- This guy is the reason for the stupid "For Display Only" signs…
Photo by Goby on Unsplash
We have covered Target blaming customers for a box that was supposed to be a three-hundred dollar vacuum being a box of rocks, but a self-identified ‘award-winning multimedia journalist’ is accusing Target of breaking the law. Is there something to this or just a cry for attention?
Massachusetts Target
David Leavitt tweeted pictures of ‘Tori’ the target manager, a DISPLAY for Oral-B Pro 5000 toothbrush with a price tag of $0.01, and a screenshot of the Massachusetts Item Pricing Law (which requires that stores sell items at the lowest price indicated on a sign or advertisement). The law also states that if there is a discrepancy between the price listed on the shelf and what the item rings up to, the customer should be given a ten-dollar deduction from the lowest advertised price. Leavitt said that Target ‘refused’ to sell him the toothbrush, so he called the police.
Leavitt’s Rant
“I just had to call the police because @target refused to sell me the toothbrush. I did not call 911. I called the business number for the police and told them it was not an emergency and they could take their time and explained the situation. The police verified @target displayed the price of the toothbrush for $0.01 The store manager Tori refused to sell me the toothbrush for displayed price. The police said I need to sue them and that they are making me a verified report take to court. 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.”
To reiterate; Leavitt found a display tag that had a $0.01 price printed on it. Leavitt believes that is the price he should pay for the in-package item the display advertised. As his own photos show, it is clearly marked as a display tag.
He Made A Follow-Up Tweet Days Later
In a tweet posted three days later, Leavitt said: “I have not been able to afford to go to a dentist in over three years. So yes I wanted a good toothbrush and was thrilled to see such an amazing prize on an @OralB but @target refused to honor it and now I have to take them to court.” Despite him saying it was over three years since he went to the dentist, Leavitt posted in April of 2018 saying: “#YouAreWinningWhen you get the dentist’s office waiting room to turn off Fox News.”
Is He An Award-Winning Journalist?
Leavitt said that he was a journalist for CBS, AXS, Yahoo and The Examiner. However, when he went viral for outrageous, offensive tweets, both CBS and AXS tweeted that he is not affiliated with them. He appears to have been a freelancer at one point and has a screen capture on The Wayback Machine that shows he was authored at least at one point in 2014, but his author page has been removed from the sites.
When He Went Viral
Leavitt went viral after tweeting: “The last time I listened to Ariana Grande, I almost died too.” This was the day that Manchester Arena was bombed at a Grande concert, the bombing left twenty-three dead. After this CBS and AXS disavowed him. The only other recent writing Leavitt has done is for his blog, LuvItOrLeavitt.com. On his Muck Rack page, (A site that collects journalist’s clips) most of the articles that appear to be authored by Leavitt, but not written by him. Some are written by or are written about the author David Leavitt, who is a different person.
GoFundMe
There was a GoFundMe started on behalf of the manager Tori, but it is not linked to her, instead, it was created by a third party fundraiser who goes by the name Carpe Donktum on social media. They are a semi-prominent pro-Trump meme creator with over 200,00 Twitter followers. After a day of the search, Carpe Donktum located Tori and tweeted: “HUGE UPDATE:
I have made contact with #TargetTori, she has received authorization to release 2 photos to verify that we are in contact.
I need a representative from @gofundme to contact me to arrange the transfer of control of the account to Tori.” a representative for GoFundMe said that Carpe Donktim does not have access to the funds and that GoFundMe is working with them to find the beneficiary. “We guarantee the funds raised will be sent directly to the intended beneficiary. If we cannot make contact or the beneficiary refuses the funds, donors will be fully refunded.”
One would think this is an easy fix – Simply offer Leavitt the display item for a penny, as marked. They’re usually non-functional and only for display. He’ll refuse, but Target will have honored the displayed item for the displayed price. A quick glance at Leavitt’s social media presence shows he’s known for this kind of attention seeking behavior. This won’t be the last time we hear from him over issues like this…