Our newest sister site, MyWallingford, reports that Wallingford’s Chamber of Commerce alerted residents last week to an alleged con artist nicknamed “Big Hands Guy,” so named for his hugely swollen hands. The man allegedly showed up in various businesses, took an item off the shelf, then tried to “return” it for cash.
Now, it appears the man may be at work in Phinney Ridge. Lisa Black, co-owner of Deluxe Hair at 6512 Phinney Ave., tells us she encounted the man yesterday.
Yesterday when I was working alone this guy came in and said he had a product to return, but was waiting for his wife. While I was with a client he was digging around on the product shelves. He went outside and came back with a bottle trying to return it. It is more of a specialty item and I knew what was on the shelf before he came in and that had just been taken. I refused to give him a “refund” and he tossed it back at me and left. He was anxious and hostile the whole time he was in there. He told me about his medical condition, like it says in the Wallingford blog, and was very distinctive because of his putrid body odor!
Black says she called the police. Has anyone else encountered Big Hands Guy?
23 responses so far ↓
1 Monica // Mar 18, 2010 at 4:04 pm
Yes! I worked in a retail store in Fremont a few years back, and this guy drove us nuts! He would come in every month or so and take stuff right off the shelf, then come up to the counter and try to “return” it. He also would try to sneak into the Employees Only area every time he came in. He is pretty scary and can be confrontational. A very disturbing individual…
2 Jon // Mar 18, 2010 at 5:53 pm
Same deal as Monica. This creep tries to sneak into the employee area in the back. He is a total thief, and a giant douche. He pitches you a story about how he’s heading to Alaska, and that he needs to return your most expensive items for cash. If you see this guy, call the cops immediately.
3 Mike // Mar 18, 2010 at 7:08 pm
I was at the Sip and Ship yesterday and what sounds like him came in. He took an item off the shelf and tried to hide it. Luckily the employee saw him and was very good at confronting him. She ask him if he wanted to try it on. He gave some BS story about waiting for his wife and then left without incident.
4 Mark // Mar 18, 2010 at 7:12 pm
Here’s a video of the person in question. He gets around.
http://keepballardfriendly.blogspot.com/2010/03/this-was-sent-to-us-this-weekend.html
5 Monica // Mar 18, 2010 at 8:38 pm
Absolutely the same guy (as if I had a doubt-he’s one of a kind!). You’d think he’d move on to another tactic after all these years. He can get pretty belligerent, so please be careful out there, my small-business brethren!
6 Justin // Mar 18, 2010 at 8:58 pm
Yup – Big Puffy Hand Man is back. He came into the Greenwood Space Travel Supply Co last week and in through the back door yesterday. Indeed a belligerent and creepy guy. Everyone be careful out there.
7 j e n n y // Mar 18, 2010 at 9:19 pm
he used the same ” waiting for my wife” line on me six months ago, but all of the sudden bolted suspiciously. he walked by our storefront yesterday and was all out of sorts. indeed, be careful + don’t hesitate to call for help.
8 D. // Mar 19, 2010 at 4:05 am
He’s hit us up in the U-District. I recognized him him last time from previous shoplifting attempts. He left Hardwick’s after being denied a refund for a faucet he had just grabbed off the shelf.
Soon after he left a wallet that had been stolen from an employee at Bulldog was found in our store.
He looks like an extra from Laverne and Shirley.
9 Iron City Mike // Mar 19, 2010 at 7:45 am
I love it (not really) how we give neighborhood criminals cute nicknames like we are in some sort of Batman comic.
10 lisa // Mar 19, 2010 at 8:11 am
That is definitely the guy! He was very aggressive and I will call 911 if I see him again. He is nicknamed “Welcome Back Kotter” at my friends’ store.
11 Sidecar for Pigs Peace // Mar 19, 2010 at 8:27 am
Yes, but not in Phinney – he’s tried to scam my store every 5-6 months for years, in the U District.
12 baristachick // Mar 19, 2010 at 2:46 pm
He came into our cafe on Greenwood a few months ago and did the “I’m from out of town and I bought these 4 shirts (four identical shirts?!) from you, but we’re leaving tonight and I’m waiting for my wife and she’s coming soon, and they don’t fit, and I have to go back to Alaska…” blah blah blah. None of his story made any sense, and I didn’t turn my back on my tip jar for a moment.
Just very calmly, very loudly, very respectfully repeat that you are sorry, but you need a receipt to return any piece of merchandise. If he needs to leave right now, he can leave the merchandise at the store and come back and speak with the owner at a later time.
He walked out and hasn’t tried it in a while.
13 qaresident // Mar 19, 2010 at 4:01 pm
Another name for him is “Lobster Hands” . . . he is familiar to the merchants on Queen Anne Avenue.
14 will // Mar 20, 2010 at 11:53 am
he was in home espresso repair on phinney as well. the owner recognized him as the same man who took hardware from starbucks stores he managed in 1983. same story, says he is in waiting for his wife, takes things from the shelf then tries to return it/them for cash.
15 Knezzy // Mar 20, 2010 at 8:24 pm
This guy came into the Nickerson St. Tully’s several months back (I believe in November). He attempted to lift a water bottle. I confronted him and asked if he’d come in with it (much like Lisa, I knew he hadn’t and what was on my shelves prior to his entering). He got defensive and threw it at me from across the parking lot.
16 Jon // Mar 20, 2010 at 9:17 pm
Just be careful, getting into a physical altercation with this idiot. Part of his condition apparently makes him bleed quite easily. Who knows where he’s been.
Thanks for the video, Mark. I will send this around our company.
17 audra // Mar 21, 2010 at 8:47 pm
we’ve also had this guy steal from us in the u-district. hair product from our shelves at a salon. same story, tells about his medical condition, his wife who’s parking the car and will be right there, and returned something that he never bought. we didn’t figure it out until right after he left. he took us for about $30.
18 Whopper // Mar 21, 2010 at 9:00 pm
“Part of his condition apparently makes him bleed quite easily.”
Well, a gunshot should help then.
19 MLE // Mar 22, 2010 at 9:21 am
Yeah, I was taken by this guy a few months ago at our shop near U Village. It was late, I was alone, and he is very large. We had to change our security measures after that.
…how is he pulling this off for YEARS?
20 Fred Zeppelin // Mar 22, 2010 at 3:04 pm
Nobody’s kicked his @$$ yet is why he gets away with it.
Probably because it’s not worth the energy and potential bodily fluid contact, police report, etc. Sounds like he goes away when confronted, which is enough for most of us.
Don’t forget that as a private store you can kick him out, without reason, the minute he walks in. You don’t even have to wait for him to come in, if you see him on the sidewalk heading for your door you are fully within your rights to ban him from the premises and refuse him entry.
21 MyGreenLake.com // Mar 26, 2010 at 3:38 pm
He’s found his way to Green Lake: http://www.mygreenlake.com/2010/03/big-hands-guy/
22 Mr. Crankypants // Mar 28, 2010 at 1:11 pm
I’ve confirmed with one of my employees that this is the same man who attempted to return 3 DVDs for cash, no receipt, saying the manager (that’s me) said it was alright (something I would never do). He left without the DVDs or the cash. This was about 3 weeks ago at Moviecycle on Market St. in Ballard. He apparently hit up on of the other businesses up the block minutes before, but he was recognized there.
23 jessika // Mar 31, 2010 at 1:15 pm
I work at Strut and remember a man several months ago with swollen ankles, legs, and hands saying that he was a firefighter in Alaska and that he had some sort of accident that messed up his arteries or something, so his blood would drain into his extremities and cause them to swell hugely and painfully. I don’t really remember anything about what he looked like other than that he was probably 50s or 60s, heavier, and his hugely swollen limbs. He was returning something that his wife had bought for him – she was allegedly down the street or waiting for him in the car. I don’t fully remember. If this was the ‘big hands guy’ then he probably didn’t have a receipt and I couldn’t refund him (and he can’t easily get to our boxes anyway). I remember an Alaskan accent though, not New York.
Basically, has anyone else gotten the firefighter story? I want to know in case he comes in again so that I know whether or not he’s the guy.
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