Of course, it is ordinary for a John Doe to walk into a small goods suppliers outlet, unknown to anyone there, and purchase 13,000 dollars worth of their products with a check. I do it all the time.
Where's the rest of the story?
Posted on 12/04/2005 3:29:59 AM PST by beaversmom
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) - Wal-Mart apologized to a black man who was falsely accused of trying to pass a bad check when he went to the store to buy thousands of dollars' worth of holiday gift cards for employees at a manufacturing company where he is human resources manager.
"I keep going over and over the incident in my mind. I cannot come up with any possible reason why I was treated like this except that I am black," Reginald Pitts said.
Employees of a Wal-Mart Supercenter called sheriff's deputies last week to arrest Pitts after he handed over a $13,600 check to pay for 520 gift cards for employees at roofing supplier GAF Materials Corp.
Wal-Mart spokeswoman Sharon Weber said Friday that the company does not tolerate discrimination. "We probably could have handled it better, but I won't know until we complete the investigation," she said.
Pitts' company eventually bought its gift cards from Target.
Where are the Wal Mart cheer leaders this morning?
No excuses for that. They should have called the bank first to verify the account before having the guy arrested.
Actually, having dealt with corporate purchasing, skin color doesn't factor in at all. If this man walked into any store and tried to buy thousands of dollars worth of gift cards with a company check then he should correctly be viewed with suspicion until his identity and purpose can be confirmed.
If he didn't have the foresight to call ahead and talk to the manager, then fax in a purchase order or letter on company letterhead, and carry a copy of said letter or purchase order... then what happened is his own fault.
You want to condemn the whole company for the actions of a single employee? Would you rather make the case that Wal-Mart institutionalizes racism?
Your hatred and bias against Wal-Mart is as clear as that of the MSM. Congratulations, you are what you hate.
Walmart was on the look out for an
African American male, well dressed who
had been taking them for thousands of
dollars in gift cards.
Of course, it is ordinary for a John Doe to walk into a small goods suppliers outlet, unknown to anyone there, and purchase 13,000 dollars worth of their products with a check. I do it all the time.
Where's the rest of the story?
Absolutely not. They had virtually nothing to go on when they called the police. They obviously didn't even bother to contact the company before they called to have him arrested. They are completely at fault here.
Hey Sherlock, what would that matter? Especially if the check was stolen or forged. And who says they didn't anyway?
People understand Walmart has to deal with tons of crooks trying to take advantage of them constantly.
I was taught, never "ASSUME" anything. Refuse the sale and or refer the customer to a supervisor.
You wrongly "ASSUMED" SOMETHING, SO YOU WOULD FIT RIGHT IN WHITH THESE PEOPLE THAT ARE NOW GOING TO HAVE A PROBLEM.
http://www.tampatrib.com/MGBK6Q0HRGE.html
Pitts, local human resources manager for GAF Materials Corp., called the Wal-Mart Supercenter at 11110 Causeway Blvd. in the morning to order 520 holiday gift cards for employees. The white, female worker who normally did the task was on vacation. The company had spent about $50,000 a year on gift cards at the local Wal-Mart for several years.
Store employees assured him it wouldn't be a problem. The roofing system manufacturer gave Pitts a check for $13,600, and he left to pick up the gift cards.
Pitts, who wore khaki pants and a button-down dress shirt, arrived at the Wal-Mart customer service desk about 1:15 p.m. and found the cards ready.
But first, he was told, managers needed to verify the check.
Pitts gave them his GAF business card, driver's license and numbers to Citibank, GAF's bank. The company's accounting supervisor told Wal-Mart over the phone that the check was good. GAF, based in Wayne, N.J., is the nation's biggest roofing systems maker, with $1.6 billion in 2004 revenue.
At least two black clerks watching the situation told Pitts he was being subjected to such scrutiny because he is black. They told him other companies made similar purchases that day without such interrogations.
Pitts got upset and demanded the check back, but store managers told him they were struggling to verify the check.
Hillsborough County sheriff's deputies arrived, responding to a call from store managers about a possible forged check.
Pitts said one of the officers grabbed his arm, causing him to pull away.
"I said, 'Are you going to arrest me?' " said Pitts, 34. "I was scared."
Within minutes, officers had reviewed the evidence, returned Pitts' check and left.
Most check fraud occurs after business hours. Corporate purchases, especially of this type, should've been set up in advance to avoid misunderstandings such as what happened.
I don't blame Wal-Mart for trying to protect itself from fraud. This man's skin color had nothing to do with what happened to him. It was the fact that his actions and methods had him falsely misaligned.
Was Wal-Mart's reaction an overreaction? Probably, but I find it hard to blame them when they're probably hit daily by check fraud. It was, in my mind, and understandable overreaction, and I'm sure they'll be more careful in the future.
No permanent harm has come of this, and until you've been scammed by a check fraud artist - don't knock how slick they can be. I've seen many of them in action and given my share of statements to the police after the fact.
I don't think he wrongly assumed it, your post reads exactly as if you hate Walmart. Which, I couldn't care less about but that is the way your post reads.
Exactly, see #6.
See #13. That doesn't seem to be the case at all.
Shad...If it does not say it, do not assume IT.
Here I am. Wal-Mart cheerleader reporting for duty.
Gee, you gave us what, six minutes to respond at 6AM on a Sunday morning?
Don't get out much, do you? Not everybody else spends 24/7 on the keyboard breathlessly waiting to respond to whatever profound statements "cynicom" might deign to post for us.
Anyway, it looks like some Wal-Mart employees made an error in judgement. They were wrong and the company apologized for it. What do you want the rest of us to do, start a national boycott of a $250-billion a year corporation because a few employees down in Florida made a mistake?
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