WotC may have sent the Pinkertons to a magic leakers home. Update: WotC confirms it and has a response.

[theCourier]

I wonder why an organization that's notorious for union busting would be so utterly reviled today, in times when more and more people are unionizing and thinking about giving them a chance?

 

[Ruin Explorer]

I'm sorry, but I just don't believe you. Personal anecdotes are just that- personal. Given the size and scope of the Pinkertons (and they operate internationally), I find that claim to be extraordinary. Especially if you worked with Securitas AB. Especially given that this was an international law firm.

But I think we're good based on past history. More than good.

It doesn't matter if you believe me - it still remains a fact - they were one of several organisations on that blacklist page. I can't comment on international, because I only saw the US list - I don't know if we even maintained lists of PIs for other countries (I never saw one for the UK, for example), we did for other potential partners on cases (i.e. local law firms etc.) so maybe.

I don't know if we worked with Securitas generally - I assume we did because they're huge.

And behavior in modern times, and their blatant decision of continued use of the name fully understanding the association with that name in the United States. As an extreme example, if the KKK were to no longer actively take public actions towards what they're famously known for, but keep use of their name under a rebranded "more kinder KKK", they are making a decision to continue use of that name for a reason.

Exactly. The Pinkertons trade on their historical associations - otherwise they'd have changed the name - or Securitas would have when it bought them.

Yeah! Peoples' issue with the Pinkertons are due to actions the company took over a century ago!

They're intentionally trading on a vile name. Even after they were bought that brand was maintained because the associations please a certain kind of corporate exec.

Beyond anything else, I think a few people here need to learn to recognise a massive PR blunder when they see one. As @Snarf Zagyg said, maybe people inside WotC didn't see them as a toxic brand. Fine. But they are toxic brand when they interact with civilians - the reaction this whole thing proves that. And their behaviour was also clearly not acceptable. Merely turning up armed and with more than one person on someone's doorstep is totally egregious behaviour if you're not the cops - hell, it's pretty threatening if you are the cops.

TLDR - It's immaterial whether you make apologies for a company trading on a name with a heinously dark past, this was a PR blunder of epic scale by WotC.

 

[billd91]

Yeah! Peoples' issue with the Pinkertons are due to actions the company took over a century ago!

Still taking, allegedly.

 

[Maxperson]

Hmm, I got product i shouldn't have and i know this product isn't in the open yet.. should i contact the company in question or make a youtube video about it?

Choices choices

You forgot the third option of just keeping quiet and waiting for the release. Nobody would have cared(or even known) if he had done that.

 

[darjr]

The Pinkertons went door to door harassing his neighbors, some elderly, and telling them they had an “appointment” with the YouTuber. And grilled them for information.

According to the YouTuber words, fyi.

 

[trappedslider]

You forgot the third option of just keeping quiet and waiting for the release. Nobody would have cared(or even known) if he had done that.

and he did the one thing he KNEW would get clicks and views despite knowing it wasn't the right thing or smart thing to do

 

[Maxperson]

and he did the one thing he KNEW would get clicks and views despite knowing it wasn't the right thing or smart thing to do

Yeah. For all that I think this was a horrible way for WotC to go about it given their recent debacle, I don't absolve this guy of what he did, either.

 

[darjr]

Linda has interviewed the YouTuber and notes WotC has hired them before.

They introduced themselves to his wife as the “Pinkerton Agency”.

Magic 'Raid' Wasn't the First Time Wizards of the Coast Hired Pinkertons [UPDATED]

A source says that Pinkerton agents have been used to track down leaks and stolen Magic: The Gathering Cards “multiple times” before.

gizmodo.com

 

[doctorbadwolf]

However, it is also consistent with WotC not having handed the investigators a detailed script to follow. These are things someone experienced in recovering property might say independently to get the job done, if not instructed to do otherwise.

Yep. I know repo guys, because I sell parts to them for their ginormous repo truck (it’s a Chevy 3500HD diesel that can haul away even bigger trucks when needed, and it’s fast. That much custom kit means they spend a ton of money with us when they replace pretty much anything) and yeah that is exactly the sort of thing they might say to facilitate not having significant resistence to the repo.

 

[Maxperson]

Well .... facts matter. We don't actually know all the facts yet, do we? We don't even know where he got the cards, since he's changed his story. Was it his distributor? A local store? By accident? On purpose?

In the first article it says that he alleged that he had 22 boxes of the stuff. If that was true, I doubt it was someone inside WotC sneaking that many boxes out, and I don't think stores get them this early. I'm inclined to believe it was a distributor. The article also writes that he claimed that he got the boxes from a friend of his, so whether it was intentional or an accident is something I have no idea on.