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Best Buy employees get customer arrested for using $2 bills

Discussion in 'BBS Hangout' started by Invisible Fan, Apr 7, 2005.

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  1. Invisible Fan

    Invisible Fan Member

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    A tale of customer service, justice and currency as funny as a $2 bill

    Michael Olesker
    Baltimore Sun
    March 8, 2005

    PUT YOURSELF in Mike Bolesta's place. On the morning of Feb. 20, he buys a
    new radio-CD player for his 17-year-old son Christopher's car. He pays the
    $114 installation charge with 57 crisp new $2 bills, which, when last
    observed, were still considered legitimate currency in the United States
    proper. The $2 bills are Bolesta's idea of payment, and his little comic
    protest, too.
    For this, Bolesta, Baltimore County resident, innocent citizen, owner of
    Capital City Student Tours, finds himself under arrest.

    Finds himself, in front of a store full of customers at the Best Buy on York
    Road in Lutherville, locked into handcuffs and leg irons.

    Finds himself transported to the Baltimore County lockup in Cockeysville,
    where he's handcuffed to a pole for three hours while the U.S. Secret
    Service is called into the case.

    Have a nice day, Mike.

    "Humiliating," the 57-year old Bolesta was saying now. "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."

    What we have here, besides humiliation, is a sense of caution resulting in
    screw-ups all around.

    "When I bought the stereo player," Bolesta explains, "the technician said
    it'd fit perfectly into my son's dashboard. But it didn't. So they called
    back and said they had another model that would fit perfectly, and it was
    cheaper. We got a $67 refund, which was fine. As long as it fit, that's all.

    "So we go back and pay for it, and they tell us to go around front with our
    receipt and pick up the difference in the cost. I ask about installation
    charges. They said, 'No installation charge, because of the mix-up. Our
    mistake, no charge.' Swell.

    "But then, the next day, I get a call at home. They're telling me, 'If you
    don't come in and pay the installation fee, we're calling the police.' Jeez,
    where did we go from them admitting a mistake to suddenly calling the
    police? So I say, 'Fine, I'll be in tomorrow.' But, overnight, I'm starting
    to steam a little. It's not the money -- it's the threat. So I thought, I'll
    count out a few $2 bills."

    He has lots and lots of them.

    With his Capital City Student Tours, he arranges class trips for school kids
    around the country traveling to large East Coast cities, including
    Baltimore. He's been doing this for the last 18 years. He makes all the
    arrangements: hotels, meals, entertainment. And it's part of his schtick
    that, when Bolesta hands out meal money to students, he does it in $2 bills,
    which he picks up from his regular bank, Sun Trust.

    "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.'"

    At Best Buy, they may have perceived the protest -- but did not sense the
    comic aspect of 57 $2 bills.

    "I'm just here to pay the bill," Bolesta says he told a cashier. "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."

    He remembers the cashier marking each bill with a pen. Then other store
    personnel began to gather, a few of them asking, "Are these real?"

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

    A Best Buy manager refused comment last week. But, according to a Baltimore
    County police arrest report, suspicions were roused when an employee noticed
    some smearing of ink. So the cops were called in. One officer noticed the
    bills ran in sequential order.

    "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,'" Bolesta says. "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 then taken to the county police lockup in Cockeysville, where he
    sat handcuffed to a pole and in leg irons while the Secret Service was
    called in.

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

    Finally, Secret Service agent Leigh Turner arrived, examined the bills and
    said they were legitimate, adding, according to the police report,
    "Sometimes ink on money can smear."

    This will be important news to all concerned.

    For Baltimore County police, said spokesman Bill Toohey, "It's a sign that
    we're all a little nervous in the post-9/11 world."

    The other day, one of Bolesta's sons needed a few bucks. Bolesta pulled out
    his wallet and "whipped out a couple of $2 bills. But my son turned away. He
    said he doesn't want 'em any more."

    He's seen where such money can lead.

    Copyright © 2005, The Baltimore Sun
     
    #1 Invisible Fan, Apr 7, 2005
  2. moestavern19

    moestavern19 Member

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    Best Buy Strikes again

    I found this laughable, I mean...

    What?

    What the **** does an aging white man trying to pay a bill with legal American tender have to do with terrorism?

    What is he going to do? Threaten to launch a nuke unless you start carrying the Hee-Haw Season 1 DVD?

    There is just nothing to say for the Fascists who perpetrated this lunacy.
     
    #2 moestavern19, Apr 7, 2005
  3. weakfromtoday

    weakfromtoday Member
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    Well, they need to fix that problem. Is that not a main thing cashiers are trained to look for in counterfit bills? I personally have never seen smeared ink on a bill.

    Still though, that is a horrible story.
     
    #3 weakfromtoday, Apr 7, 2005
  4. lpbman

    lpbman Member

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    eh don't they make those little pens that you can mark on the bills to see if they are legit?

    also, the cashiers name and photo need to be posted on the net, so she can be mocked as the moron she is
     
    #4 lpbman, Apr 7, 2005
  5. mr_gootan

    mr_gootan Member

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    If you're going to counterfeit money, why would anybody choose the $2 bill? You'd be losing money.
     
    #5 mr_gootan, Apr 7, 2005
  6. jbond77

    jbond77 Member

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    This is the reason you hate america!

    The propaganda! I mean is soaked in it

    from girls with bags of dirt that "looks like pot"

    to "2 dollar bills"

    For Baltimore County police, said spokesman Bill Toohey, "It's a sign that
    we're all a little nervous in the post-9/11 world."

    of course yoru f*@)#* nervous! You've been fed fear sandwiches day in day out for the last 5 years of multiple 24 hour filler news channels

    I love my country, but this fear propaganda has got to stop
     
    #6 jbond77, Apr 7, 2005
  7. RocketMan Tex

    RocketMan Tex Member

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    Everybody knows that Best Buy only hires the stupidest people this side of the White House!:eek: ;) :D
     
    #7 RocketMan Tex, Apr 7, 2005
  8. Faos

    Faos Member

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    You do?

    I don't.
     
    #8 Faos, Apr 7, 2005
  9. 4chuckie

    4chuckie Member

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    The guy wanted attention he got attention. He wanted to protest, well pal there's your national stage. Go protest but please don't cry that you got the attention you wanted in the 1st place.

    I really dislike best buy, but let's be honest there aren't many rocket scientists working as cashiers at many places. Heck I know I would be suspicious if someone paid me over a $100 in $2 bills. Would I call the police, I doubt it but if I was suspicious of the guy and he was acting like a jack-@ss I may have called them just to have them check the guy out. yes I am fully aware a $2 bill is legal tender but if it is suspicious (especially if the ink is running and it may be counterfit) I don't blame the store for bringing in the cops to examine the currency.

    Like every other story keep in mind their are 2 sides. The guy claims one thing (it was suppose to be free due to a mix-up, so he decides to stage a protest) who knows if it's the truth or not.

    Like others have said it would be a waste to print $2 bills but if the store didn't know the guy, he makes a suspicious transaction, and the cashier saw somethign unuusual (running ink) I don't have a problem with it. Crap happens even to normal people, this guy was looking to make a point and he got some attention.
     
    #9 4chuckie, Apr 7, 2005
  10. GladiatoRowdy

    GladiatoRowdy Member

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    :rolleyes:

    I hope he sues BB and the police department and wins.

    If your "suspicions would be raised" by someone paying with a bunch of $2 bills then you are pretty close to the same intelligence level as the cashier in question.
     
    #10 GladiatoRowdy, Apr 7, 2005
  11. 3814

    3814 Member

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    I agree with this part of your post.

    The guy wanted to protest, what better protest than seeing his story his the news as an example for how BestBuy is a company of a$$h0les. He got what he wanted, maybe he got more than he wanted, but he got what he wanted nonetheless.
     
    #11 3814, Apr 7, 2005
  12. jbond77

    jbond77 Member

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    and is there a post post 9/11 world?
     
    #12 jbond77, Apr 7, 2005
  13. Davidoff

    Davidoff Member

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    YAY!!! Another reason to HATE BestBuy... LONG LIVE WALMART!!!!
     
    #13 Davidoff, Apr 7, 2005
  14. rhadamanthus

    rhadamanthus Member

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    Agreed.

    I never shop at best buy anymore. Too many stories of rampant customer abuse.

    Irritating aside: Statisically, most of the theft at these stores (Fry's, Circuit City, etc.) is done by the employees. Yet, I (the customer) am the one constantly being watched and searched on my way out. :mad:
     
    #14 rhadamanthus, Apr 7, 2005
  15. bobrek

    bobrek Politics belong in the D & D

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    Warning: Aggie joke follows:

    Did you hear about the Aggie who was counterfeiting $2 bills?

    He was erasing the "0" off 20s.
     
    #15 bobrek, Apr 7, 2005
  16. bnb

    bnb Member

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    Even if they suspected they were counterfeit bills....they knew who he was!! And his address. And his phone number...So they could go after him later if the bills proved to be bogus. And the same holds true for the police...(or was he a flight risk...gonna live on the lamb...just him...his son... with their bad-ass bestbuy stereo..oh yeah...screwed 'the man' out of $114 baby!) so why lock him up?

    PR boys at best buy better by fedexing him a complimentary Gizmondo or something soon...
     
    #16 bnb, Apr 7, 2005
  17. v3.0

    v3.0 Member

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    Hell I was followed while I was in Best Buy. I was browsing in the CD aisles when some dumpy looking chick asked if I needed help, and I kinda knew she wasn't there to really help me, she was in the "Make you aware that I'm around " mode. Then she went to the end of the aisle and I could hear her tell a coworker "Help me watch this guy". So I just moved to the Books and Magazine aisle and just parked there reading book after book. I could see from the corner of my eye that the dumpy looking chick called her supervisors and they all kept watching me. I think the dumpy looking chick went to lunch, but the other guys kept watching even though I'm just standing there reading book after book for a loooong time. Finally they just walked across me in the aisle, "We still want you to know we are around" mode. Whoop de dooo!

    Later when I went home I called the Manager on duty and told her about this. I should have just made a scene in the middle of the store and walked up to that dumpy looking chick and called her out, but thinking back I could have been shackled there right on the spot.

    BTW it was the I-10/Fry Road Best Buy, I forgot the dumpy looking chick's name otherwise I would give her the deserved 15 minutes she was looking for. Best Buy blows!!!
     
    #17 v3.0, Apr 7, 2005
  18. meh

    meh Member

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    It's actually not that surprising that Best Buy employees might get suspicious, but the police? Don't they have some sort of training? Surely they can at least call an expert on this stuff before they arrest the guy. Common sense would tell you that no sane person would counterfeit $2 bills, of all the choice available. And the 9/11 reasoning is so absurd it's not even funny.

    Oh I so hope Best Buy and the police department get sued for tons of money.
     
    #18 meh, Apr 7, 2005
  19. bnb

    bnb Member

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    Hey V...

    I think the dumpy chick probably liked you ;).

    I can understand the need to protect against shoplifting...but when you already have the guys name and address and phone numbers, there's probably no need to go calling officer Odie and taking the 8x10 colour glossies...
     
    #19 bnb, Apr 7, 2005
  20. drapg

    drapg Member

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    Fire 'em.

    Fire the whole gang of these idiots. From management to the police. I don't blame the little kid running the cashier. Kids are dumb.

    But sheesh you'd think adults would know better.
     
    #20 drapg, Apr 7, 2005
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