KISSIMMEE, Fla. — A couple told Channel 9 that they thought employees at a Camping World store in Kissimmee were going to pay for items they purchased on Christmas Eve, but instead, they were humiliated.
The customers said it was a nasty prank, but store officials said it was a misunderstanding.
The general manager said an employee was written up.
The customers and the general manager have two different stories about what happened at the store on Christmas Eve.
Stephen Hahn and his girlfriend, Teri, spend their winters in Florida. This year, they spent their Christmas Eve shopping at Camping World in Kissimmee, where Hahn said employees spoiled their holiday spirit.
"My girlfriend was approached by a gentleman that came out of a glass office, where there were four or five guys sitting, and he said he was going to buy everything that we had in our cart," Hahn said.
Hahn said they couldn't believe the act of generosity and that they had several hundred dollars’ worth of items in the cart.
Hahn said Teri cried tears of joy, but they soon turned to tears of embarrassment.
"She was very embarrassed once she walked into the office with four or five men in there and wanted to thank them and then they laughed at her," Hahn said.
Hahn said that's when the employee told them he was just kidding.
"I'm a jokester. I'll joke with the best of them. But to pull a stunt like that on Christmas Eve, I mean, it's inexcusable what they did," Hahn said.
General Manager Michael Braman spoke with Channel 9 about the situation.
“I don't know exactly what was said. I could never get an exact wordage as to what happened," said Braman.
Although Braman wasn't there, he told Channel 9 how his employee described what happened.
"(He said) they (were) joking back and forth. She said, ‘Well, what about the stuff in the shopping cart?’ And in jest, my employee said, ‘Well, I can't do anything about it but my sales manager over there, he'll take care of it for you,’" Braman said.
Camping World's owner later called Channel 9 to dispute what the customers said happened.
The owner said he has the incident recorded on surveillance video, but he would not release it.
Camping World is offering the couple a $100 gift card as an apology for what happened.
Cox Media Group
