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Asked to leave Best Buy in Bellevue!

gregma

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Well, I guess it was bound to happen. My wife and myself went into Best Buy to buy the new Madden 08 game, and another game, and a few DVD's. We stopped by the Disney DVD section and were looking around, when an employee approached and said "I'm sorry, sir, but I have to ask you to bring that out to your car (pointing at my sidearm.)" I said "May I ask why?" He said "I was just told that we do not allow guns in the store. It's store policy." I said "Not a problem, I'd be happy to take my money elsewhere." He said "Great, thank you". On our way out, the "Greeter" looked at me and said "I'm sorry about that." I said "Not a problem for me, I have no problem spending my money at Circuit City." My wife on the other hand asked to speak with a manager. I tried saying that it wasn't a big deal and we'll be happy to shop elsewhere, but I had been asked to leave, and if I didn't I would be guilty of trespassing, so I left immediatly leaving my wife there to speak with the manager. I guess my wife asked the guy if he had ever heard of the 2nd amendment. :D
The "Greeter" responded "We're a private establishment." Wife said "Well, we will just have to no longer shop here." Greeter said "That's fine." Wife didn't want to wait around for the manager so left.
While I was waiting for my wife, I had remembered about my "Best Buy" card, so gave it to her to return to them as we would no longer be using it. She went back in and there was another gentleman at the "greeters station". She asked if he was the manager and he replied "Yup." She asked for his name, and he said "I have better than that" and handed her a business card.

Josh Florence
Store Manager

Best Buy Stores
Best Buy
457 120th Ave
Bellevue, WA 98005

(425)452-8060 direct
(425)452-6252 fax


joshua.florence@bestbuy.com

Looks like we have another addition to the "Do not patronize" list. Just need to figure out whether this is store policy or corporate policy.
 

xpun8

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Dang!! I guess I'll be saving money now, that's the 3rd business on my "where the heck did it all go?" list. Let us know if the manager says anything.
 

HankT

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You handled the situation very well, gregma, particularly your move to leave immediately so as to create no uncertainty that you were complying with their notice.

Do you plan on making a complaint?
 

unrequited

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If you do decide to have a conversation with him, please ask if it's corporate policy or the manager's personal "store policy" like you were told. I've never had a problem in VA. (Alexandria)
 

gregma

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unrequited wrote:
If you do decide to have a conversation with him, please ask if it's corporate policy or the manager's personal "store policy" like you were told. I've never had a problem in VA. (Alexandria)
That is what I am going to ask first when I write corporate. Whether it is corporate policy or just that one store's. Or whether it is left up to the discretion of the store manager.

I will be sending something off to corporate about what happened and asking them to clarify the "policy". I'll post what I write (It won't be that great as I'm not the best of politically correct writing :) But it'll be something. I'll post the results if I get some.
 

gregma

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HankT wrote:
Do you plan on making a complaint?
I'm thinking of first sending an email to the manager asking him to clarify the "policy". Whether it is his, or corporates. If he says corporate, then I will forward that on to coporate asking them to validate.
 

unrequited

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Don't be afraid to cut out the middle man and ask directly for the District Manager's phone #. Don't say why, or tell why after you call the DM. Explain your situation to the DM and ask him what their stance is. It'll just save you time because if the GM of the store gets skittish, he'll just ask you to talk to the DM anyways, and if you want to make a complaint you'll do it to the DM. That was my experience anyways.

> )
 

gregma

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gregma wrote:
HankT wrote:
Do you plan on making a complaint?
I'm thinking of first sending an email to the manager asking him to clarify the "policy". Whether it is his, or corporates. If he says corporate, then I will forward that on to coporate asking them to validate.
Here's what I sent the Store Manager just now:


Good Evening,

My name is Greg, and I was in your store this evening around 4:30pm with my wife to buy some DVD’s and some Wii games. While browsing, I was approached by an employee and asked to leave the store with “that”. He pointed to my legally carried firearm. I inquired as to why I was being asked to leave and he stated it was “policy”. According to state law, once asked to leave, I must immediately do so or face being arrested for trespassing, so I left. My wife returned to give back our Best Buy card as we will no longer be using it and got your business card. Is this your store policy to prevent those legally carrying a firearm from entering it, or is it a corporate policy? I need to know so I can appropriately avoid just your store, or avoid all Best Buy stores. Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter.

Sincerely, ...

I'm just NOT as eloquent as others are. Sounds very cut and dry. Hopefully it's not TOO bad though.
 

gregma

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unrequited wrote:
Don't be afraid to cut out the middle man and ask directly for the District Manager's phone #. Don't say why, or tell why after you call the DM. Explain your situation to the DM and ask him what their stance is. It'll just save you time because if the GM of the store gets skittish, he'll just ask you to talk to the DM anyways, and if you want to make a complaint you'll do it to the DM. That was my experience anyways.

> )
Oh great. NOW you tell me after I sent an email off to the store manager :)
 

sccrref

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Virginia Beach, VA, , USA
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gregma wrote:
(snip) While I was waiting for my wife, I had remembered about my "Best Buy" card, so gave it to her to return to them as we would no longer be using it. She went back in and there was another gentleman at the "greeters station". She asked if he was the manager and he replied "Yup." She asked for his name, and he said "I have better than that" and handed her a business card. (snip)
If the caed you referred to was a credit card, I would recommend calling and cancelling the card. I would not trust him to do it for you. Just a thought.
 

gregma

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sccrref wrote:
gregma wrote:
(snip) While I was waiting for my wife, I had remembered about my "Best Buy" card, so gave it to her to return to them as we would no longer be using it. She went back in and there was another gentleman at the "greeters station". She asked if he was the manager and he replied "Yup." She asked for his name, and he said "I have better than that" and handed her a business card. (snip)
If the caed you referred to was a credit card, I would recommend calling and cancelling the card. I would not trust him to do it for you. Just a thought.
Noooo, not a credit card :) Just one of those "club card" type things where you get a point for every so much you buy and can get gift certificates.
 

Tidewater

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I've been to that Best Buy...I use to live in Mukilteo, WA near Everett. I dont understand businesses sometimes? Wouldnt you think, when its obvious that your there with the best of intentions, that it would be good for your customers to be armed? After all, if someone did have ill-intentions, wouldnt they have immediatley carried out what they wanted to accomplish dispite laws? Thats what I DO NOT understand about many carrying laws.
 

just_a_car

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Auburn, Washington, USA
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Okay, it's been added to the Watch List here, as per the rules I set down to make things clear for everyone about what each list means.

I'm going to leave it off the DO NOT PATRONIZE list until you get a reply from the manager (and preferably corporate), especially in light of the article that Lonnie linked to. It appears that if you contact corporate, they may set this manager straight. I will, as mentioned on my "DO NOT PATRONIZE" thread, keep an eye out for a report about any updates and will change their status as soon as something changes.

Thanks for the report Gregma! And feel free to send a link to corporate to that thread to show them that we, indeed, do mean business (both in the figurative and the literal, i.e. loss thereof).

Admittedly, I prefer Circuit City anyways... Heh.
 

unrequited

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Lonnie Wilson wrote:
I seem to remember a similar incident in either Indiana or Ohio when a bunch of Best Buy stores started posting no guns signs.  Seem to remember them on THR.

UPDATE: FOUND IT!

http://tinyurl.com/ywnltc
That's terrific... I hope they haven't gone back on their corporate policy, and if I ever run into problems at Best Buy I'll know who to contact.
 

G27

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I find that bogus. I have OC'd at the Silverdale Best Buy with my 229 and know the greeter guy has saw it before. Never had any problems and I am one of those "minglers" who go through all the aisles, so I can be there for hours. If this is corporate policy, it's definitely not being applied to every store.
 
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