Clerk threatened to kill me at local Tread Quarters Discount Tire Store...

Unfortunately this was not Nordstrom where they get trained properly and earn a decent wage. What you experienced is quite normal for the industry that gets paid near minimum wage to do a job, except for the I'll kill you part. It's sad

 

Sorry to hear your time was uncomfortable in a store that you were expecting good service from... myself, I do not expect good service from anywhere.

Like you, I demand it to get any of my coins.

 

I'd never give my last name to a customer. I'd give them my badge number or car plate number but wouldn't give my last name. Last thing you want is working in a crap job and then having a customer contacting you on Facebook. It's bad enough when a customer confronts you in the local supermarket.

He did sound a bit of a hot head though, but again, if someone tried to grab me in the taxi I'd have been impolite. I wouldn't threaten to kill anyone though and would give a warning.

I think you just report it to his manager, tell everyone locally about it and just avoid them in future. Eventually their poor customer service will catch up. You sure you don't want to name and shame them?

 

According to most state laws, a clerk does not have to give his or her last name (due to incidents of customers stalking employees to homes). While the clerk was clearly a poor customer service person, you were in the wrong to demand a last name. I never gave a last name when I was in a store.

You were also wrong to grab his hand. That is physical assault & the clerk could have called the cops and filed charges.

Again: The clerk had a poor attitude, but you also committed some wrongs too. Demanding a last name was a bit rude (and he's not required to give it no matter how many times you yell at him)..... grabbing the finger was assault.

 

Sounds like you got some redneck customer service right there!
Robert was probably having a bad day (maybe his wife hit him back this morning on his out the trailer).
Were you pulling the trailer w/the the Prius? That will elicit redneck rage every time.

Writing the letter was the best thing to do, as posted above "Eventually their poor customer service will catch up"....

 

When the guy said, "I will not give my last name," why did you start demanding it (repeatedly in a nagging fashion)?
He is not obligated to give it to you, so why did you start harassing the guy?
Why start an argument???
That was a poor decision.
A wiser decision would have been to simply walk away & file your letter of complaint. You didn't need to know the clerk's last name, or need to start a vicious debate with him. (HINT: The same is true of most fights..... they can be avoided if you just walk away.)

In fact you LEFT the scene, went somewhere else for about an hour, and then returned to the scene with the explicit Intent to cause a debate/argument with the clerk. You instigated the situation. There would have not been a scene if you had stayed out of the store (just like last night I witnessed some drug-dealers downtown, so I did not return to that scene).

 

Good thing- if you were driving the Prius... he might have been even more hostile!
Nothing threatens redneck lifestyle like a hybrid...

 

Sorry folks, but this is why so called "stand your ground" laws are so terrible. The clerk did nnothing material to threaten this guy, and yet he almost seems to relish the idea of blowing this guy away, and thinks he would BR justified!

More guns anyone?

Icarus

 

The clerk's racial background is mentioned in his description, but you don't mention anywhere in your letter that the root of his poor, disdainful attitude towards you could have been racial discrimination.

 

^^ No, I'm just saying I think you may be a poor judge of when deadly force is appropriate, and indeed is indicative of why "stand your ground" and unlimited access to fire arms in anybody's hands is, IMHO, a bad idea.

If you, as a"trained law enforcement professional" are this close to blowing someone away, for some percieved over the counter threat, I can only imagine how some untrained nutbar with a handgun would do. Somehow, the idea of some sales clerk when he seems hassled (rightly or wrongly) by some seemingly irate customer is not a case of a use of deadly force. He points his finger, telling got leave his place of business, and you, instead of doing the right thing and leaving, and calling the police if you need to retrieve your goods, you reach out attempting to grab his finger, and him reacting by saying "he would kill you if you touched him". From the facts presented me thinks you would be in the wrong if this situation had escalated. My hope most law enforcement officers have better judgement than you exercised in this case.

See also George Zimmerman

Icarus

 

Good point Icarus. If a man tells you to leave his store, you leave. It's a public facility but still private land. "Stand your ground" laws don't apply to trespassers.

I find most cops are trained to instigate an argument & then use said argument (which they started) to justify a false arrest. Not all cops... but enough to be worthy of note. There are 3 Supreme Court cases dating back to the 60s and 70s wherein the justices conclude death threats are protected speech. For example a man said (as he burned his Vietnam draft card) that he would kill the president if he was forced to go kill innocents. The justices left him off.

The only time a death threat is not protected is if the speaker is holding a gun or knife at the time (imminent danger). They have also concluded you don't have to answer any cop's questions (active or retired).

 

Rude person's Welcome to the real world that most of us live in- daily. You having served in authority for so long you have grown accustomed to what that authority demands. Now retired, you still believe it is demanded. Surprise,, its not, as your just another customer, a civilian, one of US. My Father and Brother were both Proud California Highway Patrolmen, one, a Captain, the other a Sargent. Both still have hard times dealing with retirement, as, they no longer have the badge, the authority. The Black- & - White world they lived in for years, is now fully slurred into a gray mess, with no authority for them to try and fix it. My best suggestion is take a deep breath, and find something of value to do to get rid of the anger, or you will end up with health issues. IMHO, you can not fix an America that has to legislate morals and values, instead of parents teaching them, and following them. You simply can not write the laws fast enough, and our Prisons and Jails are fuller than any industrialized nation in the world! No, until this nation gets back to is roots, if it ever does, it will just get worse. So better to learn how to deal with it, before the next time, when it deals with YOU! Matthew 24 & 25 are good reading!

 

I would have left after he said, "We don't do trailer tires."

I'll give someone one chance to earn my business, and don't need to argue with them if uninterested in earning my money.

Once I find a the right place though, they'll have my business as long as they continue their good service.