How far would you go to get an Oral-B electric toothbrush for almost nothing? A multimedia journalist took it to the limit when a Target manager in Massachusetts refused to sell him a display brush that was priced at 1¢.
David Leavitt used his Twitter account on January 17 to live tweet about not being able to purchase the toothbrush at the displayed price. He also posted a photo of the toothbrush display, as well as the manager, Tori, who refused to honor the price, which Leavitt claimed violated Massachusetts law. Target's website lists the price of Procter & Gamble's brush at $89.
Leavitt continued his online tirade, notifying his approximately 210,000 followers that he had called police about the incident. He posted that the police told him that a verified incident report would be filed and that he had the right to sue Target.
Then, this happened
Unfortunately for Leavitt, he not only didn't get a discounted toothbrush but his online trolling backfired. Soon after his tweet went viral, countless people chastised him for posting the manager's photo, being an unreasonable customer, and wasting the time of police. Many supporters of the Target manager had worked in retail and commiserated with her having to deal with penny-pinching customers who have embarrassing outbursts to save a few dollars.
One of the many people who rallied behind Target Tori set up a GoFundMe page to raise funds for the manager, so she could go on a vacation to help her get over this ordeal.
In just six days, it blew past its goal of $5,000. At press time, her vacation fund was at about $35,000.
Target responded by setting up its own Twitter profile page for Target Tori, where she expressed her gratitude for the donations and promised to pay it forward. She says she is already looking for a "cause that is worthy of your generosity and something that you would all be proud to donate to." She promised to keep her supporters updated.
Target likely did no wrong
Further adding insult to injury, one person tweeted that Target probably didn't break any laws. The post directs Leavitt to Code of Massachusetts Regulations title 940, which notes that a seller isn't obligated to sell an item at the lowest listed price if it was the result of a gross error. The code states that a gross error is one that never was intended as the selling price during the previous 30 days.
