Today At The Store

Typically, shopping is a lot of fun for me. I’ve learned to my amazement that my shopping – and livetweeting thereof – is not just a source of goofy fun but has led to actions of capitalism, inspiring people to try things they wouldn’t otherwise, or telling my countryfolk of products they didn’t realise were available and they wanted. And today, I was told to stop by a single store manager. I filed, today, this complaint with the company in question:

Today at [Local store] where I was taking pictures of products using my phone, I was approached by a manager who demanded I delete pictures off my phone. I told him I would not – they were already stored online. He then told me that it was [store] policy that no photography was allowed. I asked him if there was any signage to indicate this policy; he told me there was none. After I came home, I checked your website for such a policy; there was none.

I have been livetweeting my grocery shopping for over a year now, and it has resulted in me making additional purchases and testing things on the advice of others. It seems meanspirited in the extreme to make the use of phones in store against the rules, especially as the growing percentage of smartphone users in Australia make such a policy nearly unenforceable.

I would like to discuss, if possible, the instatement of such a sign or the reconsideration of such policy. And if such policy is not in fact in place, I would appreciate an apology.

I don’t know if this is enough to convince me to stop livetweeting my grocery shopping and stop shopping at that store. I like some of the other stores near it, after all. But it was a real asshole moment and it really soured my afternoon.