Since moving to downtown Seattle, my husband and I just love to wander around town. Traveling on foot, we shop local. The Pike Place Market is a mecca for tourists but to us, it’s part of our ‘hood. We love it here! At Bed, Bath & Beyond, we’ve bought towels, bedding, clothes hangers, cleaning supplies and PODS.
We always thought it was odd how all of BB&B’s laundry and dishwashing soap PODS are encased in thick hard plastic cartons that can only be removed with a special key at the cash register. A store clerk told us addicts on the street steal the PODS and turn them into quick street currency. They lock up their PODS!
Two weeks ago we brought along our own shopping bag and went to the market for fresh produce. Then we headed over to BB&B to get PODS! Within moments of reaching for the PODS, a plainclothes security guard was hot on our trail and in my face. I had questions about the PODS. He did not have a sense of humor and skulked away. We barely made it into another aisle before a second plainclothes security guard was bearing down heavily on my shopping bag that held two pint-size cartons of fresh berries.
This guard did not go away and hounded us right up to the check out lane where he opened up a check stand to re-accomodate* us. I explained to the plainclothes dude that we were not shoplifters just because we had a shopping bag. Angling to probe the contents of my shopping bag, he did not smile, was ready to make an arrest, and almost crushed my berries with the PODS I was purchasing.
Message to BB&B: Free the PODS and chalk up the loss to good P.R. The loss accrued due to stolen PODS is far less than your CEO’s annual compensation package and a hell of a lot cheaper than beating up nice people over PODS.
BTW I did try to contact BB&B and did get DM on Twitter but they deployed the Fabian Strategy, delay, delay, delay and retreat, betting I would go away.
*Re-accommodate is not a word, but a new term coined by United Airlines CEO Oscar Munoz after passenger Dr. David Dao was violently assaulted and removed from a plane.
MEDIA BITCH
Message to Bed, Bath & Beyond:
Free the PODS!