Kissimmee_Family
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Mar 12, 2005
- Messages
- 41
The new A.C. Wathey Pier and Port Facility is very nice with one unfortunate exception. There is a business in the largest of the new buildings called "Duty Free World" that I would caution you to avoid.
After returning our rental car we made one last Tee-shirt run in this store. Big mistake. My DS was to turn 7 on the ship the next day and earlier we had indulged him with a few small gifts. Among these was a wooden segmented snake that he was quite fond of. The store owner and what I assume were several of his family members took an interest in the snake and my son let them examine it. Being a new store they were curious what items were popular sellers in other stores.
While the DW selected Tee's with my DD the DS found an inexpensive shark tooth necklace that he wanted. At some point he handed it to my DW and said the plastic cord had come out of the clasp. She gave it to me and I took it to the owner and said it had come apart. The necklace was $7.95 and your typical cheaply made, China trinket. While I was surprised when he said I had to buy it, I didn't argue and took out my Visa card. My DW realized what was happening she returned the several Tee shirts she had chosen, to the shelf.
The store owner refused the credit card and demanded cash because the purchase was under $20. I politely opened my wallet and explained that I used the last of my cash to tip the crew on the 12 Meter Challenge excursion. He reiterated cash only and I said again we simply did not have any. In retrospect, judging by his gestures, I think he was expecting me to buy the several Tee shirts as well. After several, "Cash", "Sorry I have none" round robins I even offered to add the credit card surcharge to the total and said "Unless you want to accept the credit card we have a show to catch on the boat that I don't intend to miss." and we left the store.
The owner followed us out of the store and walked up to my 6 year old son, grabbed his arm, ripped his toy snake from his hand and said "I will keep this as collateral until you pay me".
Well needless to say I wasn't exactly pleased to have my son manhandled. He was crying and my wife and I were in shock. While my son may have broken the necklace by accident it certainly was not intentional and more likely due to the quality of the item than anything my son did. He also gave the broken necklace to us and did not just put it on a shelf somewhere as many might do. Nor did I hide the event from the owner or refuse to pay for it when requested.
Well my response was to take a photo of the owner and his shop with a promise I'd share this experience with others that were headed his way.
On the 100 yard walk back to the ship I came upon two Port police officers and explained the situation to them. While the DW waited in the boarding queue. ( interesting note: All returning passengers go through security screening on the ship, metal detectors and x-rays similar to airport screening and the lines can get quite long) I went back to the shop with the officer who interviewed the owner and got essentially the same story. The officer came to me and said the owner will now accept your credit card. I explained to the officer that he had a fair chance to accept and I would not now trust such a man with my credit information. He smiled knowingly but said there was little more he could do.
I was disappointed but not surprised that he did not require the return of the birthday present snake. After restating that I would explain the event to Disney and post notice of my St. Maarten experience on the Internet I went back to the ship. I was at the top of the gangway and next in line for the x-ray when the son of the owner and the officer came running toward the ship.
The officer said he contacted the harbor's senior officer, who ordered the shop owner to return my son's property and charged the owner with assault and theft. He also relayed a request that I not post negative comments about St. Maarten on the net.
In fairness, St. Maarten was a positive excursion and they ultimately handled the situation well.
The rest you can judge for yourself. Personally I'd love to hear that someone on a later cruise went up to this shop and asked "hey are you the guys that stole a 6 year old's birthday present over a broken necklace? Well I read about you on the internet and I'm shopping elsewhere"
That would make my day.
After returning our rental car we made one last Tee-shirt run in this store. Big mistake. My DS was to turn 7 on the ship the next day and earlier we had indulged him with a few small gifts. Among these was a wooden segmented snake that he was quite fond of. The store owner and what I assume were several of his family members took an interest in the snake and my son let them examine it. Being a new store they were curious what items were popular sellers in other stores.
While the DW selected Tee's with my DD the DS found an inexpensive shark tooth necklace that he wanted. At some point he handed it to my DW and said the plastic cord had come out of the clasp. She gave it to me and I took it to the owner and said it had come apart. The necklace was $7.95 and your typical cheaply made, China trinket. While I was surprised when he said I had to buy it, I didn't argue and took out my Visa card. My DW realized what was happening she returned the several Tee shirts she had chosen, to the shelf.
The store owner refused the credit card and demanded cash because the purchase was under $20. I politely opened my wallet and explained that I used the last of my cash to tip the crew on the 12 Meter Challenge excursion. He reiterated cash only and I said again we simply did not have any. In retrospect, judging by his gestures, I think he was expecting me to buy the several Tee shirts as well. After several, "Cash", "Sorry I have none" round robins I even offered to add the credit card surcharge to the total and said "Unless you want to accept the credit card we have a show to catch on the boat that I don't intend to miss." and we left the store.
The owner followed us out of the store and walked up to my 6 year old son, grabbed his arm, ripped his toy snake from his hand and said "I will keep this as collateral until you pay me".
Well needless to say I wasn't exactly pleased to have my son manhandled. He was crying and my wife and I were in shock. While my son may have broken the necklace by accident it certainly was not intentional and more likely due to the quality of the item than anything my son did. He also gave the broken necklace to us and did not just put it on a shelf somewhere as many might do. Nor did I hide the event from the owner or refuse to pay for it when requested.
Well my response was to take a photo of the owner and his shop with a promise I'd share this experience with others that were headed his way.
On the 100 yard walk back to the ship I came upon two Port police officers and explained the situation to them. While the DW waited in the boarding queue. ( interesting note: All returning passengers go through security screening on the ship, metal detectors and x-rays similar to airport screening and the lines can get quite long) I went back to the shop with the officer who interviewed the owner and got essentially the same story. The officer came to me and said the owner will now accept your credit card. I explained to the officer that he had a fair chance to accept and I would not now trust such a man with my credit information. He smiled knowingly but said there was little more he could do.
I was disappointed but not surprised that he did not require the return of the birthday present snake. After restating that I would explain the event to Disney and post notice of my St. Maarten experience on the Internet I went back to the ship. I was at the top of the gangway and next in line for the x-ray when the son of the owner and the officer came running toward the ship.
The officer said he contacted the harbor's senior officer, who ordered the shop owner to return my son's property and charged the owner with assault and theft. He also relayed a request that I not post negative comments about St. Maarten on the net.
In fairness, St. Maarten was a positive excursion and they ultimately handled the situation well.
The rest you can judge for yourself. Personally I'd love to hear that someone on a later cruise went up to this shop and asked "hey are you the guys that stole a 6 year old's birthday present over a broken necklace? Well I read about you on the internet and I'm shopping elsewhere"
That would make my day.
You can put your hands on me all you want, but don't manhandle my wife or my son.
Disneyma
