I wittnesed a similar situation a few years back when I was working as Director of Human Resources for a large retail store. A yound person came into the store to buy some reduced price merchandise. There were signs posted everywhere that these particular items being purchased were "ALL SALES FINAL". A few days later these items were advertised in a flyer with even more reduced prices. The customer brought the merchandise back and demanded exchange for the same product at reduced prices. The answer of course was 'NO'. There was definitely some arguing going on...mainly from the customer...and then the customer had a seizure.
The customer decided to sue for everything; legal fees, medical bills, pain and suffering, etc. I was present in the sidelines watching the entire episode as I routinely did to monitor our customer service agents. I was required to appear in court as a wittness. Here's what the judge said: Because we had clearly labeled the products as "ALL SALES FINAL" we were within our right to refuse return or exchange of the product. We were also within our right, as a retailer, to place these items in an ad flyer to move them out at a faster rate; ie. with a further reduced price and not be required to exchange them for the reduced rate even though they were purchased within the week the ad came out.
The judge said we COULD HAVE honored an exchange if we wanted to, but being as greedy as the store owner was...he didn't. The judge also stated that he felt the seizure was the result of a "childish temper tantrum" brought on entirely by the customer. The customer told the judge that he informed the sales clerk of his special medical condition, that he should not be pushed into emotional distress and the judge immediately dismissed the case because he felt the customer was trying to 'use' his condition to bend the rules and get what he wanted and it was none of our business knowing about his medical condition because it had no bearing on the normal day-to-day practices of exchanging money in the retail realm. Of course if he was in a wheelchair and we did not provide disabled access then we would have been in the wrong. The case was dismissed but the judge ruled that the customer pay all legal fees for our store. BTW....I personally do not feel you were 'using' your illess as a crutch, if you'll pardon the term. You were a victim of extremly poor customer service practices. I also told the court that I felt the customer was being sincere but it's the judge who needs convincing in these cases.
Needless to say we didn't charge the customer for the legal fees and ended up giving the customer the reduced rate product free of charge and even paid for HIS legal fees (thanks to me) but he was permanently barred from our store (thanks to the store owner). I had tried to talk the owner into just giving in before we went to court but being the d**k that he is, he declined and wanted to fight to prove his point. A few months later I resigned my position. There had been further episodes of uncalled for greed and questionable business practices on the part of the owner that I didn't want my name associated with. I feel the store owner should have just honored the exchange and it wouldn't have cost us the legal fees and headache and we would have had a happy customer. This was clearly a case where the store owner didn't believe in true customer service, but was instead governed by his own greed. And all this over a price difference of a few dollars.
Yes it is very true that many people are sue happy over the most ridiculous issues. But be forewarned...the courts know this and are staunch about taking the side of the business owner's rules and procedures, provided they are clearly marked and anyone trying to sue over medical negligence in a case like this has a 99% chance of losing their case. It was not the store's fault that you went into a fit. You allowed yourself to get upset by not accepting their policies. True, they were "probably" (notice the spelling here?) acting like jerks, but they were within their right to stand by their policies.
Pond Boy, your health is far too precious to let yourself get so upset. You've just learned the horrible truth about retail. There really are people out there who don't give a c--p about the health and well being of their customers. To them it's all about the bottom line. We all stand by you 100% that they were wrong in how they treated you. Live and learn and keep yourself healthy. We enjoy having you around.
Phil