Some people will go to great extremes to secure a bargain. Case in point: an East Coast man who apparently called the police over a toothbrush dispute at Target.
Journalist David Leavitt detailed the incident in a series of tweets Friday, shortly after he failed to get an Oral-B electric toothbrush for practically nothing. Leavitt posted a photo of said item, which turned out to be a store display that was next to a $0.01 sticker. The man apparently thought it was his lucky day, and attempted to purchase the toothbrush—currently priced at $89.99 on Target's website—for a penny. The store manager understandably refused.
"This @target manager Tori is not honoring the price of their items per Massachusetts law," he tweeted along with a photo of a Target employee.
So rather than accept defeat, or purchase a standard toothbrush for several bucks, Leavitt did the completely rational thing and alerted authorities.
Leavitt went on to claim that the police encouraged him to sue Target, and reassured him they would make a verified report for his case.
"They verified the info was accurate and told me I can take you to court for not honoring the price and are giving me a record that what I said happened happened," he tweeted. "... Corporations like @target are not above the law. The police officer told me they’d testify that they saw the price and that the manager wouldn’t sell me the item for the price listed."
But not everyone was convinced Target broke the law. Twitter user @KDbyProxy directed Leavitt to the Code of Massachusetts Regulations title 940, which states:
... the seller shall have no obligation to sell such item at the lowest represented price if it is the result of a gross error ... A 'gross error' is a price which was never intended as the selling price at any time during the previous 30 day period, and which, for an item with an actual selling price of not more than $20.00, is less than half the price stated by the seller as the actual selling price, or which, for an item with an actual selling price of more than $20.00, is more than 20% below the price stated by the seller as the actual selling price.
Others questioned why Leavitt would even want to purchase a display toothbrush, which was likely touched by countless, dirty hands. Leavitt was all, like, "Well, actually ..."
He went on to say that he was eager to buy a quality toothbrush because he couldn't afford to go to the dentist, and any money he would potentially receive from the lawsuit would go toward his dental copay and a new toothbrush.
It's unclear if Leavitt's outrage is genuine or if he's simply trolling; either way, Twitter users haven't hesitated to blast him.
Check out some of the reactions below.
