Make sure you bring collateral when shopping at the Greenwater General Store

[AlpineHideaway]

Dateline, Thursday November 13, 2008. Hwy 410 is closed because of the mudslide which occurred on Wednesday 11/12/08. The power is also out in the Greenwater area for approx. 16 hours because of another similar event the morning of 11/13/08. I moved into the Greenwater area on May 1st of 2008 and have been a patron of the General Store many times since moving here. It is nice to have a local merchant nearby to purchase need supplies without driving the 21 miles into Enumclaw, until today.

Being relatively new to the area but getting to be seen and know by a few in the community, we do not have a generator for our home if the power goes out and now realize the importance of having one.

With the power out and our refridgerator getting warm, I thought I would go down to the General Store to get some ice for our ice chest. Once at the Store, I am greeted by the clerk, a blonde hair lady, probably in her mid-50's. I inquire if there are any bags of ice left. She tells me there a two bags left, and also says the credit card machine is down because of the power situation. This is unfortunate for me, for I am out of cash. I ask the clerk if they take checks, and she frowns but tells me only if it is local. I tell her it is. She then proceeds to tell me that I do not look like a local :confused: , and I tell her I live in the area. Again, she frowns and tells me along with my check I need to leave some kind of collateral :eek: that is equal to the value of my purchase of two bags of ice. This surprises me, then infuriates me. I then proceeded to leave the Store, empty handed, willing to take the loss of all our perishables we have in our refridgerator at home. As I walk out the door, the clerk tells me that she will give me a half-a-bag of ice for free, which I turn down, feeling insulted.

Now, I appreciate the offer of a free half bag of ice, but what will that do? I also understand that store owners are reluctant to take paper checks these days. And I understand I should have had some type of cash on hand with me in case of emergencies. But, when the chips are down, when times are hard, when people should be more helpful to their neighbors and community in times of emergencies, there was NO reason not to take my LOCAL CHECK, with my LOCAL ID AND NOT ASK ME TO LEAVE COLLATERAL AT THE GREENWATER GENERAL STORE FOR MY HUGE PURCHASE OF TWO (2) BAGS OF ICE BECAUSE I DO NOT LOOK LOCAL. I realize that purchasing 2 bags of ice from the Store could bankrupt me, being they hugely overcharge their community members for the products they sell, but give me a flipp'in break.

If I ever, which I never will again, go into the Greenwater General Store I will make sure, just in case, I carry a sample of my DNA, birth certificate, social security card, mothers maiden name along with gold and silver coins as collateral (since I do not look like I am a local) to secure my purchase of a Twix candybar. No matter how small my purchase, I will take my business and hard earned money and drive to Enumclaw, where they don't discriminate and smile as they take my money, and spend it there :cool: .

I thought I lived in the United States of America. It appears the Greenwater General has taken a page from the George W. Bush administration and its Hurricane Katrina flop and has decided to crap on the hand that feeds them when there is a community crisis. Two big thumbs down for the Greenwater General Store!

And by the way, what does a local look like?

[Webmaster]

One of the things that my life has taught me is that when it comes to communication, at nearly every critical juncture, something will go terribly wrong. Most commonly there is a misunderstanding, or someone says the wrong thing, or circumstances doom the interaction before it even starts, to the horror of all involved. I think what you went through - and I'm sorry you went through it – but I think what you went through amounts to one of these miscommunications at a critical moment.

You are understandably upset by the events. I would be too! With potentially hundreds of dollars of food going bad you were only out to protect your interest.

I don’t know the policy of the General store on accepting checks, but have not heard of a case in recent memory where anyone is asked to leave collateral for 2 bags of ice. I think you’d agree that it would have been like something from Monty Python’s Flying Circus if the circumstances didn’t make it a back-handed insult.

The mistake was due to the clerk. I don’t know her but think she probably thought she was doing the right thing to protect her job. I'm sure she needs to work as much as any of us does, so she probably thought she was protecting her job. But she obviously didn’t think it through very well. And I think she was absolutely wrong to ask for collateral.

Clearly, she quickly came to that realization too, and that is why she offered some ice free, after the fact. But I think any casual observer would agree with you about her over the top request for collateral -- in addition to a check with proper ID -- as being out of line.

FWIW, I've had a home in the area for over 6 years. I know the owner of the store to be an honorable man and a truly great and very generous contributor to the community. I think if the store owner knew about this, he would go out of his way to make it right for you.

Your actions of posting this event on our community’s web site is understandable. Were I subjected to what you went through, I might do the same thing. But I have to say that punishing the store for the misguided actions of the clerk, while certainly understandable, was not exactly the right thing to do.

If you can bring yourself to do it, try to contact the store owner and explain what happened. You can do it in writing so as to avoid a confrontation. I’ll send you his email address if you’d like. I don’t know how often he reads email so don’t know if that is the best way to contact him. However you do it, it is always better to try and resolve this kind of conflict than to just let it go unresolved and let it grow into something even worse.

I'm sorry for the loss of food you experienced and am embarrassed that someone in our community did the wrong thing at a critical time.

Oh, yeah, in an attempt to lighten the topic a bit, the true “locals“ for our area are in the photo at the top of the page. They are highly protective of each other and friendly. Most everyone else came from somewhere else, but most are very generous.

[mlsmith]

I have store polices and I expect my clerks to follow them.
When I am at a store and I can't get what I want from a clerk, I ask to talk to the owner if its a small store or manager if its a large store. Usually I can get a owner or manager to side step a store policy that is written for the clerk to follow. So why didn't you ask to talk to me (Mike the owner) that day when we all had severals thing happening at the same time. No Power, 410 closed, no phone services for the credit card machine to work.
We have a policy, not to take checks, but if local come in ahead of time and tell me they just moved in to the area. Show me their checkbook with a Greenwater Address on it, I with tell the clerks to take their checks. That day we took 14 checks from locals and for locals that did not have checks or cash we wrote down their name with what they needed to pay later.
I am sorry for your inconvience that day and if chose to come in and ask for me I would like to meet you and settle our differences. IF anyone has any problems at my store PLEASE talk to me. MIKE SMITH

[AlpineHideaway]

Your store policies were not the issue nor was or am I asking for special treatment from an owner or manager to sidestep a policy. Going into a store you do not know if the clerk is the owner, manager or flunkie. I also don't feel the need when I move into an area to make sure all the local merchants know I'm a "newbie" just so I can write checks. My policy? I can hold my own and do not need to "pay later", and I strictly use my checkbook for bills but carry it with me in case of emergencies, which I encountered that day.

Your policies are your own business. Your policy is to not take checks...great. Your policy is to take local checks only...good. But when your clerk, your employee, basically discriminates...yes, discriminates a customer based on the reason that they don't look local:confused: ? This town has thousands of people from other countries coming through it each year. How do you know who is a local and who is not based on looks? If I were of Asian decent, am I not a local based on my looks? If a physically disabled or handicapped individual were to come into your store, are they not a local, since this type of person does not fit as easily into society as you or I do? This is exactly what your clerk implied on that day by saying that I do not look like a local. I asked if she took checks, was told local only and that I did not look local. You employee did not ask to see my checks or ID to verify my residencey. Collateral...that's what I was asked for...equal to the value of my purchase.

Thanks for the offer to come in, but your clerk has already done unrepairable damage to me, you AND the Greenwater General Store. I will not be returning to your store. I don't have a difference with you, Mike, or your policies. But discrimination? I do. Your clerk discriminates and that does not make your store look any better. Your employeee, your clerk, needs to choose their words carefully in the future.

One last thing as I edit this. It was brought to my attention and I will share this with you all. Mike, if you employees keep operating your store as they do, you might consider changing the name to Greenwater Trading Post...two bags of ice for three bear claws. Or 4.5 fish for a gallon of gasoline.

[mlsmith]

With the commodity going off the deep in you could by right.
Let's see!!!! "Greenwater General trading post" sounds good Alpinehideaway
Would the depend if the fish are cleaned or not.
Would the chicken be alive or ???, plucked would get you more gas than alive. Pigs would probably get the most gas pound to gallons. Two cook chicken wings would get you a candy bar,
I am not into deer or elk parts, anyway they are the true locals of the area.
Have you talk to your community association about starting a farm on your property.:) Thanks for you Idea Mike

[Webmaster]

> Pigs would probably get the most gas...

I've had the same result after eating ham :p

I'm hopeful that AlpineHidaway will relax a bit. It's normal to get upset. It's human to make mistakes. After a time we usually forgive and move on.

[engerski]

alpinehideaway, I do understand your frustration. If it makes you feel any better, I have been told by a former employee (who was fairly new to the area) that I didn't look like a local, too. Pretty funny, since I've been here over 30 years and have seen many employees come and go.:rolleyes:

I heard grumbling in the community that the store didn't accept credit cards due to the phone lines being down. I worked for Crystal Mountain for many years and the phone lines and/or computers were down many times. We always managed by using one of those old 'sliders'. It takes all the info without the bank verification. Once the phone was operational again, we entered all the info. Pretty simple really and I can't recall any 'denied' credit cards.
Next time you need ice for your fridge, please call me. I'd be happy to give you all I have. I broke down last winter and got a generator as the power outages seemed to be more frequent and longer in duration.

Anyway, welcome to the area. We have lots of different 'locals', former loggers, rednecks who voted for Obama, old hippies, wealthy retired people,
skiers and so on.
I hope you put this unfortunate incident behind you. Yes, it was petty, but really not worth losing too much sleep over it.
Peace!