FRIENDSWOOD, Texas – Nichole Moran is a busy mother of four who spends a lot of time and money at the grocery store, that’s why when someone inside the H.E.B. on West Parkwood Avenue asked if she wanted to enter for a chance to win a $500 gift card, she said yes!
“He then said, ‘Do you get the H.E.B. coupons in the mail?’ and I said, ‘No, I don’t,’” Moran told Channel 2. “He said, ‘Let me get you into our system so you can start receiving these coupons.’”
Moran said on this particular night she was only running into the store for one thing, she left her oldest daughter and her wallet in the car, she only took her credit card and her cellphone into the store.
“He said, ‘I just need an I.D. with your name on it,’ and I was like, ‘I don’t have one with my name on it. I only have my credit card,’” she said and then she showed it to him.
Moran got a funny feeling that something wasn’t right when the man asked for her signature on his iPad, he also mentioned a subscription to the Houston Chronicle.
Moran said the man was selling subscriptions but trying to spin it as “free coupons.”
“I took a step back and told him I wasn’t going to sign anything.”
Moran told Channel 2 she wasn’t interested in receiving the paper, she told the man ‘no thank you’ and left. Later that night she received an email from the Houston Chronicle congratulating her on her latest subscription, they even attached a copy of the contract.
“It had a forged signature,” she said. “That was not my signature. I immediately checked my credit card and sure enough, he had gone ahead and charged the card.”
Moran’s husband complained to the managers at H.E.B. They explained that the man doesn’t work for their store.
H.E.B. managers also contacted the Friendswood Police department, which launched a forgery investigation into that worker.
In a statement, Cyndy Garza Roberts, the public affairs director for H.E.B., said:
“At H-E-B we are committed to providing a safe and pleasant environment for customers every day at every store. This transaction was between the customer and the Houston Chronicle, who lease space within the store. H-E-B exercises a strict non-solicitation policy at each location and will investigate this situation further to ensure that all customers have the positive shopping experience that they expect when shopping at H-E-B.”
KPRC reached out the Houston Chronicle for comment, but our calls were not returned.
Employees said the man who was working inside the H.E.B. that evening didn’t work for the Chronicle but instead a third-party marketing company. KPRC reached out to them as well but the calls were also not returned.
Moran said the man and his tactics were misleading and dishonest and she feels violated.
“He clearly charged my card and forged my name," Moran said. “I want to see him prosecuted."