I've been patronizing this store for over a decade, as lousy as it is. Today I walked in it with my folded-up Breezer zag8 and a new security guard told me to get the heck out because bikes were prohibited. When i pointed out that what i was carriying wasn't technnically a bike, but a compact package he threatend to call the police.

i asked to talk to his manager, but all he could say was: "you no need manager, you talk to police"

i had no lock, so i finished my shopping ($70 worth) and left

Believe me, they will be seeing more folders in the near future. I lock up my Dahon Single speed in the rack outside the store, but if I had a tikit, I'd be bringing in inside and putting it in a cart while I shopped.

Because we have an abundance of Fred Meyer's here in the PNW, we can avoid any Safeways. Not always possible in other areas of the country.

Call the manager and tell him/her what happened and get their name. Next time, you get into an argument, tell the guard the Jane the manager gave their blessings. It's unfortunate you have to carry a heavy bulky bag with you just to get inside stores and resturants.

I haven't had any trouble taking my Tikit into my local Safeway. Sounds like you ran into a security guard on a power trip or just having a bad day. I second the idea of calling the manager. That should solve your problem.

I've been patronizing this store for over a decade, as lousy as it is. Today I walked in it with my folded-up Breezer zag8 and a new security guard told me to get the heck out because bikes were prohibited. When i pointed out that what i was carriying wasn't technnically a bike, but a compact package he threatend to call the police.

i asked to talk to his manager, but all he could say was: "you no need manager, you talk to police"

i had no lock, so i finished my shopping inside the store
($70 worth) and the left

Safeway no longer is a good company. I stopped shopping with them last year, after over 35 years of patronizing. They really just don't care anymore about people. I had a chat with the store manager I got no where. I even called and e-mailed customer service Von's Foods Services, Inc., Safeway Inc. about my issue. No luck, they didn't even get back to me as they promised they would. So I shop and take my Dahon folder into WinCo Foods, Albertson Foods, WalMart, Rite Aid, and Walgreens all without issue.

So it's down to complain with your feet. There are a lot of places to spend your cash money.

The security guy is a downright wank. When I left the store, he yelled something to the effect of "never come back here again". Well after some stewing at home i decided to go back and have a talk with the store manager. Calling them did not work, as no one would pick up the phone for over 20 minutes.

So i go back in, sans the bike, pick up a couple more things and get in line to talk to the manager. Two minutes later two policemen approach and want to talk to me. the lunatic guard actually called the cops the second time just because i returned to the store.

Naturally I wasn't doing anything illegal, so they just told me not to bring a bike inside in the future and left. but man, was I flabbergasted. the rent-a-cop, whose job is theft prevention, harasses a paying customer, decides that he has the power to banish me and then calls real cops twice as if they have nothing netter to do.

By the way, motorized scooters and baby strollers are apparently much safer than a hand-carried folder, as they have no problems with those. I am never spending another penny at that dump.

Thread title changed so language censor could work properly.

To have the cops talk to you when you are doing nothing wrong is just stupid .Vote with your feet.

Why talk to them? Go somewhere else.

As far as a security guard on a power trip....Isn't that _all_ of them?

For the record .All security gaurds are not on a power trip.I worked as a public saftey officer for a 3 building office complex in Chicago .I had a lot of responsibility and not a lot of authority .What made it more difficult was that many people simply did not care to obey the rules which were designed for the smooth operation of the complex and for their safety.

Read Photo's story, James, what other possible conclusion could you come to? Was the security guard saving the store from a terrorist attack by not allowing a folding bike inside? Was he protecting other patrons if Photo went nuts and started clubbing everyone with his folder? C'mon use your head for something other than a hat-rack.

For the record, your post is the _exact_ thing that people don't like about security guards. A complete lack of view of the big picture.

All the guard had to do was tell photo, "Sir, you cannot bring your bike into the store with you, but since it folds, if you leave it here just inside the door I will make sure it is safe and you can collect it when you leave." There, problem solved. Is that what he did? No. He barked at the customer and said rude comments. He also went so far as to _call the police_ about someone who clearly was not any type of violence or disturbance threat. Now if you can't see the powertrip mentality going on here, then I don't know what to say except, "Senator, I hope you have a good day."

Here are the results of Lynette Chiang's (the Bike Friday Customer Evangelist) tests of the reaction of office building security guards to her taking a folded (and sometimes covered) tikit into their buildings in NYC. late last year:

http://www.bikefriday.com/tikit/trial07

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For the record .All security gaurds are not on a power trip.I worked as a public saftey officer for a 3 building office complex in Chicago .I had a lot of responsibility and not a lot of authority .What made it more difficult was that many people simply did not care to obey the rules which were designed for the smooth operation of the complex and for their safety.

I can definitely sympathize with the plight of security guards. The job is underpaid and they potentially have to deal with crap from people while having little to no recourse (as opposed a club bouncer or a bodyguard, who can kick you out on your ass). i too had many a crap job with little appreciation from the bosses, or the general public.

however, there is allways a better way to deal with a paying customer than calling a police unit to the scene of a "folding-bike-carrying misdemeanor", as there is a better way of saying that even folded bike are no longer welcome in the establishment than "you have to leave the store, or i call the police".

For crissakes, when i couldn't lock it up, i took this thing folded into numerous grocery stores, bars, a chinese restaurant, even a doc's office, and never once had a problem, it really doesn't get in anyone's way. i have no qualms with obeying rules, i just don't wan't to be treated like a criminal.

Anytime I take out any of my folding bikes even when riding recreationally, I take a soft bag with me to hide my bikes from prying critical anti-bike eyes. I have not been thrown out of a store yet using a bag (unless you live in a high crime area where security guards want to "check in" your bags without watching them while you are shopping).

I used to live in an area where I biked to stores a lot (it doesn't work as well where I live now). I didn't ride a folder at that time. I would often park my bike just inside the door. Every once in a while I'd get a comment, but more often than not, they just ignored the weird guy on the bike. If they would say something, then I'd tell them to install a bike rack and I'd park it outside, but I wasn't going to leave a $1k bike unattended. Everyone pretty much just accepted it.