Merged "A Most Upsetting Incident" combined with "B&N and State of AZ"

[polo_pro]

Originally Posted by hellphish

I'm honestly quite surprised how quickly this all went down, which I'm sure is because of your constant dilligence. Good work and thank you very much!

I had no doubt about this matter being resolve quickly. This is Eric we're talking about. After his efforts earlier this year in pursuing segway thieves, he's a proven quantity. I also have no doubt he'll even take this a few steps further and make sure B&N issues a company wide memo on the topic to be distributed to EVERY store manager across the country.

I suggest that everyone who was willing to contribute to Eric's legal defense fund consider buying him a weekend at Disneyland. I'll happy throw in $20! 8^) 8^) 8^)

ps - I'll say that I find it embarassing that I have more rep points than Eric. Folks, if you can't take the time to punch the little scale icon next to one of Eric's posts in this thread, you really don't deserve to reap the rewards of his efforts. And make sure to sign your name in the comment, if I've managed to cow you into doing the right thing.

Last night, just after 7 PM, I laid down on the bed to relax and watch some TV... and the next thing I know, it's 3 AM. That's the first time in the last ten days I've gotten more than a few hours sleep at a time.

Last night, when Bill got home from work, we drove down to Barnes and Noble's local store, where the brouhaha began, and gave them a copy of the e-mail I received concerning the new corporate policy. The manager on duty, Rick, glanced at it, turned to me and said: "Okay, then. Hope to see you in here again," and shook my hand. Coming back home, Bill noticed I was yawning, and completely relaxed. We got home, I threw a couple of sirloin steaks under the broiler and put on some rice. Twenty minutes later, we had dinner, and five minutes after that, I was asleep. Slept clean through, too.

In a private e-mail, someone asked how I had gotten a company to do a complete 180, so quickly (the emailer pointed out how long it took to even get Simon Mills malls to look at the subject). I'm going to try and recount what I kept in the forefront of my mind, and make it make sense, hopefully. The one big factor in my situation, though, is that the law already was on my side, in writing. That being said...

There are two factors that are probably equally important that I tried to keep in my head, and both are "don'ts" rather than "dos". Don't lose your temper, and don't mention money.

1. In my telephone communications with various employees at Barnes and Noble, at all levels, I'd get frustrated, yes, and even mad. But the moment I could feel myself getting to the point where that anger threatened to dictate my side of the conversation, I terminated the call, without hesitation. If I needed to simply say: "I'm sorry, I have to go," that's what I did, and immediately hung up. That way, at no future point could anyone pull out a tape (and make no mistake about it, they will be taping your phone calls and saving all communications) and paint me as some hysteric. I may have talked to the same person with Barnes and Noble twice in an hour, but it was always cordial, and that little "I'm not going to get angry" break allowed me to keep both sides of the conversation civil. Yes, there may have been heated words and exchanges, but they were, in the overall picture, momentary.

2. Even when directly asked by people associated with Barnes and Noble "What do you want out of this?", I purposely never mentioned any type of renumeration/compensation. Ever since the "McDonald's coffee" lawsuit, corporations look at their customers with a jaded eye. You know what? I really don't blame them, either. Hell, let's be honest, there isn't a person alive who wouldn't have stuck a hot cup of coffee between their legs and pulled away from a drive-through window, if they had known they'd get $10 million for it, is there? And, again, keeping in mind what they may have presented in court as "evidence" should any type of litigation become necessary, I didn't want them to be able to even imply the issue(s) involved where always about my making a fast buck. Bill and I will be having to make some decisions here concerning this issue, as he definitely did not like the way I was treated, and the very serious risk those actions put me in, but, as I told him yesterday afternoon: If we decide to go ahead with some sort of personal actions, their capitulation merely bolsters our claim. But, I said, is that something we really wanted to do, given that we're only going to be in Arizona another 8 months, max, and the new policy - from what I understand - will also cover their Georgia stores, since Georgia and Arizona laws are identical?

The bottom line, I got what I said I wanted, and that's good enough for me.

3. Don't be afraid to escalate, and look for creative ways to do that escalation. Thanks to a store employee who agreed with me, I was given a corporate phone number outside of the routine "corporate complaint" phone number. I would imagine a corporate Vice President was more than a little shocked to find a customer complaint in his personal VoiceMail box. It was that Vice-President who assigned the matter to Francoise Entelis, Director of Marketing.

I'd imagine that corporate Vice President, and that Director of Marketing, were more than just a little surprised when one of the corporation's financial officers was suddenly thrown in the loop. I firmly believe the final resolution on this matter rested entirely with my e-mail to that financial officer.

4. And, remember, escalation is not limited to within the corporation. If you believe what you're doing is something in which the media would be interested, begin contacting them as well. Even if you get brushed off, initially, repeated contact as be escalation begins serves a dual purpose: It keeps the media "in the loop," and it gives you a name/names of people in the local media so that you can honestly say: "I've been in touch with so-and-so from Channel 8..."

5. Document everything. I admit, I've "used" this forum in that aspect; when something happened, or I attempted contact with someone, I've posted about it (as well as kept it in my own, ongoing, tickler/calendar file). As much as I believe my e-mail to B&N's financial officer aided in a fast resolution, I also believe my postings, and the comments of others in this thread, assisted as well. Since this is a semi-public forum, had I misstated the positions of anyone associated with B&N in any way, they would have been able to post an immediate response. I have been told B&N Legal was, indeed, monitoring this thread very closely.

6. Make sure the people close to you, in real life, love you very, very much.

7. Lawyers and lawsuits are a last resort, not a first response.

[aviators99]

Great job. It still leaves a bad taste in my mouth about using B&N in general. It might just take some time.

It does seem from the attorney's letter, that they still don't understand that no matter what speed setting you use, it doesn't affect how slow you can go. They need to understand that even at the fastest speed setting, you can still go slower than many people walk.

[bentbiker]

Originally Posted by aviators99

Great job. It still leaves a bad taste in my mouth about using B&N in general. It might just take some time.

It does seem from the attorney's letter, that they still don't understand that no matter what speed setting you use, it doesn't affect how slow you can go. They need to understand that even at the fastest speed setting, you can still go slower than many people walk.

Bingo! It's as if they equate it to a toggle switch on an electric 3 or 4-wheeled mobility scooter -- either 12 mph or zero. Also, because of the reduced sensitivity at the lower speed settings, I think the lower speed settings are actually less stable for experienced riders. And, whether 6 mph or 12mph, either is WAY too fast in a store. It's like a parking garage demanding that you put a governor on your car while in their garage to cap the max speed at 80 mph because the normal 160 mph capability is too high.

And this max speed red herring keeps coming up in all discussions of bans. I believe you are right that a number of people are of the opinion that the 12.5 mph figure is THE speed at which it travels.

Originally Posted by polo

...I suggest that everyone who was willing to contribute to Eric's legal defense fund consider buying him a weekend at Disneyland. I'll happy throw in $20...

Wow. Thanks.

I'm touched, really, but it's completely unnecessary... if, however, there are 5,000 members of the Chat, and they want to kick in a buck apiece, well, there's the i2 I've had my eye on...

:-))

[Desert_Seg]

Originally Posted by bentbiker

Bingo! It's as if they equate it to a toggle switch on an electric 3 or 4-wheeled mobility scooter ...

People associate with things they know and most folks don't know the Segway. Hence the "you must operate on the slowest key" comments. Therefore, it is incumbent upon US to show them that the Segway is just as safe on the "red" key as it is on the "black" key.

However, they will still legislate to the slowest speed. Why? Because of the one rider who doesn't operate it safely and causes an incident and THAT is what they are protecting their patrons from.

Don't take it personal, you would do the same thing if you had associated liability.

Steven

The local press got a tip off concerning the incident with Barnes and Noble, and the outcome to date.

Both the Arizona Republic and Channel 12 (NBC TV) are sending reporters tomorrow morning at 8:30 to my home. They had wanted to come at 9:30, but I told them I had a doctor's appointment at that time, so now they're coming at 8:30 to both interview... and to follow me to doc's office (about 3 1/2 miles away) and get film/still footage while I'm riding Gilligan to doctor's office.

[BillK]

Originally Posted by Eric Payne

The local press got a tip off concerning the incident with Barnes and Noble, and the outcome to date.

Both the Arizona Republic and Channel 12 (NBC TV) are sending reporters tomorrow morning at 8:30 to my home. They had wanted to come at 9:30, but I told them I had a doctor's appointment at that time, so now they're coming at 8:30 to both interview... and to follow me to doc's office (about 3 1/2 miles away) and get film/still footage while I'm riding Gilligan to doctor's office.

Way cool - I was thinking that you should get in touch with the lady that wrote the article in the Washington Post "Me and my segway against the world" - she sounds like she needs some of your talent with the ADA and corporate America.
Bill

That's strange Bill... I posted this update, then read new posts, jumped over to the "Washington Post" article, sent that link to the reporter(s) coming tomorrow, then pulled up new headers... and there's this response from you.

I forget the saying... is it "brilliant minds" or "the truly deranged" that think alike?

:-)