I'm with the OP, an experience like that is enough to never go back. Why subject yourself to that bull crap and spend your hard earned money at a place that handles a situation like that. I've been stopped and had my receipt checked before, it's a non-issue when it is done courteously. If the OP wants to voice his opinion online then he has every right to, he and his kid were disrespected why should he be the one walking on eggshells for the sake of Red Tops future business? It would be different if he didn't have a valid reason.

It seems, alot of places seem to be keeping a closer watch on people... I haven't seen any numbers to support it, but i bet alot of buisness are getting hit, tough times make people do funny things... I always tell the clerk to put the reciept in the bag... bottom line is, as embarrasing as it may be at the moment, the "overzealous" clerk/watchdog is just watching out for everyones interest... high theft= high prices.... theft loss will be passed on to the ( paying) customer...

Good, maybe RT will have a quick lessons learned and move forward a bit on this. Even good people can make mistakes.

Customer service is hard and has to be really hard at a tackle shop. Not a lot of margins to retire in the Bahamas with. You have to do it because you want to / love to.

Absolutely agree with you, and there is a correct way to check bags and ensure people have paid. If you are a shop owner you train your staff how to handle these situations so people come back and spend more money. If you piss your customers off by making them feel like thieves then your business is going to lose money.

Having worked in retail before we were trained in dealing with shop lifters or suspected shop lifters. Everyone always got a receipt.

As someone who gets profiled pretty much everywhere I go I know the feeling. People following me around double and triple checking to see if I'm ok, it gets old real fast, but I understand their looking out for their business.

I stop in a lot of tackle shops in my travels, some good experiences, some bad. I only go back to the ones that had treated me well.

It's too bad it was handled the way it was, seems like if he had just asked the other employee if you checked out none of this would have happened.

The other thing I hate is walking into a tackle shop were the guys who work there or are hanging out are bad mouthing another customer that just left. But that's another story.

Too bad it went down the way it did, the damage is done, and no more sales from you an your family.
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

WOW... Like I said I didnt bad mouth RT but I did say I was unhappy with the was the gut treated my son! So you are saying it is ok to rush up to some 16 year old and say.... Hey did you pay for that? my son said yes I did... the guy then says do you have a receipt? my son again says yes I do.... then the guy asked can I see it? so then my son shows the guy the receipt! then the guy says ok and turns and walks away! Still with an attitude!!!!


So I should be happy with that? I think not! I have said and will say it again read the first post! I never bashed RT. Just not happy with the guy with the attitude!

WOW... Like I said I didnt bad mouth RT but I did say I was unhappy with the was the gut treated my son! So you are saying it is ok to rush up to some 16 year old and say.... Hey did you pay for that? my son said yes I did... the guy then says do you have a receipt? my son again says yes I do.... then the guy asked can I see it? so then my son shows the guy the receipt! then the guy says ok and turns and walks away! Still with an attitude!!!!


So I should be happy with that? I think not! I have said and will say it again read the first post! I never bashed RT. Just not happy with the guy with the attitude!

And knowing you Chuck, It must have been a hell of an attitude to piss YOU off. You have every right to voice your displeasure.

This is also a public forum, which RT has an opportunity to respond and publicly rectify the situation.

No offense, but unless the owner of said shop is a member of this site, this amounts to nothing more than a b*tching session.
Call, write or email the owner to express your displeasure with the events in question, and let him know what options YOU choose to employ regarding your future purchases.
If the owner is unaware of customer dissatisfaction, nothing will change. WHo knows, he may want to make things right for you and your son for the negative experience you received?

Hopefully they will rectify this issue, if not for you, for all others that may have been affected as well.

A clerk asked to see a receipt and you get pissed? That's his job.

If you have nothing to hide, you should have no problem responding to a perfectly reasonable request. Does the O.P. think he has an honest face or something? This is the kind of guy who'd be standing at the door with a taser if he owned the store.

What we have here is a classic example of bad parenting. Instead of teaching his son a lesson about dealing with business people - who have very real problems with dishonest customers - he teaches him to be entitled and resentful. Nice going, dad.

Uh oh...

wouldn't it be a perfectly reasonable request to be treated good if your spending your money in there store...entitled thats rather strong...all the kid did was buy a fishing lure now's he's resentful ,he got a bad dad,entitled....god I'm keeping my family out of red top theres some bad mojo going on there....god only knows what would happen if he bought a reel....lol

Did you even read the thread? He wasn't objecting to being asked for his receipt. It was the tone and attitude of the request.

It's the business person that needs to learn a lesson here - if you treat all your customers like they're dishonest, you soon won't have any receipts to check.

if its his job to drive away good people from red top.... red top's in trouble

I just called my tailor...he's building be a pair of red top slacks...there's a zipper in the seat...I'm going to take my son there so I can teach him how to take it like a man....lol..thank you sir may I have another

:rotf2: thank you

Attitude does change everything.... funny how the same thing can be said ( or asked) in differant tones and get two differant responses...somttimes you hav e ot be there to fully understand....maybe you should take it to the owner.. he might want to know how you were treated....

Kinnd of what I said 42 posts ago.

OK - now an expired horse is being beaten... :smash:


Knowing the father & son involved, if more fathers and sons worked as well together as those to do, world would be a better place. Really.

Now you COULD say that what we have here is a classic case of poor communication between a representative of the tackle shop and a teenager and his father, customers of a tackle shop. That's what this sounds like. Poor communication, perhaps even a bad day by the guy at RT.

Instead you are stating that this is bad parenting?

I've had good service at RT over the years and poor service but usually OK to good. I haven't been in there since new ownership - didn't even know (or remembered) there was new ownership. Hopefully for RT this is an isolated incident.

You sir,are a moron.

Here's an interesting qustion:

How did the boy feel about being asked?

Seeing that it was his purchase that was being questioned and not the father's, wouldn't it be more prudent to get a real/true representation from the one who was at the center of this?

We can all speculate and respond based on our own past experiences, but kids will always respond differently to variable scenarios. If the kid didn't feel slighted, or insulted maybe we should just let this :deadhorse: be!

Where the eff do you guys get this stuff?
How would YOU feel?An angry fat guy chases you out the door,and implies that you're a effing thief.After being forced to prove you're not,you don't even get an apology,just more attitude.Would you enjoy that experience?
I understand that someones bottomline is at risk,but he should have thought of that before he let his crew run amok.Cause and effect.

At least three employees of the shop are members of this site. This thread probably won't escape the boss' attention. ;)

If this was sol there would be 37 pages already today. They should apologize and move on. Somebody send me the kids address and I'll send him some plugs.

Chuck, you're a swell dad!:)

Angry fat guy? That kind of narrows it down. ;)

Maybe, Bobby wasn't there.:smash:

A store would be happiest of you just walk in knowing what you want , buy it and out the door. Unfortunately , tackle shops are notorious places for browsing. I know I like to look around , maybe I had nothing in particular in mind when I stopped there. maybe see a new reel in the dispay counter , maybe see the impossible to find 7 inch Fin S alewife color and buy some, maybe just look around and buy nothing but listen in on people talking about where and when and what they caught. That is time honored customer behavior in a tackle shop.
Now how about the opposite of paranoid employees trying to catch shoplifters. I used to go into Murats when Dave was working. I'd say gimme some 4/0 hooks so i can tie some droppers. he'd pull out a box that had 7 cents written on it , give you say 20 and want $1.40. Now you knew that box was there since about 1957 and it would cost him 20 cents each to replace the hooks. Now you got to get into you didn't charge me enough (he won't take more) hmm and haw and maybe leave some money on the glass counter top when you left. Just the exact opposite of what's being discussed here. :)

with a skid mark and needs glasses... lol:uhuh:

I can't let this comment go without some form of intelligent and informed rebuttal. Two characteristics the above poster did not exhibit when he pushed "POST."

MarkB I think you are way out of line questioning the parenting of linesider69 and the raising of linesider69 Jr.

It is my understanding, you don't know them or have even met either of them at any of the area's fishing events. And yet you critically comment on perhaps a man's greatest honor in life - raising a child - and a very intimate relationship between father and son - always a smart move. Nice job.

I have known both linesider69 and Jr. for seven (7) years. I have fished with both of them in every month of the year. I have fished over twenty-four (24) hours straight with both of them. I have taken them both thirty (30) miles offshore to pursue cod, tuna and shark. I have gone to countless social events with both of them where many of the members of SB greet both of them warmly. I have watched linesider69's son, tutor my son behind a rod and reel, teach him how to trade plugs, show him how to rig and arrange tackle, and sit side by side with my son tying jigs and just talking with him. There was a time when my oldest son was the youngest of the crew of kids we fish with at the beach. Linesider69 Jr. paid attention to my son when he felt left out and cried his eyes out - not a trait found in many teenagers.

So while I am very clear your "Nice going, Dad" comment was meant to be a cheeky stab at Linesider69's child rearing, the real stab is back at you MarkB. The fact is, Linesider69 IS doing a fabulous job raising Jr. and I am proud and privileged to call both of them my friends.

I have a standing invitation to both linesider69 and linesider69jr on my boat - NOT something I give out freely. They are the first to ask to pay for gas, bring a cup of joe, haul gear, washdown etc.

Let me be clearer. I fish with a lot of guys whom have kids. Not many of them interact like linesider69 and his son. They kid with each other, they push each other to fish harder, they help and support each other and in general, one makes the other a better person. I have two (2) boys and eight (8) year old and a two (2) year old. I would be thrilled and honored beyond words to approach the kind of love, kinship and friendship linesider69 and Jr. exhibit. HONORED!!!!

MarkB - for your above-referenced post to insinuate that linesider69's parenting acumen is beyond reproach is stone cold inaccurate and deeply offensive to say the least.

BTW - I know RT and all the tackle shops in the area. I like RT and have always had great service and experience there. This isn't about RT for me, but your questioning linesider69's parenting skills is nauseating. I hope you'll reconsider your statement or view.

This type of interpersonal cross-talk is distracting from the wonderful world JohnR has created on SB.

- ATG