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Hillberry v. Wal-Mart
This is the story of Bruce Hillberry. He is just an average Kentucky native; God
fearing and Christian. A Democrat to the core, he believes in the old-fashioned
values of Americans and Christians; those that Jesus talked about in his
teachings. "Do unto others as you would have them do to you." Luke 6:31. That is
one that we all can relate to even in today's modern times.
Just like millions of other everyday people, Mr. Hillberry was a frequent
Wal-Mart shopper. That is no longer true. The day finally arrived when he said,
"Enough is enough!" He simply could not stand by and watch Wal-Mart violate the
rules, regulations and laws that other retailers follow. It was unfair, and the
pennies he saved shopping at Wal-Mart were not worth the discourtesy and
disrespect that has become every bit as famous as the Smiley Face mascot of the
store. Their way of business is down-right Un-American!
The Story Begins
At the start of the Christmas Shopping Season, Mr. Hillberry went to the local
Wal-Mart to buy a few incidentals. He waited in a long line that day as has
become customary at most Wal-Mart stores around the Country. He finally arrived
at the cash register and was greeted by a weary worker, who wasn't quite like
the happy holiday workers depicted in their commercials.
He loaded his items on the belt, she scanned them, and gave him his total. He
pulled out his Visa Check Card to pay. I bet everyone has seen the Visa Check
Card commercials that prompt you to use their Card so that you don't have to be
troubled with searching for I.D. If you haven't, you can see one for yourself. .
Well, he swiped his Card, and was asked to show his drivers license. (Remember,
what
Visa says.) So, he told her that he hadn't brought it in, as he was using
the Visa Card and it was never required before. She decided to move right on to
calling the manager. When he got there, he wasn't interested in passing any
Christmas cheer along to Mr. Hillberry. Instead, after the cashier told him that
Mr. Hillberry did not have his drivers license, the manager starting punching
the keys of the register. Mr. Hillberry did not receive the award winning
satisfaction that was praised by
J.D. Powers. My understanding is that he got
something more akin to the feeling that Ms. Catherine Herrell talked about in
her Wal-Mart satisfaction rating. Not the same circumstances, but the same
feeling of yuk!
Mr. Hillberry did try to find out exactly what was going on, but he was told to
leave the store. Naturally, he was surprised by this, and decided to inform Mr.
Manager that the Visa Check Card does not require an I.D. The response was that
Wal-Mart did. Of course, it was for Mr. Hillberry's protection. While that
sounds very thoughtful, customers are protected by the
Superheroes at Visa.
So
perhaps Wal-Mart should just try the honest approach and tell their customers
that they are really watching out for their own billion (yes, I said BILLION)
dollar wallet. The fact is, Wal-Mart can't tell you that because it is not part
of the agreement (contract) that they sign with Visa.
For those of you who didn't know, and many don't- the ***Visa policy as
confirmed by Visa International- is as follows:
If you go to purchase with a Visa emblazoned card, the process is to swipe it,
then sign the receipt that is printed out. The cashier is supposed to compare
the signature on the card with the one you just gave them on the receipt. There
are so many people who do not understand this process or the rules that Visa has
laid out for companies like Wal-Mart.
If they think something crooked is going on, they are supposed to call Visa. The
Visa representative will ask you or me personal questions that can verify that
we are who we say we are. This is the protection process and this insures that
your
privacy or Mr. Hillberry's
is not violated. In today's age, where
identity
theft is becoming rampant, it is important to safeguard your personal
information whenever possible. Using the Visa card is one means to help you do
this. Assuming that someone takes your card and manages to use it without your
permission, you are still protected. So, is Wal-Mart helping you by delaying you
even longer as you go get your identifying information and revealing all the
personal details to the clerk or are they just making sure that you are not a
thief trying to pull the wool over their eyes?
Wal-Mart systematically ignores this rule-at least in my city. The cash register
is programmed to halt the sale until ID is shown. They can hardly call that an
accident. It is unfortunate that Wal-Mart has no control over the decision, at
least not legally, to check out if you are who you say you are. But they did
sign a
contract saying that they agreed with the terms. One of those terms is
that they will not check ID if the card is signed. So, I say that if you gave
your word that you wouldn't ask for ID, then don't ask for ID.
That is how contracts work. Everyone else in the world is expected to honor
their word if they sign a Contract. For example, if I want an apartment today,
and I sign a lease contract saying that I will pay $500.00 a month in rent, I
will be required to pay. If I stopped, I would be violating the contract and
made to pay the money owed and maybe even put out on the streets. No one would
feel too sorry for me. They may even call me a
deadbeat, and congratulate my
landlord.
Now let's compare that to Wal-Mart. If Wal-Mart signs a contract saying that
they want to accept Visa cards, then they sign the Visa agreement. The Agreement
says that you can not check for picture identification as long as the card is
signed on the back. If you do it anyway, there is a fine to be paid. Let's say
you are the head honcho at Wal-Mart and you say to heck with that rule. I am
going to program my cash register to ask for ID whenever I want. Now is that in
the spirit of fair competition? If Wal-Mart breaks the contract, shouldn't they
be handled just like the deadbeat renter?
MINI-BUSINESS SIDEBAR
The most UN-AMERICAN part of what they are doing is that they are interfering
with fair business practices. For those not in the retail business, loss is
considered a part of doing business. When you prepare your business plan and
budgets, loss is figured into the calculations so that you can determine your
operating plan. All loss from theft can not be stopped. So, all of Wal-Mart's
competitors are dealing with the same thing. But all of Wal-Mart's competitors
do not wish to violate the contract with Visa so they do not ask for ID. They
may incur a loss at some point, but they expected some. Wal-Mart, on the other
hand, handling things as they see fit, ignore the rules and have a system that
does violate the contract. They may have fewer losses since they just refuse to
sell people like Mr. Hillberry. Is that fair to the other retailers; the honest,
rule abiding ones, who have the integrity to honor their signed word?
Wal-Mart is huge, so maybe Visa won't hit them with the fine every time . Who
could blame Visa for not wanting to lose its relationship with Wal-Mart?
Remember, that every time you use a Visa card, Visa makes their money from the
sale. Wal-Mart benefits off what is called impulse purchases. People spend more
when using plastic than they do if spending cash. So the relationship is good
for the store and for Visa. No one would want to rock Wal-Mart's boat too hard.
Now, let's look at the little shop that sells nice gift items. They take Visa,
and signed the same agreement as Wal-Mart. They have less money to work with if
someone defrauds them, so they would like to ask for ID as well. However, if
they do and someone complains, they do not have billions of dollars in sales
backing them up, so Visa may not be quite so reluctant to reprimand them or
maybe even fine them. So the little shop on the corner honors the contract, and
incurs the normal losses that come along with doing business, while Wal-Mart
chugs along with all its might doing whatever it wants daring someone to
challenge them. Wal-Mart not accepting Visa could cause Visa a huge revenue
loss, but Gigi's Card Shop's departure probably won't. Doesn't this have the
ring of a bully to it?
BACK TO THE STORY
So, after passing on the information about Visa to the manger, thinking that he
was helping out, he found that the manager didn't seemed to care. He was
following Wal-Mart's policy. This disregard for the the contract, and the way in
which he was treated, was more than he could stand for. After all, Wal-Mart is
packed during the holiday season, so not only did he spend lots of time in there
waiting to buy his merchandise, but he was also embarrassed by all the eyes on
him as he was told to leave the store and that his Visa card would not be
honored. It reeked of being accused of some thievery.
Now, Mr. Hillberry had been tolerating the receipt and bag searches for quite
some time. He always had a gut feeling that somehow that just wasn't right
either. Now this new injustice demanded to be addressed. He decided as he walked
to his car that he was going to document this incident and contact Wal-Mart's
corporate office about what happened. He called the police department, and an
Officer of the Louisville Police Department was dispatched to meet him.
CHECK BACK SOON FOR THE NEXT INSTALLMENT.........
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