On Thursday 6/12 at about 6:30pm my mother, my little brother and I went to buy a father’s day present. We went to Ulta in Mooresville looking for a shaving mirror. We were in the store about ten minutes and were unable to find one we liked. We left the store without buying anything. During our time at the store a couple of the sales associates asked if they could help us with anything. It was noticeable they were following us even though there were other customers in the store. Since we couldn’t find what we needed we walked down the road to Bed Bath and Beyond. While we were at the store the manager from Ulta came in and told the sales associate there that two thieves just walked into her store, and they just stole a curling iron from her. Then she continued to walk up to us and said, “Honey, I know you stole a curling iron from my store and I have you on TAPE! I just called the cops and they are on their way. You better leave before you get arrested”. We were absolutely shocked and ashamed. We knew there was no proof because we hadn’t taken anything. We told her we would like to see the proof and talk to the cops and she said “I don’t want you in my store you better leave! ”. At this point started walking down to Ulta to find out exactly what happened. We saw the police car pulling up and my mom stopped him and said we are who he is looking for and would like to go back to the store and settle the mess. We walked in the store and everyone looked at us like we were criminals. There was no video of anything, and no one said they saw us doing anything. All the manager had to say was that she suspected we did it. There were plenty of other people in that store and we were the only ones targeted! Our only "fault" was that we were speaking Spanish while shopping in the store. I know there is no law in the United States that prohibits me to speak Spanish. She was unable to press charges due to the lack of proof. To us that doesn’t make it better. We were falsely accused and embarrassed. We were victims of racial profiling and defamation of character. She didn’t even say she was sorry and continue to believe we took the curling iron. It was the worst time of our lives. We can’t sleep and the whole situation is taking an emotional toll on us. My brother doesn’t understand why someone would do something like that. We are all having nightmares and still can’t believe that actually happen. The manager’s name is Larissa, and she refuse to give us her district manager’s name so that we could call and complain. I called Ulta’s customer service number on Thursday 6/12/08 and filed a complaint. They said they were very sorry and would call the store and talked to them. I called again on Saturday 6/14 and talked to Christian in customer service. He took "my side" of the story, and told me the manager on duty (Larissa) had called them while everything was happening. He said the report stated that we were speaking Spanish while in the store and she didn’t understand us. This shows that race did play a major role in the incident.
0 comments