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Talk about an expensive paperweight...

Major Chord

Major Chord

Choir Boy Extraordinaire
Captain
I don't think I'll be going to Walmart for my electronics anymore...I prefer FYE anyway.:p

Jodi Wykle knew her son would be thrilled when she gave him a new Nintendo DS for his birthday.
Instead, he was rocked.
According to WTSP-TV, the confused teen opened up his gift only to find bunch of stones and a rolled up Chinese newspaper in place of the popular handheld.
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Full article:
http://videogames.yahoo.com/events/plugged-in/florida-teen-finds-rocks-in-nintendo-ds-box/1308945.

I'd love to know how the same box of what could have been a defective product back on the shelves. :wtf:
 
It's a popular scam. Losers buy something from a store like this, then take out the actual product and put something else in - rocks, smoked meat, anything that weighs about the same. Then they wrap the box back up and return it for the refund. It's been known to happen with lots of things, like iPods. Linky

Don't blame the store for the scam itself. It's the scam artists who are ultimately at fault. If the store itself is guilty of anything at all, it's negligence - not opening up the box and checking for what's inside when somebody returns a product.
 
Years ago, when I worked at a Home Depot, someone had returned a weed trimmer box containing a broomstick in a bottle.
Stores get a reputation for being careless when it comes to checking returns and people get free stuff.
It's the American way!
 
Another Home Depot one was to buy 5 gallon buckets of paint, use the paint or pour it out, fill it with water and return it.
 
I'm confused as to how Walmart initially thought they are not responsible for giving the woman an actual DS. What does Nintendo have to do with that exchange?
 
ed629 said:
Another Home Depot one was to buy 5 gallon buckets of paint, use the paint or pour it out, fill it with water and return it.
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Thanks for the idea! :techman:

Roger Wilco said:
I'm confused as to how Walmart initially thought they are not responsible for giving the woman an actual DS. What does Nintendo have to do with that exchange?
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I'd buy a DS in the fashion the woman did and even if it was an actual DS in it i'd just lie and say it was a bunch of rocks and get another DS, or at least try to.
 
Another nother Home Depot one, that I only heard about, was that someone returned an empty paint can with a dead animal in it. I don't remember what kind of animal or paint it was.

They said the place stunk for weeks after they opened the can.
 
Babaganoosh said:
It's a popular scam. Losers buy something from a store like this, then take out the actual product and put something else in - rocks, smoked meat, anything that weighs about the same. Then they wrap the box back up and return it for the refund. It's been known to happen with lots of things, like iPods. Linky
Click to expand...

Sometimes the bastards will steal a toy and then replace it with a bag of sand, like this golden Mr. Potato Head.

indyidol5751072.jpg
 
^^ In Indiana Jones movies, rocks come to you.

This strikes me as a good way to dispose of a body; cut it up and "return" it to a bunch of stores. Maybe we'll see it used in an episode of Bones or something.
 
Babaganoosh said:
Don't blame the store for the scam itself.
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No, I blame them for putting a box full of rocks on a shelf and selling it for 140$, after it's been returned for being full of rocks by another disgruntled customer, and then sending this customer to Nintendo instead of dealing with it on their own.
 
Hoser said:
Babaganoosh said:
Don't blame the store for the scam itself.
Click to expand...
No, I blame them for putting a box full of rocks on a shelf and selling it for 140$, after it's been returned for being full of rocks by another disgruntled customer, and then sending this customer to Nintendo instead of dealing with it on their own.
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I'm just blown away by the whole story. If I worked at Walmart, and a box of rocks was returned to me, I would THROW IT AWAY. How the hell did it end up back on the shelf?! Seriously! What genius at Walmart was given a box of rocks, taped it up, and put it back on the shelf? How the fuck does that even happen?
 
Hoser said:
Babaganoosh said:
Don't blame the store for the scam itself.
Click to expand...
No, I blame them for putting a box full of rocks on a shelf and selling it for 140$, after it's been returned for being full of rocks by another disgruntled customer, and then sending this customer to Nintendo instead of dealing with it on their own.
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Yep... My wife purchased a digital camera from them (of course without checking with me first :rolleyes: ) last year and was unhappy with it like after 5 minutes so I was the lucky SOB who got to return the thing and they brought someone down from the electronics department to make sure that not only the package had everything in it was supposed to but that the serial number matched what was on the box.

So, whoever took that return at Wally World definitely didn't follow procedures or they were in on the scam with the original person who returned it.

Wally World's responsibility, no doubt.

This is why all non-perishable purchases over $50 should be done with a Credit Card. One call to Citi or B of A and my card would have been credited.

What's interesting about this is that according to the article, Wal Mart had a problem with a PSP and a memory stick full of porn on it. What I don't get is at this point, that unit is obviously used and really shouldn't be put back on the shelf and sold as new, should it? Shouldn't it be RTV'd and credited to the store by Sony? It seems to me that Wal Mart is trying to cut corners by not RTV'ing mdse. that they should and just restocking it.
 
^^^
Do they even have an obligation to take back/give refunds for goods that aren't damaged in any way? I bet if they couldn't sell that stuff as-new again they would just stop giving refunds altogether - at least unless there is something wrong with the merchandise.
 
RoJoHen said:
Hoser said:
Babaganoosh said:
Don't blame the store for the scam itself.
Click to expand...
No, I blame them for putting a box full of rocks on a shelf and selling it for 140$, after it's been returned for being full of rocks by another disgruntled customer, and then sending this customer to Nintendo instead of dealing with it on their own.
Click to expand...
I'm just blown away by the whole story. If I worked at Walmart, and a box of rocks was returned to me, I would THROW IT AWAY. How the hell did it end up back on the shelf?! Seriously! What genius at Walmart was given a box of rocks, taped it up, and put it back on the shelf? How the fuck does that even happen?
Click to expand...
It happened because some low IQ employee was terrified of getting fired when they discovered they had signed off on a return and it was a box of rocks. So they covered up their mistake and put the box in a cupboard somewhere and kept their fingers crossed someone else would deal with it and they would never be connected. Some else just came across the box and shelved it.
 
The fact that it was a Chinese newspaper suggests to me that the original Nintendo DS was stolen by a factory worker in China. If so, then selling the box of rocks once is forgivable. But putting it back on the shelf after it came back once? That's not okay.
 
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