Posted on 11/15/2012 7:18:22 AM PST by dennisw
A Florida man shelled out nearly $500 for an iPad at a Miami Walmart on Monday, as a birthday gift for his mother-in-law.
But when the woman opened the present on Wednesday, she was shocked to find it was just a plastic fake and not a real electronic device.
The family struggled to get a response from Walmart but the local TV station reached out to the company's corporate office.
Emilio Pereda told WFOR-TV that he had helped his father-in-law purchase the Apple device from the discount retailer.
'There were no red flags,' Pereda said, 'It was completely wrapped with this wrapper from Walmart with your sku number that matches the receipt.'
More...
But when the family gifted the high-priced purchase and his mother-in-law opened it - they were shocked to find out it was a knockoff.
'When she opened it she was like, 'What is this a joke?'' he said.
A Walmart rep, Kayla Whaling, said the customer apparently purchased an iPad that had been returned. They believe the previous owner wrapped a fake device and re-sealed it so perfectly that it looked as if the item hadn't even been opened.
'Walmart takes this very seriously and we apologize profusely to the customer,' she said.
The company said it would refund the money or ensure the customer received a real Apple product.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
Wow, people really do go to a lot of trouble to scam money. Its amazing that if they just worked, they’d make money.
Working harder to keep from working.
I know - thats what amazes me too- you see these dumbasses spend hours teraing out copper plumbing from a building to make $20, while costing $1000’s in damage
Stupid people should not be paid to breed more stupid people
only in China...
Usually the store blames the new purchaser for trying to scam the store. Maybe they tracked the individual serial number at the time of purchase and original return instead of just scanning the UPC so they knew this one had been purchased and returned previously.
One of the longest waits to return something I've had in a long time, but it was entertaining - the tears, the denial and blaming it on her husband, and then the cop arresting her and going out to get the husband too. (The cop was on duty in the store for some reason- I'm guessing to deal with shoplifting) Oh and btw the guilty couple were not 0bama's relatives. They should have just charged it on their EBT card.
I had something like this happen to me at Walmart about a year ago. My daughter needed some black leggings and we bought a pair at Walmart. When she got home, she opened the package and found a ripped up pair of leggings that someone had obviously switched out at the store. When I tried to return them, I was pretty much accused of switching them myself. I ended up in tears at customer service. It wasn’t the money; I felt as if my integrity was being questioned. I’m one of those people who obeys the speed limit, never steals extra straws from McDonald’s, etc., lol. It was humiliating!
Happened to us at a Walmart in Naples, Florida. Bought a new Nintendo DS. Walked out of the store and openned it in the car. Found that it was replaced with a worn out previous model. Even the cord was old.
They were very nice about giving us our money back.
Shrink wrap machines are apparently very common in the USA!
***They believe the previous owner wrapped a fake device and re-sealed it so perfectly that it looked as if the item hadn’t even been opened. ***
I had that happen with a package of computer printer ink at WM last year. I bought it, took it home and opened it.
I immediately noticed the interior package was already tore open. A closer look showed that the black and white ink was gone, and replaced with an empty colored ink package, then glued back together so carefully it looked normal.
Walmart gave me a replacement for it.
That's how democrats stay in power.
My son used to work at Walmart in the Returs section. He told me tales of customers that would return items they bought. They would show him the receipt and he would check the package. Several times he found that they had replaced the item with a bag of dirt of about the same weight.
Scumbags.
When it arrived, I examined the contents to make sure everything was "like new". The condition was fine, except that DVDs from the previous DVD version of Ben-Hur had been substituted for the Blu-ray discs. Fortunately, Amazon took it back and issued a full refund. Still don't know if the scammer was the Amazon seller; or if the seller had been scammed.
Walmart should be able to pinpoint exactly who originally purchased and returned the i-Pad. Criminal mindset is rarely rational or includes much critical thinking.
Copper thefts have gotten common around here. And doing thousands in damage to make $20 is what they do, but they absolutely don't care about the thousands in damage. It's the thief mentality (and the politican mentality too.) Other people and their property mean nothing to them. That is why I'm an advocate of shooting thieves when you can.
I've worked my whole life for what I have and it really pisses me off to see scumbags simply think that they can take what they want. (Difference between thieves and the government - I'm still trying to determine a real difference, and so far I'm not being successful) On that note when I see some worthless POS pay for something with an EBT card I think "too lazy to even steal on their own."
I think from now on I’m going to open my packages at the store to make sure the item I bought is actually in there.
Oh, that was the non-WiFi version. not for sale in this country.
I don’t buy anything from the Walmart store. I buy it online and have it sent to the closest store to me for free for pick up. It is much easier than ‘shopping’ in the store plus you get lots more choice. I really don’t want anything that has been handled by Walmart customers.
Unfortunately I sent them USPS 3 day Prioity mail with no tracking info or insurance and the seller claimed he never received them.......I never got my money back so that was a lesson learned....LOL!
The box would have the serial number on it, and IIRC, Apple builds technology into iPads to be able to track them if they’re stolen (sort of an Internet based “Low Jack.”
Hopefully, Apple will work with local authorities and Walmart to send the thief to the Gray Bar Motel for a long vacation.
Mark
I believe most ebay complaints are that the seller sent an item inferior to what was represented.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.