Shopper Uses Valid Gift Cards, Winds Up Behind Bars

A 24-year-old woman says she was handcuffed and thrown into a police holding cell when she tried to use a valid gift card at a NoHo Best Buy. Llona Klaver wanted to buy a DVD player with American Express gift cards she received from her father and brother, but she claims a cashier told her one wasn't valid because it didn't have raised numbers, while another was deemed unacceptable because it was connected to a different person's credit card. Then the cashier accused her of credit card fraud.

Klaver told NY1 she tried to call her brother to see if the gift card was linked to his credit card, but a cashier purportedly told her: "No that's not it, you must know someone who makes fake credit cards...This is credit card fraud." Police officers escorted Klaver to a security room in the back of the store where she called her father, who gave police his credit card number and tried to tell them he purchased the gift cards directly from American Express. That wasn't enough stop police from cuffing her, bringing her to a precinct, and putting her in a holding cell for an hour.

"I could hear the cop on the other line with a supervisor from American Express saying 'Oh all three were purchased in California' because that's where my family lives and 'Oh, you make cards without raised numbers, Oh,'" she said. When Klaver got out, 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. Best Buy has since offered to refund Klaver and says the incident occurred because an employee "mistakenly provided the card issuer with the wrong card information." Klaver has filed suit against the electronics shop.

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By Ben Muessig in News on February 4, 2010 12:10 PM

Comments [rss]

Lesliepbg

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.

MrCholly

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.

timmmyk

@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.

PathToWisdom

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.

brooklynmouthoff

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.

SighR

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

Chillinoncentral

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

schadenfreudian mensch

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."

Gothamist_Cynic

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

Spirit of 76

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.

JenChungsBaby

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

Jackie Curtis

Best Buy stores leave me cold.

Artificial intelligence does not compute.

PapiX

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

schadenfreudian mensch

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

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

FelixtheCat & Christine Quinn'

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

jaycjay

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

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

JenChungsBaby

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

jaycjay

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

adeez

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

Spirit of 76

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.