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Walgreens at 10601 E Alameda Ave, Aurora, CO - Offensive
Not Allowed to Shop - Complaint
Review by box12358 on 2012-08-19
Rating: 
AURORA, COLORADO -- I am a mid 40s, educated, tax paying, voting, credit card carrying consumer. On this Sunday afternoon I walked into the Walgreens at Havana and Alameda to look for hair color, hot and tired after a day of errands and shopping. I had a backpack fully on - both shoulders, not just slung over one (and as such, impossible to unzip or access without taking it off completely), a shopping bag from another store in one hand, and a jug of iced tea in the other hand.
While looking for the hair color stock, I was stopped in the aisle by an employee informing me I'd need to leave my bags at the counter before I could shop anymore - then further - that my backpack too would need to be left with the staff. I stated I had a laptop in my backpack and wasn't prepared to simply leave it at a front desk. I was informed that they would be there, but that I should have been stopped at entry rather than allowed to come back so far. I was being addressed with a tone one might expect to hear at age 7 - as if I needed watching over and direction.
She continued, making it clear that I would not be allowed to shop if I didn't agree to leave my merchandise and backpack with her. It now being abundantly clear that I was for whatever reason under suspicion for possibly intending to steal from them, I told her I didn't need to shop there that bad - that I'm not looking to steal anything, and turned to leave - however, on walking back out of the aisle, I noticed a number of other shoppers, many with backpacks, who'd apparently not been singled out and forced to entrust a Walgreens employee with hundreds of dollars in computer, software (in the backpack), and paid and bagged merchandise from other stores as well, if they cared to spend a few bucks there. I was the lucky one receiving that special attention.
Only one other time in my life have I been blocked from shopping unless I agreed to leave my possessions with a store employee, and in that case it did actually seem to be a policy applied to everyone entering, not just me - however, even then, I was offended enough at the presumption being made of customers, that I not only left and spent my money at a shop down the street (which didn't require customers hand over possessions to spend money with them) but have not returned to any of that chains stores in the years since - highly recommending against it to others should the company come up in conversation.
Walgreens already has the competition of other stores that sell more and for less all around them. This particular store has a Target and Costco (which I am a member of - and neither of which has ever requested bags and or backpack be handed over to shop with them) about a mile down Havana. While I've noticed there are some retail stores now taking an assumptive approach toward customers as potential shoplifters on entry, I am of the opinion that all customers, no matter what their age, appearance, or demeanor, until they prove otherwise, deserve to be treated with respect by the companies profiting for their interest and time - If I don't feel afforded such by any company I attempt to do business with, I simply don't return - and in the case of Walgreens, and being embarrasssingly singled out and so completely and without evidence or reason for suspicion, barred, I not only will not be returning to this store or any in the chain, but am now posting the events and experience as well. Embarrassing, offensive, and stressful - all for thinking I'd see if Walgreens might be a good place to purchase hair color from.
While looking for the hair color stock, I was stopped in the aisle by an employee informing me I'd need to leave my bags at the counter before I could shop anymore - then further - that my backpack too would need to be left with the staff. I stated I had a laptop in my backpack and wasn't prepared to simply leave it at a front desk. I was informed that they would be there, but that I should have been stopped at entry rather than allowed to come back so far. I was being addressed with a tone one might expect to hear at age 7 - as if I needed watching over and direction.
She continued, making it clear that I would not be allowed to shop if I didn't agree to leave my merchandise and backpack with her. It now being abundantly clear that I was for whatever reason under suspicion for possibly intending to steal from them, I told her I didn't need to shop there that bad - that I'm not looking to steal anything, and turned to leave - however, on walking back out of the aisle, I noticed a number of other shoppers, many with backpacks, who'd apparently not been singled out and forced to entrust a Walgreens employee with hundreds of dollars in computer, software (in the backpack), and paid and bagged merchandise from other stores as well, if they cared to spend a few bucks there. I was the lucky one receiving that special attention.
Only one other time in my life have I been blocked from shopping unless I agreed to leave my possessions with a store employee, and in that case it did actually seem to be a policy applied to everyone entering, not just me - however, even then, I was offended enough at the presumption being made of customers, that I not only left and spent my money at a shop down the street (which didn't require customers hand over possessions to spend money with them) but have not returned to any of that chains stores in the years since - highly recommending against it to others should the company come up in conversation.
Walgreens already has the competition of other stores that sell more and for less all around them. This particular store has a Target and Costco (which I am a member of - and neither of which has ever requested bags and or backpack be handed over to shop with them) about a mile down Havana. While I've noticed there are some retail stores now taking an assumptive approach toward customers as potential shoplifters on entry, I am of the opinion that all customers, no matter what their age, appearance, or demeanor, until they prove otherwise, deserve to be treated with respect by the companies profiting for their interest and time - If I don't feel afforded such by any company I attempt to do business with, I simply don't return - and in the case of Walgreens, and being embarrasssingly singled out and so completely and without evidence or reason for suspicion, barred, I not only will not be returning to this store or any in the chain, but am now posting the events and experience as well. Embarrassing, offensive, and stressful - all for thinking I'd see if Walgreens might be a good place to purchase hair color from.
Comments:
Posted by onlooker on 2012-08-20:
That was unfortunate. You do have the right to leave and shop elsewhere. I would not have left a computer there for someone else to watch. And like you I would have left an unhappy ex-customer.
It is good you had other options for shopping.
It is good you had other options for shopping.
Posted by CowboyFan on 2012-08-20:
Was the OP walking-not driving, otherwise why didn't the OP leave that stuff in their car? If one brings a lot of bags into a store, then one should expect to have to leave them at the front counter. Don't act or dress a certain way and expect that people won't respond to that. Why would a person have a jug of ice tea, a bag from another store, and a backpack - seems odd to me.
The fact that others were allowed to have backpacks, may be because they were known to the employees as regular customers, or for some other reason represented no threat of theft.
The fact that others were allowed to have backpacks, may be because they were known to the employees as regular customers, or for some other reason represented no threat of theft.
Posted by box12358 on 2012-08-20:
The reason I didn't leave my backpack, drink, and shopping bag in a car is that I have a health condition due to which I've never driven a car in my life, so I carry a backpack and some sort of drink and anything else I buy while out, and walk, bus, and cab everywhere I go.
Posted by box12358 on 2012-08-20:
I didn't leave items in a car because I have a health condition due to which I've never driven a car in my life, and so carry a backpack, some sort of drink, and any merchandise purchased, while walking, busing, or cabbing from place to place. I didn't act any way other than a person who'd been walking and busing and running errands all day long might act. I don't know how one dresses for buying hair color, but I was wearing heals, jeans, and coordinated matching top w/a shrug topper and hand beaded jewelry. I've given a presentation dressed in the same clothes - although the idea that a company, in this case Walgreens, might consider it their right to discriminate based on attire and assumptions for someone not having a car to leave items in is even more disturbing.
Posted by CowboyFan on 2012-08-21:
Your explanation makes the behavior of the Walgreens' employees even harder to understand. They certainly would have no reason to act like they did.
I am not a fan of Walgreens. One thing I notice about Walgreens around here -Florida- is that their aisles are narrow and their merchandise is piled high above the display counters, so it is hard to see throughout the store, unlike CVS. Maybe they are paranoid about theft, or the employee took instructions literally. Hard to tell. Fortunately, we have other choices as to where to shop.
I read "anyone who says money doesn't buy happiness, doesn't know where to shop." by Bo Derek.
I am not a fan of Walgreens. One thing I notice about Walgreens around here -Florida- is that their aisles are narrow and their merchandise is piled high above the display counters, so it is hard to see throughout the store, unlike CVS. Maybe they are paranoid about theft, or the employee took instructions literally. Hard to tell. Fortunately, we have other choices as to where to shop.
I read "anyone who says money doesn't buy happiness, doesn't know where to shop." by Bo Derek.
Posted by leet60 on 2012-08-21:
This is an unfortunate result of a store/company's costs of "shrinkage" (i.e. shoplifting losses). There are many habitual shoplifters that utilize backpacks, bags from other stores etc as a repository for the items they attempt to shoplift. Loss prevention in many stores has established policies against backpacks, outside bags etc. Unfortunately a few thieves make the shopping experience more expensive and less enjoyable for the rest of us.
Posted by melissa253 on 2012-08-29:
When I go into a store and the Company policy is that all backpacks are to be left at the counter....
I.Leave.My.Backpack.At.The.Counter.
I.Leave.My.Backpack.At.The.Counter.
Posted by mayra on 2013-02-26:
I definitely do not recommend this store, I personally thing happened yesterday i was there to take me a passport photo, no one was available to do the service, a person said to be the manager and you would have to add 30 minutes to wait reaches the person making the service, although I had to do some shopping I did not expect bad, after 45 minutes had not arrived I asked again and she told me a little upset I'm going to take the picture, after taking photo said ..... you have to wait 20 minutes more ..... what? This red-haired lady was playing with me decided to get out of there after losing over an hour of my time. Stop at walgreens of havana and colfax They were exposed where my photos ready in 5 minutes and I felt worse than I realized the terrible service and the incompetence of the charge of photography that never returned to work and the person claiming to be a manager in the havana and Alameda ave
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