Two people with autism say they were scammed, targeted at Oak Park Mall
OVERLAND PARK, Kan. — The mall is a popular hang out for the young, the elderly and people with special needs like Cory Dozier. That’s where this problem begins.
“I was just walking around trying to enjoy myself,” said Dozier, recalling a shopping trip last summer to Oak Park Mall.
He said he was approached by a young woman standing outside a store.
She complimented his shirt and offered him some hand lotion. Pretty soon, he was sitting inside the store and getting the full sales pitch for a line of skin and nailcare products, something he had no interest in using.
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“They wouldn’t let me say no,” said Dozier who has been diagnosed with autism and lives on a modest disability check. “No matter how many times I wanted to.”
Dozier said the saleswoman offered him multiple “freebies” and other items that she said were “great deals.” Dozier said he was getting confused, but was too embarrassed to admit it.
By the time he left he store, he had spent $744 for multiple jars and boxes of skin and nailcare products, many of which appear to be designed for women, not men.
Dozier said he tried to return the products twice, but was told there were no refunds. Months later he still hasn’t opened them and never plans to.
“I still feel like a sucker,” he said.
But Dozier shouldn’t. He’s not alone.
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“I think they are definitely targeting a group of people who are vulnerable,” said Chelsea Geniuk, who works with Dozier and other mentally disabled adults in Johnson County. “They often don’t know how to properly decision make and just say ‘yes’ to things, hoping the sales people will then let them leave.”
Geniuk contacted FOX4 Problem Solvers after two of the special needs adults she works with had a bad experience at Oak Park Mall.
The second incident involved Emily Thompson, who has also been diagnosed with autism and is also living on disability.
“He even said he would give me his employee discount,” Thompson said of the man working at a haircare kiosk in the mall called Straight Ahead.
Although Thompson has no interest in haircare products, she said she was talked into buying $440 worth of products that day. She would have even bought more, but didn’t have enough money on her debit card. In fact, that’s how Emily’s mom Mary discovered what had happened.
“She called me and said, ‘Can you come get me, so we can go to the bank and transfer some money from my savings to my checking account?’” Mary Thompson said.
Mary told her daughter she had been taken advantage of. Emily then tried to return everything she bought (just 30 minutes earlier) but was advised that refunds weren’t allowed.
Emily was out $440 for a hair mask, hair straightener, hair curler and a hairbrush. Mary was livid.
“You know I’m a sales person too, but I read my audience,” she said. “I read my clients and if I feel like they don’t need what I’m selling, I don’t push them. I want to have a good reputation as a business person.”
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Mary called Oak Park Mall management for help. Mall management talked to the business, which agreed to give Emily a refund.
But when Emily and her mother showed up at Straight Ahead to collect the money, they were told she could only have $220 back, the amount on the only receipt Emily was given. Bank records, however, clearly showed that the Straight Ahead had made three withdrawals from her bank account.
“I said no, that’s not what is going to happen,” Mary Thompson said. “You are going to return all of her money.”
Emily did did get her money back, but now wants to share her story to help others.
“We cannot afford to have this happen a third time,” Emily said.
FOX4 Problem Solvers paid a visit to Straight Ahead to get its side. The sales person, who would not give his name, insisted there was no way he could have known that Emily had a disability.
He also said the refund policy is posted at the kiosk and then pointed to a small sign. He said he couldn’t understand why FOX4 cared about the issue since the customer did get her money back. We pointed out that she only got her money back after both mall management and her mother got involved.
We then paid a visit to The Skin Health and Wellness Spa where Dozier spent more than $700.
The woman in charge of the store called the owner, who declined to go on camera, but he quickly agreed to give Dozier back his money. He said he would never want anyone to feel taken advantage by his store.
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Oak Park Mall management told Problem Solvers that it takes complaints like this seriously.
Management told Problem Solvers that any customer who has had a problem with a retailer should contact them for help getting it resolved.
