I had the worst experience of shopping in Finish Line, located at Polaris Fashion Place in Columbus Ohio. I never mistreated this badly in my entire life.

First, be aware that cashiers of Finish Line charge extra money in the name of donations at checkout. Despite I clearly said NO to the cashier’s request for donations, she added unauthorized donations to the total charge. Most shoppers would not notice this sneaky extra charge unless they examine the receipt carefully. In response to my complaints, the store manager said ‘Shame on You.’ Shame for what? . Shame for refusing to pay unwanted donations? I don’t believe in donations through for-profit companies, because they can misuse the customers’’ donations in order to reduce their tax liabilities.

Followed are more details of what happened in the afternoon on Dec. 27, 2010.

My son wanted to buy a sweater in Finish Line at Polaris by using the gift card of $50 he received for Christmas. At checkout, the cashier asked for donations but I clearly said ‘NO.’ After she swapped my son’s gift card, however, I noticed that the amount charged was incorrect. When I asked about it, she said that the amount included taxes and some donations. Dumfounded, I asked her to correct the unauthorized donations. Without any explanation or apology, she cancelled the charge.

What followed after cancelation was unbelievable. The cashier refused to accept the gift card for the payment because she said the cancelation froze the gift card for 24 hours. I said to her, ‘you saw the gift card has 50 dollar value when you swapped it. You know that you will have $50 in 24 hours. Can you accept it?.’ Well, she continued to refuse. My son was obviously disappointed because he was not able to buy it right away. I got upset because the cashier was responsible for freezing my son’s gift card by charging unauthorized donations.

To resolve this, I was waiting for more than 30 minutes to see the manager. However, the manager was a lot worse than the cashier was. Without offering any apology, he repeated there was nothing he could do. His response was entirely ‘take or leave.’ When I raised my voice out of frustration, he threatened me to bring security guards. The manager was verbally abusive by saying “Shame on You.” Furthermore, while I was leaving, I found that store employee had been videotaping my son and me, perhaps for the entire time. I could not help but scream “You B****D.”

I am a proud mom. I am even more grieving because I was mistreated and humiliated by the store manager in front of my son.