COSTCO AND GENDER DISCRIMINATION

[NatassiaDreamsXXX]

So this morning i went to Costco here in San Diego to renew our membership (for my grandmother and I) and i was arguing with a girlfriend of mine on the phone therefor maybe my natural voice came out a little but thats besides the point. So after standing in line for approximately 10 minutes without being paid attention another customer comes up out of nowhere and proceeds to the counter and starts being helped. Myself after standing there for 10 mins without a greeting or anything frankly said "Hello im also waiting for help" as the Employee rudely replied "I was helping him already" Which was not to my knowledge, so I replied "Ok well can someone help me, because there are like 5 of you standing around doing nothing" After about another 2 minutes the OVERWEIGHT employee turned to her co-worker and said "Can you help this GENTLEMAN, i mean lady out?" To my utter disgust speaking with a girlfriend of mine on the phone i said to her "Can you believe this lady as im standing here with 34d breast and perfect demeanor and perception as a female just called me a gentleman??" She overheard and quickly shot over a apology that you could tell that she didn't mean. So in my fury i said to my girlfriend on the phone " I guess shes just jealous that i have a 24" waist and hers is 42" which OBVIOUSLY she heard and commented something to her boss and then the boss starting rambling something which I paid no attention to.Then this is where it gets good... Next thing i know the Overweight worker comes from helping her customer and gets in my face saying "OH why dont you say whatever it was you were saying to my face?" As I replied " First of all I wasnt EVEN talking to you, and if you do want me to say it in your face i will YOU FAT BITCH!" Then it started going downhill from there and many words were exchanged in our fury. Somethings along the line from her "Atleast im Natural" in which i replied (lifting up my shirt to show a six pack, that ive been working hard at for the past three months in Krav Maga and kickboxing classes sometime back to back)"This is Natural too, its called a GYM AND YOU SHOULD LEARN ABOUT ONE". So the manager of member services saw that this issue was getting out of hand as the lady wanted to attack me ( i wish she wouldve, i wouldve loved to try out some of my moves that i have been learning on her LOL) and called a manager to escort ME out of the store as the manager very rudly comes up to me and says "Did you insult my employee?" In which i replied "Yes, after she insulted me, and I know 2 wrongs dont make a right but in other words if you cant stand the heat then STAY OUT OF THE KITCHEN! In which he replies that i can NEVER go back there again, and I defiantly assured him that i wll be back in which he replied if I do then he will call the police and arrest me for trespassing! THE NERVE!!!!! I Left the store SHAKING with RAGE and went home and called Corporate office and made a complaint, as i was DISRESPECTED as a person and I wanted action against it. After explaining my story to Corporate, she said she would have the manager contact me which he did BUT WITH AN ATTITUDE saying "You can come back here as long as you don't disrespect my employees in which i replied " First of all I am a PAYING CUSTOMER, my hard earned money i spend to on membership, and shopping within your store is PART of what pays your salary, so if your employees dont DISRESPECT ME, i will not disrespect them!" In turn he replies "Well we have witnesses, that you disrepected my employee" in which i QUICKLY REPLIED " I Have a witness as well! (My girlfriend was on the phone the whole time for those exchange of words) He replies " Well she is very upset"in which i replied "SO AM I AND I DEMAND AN APOLOGY FROM HER!" He replies "Well im apologizing on her behalf and you can come back here and shop as long as you dont disrespect any of my employees again" and hung up. I am furious over this event and feel totally discriminated against but dont know what else to do. Im sure this has happened to others before but how do we go about resolving situations like this and I would like further action because i feel this issue wasn't handled the way it should have been. Any info would be greatly appreciated as those who know me KNOW that i am not confrontational at all and always VERY respectable in dealing with other people. Just had to let that off my chest and if anyone has any suggestions or comments im all ears!! We need to stand up for our rights!!!

[GroobySteven]

To be fair, it's not really Costco having gender discrimination, it's one employee being an asshole and you having a fight with her ? There is no evidence of them discriminating against you as a transgender other than one individual employee being a bitch, which you pointed out!

[Legend]

The gender insults she throw at you were totally wrong but don't you think you could have been a little patience in the first place.

[HillaryTS]

yeah people are assholes. manager handled the situation pretty poorly it seems.

[BeardedOne]

Ah, the joys of working with the public.

Conversely, the joys of working with the overworked, underpaid, and as likely undereducated.

You'd be hard-pressed to prove discrimination in that, as corporate covered their ass by having the manager call to "apologize" and 'invite' you back to shop and the latter following that direction.

Sadly, or perhaps thankfully, you can't sue people for being stoopid, lazy, and rude (Though many try and some succeed). If you could, the nation's courts would be on a 24 hour cycle and have revolving doors.

Being a bit of a hermit, I tend to steer clear of the Big Box Marts of the world (Reference: www.jibjab.com ). I recently went to Wally Mart with TW and I swear to gawd that my skin began to itch just being in the same building with many of their customers. Sure, I was overwhelmed by the sheer volume of stuff (Read: "Crap") that is there and the "Everyday low prices", but just entering the place made my flesh crawl.

I do occasionally hit Q-Mart...er...I mean K-Mart ( ), but it's rare and I typically handle it as a surgical strike: In - Out, nobody gets hurt. But I am your average guy that goes to the store, gets what he wants, pays for it, and goes to the next store to buy beer and bacon bits. Girls/gurls....Just shop, fer chrissakes.

How important is it to your life or your grandmother's that you shop at Costco? If I was so mistreated by the employees of an establishment I'd just blow them off permanently. With gas prices fast approaching five bux a gallon, might you not find comparative values closer to home in more customer-oriented venues?

I mean, really...It's Costco ferfuxsake.

[Legend]

yeah people are assholes. manager handled the situation pretty poorly it seems.

Sounds like a scene was created so he escorted her out should he have let them continue to argue which could have resulted in a fist fight.

[thx1138]

whatever happened to "the customer is always right"?

[TrueBeauty TS]

Girl, I am so sorry that happened to you!

I've had it done to me and been witness when it happened to friends of mine. It's a HORRIBLE feeling. You feel humiliated, belittled, embarrassed and frustrated.

Things could have and SHOULD have been handled better (mostly on THEIR part, imo) but, at least you stood up for yourself and maybe.... just maybe.... those people will think twice before smarting off to people.

Once again, sorry it happened to you.




.

[Willie Escalade]

When is this shit gonna end? I can't believe they called you a "gentleman". Maybe they need their eyes examined...as well as the little bit of brains they might (or obviously might not) have.

Assholes.

[GroobySteven]

whatever happened to "the customer is always right"?

When the customer is wrong ?
Not related to this case ... but we try really hard with customer service and to make sure members are happy but every so often, we get such an asshole who we can never please. As a customer can choose which businesses they wish to patronage, I can choose not to serve a customer.