Macy’s foists plastic bag on customer

The Consumerist has published an account of a shopper in a Buffalo, N.Y., Macy’s store who was told she couldn’t leave with her merchandise unless it was in a plastic bag, despite her protestations that she didn’t want contribute to the wastefulness and environmental degradation that plastic bags cause.

I wrote to Macy’s customer service asking whether this was an isolated incident, one store’s misguided rules, or a reflection of corporate policy—and pointing out that the company’s webpage on social responsibility pledges that it is committed to protecting the environment. I suspect it’s not corporate policy, since one of the commenters said that when they last shopped at Macy’s, they were asked if they wanted a bag. But in any case, the company needs to straighten out this kerfuffle. Not only are plastic bags harmful to the environment, but bad word of mouth is harmful to the bottom line.