

These Amex cards are not that common, however the sales staff should have been trained to accept them. I hope she wins the suit.

She's filing what kind of suit? Wrongful arrest?

Unlawful Detention, Consumer Fraud, False Arrest...

The nuissance money on this alone will be over 5 figures.

Consumer Fraud?

They failed to refund her money when she came back. It took a threat of legal action to get her refund. Consumer fraud. You should check out the captions on these lawsuits, I wouldn't be surprised if assault and battery wasn't in there.

I smell termination for a cashier and maybe a manager. Attention all Greater NY area job seekers: There will be employment opportunities available at the NoHo Best Buy very soon.

I hear there's a new book coming: Best Buy Jobs for Dummies.

Its totally in her right to sue the shit out of them and she should.

for sure. Its gonna be spectacular.

you don't need no cheap dvd player.

Better to stick to reading books—and to boycott large corporate consumer outlets that sell virtually nothing made in your own country.

And what are you typing on, a Ford keyboard?

No, hes got a sustainable set of punch cards made from upcycled vegan poop.

So, is this woman stuck with an arrest record now?

Haha, awesome.

i LOL'd!

This is what happens when you get dumbfuck minimum-wage employees in positions where they think they have some power. If this story is accurate I hope Best Buy gets hosed, big time.

For a minute there I thought you were describing the Transportation Security Administration.

Really, from my own experience in that store, it's probably the people working there that know how to make fake credit cards.

I've been to that exact store. The people that work there are retarded.

All mentally retarded? Literally? Good for them for employing equal opportunity practices.

More like WORST BUY, AMIRITE?

Absolutely!!

i lol'd

lol