Dollar General

On Monday, Jan. 27, 2014, I entered the Dollar General store to purchase deodorant and after school snacks for my son. The first item I retrieved was the deodorant. When I picked it up and started walking toward the other side of the store to get my son some snacks, I kept hearing a woman shouting loudly, “MA’AM! MA’AM!” The woman said it numerous times, when I noticed that all of the people in the line were looking at me, I turned around and one of the cashiers who had been in the middle of ringing out a customer was now walking quickly behind me. She came to me in front of everyone, speaking very loudly and asked me if I was done shopping and I told her no, I still had some other things to pick up. She then told me that she couldn’t allow me to walk around the store with the deodorant in my hand because there are thieves out here. I gave her a very confused look and said, what do you mean are you calling me a thief? And she said that a lot of people are thieves and then she took the deodorant from me. If you will review your surveillance video, you will notice that when I entered the store I did NOT even have a purse. I had only a small black wallet and I had on a light jacket that did NOT have any pockets on it. I also made no attempts to try and hide the deodorant. I simply picked it up because I wanted to purchase it and continue shopping in the store – like I have done for the past two years. After the woman took the deodorant and called me a thief, my nine-year-old son who was with me started asking me over and over again why the woman was calling me a thief. I was humiliated in the store by this clerk for no reason. I live in the area where the store is and have been coming to that store for at least two years now and usually I always purchase the same things, which consist of toiletries and snacks for my son after I pick him up from school. The only reason I stayed in the store was because I had promised to buy my son a snack. So I stayed to keep my promise to my son, but I did NOT buy the deodorant. I left it at the register. When I went on the other aisle to let my son choose his snack another one of the workers came on the aisle and stood around me like I was going to steal something. I was still very confused and was trying to remain calm since I had my son with me. Meanwhile as I was being treated as a criminal, both lines at the register were full. And actually the cashier that humiliated me in the store and called me a thief had been in the middle of ringing up a customer when she left abruptly to chase me down and take the deodorant from me. After I got my son’s snack and got in line to pay, the woman in front of me who had seen the entire thing, told me as she checked out that what had just happened to me was wrong and that she would no longer be shopping there. I told her that I agreed and that I also would no longer be returning to the store and that I would be contacting the manager to file a complaint. I didn’t go through the line with the cashier that accused me of stealing. When I got my receipt I asked her the name of the store manager and was told, Jennifer, and that she wasn’t in. Before I left, I also asked the cashier who called me a thief in front of the entire store with absolutely no merit, her name and she said her name was, Nessa. After leaving the store I was extremely overcome with grief, I was embarrassed and humiliated; I was upset that I had to explain to my son why the woman had treated me the way that she had treated me. I was unable to sleep that entire night and was unable to go to work the next day. I have since called the store requesting to speak with the manager and Nessa answers the phone and refuses to let me speak with her. I am now in the process of seeking an attorney to escalate this issue. Nessa should be fired and this type of treatment should unacceptable. There was nothing about my presence or my actions that insinuated that I was stealing. If you go back and look at your video you will see me on camera pick up a $1 tube of deodorant that had no purse and only a small wallet. I at no time tried to hide the deodorant; you will also see the confused look on my face as the cashier stood in front of me and spoke loudly as she accused me of being a thief. Nessa doesn’t have to allow me to speak to the manager, because I’m pretty sure my lawyer will be able to get in touch with you guys. And for the record, I am a professional Editor/Journalist of nearly15 years and I can guarantee you that what Nessa is paid by your company in 6 months’ time is still less than what I make in a month. So if you guys are having inventory issues, it’s probably due to the person who is cutting the boxes open and supposedly placing them on the shelves.