If a store charged you 2 cents more than the listed price would you say something? And what if they offered you a refund, would you still be mad? Mary Bach found herself in this situation at a Walmart store in Delmont, Pennsylvania. Mary bought a 98 cent sausage and Walmart charged her a full dollar for it. Her solution to the situation? Sue Walmart. She sued Walmart over the 2 cent overpricing even after they apologized and gave her a refund.
My initial reaction to this news story was that Mary Bach was being completely ridiculous. 2 cents was not worth the time and money of a lawsuit. I also did not consider her a consumer activist like most news articles had been referring to her as.
As I dug deeper into my research of Mary Bach, I learned that this was her 5th lawsuit against Walmart. And all five lawsuits have been for the same problem.
Perhaps Mary Bach does feel strongly about consumer rights, and since Walmart has made this mistake (perhaps not even a mistake) so many times, they deserve to be penalized. Walmart is not known to be the most honest or fair company and maybe they need people like Mary Bach to set them straight.
But on the other hand, seeing as this is Mary Bach's 5th lawsuit against them, could this be a source of income for her? Walmart makes a small mistake, and since she is a consumer, she's allowed to cash in.
In America nowadays we see a fair share of stupid lawsuits, and I think that's why my initial reaction to Mary Bach's story was so negative. Just another person trying to make easy money is how I saw it. Now that I've had time to mull it over, I still find myself to be a little iffy on my opinion of Mary Bach. If you're really passionate about a cause, is it okay to make money off of it?
Please feel free to put in your own "2 cents".
-Chrisanthy S
A link to a news article about Mary Bach can be found HERE.
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| Mary Bach |
My initial reaction to this news story was that Mary Bach was being completely ridiculous. 2 cents was not worth the time and money of a lawsuit. I also did not consider her a consumer activist like most news articles had been referring to her as.
As I dug deeper into my research of Mary Bach, I learned that this was her 5th lawsuit against Walmart. And all five lawsuits have been for the same problem.
Perhaps Mary Bach does feel strongly about consumer rights, and since Walmart has made this mistake (perhaps not even a mistake) so many times, they deserve to be penalized. Walmart is not known to be the most honest or fair company and maybe they need people like Mary Bach to set them straight.
But on the other hand, seeing as this is Mary Bach's 5th lawsuit against them, could this be a source of income for her? Walmart makes a small mistake, and since she is a consumer, she's allowed to cash in.
In America nowadays we see a fair share of stupid lawsuits, and I think that's why my initial reaction to Mary Bach's story was so negative. Just another person trying to make easy money is how I saw it. Now that I've had time to mull it over, I still find myself to be a little iffy on my opinion of Mary Bach. If you're really passionate about a cause, is it okay to make money off of it?
Please feel free to put in your own "2 cents".
-Chrisanthy S
A link to a news article about Mary Bach can be found HERE.
Hmm. Although I do agree with the fact that consumers shouldn't allow big name companies to take advantage of them, Mary Bach is a gold digger. Not in the sense that she married a rich man (although I wouldn't be surprised), but in the sense that she takes every little opportunity to cash in. I cut my coupons, and wait for sales as much as then next broke teenager, but would I have cared over 2 cents?- absolutely not! It's 2 cents that I will probably lose on the street or at the bottom of my purse. (Pennies by the way are virtually useless to America, but that's another issue.) My point is that Mary Bach saw this mistake, and decided that she should "pursue her rights as an American and fight for the people!" Guess what doll? It's TWO CENTS. If the original founder of Walmart was still alive he would EASILY be the riches man in American, if not the world. So why not take a few bucks from Walmart? They've got enough to spare, right?
ReplyDeleteIn all honestly, I find Mary Bach to be ridiculous. I agree with Bridget: she is a gold digger. If Mary Bach really wanted to raise awareness to the exploitation of consumers, why wouldn't she become a lobbyist or start a petition or organization that stands for speaking up against large corporations?
ReplyDeleteAlso, I do not understand what exactly Mary Bach was suing for. Did she win? If so, weren't there only two cents worth of damages? I hope that Mary Bach is not simply following the trend of suing large companies to get as much money as she can out of them. If she truly is a consumer activist, I hope she succeeds in getting her point across, as industry does control way too much of Americans' lives.