People who shop at Dollar Tree and know about ‘penny items’ really love their penny shopping. It’s like reaching the end of a rainbow and finding a pot of gold. Well, penny shoppers take it pretty seriously, so much so that a Kansas penny shopper is claiming she was denied penny items because of her race.
Posted by TikTok user Andreajones119, Andrea, she had recorded herself on a recent penny shopping run. These penny items were marked down to a single cent! When it came to ring up her items, the Dollar Tree employee told her she “can’t let them” buy the penny items.
Andrea claims, “That’s not what corporate says.” She said everything was going fine until the employee started scanning. According to Andrea, the employee moved some of the items off the scanning belt so Andrea couldn’t buy them. She then told Andrea and her husband they couldn’t buy them because “you people” take opportunities away from others.
The items Andrea and her husband purchased were frozen onion rings, empanadas, steak bowls, and more. She claims half of the items weren’t rung up. In the video, she tells Andrea, “Well, you can’t do it here” and says they need to give everyone else a chance to buy those items and that “her people” will come in and buy the items, too. The employees mentions children missing out on the opportunity.
In the caption of Andrea’s video, she argued she was “discriminated” due to being white. “If it had been the other way around with a white cashier and a black, Latino or anything other than white, it is racism. It goes both ways.”
People online urge Andrea to take this to corporate
Despite the Dollar Tree employee mentioning nothing of Andrea’s race, commenters online urged Andrea to take contact higher-ups. “PLEASE tell me you called corporate!!!!!” Andrea did respond, saying she filled out a contact form.
One commenter claimed they had a bad run-in with a Dollar Tree manager. After being around “30 bags” of White Castle chicken rings, the manager “took all the items back and didn’t sell them.” They too “complained to corporate” and condemned Dollar Tree for having “horrible employees.”
A good Samaritan chimed in, saying they would be “willing to share” their penny items if there were indeed children around. Another pushed back against Andrea’s framing. “Ok but people shouldn’t buy them out every time they go.”
In an update video, Andrea says she did get a call back from the Dollar Tree manager. According to her, they took “corrective action” immediately. She said it was completely legal for Andrea to buy all the penny items. Additionally, Andrea says the manager told her she wasn’t the “first customer” who had issues with that specific employee.
