(Also read Bed Bath & Beyond Belief at http://mothertongue.bloginky.com/2008/09/08/bed-bath-beyond-belief/)
By Brandon Ortiz and Beth Musgrave
bortiz@herald-leader.com
UPDATED at 8:02 a.m.:
Prosecutors are reviewing state law to determine whether Bed Bath & Beyond should be charged for refusing to call police because a toddler was locked in a van in a Lexington parking lot.
First Assistant Fayette County Attorney Brian Mattone said he spent most of Sunday looking at Kentucky’s laws dealing with the reporting of child abuse. As of Monday evening, Mattone said, he had not yet decided whether Bed Bath & Beyond could be charged for failing to assist Randy and Nancy Belcher, a Danville couple who had discovered a child locked inside a van in the parking lot on Nicholasville Road.
Tanuja
But on Monday, an official at Bed Bath & Beyond’s corporate headquarters in New Jersey said in a written statement that the store manager must have been confused about the company’s policies.
“Be assured that, at Bed Bath & Beyond, we take matters such as these very seriously,” said Hank Reinhart, vice president of customer service. “We train our associates for emergency situations. Unfortunately, this situation was not handled in the way we would have expected it to be handled. We are taking this opportunity to retrain our associates.”
The child’s mother, Tanuja R. Patel, was arraigned Monday in Fayette District Court. She pleaded not guilty to first-degree wanton endangerment. Patel’s attorney, Fred Peters, said afterward that Patel thought she had left the van, a 2007 Honda Odyssey, running with the air conditioning on.
Peters said the level of her charge is “completely inappropriate.” Peters said Patel is being charged at the same level as someone who fires a gun at someone. At most, he said, the charge should have been child endangerment.
Mattone disagreed. Considering how long the mother was in the store, and how quickly cars can heat up, “it is such a dangerous situation it obviously could have been much worse,” he said.
Patel, 37, was released from the Fayette County Detention Center after posting a $5,000 cash bond. As a condition of the bond, she is not to have any contact with the child, 3-year-old Ryan Patel.
Peters said he is trying to get the conditions changed because the mother and child live in the same house.
A preliminary hearing for Tenuja Patel was scheduled for Sept. 26 in Fayette District Court.
Randy and Nancy Belcher were just getting out of their truck about 2:30 p.m. on Saturday when Nancy Belcher told her husband she thought there was a child in the van parked next to them. When the boy did not respond to several knocks on the window, they went into Bed Bath & Beyond and asked one of the clerks if they could use the public-address system to let customers know there was a child in a hot van.
The clerk called a manager who was less than helpful, Randy Belcher said Monday. “She said ‘we don’t deal with anything that goes on in our parking lot,’” Belcher said.
The manager also refused to phone the police or to let the Belchers use the store’s phone to dial 911. Randy Belcher had a phone locked inside his truck, and he eventually used it to call the police.
Lexington police Officer Tommy Puckett was among several officers who responded to the call on Saturday. After hearing the Belchers’ story, “I thought there must have been some kind of miscommunication,” he said Monday. But when Puckett went into the store and talked to the manager, who would not give her last name, she said it was against company policy to get involved with anything that happens in the parking lot.
“I was absolutely shocked speechless. This is one of the most disturbing things I’ve seen since I’ve been a cop,” said Puckett, an officer of nearly 35 years. “Morally, I just can’t believe that you would not call. What if that was your child out there?”
Michelle Bowe, of Nicholasville, said she saw the boy sleeping in a car seat inside the van on an 80-degree day. The van had its windows shut and was not running.
She said the sun was directly on the boy, who was wearing a long-sleeved shirt and pants and was under a blanket.
“You could see the sweat on him,” Bowe said. “I didn’t know if he was breathing. You couldn’t tell.”
Bowe said they talked about breaking a window to save the child, but then police arrived. Officers used a small device to break the window after the boy did not respond to repeated taps on the window, Belcher said. Even after the officer got the boy out, he wouldn’t wake, Belcher said.
“My heart just dropped to the ground,” Belcher said. “My wife was crying, the other woman was crying.”
Bowe and Belcher said the child had spent at least 20 to 30 minutes in the van.
According to a police report, Ryan awakened only after he was shaken by police. He was treated by paramedics and given fluids but was not taken to the hospital, witnesses said.
Reinhart said he knew of no Bed Bath & Beyond policy that would have prohibited the store manager from helping.
“We train our associates on how to respond to common emergency situations and we have no policies that should have impeded our ability to respond in this case,” Reinhart said. “This situation was not handled the way we would have expected it to be handled.”
Belcher said he was thankful that he and his wife and Bowe were there to help the boy. “I just want to thank the Lord that we were in the right place at the right time and that the boy is OK.”
Bowe, a mother of four, said she has peeked into the back seats of cars ever since hearing about an incident in the news a few years ago.
“I just kind of look in car windows, to be honest with you,” she said. “I mean, I have four children. When … you’re a mom, you’re just pretty cautious.”
Belcher said he and his wife had been going to buy something at the store on Saturday, but they decided to go home instead.
“I know we’re not going to go back in there,” he said.
I think it is ridiculous that Bed Bath & Beyond would not call 911. Even if it is company policy not to get involved in parking lot incidents we are talking about the life of a child here. Sometimes their are exceptions and I am certain this one of those times. I don’t think as a company I would want a manager who doesnt have better judgement than this. she should be charged with negligence. What an idiot. i would risk my job any day for a child.
Bed, Bath & Beyond will most definetly NOT get another cent from me! Thank God for the Ms. Bowe and the Belcher’s. Without a doubt, they are the reason that little boy is doing okay today. Had they not taken the steps they did and not backed down from the managers in Bed, Bath & Beyond, Lord only knows what may have happened to the boy.
You should see the article on Consumerist about this story, and see the comments there. Quite enlightening.
http://consumerist.com/5046738/bed-bath–beyond-will-not-let-you-use-the-phone-to-call-911
The problem with the world today is there are too many ignorant, selfish lazy parents & too many other people afraid to take the time to get involved. I hope the person at the store who refused to call police does get charged. I would also like it to be know that I will NOT shop at that store again. If that is the level of ignorance that store has - I do not want to waste my time or money in there. As for this idiot of a mother - someone please take her out to the parking lot on a hot day with long sleeves & pants on - give her a blanket, strap her in so she can not get out & let her sit there until she rots!!!
The problem with the world today is there are too many ignorant, selfish lazy parents & too many other people afraid to take the time to get involved. I hope the person at the store who refused to call police does get charged. I would also like it to be know that I will NOT shop at that store again. If that is the level of ignorance that store has - I do not want to waste my time or money in there. As for this idiot of a mother - someone please take her out to the parking lot on a hot day with long sleeves & pants on - give her a blanket, strap her in so she can not get out & let her sit there until she rots!!! Thank you to the very smart & caring individuals who took action. The world needs more people like you!!!!
I will not be going to Bed Bath and Beyond. When a child is endanger, who care about store rules. I will never go to Bed Bath and Beyond, I will tell others to stop going and give the reasons. That was one of their customers child that was in danger of dying in a hot car and the only cared about store policy.
I will be call Bed Bath and Beyond’s headquarters.
I will not shop there again. I hope the gets what she deserves. You she has done this before.
Thank GOD there are people that actually do check those things, because this little one would have lost his life if it were up to the Bed Bath and Beyond store. Then what would they have done when they made national headlines? As a matter of fact, it would not suprise me if THIS made national headlines. People should hear about this stuff.
I totally agree with Bed , Bath & Beyond on not getting involved. There are far to many Lawsuits flying around now a days with some outrageous settlements being awarded. The Belchers could have used their own cell phone to call 911 or if they did not have a cell phone they could have asked anyone in the parking lot to call since about 90% of the population have cell phones.
This world would be a lot better off if EVERYONE would stop butting into someone elses business.
No offense, but what is the big deal? Most people have cell phones so why is everyone angry at the STORE not to call 911? The store employees were not witness to the child in the van so why is it their obligation to call the police? I can understand if the store refused to page overhead looking for the mother but not making a 911 call. It is a sad case and thankfully the child is okay but going after the store is crazy!
Bed, Bath and Beyond, hopefully, will go out of business for this! I don’t care if it is policy or not, use common sense! Good thing the concerned citizen trying to call 911 could find a phone in time. I would like to ask the employee that said no, what she/he would feel like if the role was reversed and that were them that found a small child in a hot car!!!!! I will go to Linen’s and Things…
I have already gone to the Bed Bath and Beyond Web site and gave them a piece of my mind. I can’t believe that an individual would not be concerned about a posible child in danger. Since BB&B has a store policy of not getting involved they should be run out of business. Our children are at risk otherwise.
I will not be shopping at bed, bath and beyond again. Thank God someone saw this little boy and did the right thing.
I will not shop at Bed, Bath & Beyond ever again. …. I cannot believe that their store policy prohibited the managers from getting “involved in parking lot incidents”. If it was a parking lot fender-bender or some sort of traffic problem or a fight, I could somewhat understand. But, this was a LIFE OR DEATH situation.
The store manager should have at least allowed the witnesses to use their phone to call 911. I have never heard of something so irresponsible. The store managers and the Bed, Bath & Beyond corporate office are luck that this child did not die. I cannot believe that a store or corporate policy that has such little disregard for human life actually exists in the corporate world of Bed, Bath & Beyond.
Bed Bath and Beyond should change their policy immediately. I for one will not shop there until they do so.
I also will not shop at BB&B anymnore after what happened over the wkend! This is just awful that an employee wouldn’t call 911 for this little boy before he got really hurt. Why on earth would they think that someone would be making this story put about a child. I can’t believe this person was that stupid and now everyone is talking about it. Its all over the web and people are making comments about it. I guess BB&B will make training on this matter for there employees so this will never happen again. And for the mother that left the poor child in the van I hope she does some real time for this. Children are brought into this world for a reason and for stupid partents to do something like this to there own child, they deserve to do jail time.
Such a shame that so-called duty to your employer outweighs your duty to humanity.
Thank GOD for the Bowes! They saved this child’s life.
Bed, Bath, and Beyond, you won’t be getting any future business from me! Additionally, I purchased several costly items from your store this past Sunday and will be returning ALL of them.
Bed Bat & Beyonds policy should be to fire that manager. Charges should be filed against the store.
TO: Chrissy, September 8, 2008 at 2:17 pm
What are you a moron? Hows this for a scenario… your in the parking lot of your favorite store, someone is raping, robbing, and murdering you… NOBODY bothers to get involved… guess its good they minded their own business huh?
What the world needs is a few less people like you in the wold, and quite a few more REAL people… people that actually care about each other… not people that IGNORE everything around them because they are too lazy or couldn’t care less about anyone but themselves.
Sorry, I’m not on the “thank God for the Bowes” bandwagon here. She was nosy enough to go looking in car windows and to start the drama ball rolling, but she didn’t care enough to take immediate action.
If you’re going to censure BB&B for their lack of response, those who failed to immediately intervene are just as deserving of censure. If the kid’s in danger, bust a window.
If Brian Mattone spent “most of Sunday” looking at child abuse reporting statutes, that sounds pretty sad as well. It’s not like there are tons of them.
Is there not a law that says if we as citizens suspect abuse or neglect and do not report it that we can be charged? This was not suspicion it was obvious that the child had been left alone in the car and how many times do we see this on TV.
Most retail cash registers have phones at them. If the employees won’t call 911 and refuse to give you access, I’d say the proper response is to simply walk up to one of the phones and use it anyway — if the employee has a problem with that, tell them to call 911.
If the phone has no ability to call outside lines, a store-wide intercom announcement that there’s a baby locked in a hot car, that BB&B employees are refusing to call 911 about it, and requesting someone with a cellphone dial 911 ought to work wonders.
This policy was intended for EXACTLY this situation, so why should they fire the manager? She did precisely as the store expected her to do. Now, whoever CREATED the stupid policy is the one who should be fired, however.
Note, the couple didn’t ask BB&B to call 911, THEY just asked to use the phone to do so. I suspect the policy was intended to keep them from going outside the intervene - but there are amazingly stupid people in the world.
I agree with everyone about Bed Bath and Beyond, but, lets not forget Attorney Fred Peters who claims his client is over-charged in this case. He makes the statement she is charged “at the level of someone who fires a gun at someone”. Mr. Peters, it is Wanton Endangerment 1st degree because of the risk of death or serious physical injury to another person. After all the news reports recently about children who have died because a parent left them in a hot vehicle do you not think there was the “risk of death or serious physical injury”? I’m not sure where you studied law but it must not have been in Kentucky.
Chrissy,
You are so right, way too many people butting into other people’s business these days, all worried about lawsuits.
Reminds me, if I ever see you getting raped, beaten, robbed, etc. you can rest assured that I will not be a nosy busy-body. I will stick to my own business and let you take care of your own.
Lots of luck, I hope you find yourself in the situation where you actually might need someone’s assistance someday and no one is forthcoming becuase they’re just the type of self-absorbed, jackass you appear to be.
I hate this area. As a matter of fact, I hate the state of Kentucky!
I regter the day I ever came back here.
Shhhhhhh…
The BB&B company spokesdude clearly said that this was the wrong response, and that they would use this example of inhuman stupidity to re-train their delta-minus-semi-moron associates.
That said, you can understand why the company’s standard policy is to demur from discussing run-of-the-mill parking lot incidents: “Someone dented my car”, “Someone stole the jack-in-the-box off my antenna”, “Someone is blocking me in.” Look, the customers are just as stupid as the employees. As George Carlin said: think of how dumb the average person is; half the world is even stupider than that.
I think this manager not the store should be charged with failure to assist the child. AND the lady best be glad i was not there she would be purchasing a new window in the car and I would have had the managers tail in a sling before I left the store. I work in retail and they take childerns saftey very serious.
Absolutely no excuse. A responsible employee, even despite a stupid clause in their contract, could have easily walked his ass outside to verify the situation and made the call himself.
For all you people who are out there accusing the mother, did you ever stop to think maybe what the MOTHER’s SIDE OF THE STORY is? unfortunately for you people, you don’t know this mother. All you are out to do is judge someone. unfortunately for the rest of you, you do not know that this child is raised in a healthy environment with parents that care for him. stop trying to look like concerned citizens by posting comments and get on with your own life.
“”After all the news reports recently about children who have died because a parent left them in a hot vehicle do you not think there was the “risk of death or serious physical injury”? I’m not sure where you studied law but it must not have been in Kentucky.”"
I just wonder why some parents do this and clearly get caught doing it because it gets in the news and some of them simply get away with it because they are nurses and other good business people and this woman didn’t? Why so many discrepancies, yes sure they should have saved the baby as it does seem it was possibly in some immediate danger? You do that by busting the window of the car out and calling the police and letting them figure out what happened. Like the others said they probably had a cell phone, and others did for sure. There are all kinds of different circumstances that may be why a parent leaves a kid in the car temporarily. Like that one woman that left that kid in the car when she was donating that money. Did the baby suffer any real long term damage from this? Well I am sure if the baby is old enough to be attached to its momma that it probably is suffering from being away from her and who has it now? What are they doing to it to stop it from missing its mother? Has anyone ever thought of that? Sure this was a greivous mistake, but we don’t know why she done it. I just wonder what our world is coming to? Not exactly trying to stick up for her because I don’t know the whole story, but I think sometimes we do go to far when we could simply help someone and this woman even if she acted angry to begin with, which she probably wouldn’t have, would have probably realized the error she made; been embarrassed and sorry about it; and may never have done it again. The problem with this world today that so many people want to take mind altering drugs for is that there is no compassion or empathy for anyone any more, no tolerance or actual caring. We would rather look at others mistakes then our own many times. I am not going to try to make any judgement call here because I wasn’t there to talk to any of them.
This incident has nothing to do with Bed, Bath, and Beyond. The employee is 100% correct, what goes on in the parking lot does not involve the company, unless the company owns the lot. In this case it is in a strip-mall shopping center.
Even though I have had the benefit of CPR/First Responder training, most people would have the common sense to know what to do in this situation.
The first thing on my list would be to yell for help. It’s a parking lot, with people walking around. “Help, Somebody, Help, there is a baby locked in a car”. People will come running, especially if it is a woman crying for help. There is a 90% chance that the person who runs over to help will have a cell phone. Have that person call 911, while you tap on the glass to see if the baby is alive and coherent. Baby is alive. Next step, try all the doors, even the trunk, to see if vehicle is open. If doors are open, open the door and remove baby, perform first aid/cpr as necessary. If doors are locked and it appears to be an emergency, I would find an object to break the window furthest away from the baby. Then remove baby, etc. Part of the reason you call for others is to have witnesses. They saw the baby, they know you are being a Good Samaritan.
Looking at this scenario, the Belchers are hysterical and panicking. Instead of calling for help, they walk to Bed, Bath, and Beyond. They enter the store. They do not try to enlist help of people coming out of the store. They do not have any of the employees at the register call a manager to come help. They walk past all of the aforementioned people to go to customer service. The hysterical author then asks to use the phone. I’m 100% positive they didn’t say “I need you to call for help, while I go back outside to try to help the baby dying in the car”. They simply asked to USE the phone.
Put yourselves in the employee’s shoes. Some crazy, hysterical person approaches the counter and asks to use the phone, something about a baby in a car. Employee states policy about not letting customers use the phone. If it is an emergency in the store, the employee can call 911, but certainly you don’t expect the employee to allow you to use the phone when you can’t even rationally explain while you need to use the phone in the first place.
Now the Belchers have spent roughly 10 minutes walking to the store and arguing with an employee about policies on using the phone. By this time the baby would be dead.
Now, since they didn’t get their name in the paper for “acts of heroism”, they are turning this into a piece of sensationalized journalism by posting different versions of the story to different websites.
In the Consumerist they write:
“I said, lady, there is a child out there in a hot car and it’s locked and it needs help. And I said, will you let us use your phone and call and she said no, we will not get involved.”
In this article they write:
“The Belchers, who were standing nearby, told Bowe that they had asked the store to phone police. They said store clerks refused, saying it was against its policy to get involved with parking-lot incidents, Bowe said.
The couple called police on their own. Bowe also called 911.
Bowe said they talked about breaking a window to save the child, but police arrived before they had to do that.
She said the child spent at least 20 to 30 minutes in the van.”
So…did they ASK to use the phone or ask employees to call police? There is a pretty big difference between the two.
Which is worse:
A couple who spend 10 minutes walking to a retail store to argue with employees over usage of the company phone…when they have a cell phone…but don’t want to waste their minutes…while a child is dying in a car outside.
OR
A group of four people standing around talking to each other FOR 30 MINUTES while a child is dying in the car right in front of your face.
If any of these people had a single shred of compassion for human life, they would have broken the window and saved the child.
Wow, the mother left the child in the car and ment to leave it running? I don’t know which is more stupid-a kid in a hot car, or one that could get knocked into gear. Hope the prosecuter throws the book at her, and the jury buys it.
As to all those who say just use your own cell phone. Here’s a little tidbit-911 systems are able to pinpoint with great accuracy the geographic location of a call from a land line. Yeah, a cell would have worked, but most of the time the 911 calls from them go through state patrol offices, then are swiched over to local authorities. Dollars to donuts that is why the people asked BB&Beyond Clueless to use their house phone.
Lastly, has any one here had to knock out a car window? I have, and I had a tire iron to do it. It took me several tries, and did not break easily. Unless people are going through parking lots with similar equipment, they won’t be able to break a window.
As for the person who sugguested BB&Beyond Belief did the right thing and chose non involvement because of lawsuits:Most states have good samaritain laws. If an incident is reported in good faith, there is no civil liability. Stupidity amd laziness (moral and mental) are the only reasons not to render aid to some one in need when it is safe to do so. Christine, hope your or your loved ones never need aid, or meet up with someone who is neither stupid, or lazy.
Not to mention that the mother definitely lied about thinking that she’d left the van with the engine running and A/C on. Unless she locked her keys inside. So she knows what she did was wrong and is oh so remorseful. See the tears?
This attorney Fred Peters wants her charges lowered because she’s being treated like someone who knowingly endangered someone else’s life. Well, isn’t that exactly what she did? What if the kid had died, what would Fred Peters have said then?
I do not understand why these people even wasted time to go and ask a store to call the police in the first place. They obviously had cell phones anyway. My first instinct would have been to grab my phone and call 911…never would have even considered going into the store and talking to a manager about it!!
Chrissy, Seaton and the store manager who would not give her last name……..your quite nasty human beings. If you think that calling 911 to alert the authorities to a life threatening situation is “getting involved”, then I will have to agree with Paul.
I hope all three of you find yourself in a situation where you would need the assistance of another citizen and none of “us” busy bodies will help you for for the simple reason of “not wanting to get involved.. You may change your thoughts.
BBandB, if you want a community to shop at you business I think that your employees should call 911 at the request of a customer, regardless if they have their OWN cell phone.
Crissy: I’d really like to get to know you….so I can be around when something really, really bad happens to you and I can choose to “not butt into your business”. Seriously, let’s hang out you’d be one helluva drinkin’ buddy.
Sharon: we’re angry because there actually are people in this world that are NOT txt’ing or have their cell up to their ear 24/7 and some little pissant of an employee got a god complex over their ability to refuse phone usage by being the perfect bureaucrat. Some of us even forget them or *gasp* don’t even own one. The couple that was attempting to help had left their cell phone in their truck but had done the smart thing and tried to have the mother paged. That’s when this mess began. They did go back and call from the phone, which you’d know if you’d read, but that’s missing the point: the employee had the opportunity to shine and instead showed what scum they could be. I see management opportunities for that one.
Ever hear the story about the woman who ran through a New York neighborhood being chased by her attacker. She knocked on doors and people refused to get involved. She died that night. Slowly. Painfully.
I read and re-read this story and here is my conclusion. BBB is not at fault, it is that good for nothing manager and staff they had. I don’t blame the president for saying what he said since people are talking about potentially suing the company. The BBB in my town would have never let that happen… the people there actually care about people.
What needs to happen is that this manager needs to get fired and never be allowed to be in charge of people again…
I agree with Tasha. the manager of that particular store should be fired. In this day and age if we don’t care about each other and try to help one another then we are doomed. As for the mother of the child we do not know her but any person who leaves a child in a hot car should be punished.
My response to anyone that thinks they should not have butted in is that you are truly the spawns of inhumanity! To think that you would want to just go on your merry way shopping while an innocent helpless child is dying in a sweltering car is horrendous. To BB&Beyond; I am still just stupified at your arrogance and horrified at your ability to know what is a moral responsibiltiy. I pray to never have call to need any of you. I pray that you cahnge your ways before the circle comes round and it is you or your loved one that some ignorant poor excuse of a human being refuses to help in a life and death situation.
To the people that helped This baby. God bless you and there should be more people around not afraid or too selfish to get involved. The word that people shpould try to emmulate is SELFLESSNESS!!!
To the Mother…. I hope they really look into your background.. There is no way you just leave a baby unattended for any amount of time in any vehickle! Let alone on a hot day shut up. If you do not understand this then you really are an UNFIT MOTHER and should not be allowed the care of any helpless child! All for What??????
Calling 911 on a cell phone doesn’t work the way it does on a land line. If you want police/emergency service, you’d better have the direct line programmed into the phone.
mother at fault, come on seriously, i wouldnt even leave my dog inside a car for 10 minutes. However, Im sure she meant no harm, she is just stupid. The case should be thrown away in my opinion.
I believe the co-manager is to blame. She is rude anyway, I know her personally. She thinks she runs the joint, and she is not the store manager like the paper projected. She should be fired. I believe she was trying to be cute in this situation and use her ‘manager” power. If she was smart enough she may have realized she could have been the hero in this situation. It’s unfortunate that Bed Bath and Beyond had to be the brunt of this… to make things better, BB&B should just FIRE HER! She’s worthless. I hope people voice their concerns to the store manager and corporate headquarters.
> According to a police report, Ryan awakened
> only after he was shaken by police
They _shook_ the baby? lol
I think the whole “we do not get involved with parking lot things” goes for carts hitting cars and things like that, so that might be why she was confused. I think that the manager should have given them the phone to call 911. I also think that the people should have used the payphone at Best Buy or Office Depot(right next door). I know that they are from out of town and might not know that those payphones were there but something needed to be done at a faster pace.
Yes the manager was wrong for not calling 911. However, why did the Belchers not use their phone from the beginning. Were they trying to save their phone minuetes? they are just trying to be heroes. They would have used their own phone or used someone else’s if they were really concerned. The mother was wrong to leave the child in the car. She was probably not a bad mother but rather just not aware of the dangers. Rather than spend hundreds of thousand of dollars prosecuting this case, how about using that money to educate the entire population? Education and awareness for everyone is better than prosecuting 1 person. That’s the problem with this country today. Everyone want’s to sue or prosecute.
Hey Chrissy and Sharon…
I wonder if you’d think the same thing if someone was raping/robbing you in a parking lot…”Stay out of my business”
That’s what I thought.
I know common sense isn’t so common anymore but…seriously?
Hi Lori,
Exactly why did you call me a nasty human being? I clearly stated in my comment that had I been there, I would have called 911 on my phone, broken the window, got the child out, and administered first aid and CPR as necessary (yes, I’m certified). If this makes me a “nasty human being”, then you must be a very lonely person. Anyone with standards as high as yours is simply “too good” for the rest of humanity.
I take it you are siding with the Belchers. Yes, the couple who saw a child locked in a car. They proceeded to walk in to the Bed, Bath, and Beyond. They walked around the store. They asked customer service to page a parent who had a child in the car (yes, customer service did that). They walked around a few more times. They then returned to their own vehicle to retrieve their OWN CELL PHONE…and called 911. We know all this walking around took 30 minutes because they said the child was in the car for…30 minutes. If it were 100 degrees outside, that child would be dead after 10 minutes. All because some boneheaded people didn’t exercise common sense and call 911 from their OWN cell phone.
To Jennifer C of the response on 9/8/08,
How nice it is of you to wish that a company goes out of business for the mistake of one manager misinterpreting a company policy. I guess you could care less about the families of the employees (who do have common sense) who would then be out of a job.
People make mistakes. I’m sure that manager wishes she could go back and change her actions. The BB&B policy is for things like Rebecca mentioned, like fender benders and carts hitting cars. I’m sure the BB&B where I live would have responded appropriately.
I used to work at a different retail store and if someone had just come in and say “Call 911,” we would NOT have just done it without seeing it ourselves or having several witnesses. We would go out and check and then call.
WOW - To all the negative comments - can you honestly say that you NEVER did something sooooo stupid or irresponsible that it didn’t effect how you were perceived or affect those around you.
I have shopped at that BBB and the employees have always been nice and more than helpful. This was an unfortunate situation but don’t wish that the company will go under - it wasn’t the their fault that “one” yes only “one” employee made a bad judgement call (or in this case lack there of).
The company didn’t do it the other employees didn’t do it so don’t condemn them or wish them and their families in the unemployment line for “one” again only “one” persons mistake -I’m sure if she could turn back the clock and do it all over again she would have done things a little differently.
I will still shop at the store because I have always had great customer service there, from what I understand and have heard on the news this “one” and again I say “one” employee has been put on administrative leave. (we all know what that will mean) - so I will go back because I liked the store itself and the employees that I incountered, were nice, friendly, and helpful and I wouldn’t want to punish them for someone elses mistake.
So I will leave you this . . .
Let he who cast the first stone . . .
Jesus, people, the reason they WENT into the store in the first place is because they thought the owner of the car was there. They wanted the store to use the pa system to alert the owner/parent. When they refused they wanted to call 911.
And some of you are using your own interpretation of events to bolster your cases. The reason the child was at least in the car for thirty minutes is because that is the amount of time that passed between discovery and police intervention.
I can guarentee you that this is not a Bed Bath & Beyond policy and anyone who says that they are not going to shop at a store because of one managers bad decision is an idiot. I am sure that Bed Bath & Beyond is going to train everyone in their company for this situation. I used to work there.
I think BB&B store manager should be First find or page his Mother in a store.but manager is may be DUM that’s why this happen.
To everyone who is taking the side of Bed Bath and Beyond and their store manager, Elizabeth Miller, scroll around and find the response from “menotu”. I agree with him - you are all a bunch of morons with no sense of humanity whatsoever. Shame on every one of you.
So why did the Belchers choose Bed, Bath and Beyond? There is also a Best Buy and an Office Depot in this shopping plaza close by. Maybe one of them would have let them use the phone.
I am glad that the Belchers stepped in to save this child, but if they knew their cell phone was locked in their truck, why did they not use it to call the police to begin with? It would have been so much quicker than tracking down the parents or having someone else call for them. If Miller is charged, technically so should the Belchers; they wasted valuable minutes by going into the store and not using their own cell. Even though this situation calls for breaking the rules, Miller was just following orders regardless of what Bed, Bath, and Beyond ’says’ their policy is. This big company is just avoiding a lawsuit.
That manager is heartless. Not doing anything to help the child. Not even letting people call 911 from the store. Who would do something like that? Who would even leave their kid in the car in the first place? What a *****. That’s all I can say about her.