Tag Archives: Shawnee

Business relations, Consumer Reports, Consumer reports, Free Article, Law Enforcement, Media, Opinions, Police, police relations, predatory, scam, Uncategorized

is Abuelita’s stealing from its customers?

The last thing you expect, when eating out, is discovering that a restaurant has taken out more than what you expected. When the bill should total around $30, it can be a rather nasty surprise to see that nearly $70 had been taken out of your bank account. For an elderly Shawnee, OK couple, this is exactly what happened.

The elderly couple decided to treat themselves to Abuelita’s, located just off of US-177. For them, everything appeared to be normal, that was until they got the receipt. A bill that should have been roughly $30.00, ended up draining their bank account.

Upon seeing the amount, they learned that they had actually been charged nearly double what they should have been (image below.) Upon reviewing their bank account, they found that the establishment took out $69.10 for a meal that should had only cost around $30.00. At this point, they contacted the restaurant. Upon bringing up the fraudulent charge, the woman on the phone, who had been their cashier, suddenly was unable to hear them. She proceeded to put somebody else on the phone and, just as before, he abruptly became deaf as soon as the concerns were brought up. At this point, it was clear to the customers that this was a deliberate theft.

Merchant copy of the receipt, which conflicts with the customer’s copy.

With no alternative options, the defrauded customers returned to the restaurant and confronted them in person. It was at this point that they “returned” the funds, giving the customers the above copy of the receipt. However, this too would be proven false. In actuality, the charge still went through and the bank had received no indication that the bill had been reversed. The reason? Because the above voided charge, never left the restaurant’s register.

Bank charges, showing the bill was eventually reversed.

At this point, the customer’s were more than willing to bring law enforcement into the situation. They again, contacted Abuelita’s in attempt to get the unauthorized portion of the bill refunded. This time, however, they informed the employees that if it was not returned, charges would be filed. Only then did the establishment refund the additional $40.02 charge. However, they had also refunded the actual price of the meal.

While this situation did work out for this elderly couple, there is still a lingering question: how many other customers have they done this to, who didn’t notice the extra charge? More importantly, how long have they been conducting themselves in this form of theft? War on Corruption, LLC., reached out the restaurant, but have yet to receive a response. Should that change, we will add it to this article.

Business relations, Consumer Reports, Free Article, Law Enforcement, Media, Uncategorized

Homeless pandemic and the effects on local businesses

The city of Shawnee, Oklahoma, once had a beautiful downtown area. With its historical buildings, countless local businesses, and even a historical museum, this part of the city was truly alive. That is no longer the case. These days, the once beautiful downtown is filled with trash, urine, and even fecal matter. The cause? a never-ending revolving door of homeless individuals.

In recent years, Shawnee has seen an influx of homeless activity. While this in itself isn’t the problem, it has created issues for local businesses. As more homeless people flood into the downtown area, vandalism, trash littering the ground, and even hostile interactions with locals has been on the rise. As a result, many of the city’s residents now avoid this part of town; for business owners, who are in this area, the effects have been devastating.

When looking at a livestream of the downtown area, even during the day, it almost appears to be a ghost town. Graphiti can be seen on historical buildings, parks, and other surrounding areas. the once beautiful park is now completely overrun with the homeless. Citizens often have confrontations with the homeless population. These conflicts derive from mental illness, drugs, or even refusing to give out money.

The park, which is located across from the public Library, is often littered with trash and even buggies. From the video, it is clear that this has become the residence of many of the homeless people. For this reason, you don’t often see people visiting this once beautiful location. While most cities have ordinances mandating that the parks be closed after a certain time, this doesn’t appear to apply to anybody wanting to sleep in it. Meanwhile, the police do nothing unless locals call in.

I continued to watch the stream and observed officers drive past people, regardless of the fact that they were sleeping on sidewalks. While you would presume there would be a city ordinance for this, apparently that is not the case. In this dynamic, the local community is paying the price.

Many of the stores remain open, though business is continuing to decline. Because of this reason, not only are business owners struggling, but this also effects their employees. While business owners have voiced concerns about the problem, there does not appear to have been any action from the city council. As a result, the situation for local businesses, as well as pedestrians, has gradually become dangerous.

This situation has no “easy fix.” However, doing nothing has already shown negative results. With the increase of the homeless community, there has been a decrease in locals who visit the downtown area. Confrontations, littering, drugs, and various other issues are already proving this point. Overall, the city needs to address the concerns of its citizens, it needs to find a better solution for the homeless population, and it needs to be more proactive in ensuring the safety for everybody.