Working in customer service can be rough, because, well…people are so hit and miss. Some are polite and kind and realize that, even if they’re upset about something, you’re likely just a cog in a corporate wheel.
And some people, like “journalist” David Leavitt here, choose to throw little baby fits and tweet pics of an hourly employee in an attempt to shame them for doing their jobs.
This @target manager Tori is not honoring the price of their items per massachusetts law pic.twitter.com/7IYMjCcutZ
— David Leavitt 🎲🎮🧙♂️🌈 (@David_Leavitt) January 17, 2020
So why did Leavitt even bother?
He saw an electronic Oral-B toothbrush – which usually retails for $90-$150 – for what he thought was the sale of the decade. The display had a sticker on it that said $0.01, and when the cashier – and then Tori, the store’s manager – refused to give him the toothbrush for a penny, David called the police.
I just had to call the police because @target Refused to sell me the toothbrush
— David Leavitt (@David_Leavitt) January 17, 2020
Yes. He called the non-emergency line and asked for the police to come and write a report, citing some obscure Massachusetts law he believed entitled him to the basically free toothbrush.
I did not call 911. I called the business number for the police and told them it was not an emergency and they could take their time and explained the situation.
— David Leavitt (@David_Leavitt) January 17, 2020
And yes, the police came…
The police verified @target displayed the price of toothbrush for $0.01 The store manager Tori refused to sell me the toothbrush for displayed price. The police said I need to sue them and that they are making me a verified report take to court @BBBConnection @AskTarget
— David Leavitt (@David_Leavitt) January 17, 2020
Can you believe this actually happened? Because it happened.
Corporations like @target are not above the law. The police officer told me they’d testify that they saw the price and that the manager wouldn’t sell me the item for the price listed.
— David Leavitt (@David_Leavitt) January 17, 2020
Poor David can’t afford to go to the dentist, you see, so he really needed that $150 toothbrush!
I have not been able to afford to go to a dentist in over three years. So yes I wanted a good toothbrush and was thrilled to see such an amazing prize on an @OralB but @target refused to honor it and now I have to take them to court
— David Leavitt (@David_Leavitt) January 17, 2020
He’s going to sue Target, because instead of using his money to go to the dentist, he’s going to waste it on lawyers instead!
Now, attorneys from the state have weighed in online, saying that not only is David a prick, but he’s also dead wrong.
David is wrong. That law doesn’t apply when discrepancy is a gross error, in that the lowest price is less than half of the checkout price and the seller, in the previous 30 days, did not intend to sell the grocery item at the lowest price. G.L. c. 94, s. 184C(i)(2) @AskTarget pic.twitter.com/NN7VqLKvgr
— Daniel I. Lampke (@daniellampke) January 17, 2020
Most people felt sorry for poor #TargetTori, who not only had to deal with David and his nonsense, but who also found herself publicly shamed for her $15/hour job.
Twitter user @CarpeDonktum went one step farther, setting up a GoFundMe for the Target manager, because clearly, if anyone in the world ever needed a vacation, it’s #TargetTori.
Hey David, did anyone start a GoFundMe for you a toothbrush?!
Look what @CarpeDonktum and 300+ donors did for #TargetTori! pic.twitter.com/GJyHRQWamW
— I’m Perplexed (@Im_Perplexed) January 18, 2020
He raised more than $30k and actually found Tori!
HUGE UPDATE:
I have made contact with #TargetTori, she has received authorization to release 2 photos to verify that we are in contact.I need a representative from @gofundme to contact me to arrange the transfer of control of the account to Tori. pic.twitter.com/BW8byvUMcW
— Carpe Donktum🔹 (@CarpeDonktum) January 18, 2020
So what will she do with the money? She’ll be taking an Oral-B toothbrush of her very own to Hawaii for some much-needed, well-deserved fun in the sun. The rest will go to charity.
Good on her! It might prepare her for more endless weeks of handling customer complains at Target.