Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 21, 1990 TAG: 9003212079
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Ed Shamy
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Caveat venditor? It's Latin too, and it means let the seller beware. It's not a common phrase, which is unfortunate.
Take the case of Irene Williams and her daughter, 16-year-old Martha. They live in Northwest Roanoke.
In October, Martha - an 11th-grader at William Fleming High School - went on a field trip to Hampton Roads. She took along mom's Discover credit card and permission to use it.
Sure enough, the teens found their way to the inevitable shopping mall, Martha found her way to the clothes rack at Lerner's, and finally landed at the checkout counter.
But Lerner's does not accept Discover cards.
The woman at the counter asked if Martha wanted to apply for instant credit.
Sure, said Martha.
Martha filled out the application in her mom's name. She claimed she was 43 years old. She signed her mom's name, but listed her own Social Security number.
The clerk "took the application and then she came back from the phone and said she needed my driver's license," said Martha.
"When I gave them my driver's license, I kind of expected them to say no. I was just going to go someplace else to use the Discover card," said Martha.
Martha's scheme was as wrong as it was obviously fake.
Still, Lerner's plowed through the inconsistencies and issued the credit. Martha got her sweater and slacks. Once she got back to Roanoke, she used the plastic again.
Martha planned to use the money she earned working at a Wendy's restaurant to pay off the bill.
"But I ran into money problems," she said.
Irene, the widowed mother of two daughters, was not happy when the bill came from Lerner's.
"I'm not a wealthy person by any means, but I pay my bills," she said.
Justice was quickly served at home: Martha was grounded.
"At first I thought I would pay it," said Irene. "Then I started thinking about it.
"That bill should not be in existence. A 16-year-old should not be able to open an account in their parent's name. You should not knowingly open an account for them, and if they're underaged, the store should contact the parent," she said.
Lerner's - $740 million in revenues last year, 10,500 employees - doesn't quite see it that way.
The store has been trying hard to collect its $252.86. Irene says she's been hassled - store representatives have lectured her on Martha's need to learn responsibility and have suggested she file fraud charges against her own daughter.
Kim Perfect, a Lerner's spokeswoman, says the store has apologized, has done away with finance charges and has offered to accept a return of the merchandise to settle the deal.
"It's the principle at this point," says Irene Williams. "Lerner's looked at the situation and said they'd do it anyway. They gambled and they lost."
Caveat venditor.
by CNB