Crazy As A $2 Bill

The story about the guy who was arrested at Best Buy for paying with $2 bills has been all over blogossity for the past couple of days, but there is a huge whole in the story that no one has mentioned. The link requires registration, so I will excerpt it here:

"When I bought the stereo player," Bolesta explains, "the technician said it'd fit perfectly into my son's dashboard. But it didn't. So they called back and said they had another model that would fit perfectly, and it was cheaper. We got a $67 refund, which was fine. As long as it fit, that's all.

"So we go back and pay for it, and they tell us to go around front with our receipt and pick up the difference in the cost. I ask about installation charges. They said, 'No installation charge, because of the mix-up. Our mistake, no charge.' Swell.

"But then, the next day, I get a call at home. They're telling me, 'If you don't come in and pay the installation fee, we're calling the police.' Jeez, where did we go from them admitting a mistake to suddenly calling the police? So I say, 'Fine, I'll be in tomorrow.' But, overnight, I'm starting to steam a little. It's not the money -- it's the threat. So I thought, I'll count out a few $2 bills."

Now, I think this is a huge screwup on the part of Best Buy as much as anyone. It takes a serious amount of dopiness for a major retailer not to know what is or is not legal tender. But the transition in the customer's story about them offering free installation one day and threatening to call the police the next doesn't pass the smell test. Something happened not quite the way our hero claims or something happened in between that he is not telling. In either case, it should have fallen to the reporter, Michael Olesker, to clarify that. That he just let that detail slide by just ain't right.