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Man arrested for paying with $2 bills at Best Buy
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Join Date: Feb 2005
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PUT YOURSELF in Mike Bolesta's place. On the morning of Feb. 20, he buys a new radio-CD player for his 17-year-old son Christopher's car. He pays the $114 installation charge with 57 crisp new $2 bills, which, when last observed, were still considered legitimate currency in the United States proper. The $2 bills are Bolesta's idea of payment, and his little comic protest, too.
For this, Bolesta, Baltimore County resident, innocent citizen, owner of Capital City Student Tours, finds himself under arrest.
Finds himself, in front of a store full of customers at the Best Buy on York Road in Lutherville, locked into handcuffs and leg irons.
Finds himself transported to the Baltimore County lockup in Cockeysville, where he's handcuffed to a pole for three hours while the U.S. Secret Service is called into the case.
Have a nice day, Mike.
"Humiliating," the 57-year old Bolesta was saying now. "I am 6 feet 5 inches tall, and I felt like 8 inches high. To be handcuffed, to have all those people looking on, to be cuffed to a pole -- and to know you haven't done anything wrong. And me, with a brother, Joe, who spent 33 years on the city police force. It was humiliating."
What we have here, besides humiliation, is a sense of caution resulting in screw-ups all around.
"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."
He has lots and lots of them.
With his Capital City Student Tours, he arranges class trips for school kids around the country traveling to large East Coast cities, including Baltimore. He's been doing this for the last 18 years. He makes all the arrangements: hotels, meals, entertainment. And it's part of his schtick that, when Bolesta hands out meal money to students, he does it in $2 bills, which he picks up from his regular bank, Sun Trust.
"The kids don't see that many $2 bills, so they think this is the greatest thing in the world," Bolesta says. "They don't want to spend 'em. They want to save 'em. I've been doing this since I started the company. So I'm thinking, 'I'll stage my little comic protest. I'll pay the $114 with $2 bills.'"
At Best Buy, they may have perceived the protest -- but did not sense the comic aspect of 57 $2 bills.
"I'm just here to pay the bill," Bolesta says he told a cashier. "She looked at the $2 bills and told me, 'I don't have to take these if I don't want to.' I said, 'If you don't, I'm leaving. I've tried to pay my bill twice. You don't want these bills, you can sue me.' So she took the money. Like she's doing me a favor."
He remembers the cashier marking each bill with a pen. Then other store personnel began to gather, a few of them asking, "Are these real?"
"Of course they are," Bolesta said. "They're legal tender."
A Best Buy manager refused comment last week. But, according to a Baltimore County police arrest report, suspicions were roused when an employee noticed some smearing of ink. So the cops were called in. One officer noticed the bills ran in sequential order.
"I told them, 'I'm a tour operator. I've got thousands of these bills. I get them from my bank. You got a problem, call the bank,'" Bolesta says. "I'm sitting there in a chair. The store's full of people watching this. All of a sudden, he's standing me up and handcuffing me behind my back, telling me, 'We have to do this until we get it straightened out.'
"Meanwhile, everybody's looking at me. I've lived here 18 years. I'm hoping my kids don't walk in and see this. And I'm saying, 'I can't believe you're doing this. I'm paying with legal American money.'"
Bolesta was then taken to the county police lockup in Cockeysville, where he sat handcuffed to a pole and in leg irons while the Secret Service was called in.
"At this point," he says, "I'm a mass murderer."
Finally, Secret Service agent Leigh Turner arrived, examined the bills and said they were legitimate, adding, according to the police report, "Sometimes ink on money can smear."
This will be important news to all concerned.
For Baltimore County police, said spokesman Bill Toohey, "It's a sign that we're all a little nervous in the post-9/11 world."
The other day, one of Bolesta's sons needed a few bucks. Bolesta pulled out his wallet and "whipped out a couple of $2 bills. But my son turned away. He said he doesn't want 'em any more."
He's seen where such money can lead.
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/loc...ck=1&cset=true
--Tone
For this, Bolesta, Baltimore County resident, innocent citizen, owner of Capital City Student Tours, finds himself under arrest.
Finds himself, in front of a store full of customers at the Best Buy on York Road in Lutherville, locked into handcuffs and leg irons.
Finds himself transported to the Baltimore County lockup in Cockeysville, where he's handcuffed to a pole for three hours while the U.S. Secret Service is called into the case.
Have a nice day, Mike.
"Humiliating," the 57-year old Bolesta was saying now. "I am 6 feet 5 inches tall, and I felt like 8 inches high. To be handcuffed, to have all those people looking on, to be cuffed to a pole -- and to know you haven't done anything wrong. And me, with a brother, Joe, who spent 33 years on the city police force. It was humiliating."
What we have here, besides humiliation, is a sense of caution resulting in screw-ups all around.
"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."
He has lots and lots of them.
With his Capital City Student Tours, he arranges class trips for school kids around the country traveling to large East Coast cities, including Baltimore. He's been doing this for the last 18 years. He makes all the arrangements: hotels, meals, entertainment. And it's part of his schtick that, when Bolesta hands out meal money to students, he does it in $2 bills, which he picks up from his regular bank, Sun Trust.
"The kids don't see that many $2 bills, so they think this is the greatest thing in the world," Bolesta says. "They don't want to spend 'em. They want to save 'em. I've been doing this since I started the company. So I'm thinking, 'I'll stage my little comic protest. I'll pay the $114 with $2 bills.'"
At Best Buy, they may have perceived the protest -- but did not sense the comic aspect of 57 $2 bills.
"I'm just here to pay the bill," Bolesta says he told a cashier. "She looked at the $2 bills and told me, 'I don't have to take these if I don't want to.' I said, 'If you don't, I'm leaving. I've tried to pay my bill twice. You don't want these bills, you can sue me.' So she took the money. Like she's doing me a favor."
He remembers the cashier marking each bill with a pen. Then other store personnel began to gather, a few of them asking, "Are these real?"
"Of course they are," Bolesta said. "They're legal tender."
A Best Buy manager refused comment last week. But, according to a Baltimore County police arrest report, suspicions were roused when an employee noticed some smearing of ink. So the cops were called in. One officer noticed the bills ran in sequential order.
"I told them, 'I'm a tour operator. I've got thousands of these bills. I get them from my bank. You got a problem, call the bank,'" Bolesta says. "I'm sitting there in a chair. The store's full of people watching this. All of a sudden, he's standing me up and handcuffing me behind my back, telling me, 'We have to do this until we get it straightened out.'
"Meanwhile, everybody's looking at me. I've lived here 18 years. I'm hoping my kids don't walk in and see this. And I'm saying, 'I can't believe you're doing this. I'm paying with legal American money.'"
Bolesta was then taken to the county police lockup in Cockeysville, where he sat handcuffed to a pole and in leg irons while the Secret Service was called in.
"At this point," he says, "I'm a mass murderer."
Finally, Secret Service agent Leigh Turner arrived, examined the bills and said they were legitimate, adding, according to the police report, "Sometimes ink on money can smear."
This will be important news to all concerned.
For Baltimore County police, said spokesman Bill Toohey, "It's a sign that we're all a little nervous in the post-9/11 world."
The other day, one of Bolesta's sons needed a few bucks. Bolesta pulled out his wallet and "whipped out a couple of $2 bills. But my son turned away. He said he doesn't want 'em any more."
He's seen where such money can lead.
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/loc...ck=1&cset=true
--Tone
For Joomla articles and reviews and tutorials check out Joomla Views.
I like $2 Bills.
Can anyone here, without looking it up on the internet, tell me what president is on them?
Christian
Can anyone here, without looking it up on the internet, tell me what president is on them?
Christian
Wow, talk about paranoia and some seriously poor training at Best Buy. The dye of those pens show up a different color if it's counterfit. Smearing is totally normal. But, I guess that's pretty much par customer service when you go shopping at a Best Buy.
Nobody believes the official spokesman, but everybody trusts an unidentified source.
-- Please do not PM me with questions about a thread. If you respond to a thread, then everyone can benefit.
-- Please do not PM me with questions about a thread. If you respond to a thread, then everyone can benefit.
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Join Date: Feb 2005
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Junior Poster in Training
did you guys know that money is not really paper - it's actually cloth.
--Tone
--Tone
For Joomla articles and reviews and tutorials check out Joomla Views.
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Join Date: Mar 2005
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As much as I dislike cutting down stores, I have to agree about Best Buy. And even though the one thing they have is relatively low prices, many times they make you go through some ridiculous rebate process to get them.
But the worst thing about them is the people they have ¨helping¨ you. They are, for the most part, totally incompentent, when they finally get around to actually talking to you. I hope the guy sues the pants off them...once for their actions and once for their ignorance...
Yes, and I do actually go in there :o and believe it or not I bought a working, brand-new-in-the-box microwave for $17.00. Yes, it works...
But the worst thing about them is the people they have ¨helping¨ you. They are, for the most part, totally incompentent, when they finally get around to actually talking to you. I hope the guy sues the pants off them...once for their actions and once for their ignorance...
Yes, and I do actually go in there :o and believe it or not I bought a working, brand-new-in-the-box microwave for $17.00. Yes, it works...
"No one remembers who climbed Mount Everest the second time." — Na Nook.
I think the guy on the 2$ bill is the same as the guy on the 20$ bill(Thomas Jefferson)..
I bought my router and network card at best buy because they had a huge sign that said 20$ off ALL routers. Actually, it was only offered on a small variety of brands, but was never advertised it that way. After a long argument, we got the money off because they finally realized they were falsely advertising products.
I bought my router and network card at best buy because they had a huge sign that said 20$ off ALL routers. Actually, it was only offered on a small variety of brands, but was never advertised it that way. After a long argument, we got the money off because they finally realized they were falsely advertising products.
LOL. Here in Australia we no longer have $2 banknotes. We've replaced them with $2 coins, and it works well.
This story made me think of the news report I saw last night, where a Chinese tourist to the US had his undies blown up, despite the fact that his suitcase had been x-rayed and found safe
This story made me think of the news report I saw last night, where a Chinese tourist to the US had his undies blown up, despite the fact that his suitcase had been x-rayed and found safe
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Join Date: Mar 2005
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Nobody in the US likes big coins, we tried them and they weren't popular. I like the jingle in the pocket myself, let's me know I've got something other than worthless paper...
"No one remembers who climbed Mount Everest the second time." — Na Nook.
Do you mean big in size or big in denomination? Our $2 coins are one of the physically nearly the smallest we have, being smaller than our $1 coin 
In fact, our 50c coin is the largest in size that we have.
http://www.aussie-info.com/tourist/coins.jpg
That 5c coin is about the same size as a US dime.
In fact, our 50c coin is the largest in size that we have.http://www.aussie-info.com/tourist/coins.jpg
That 5c coin is about the same size as a US dime.
Need to install Windows again?
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Interesting...Having just moved back from Europe, I´m more familiar with the € Euro, see I even have it on my keyboard...but in the US, I believe we have a 50c and a dollar, which I haven´t seen in ages, hence the comment. They could have even been taken out of circulation. I haven´t seen a larger coin than a quarter (about the size of your 20c) since I can remember.
Anyway, I was referring to denomination and size, which are the same in this case. I liked the silver dollar coin, which was about twice the size of the 50c, which is roughly the same size as yours. In Vegas, some of the casinos still use a coin this size, which is only good in that particular casino, and not legal tender.
Anyway, I was referring to denomination and size, which are the same in this case. I liked the silver dollar coin, which was about twice the size of the 50c, which is roughly the same size as yours. In Vegas, some of the casinos still use a coin this size, which is only good in that particular casino, and not legal tender.
"No one remembers who climbed Mount Everest the second time." — Na Nook.
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