On January 9, 2011 at 10:22 pm I completed a transaction withthis store. The purchase consisted of a gallon of milk and an pint of ice cream purchased on my debit card. I had planned on purchasing more, but when I got to the counter I asked if the store accepted EBT. The girl behind the counter spoke NO English. She pointed at the bank teller machine and said “ATM”? I replied no, EBT. She looked at me confused and said “no, no”, so I put the other items back. When walking out of the store I saw a sign in the front window that said “Now Accepting EBT”. I went back into the store and referred to the sign. The girl looked at me and siged saying “ohhhhhhh”. I asked her to return the money to my debit card and process the trasaction through EBT. She looked at me blankly and then began a long explanation in Spanish that I am still trying to understand. She refused to refund the purchase. She called to the other girl working who was in the back. She also SPOKE NO ENGLISH. This girl handed me a voucher that I was supposed to fill out and submit (?) and she also refused to refund the amount. THEN the girl asked another customer in the store to translate for her, sharing personal information about myself with a complete stranger. At this point I was embarrassed and left the store.
I am very concerned that (a) no one in the store was able to communicate with me in an efficient and adequate manner, (b) that the employees are either not trained properly on the systems to know how to process EBT transactions, (c) that the employee felt it appropriate to bring another person uninvolved into the situation and share personal information about me with them, and most importantly (d) that a sign placed prominently in the window of the store is either being deliberately ignored or is intentionally misleading.