Woman says forgetting to pay for water led to security snafu at Whole Foods store
December 18, 2014
Marni Sky was picking up her groceries on the weekend when she says an honest mistake turned into a nightmare with store security at a Yorkville Whole Foods.
Sky says she had just purchased $180 worth of groceries but when she tried getting in the elevator to leave things when downhill.
“A man in plain clothes stopped me and says ‘excuse me, you’re going to have to get out the elevator. You’ve stolen your case of water.’ ”
Sky says she forgot all about the case of water underneath her cart.
“I walked out and said ‘I’m so sorry, I just had so many things on top of it…I’m happy to pay for it now’ and he said ‘no, we’re going to have to take you in. You’re under arrest.’ ”
She was pulled out in front of the store and watched while the guard and store manager argued about the situation. The manager actually recognized Sky as a regular shopper and vouched for her, but the guard wasn’t buying it and banned her from the store.
“It was actually a very humiliating experience,” she said. “I actually didn’t believe it. I was so taken aback.”
Sky’s husband wrote a colourful account of what happened and posted it online. The story has since gone viral, with thousands of comments online. Most are sympathetic.
Whole Foods denied CityNews’ request for an on-camera interview, but released a statement, saying:
“Our store leadership team in Toronto is working to understand exactly what happened during the incident at our Yorkville location. What I can tell you is that we work very hard to protect the customer experience at all of our stores.”
A manager from Whole Foods has since reached out to Sky to apologize and the ban has been reversed.
Woman says forgetting to pay for water led to security snafu at Whole Foods store | CityNews
December 18, 2014
Marni Sky was picking up her groceries on the weekend when she says an honest mistake turned into a nightmare with store security at a Yorkville Whole Foods.
Sky says she had just purchased $180 worth of groceries but when she tried getting in the elevator to leave things when downhill.
“A man in plain clothes stopped me and says ‘excuse me, you’re going to have to get out the elevator. You’ve stolen your case of water.’ ”
Sky says she forgot all about the case of water underneath her cart.
“I walked out and said ‘I’m so sorry, I just had so many things on top of it…I’m happy to pay for it now’ and he said ‘no, we’re going to have to take you in. You’re under arrest.’ ”
She was pulled out in front of the store and watched while the guard and store manager argued about the situation. The manager actually recognized Sky as a regular shopper and vouched for her, but the guard wasn’t buying it and banned her from the store.
“It was actually a very humiliating experience,” she said. “I actually didn’t believe it. I was so taken aback.”
Sky’s husband wrote a colourful account of what happened and posted it online. The story has since gone viral, with thousands of comments online. Most are sympathetic.
Whole Foods denied CityNews’ request for an on-camera interview, but released a statement, saying:
“Our store leadership team in Toronto is working to understand exactly what happened during the incident at our Yorkville location. What I can tell you is that we work very hard to protect the customer experience at all of our stores.”
A manager from Whole Foods has since reached out to Sky to apologize and the ban has been reversed.
Woman says forgetting to pay for water led to security snafu at Whole Foods store | CityNews
