Journalist David Leavitt ruffled feathers online when he put a store employee on blast on Twitter over a mispriced toothbrush, and now, people are calling for justice for “Target Tori.”
Everyone knows how it feels to go into a store and spot a bargain that’s just too good to pass up, especially if it’s something they’ve been wanting for a while and it’s reduced in price by a substantial amount.
Sometimes, price errors occur though, and it’s not quite the amazing deal you thought it would be. While many would simply accept it and continue on with their day, writer David Leavitt shared his frustrations on Twitter when it happened to him, and is now being slammed for how he handled the situation.
Man calls police over mispriced toothbrush
On January 17, Leavitt uploaded a series of photos to the social media platform with the caption “This [Target] manager Tori is not honoring the price of their items per massachusetts law.”
The pictures showed the item in question – an electric Oral B Pro 5000 toothbrush usually worth $89.99 – with a $0.01 price tag, alongside a photograph of the employee, and a screenshot of the Massachusetts pricing law.
He then followed it up with another tweet stating that he’d actually gotten law enforcement involved over the situation. “I just had to call the police because [Target] refused to sell me the toothbrush,” he said.
I just had to call the police because @target Refused to sell me the toothbrush
— David Leavitt (@David_Leavitt) January 17, 2020
After outrage started to brew, the “award-winning multimedia” journalist clarified further and said that he hadn’t called 911, but had instead reached out to the police’s business line.
“I did not call 911,” he said. “I called the business number for the police and told them it was not an emergency and they could take their time and explained the situation.”
Leavitt then claimed that the officers encouraged him to sue Target over the mispriced item, and that they were willing to provide him with a report.
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“The police verified [Target] displayed the price of toothbrush for $0.01. The store manager Tori refused to sell me the toothbrush for displayed price,” he said. “The police said I need to sue them and that they are making me a verified report [to] take to court.”
The police verified @target displayed the price of toothbrush for $0.01 The store manager Tori refused to sell me the toothbrush for displayed price. The police said I need to sue them and that they are making me a verified report take to court @BBBConnection @AskTarget
— David Leavitt (@David_Leavitt) January 17, 2020
The whole ordeal didn’t go down in his favor, and instead angered many as to why he’d go so far over a toothbrush, and why he’d publicly shame the employee by uploading a photograph of her.
“So you decided to publicly shame a random Target worker because you’re mad about a toothbrush,” fellow journalist Michael Tracey replied.
So you decided to publicly shame a random Target worker because you’re mad about a toothbrush
— Michael Tracey (@mtracey) January 17, 2020
“Please take her photo down. In what universe do you think it’s ok to shame a woman working at [Target] because she didn’t sell you a toothbrush for 1 cent?” reporter Rita Panahi responded.
Dude, please take her photo down. In what universe do you think it’s ok to shame a woman working at @Target because she didn’t sell you a toothbrush for 1cent? Calling the cops was bizarre, too. It’s an obvious labelling error, she did her job.
— Rita Panahi (@RitaPanahi) January 17, 2020
People were so mad, in fact, that #TargetTori began trending worldwide on the social media platform, and a GoFundMe was set up in order to help send the worker on vacation.
At this time of writing, the appeal has raised $16,600 USD by over 1,000 donors in just 18 hours. The worker herself has yet to speak out.
