Buyer beware: check your iDevice before you leave the store

[Kaykaykay]

This is yet another case of scammers defrauding retailers and possibly leaving legit customers holding the bag:

A Girl Bought an iPad at Wal-Mart But Inside the Box Was Just a Stack of Notepads

 

[dhewson777]

Do Walmarts have the stock sitting accessible to all, or do they keep them under lock and key like they do everywhere here in Australia?

 

[thewitt]

Aren't these boxes shrink wrapped? Some thief carried around a shrink wrap machine?

 

[Kaykaykay]

This is an old scam: Buy, replace, return substituted item after re-shrink wrapping. (That's why the pasted story mentioned a fraudalent return before the legit customer's purchase, which was discovered on the store doing its own investigating.)

I just did a random search, for example, and here's a scammer caught in 2005:

Shrink-Wrap Scam Foiled | News | Edge Online

Shrink wrap is just part of their "business expenses."

 

[Kaykaykay]

Do Walmarts have the stock sitting accessible to all, or do they keep them under lock and key like they do everywhere here in Australia?

Lock and key, but they're not shoplifting. They buy, substitute fake goods, re-shrink-wrap before making a return. Stores don't typically open shrink wrapped items, because they think they're unopened. That's the scam. Then some poor legit customer buys the fake rewrapped item and finds the substituted goods. That's why you want to open and check your purchase before leaving the store.

 

[dhewson777]

Lock and key, but they're not shoplifting. They buy, substitute fake goods, re-shrink-wrap before making a return. Stores don't typically open shrink wrapped items, because they think they're unopened. That's the scam. Then some poor legit customer buys the fake rewrapped item and finds the substituted goods. That's why you want to open and check your purchase before leaving the store.

That makes more sense. The story made out that the switcheroo was done in-store.

 

[Hayles66]

Yes, but in this case it was a birthday present. What parent would open the 'present' before wrapping it. That's the whole point of the present surely?
Unlucky for her but I feel that Walmart should have given the poor girl a voucher for the distress of finding the pads instead of the iPad. I realise its not the stores fault but what is a voucher worth in comparison to lost custom. Nothing.

Sent from my new iPad using iPF

 

[Kaykaykay]

Yes, but in this case it was a birthday present. What parent would open the 'present' before wrapping it. That's the whole point of the present surely?
Unlucky for her but I feel that Walmart should have given the poor girl a voucher for the distress of finding the pads instead of the iPad. I realise its not the stores fault but what is a voucher worth in comparison to lost custom. Nothing.

Sent from my new iPad using iPF

The store ultimately did right by the legit customer, after it investigated and discovered the previous return.

They can track all returns, because electronics are sold with the serial number on your receipt, and when a return is made, it's supposed to match that number. Of course, the scammer counts on his return being made by matching the serial number on the box, not the iPad. The store accepts the returned iPad box, thinking the iPad is inside. But instead, there were notepads amounting to a similar weight inside. No one realized that till the girl opened her present, which is why she thought it was a joke at first.

Then her mom took the box and notepads to complain to the store, which initially didn't believe her. They figured it out later.

There's a variation on this scam: Some scammers steal packages that are being delivered by the post office, UPS or FedEx and sub out goods, too. In those cases, it's often an inside job involving employees.

 

[Hayles66]

Yes, I read that the new connectors are being nicked and customers are receiving empty packages. Nasty shock for them.

Sent from my fantastically, wonderful iPhone using iPF

 

[Kaykaykay]

Yes, I read that the new connectors are being nicked and customers are receiving empty packages. Nasty shock for them.

Sent from my fantastically, wonderful iPhone using iPF

Lots of creepy people out there, so buyer beware. If you're the legit customer, you have no way of proving that you didn't receive what you bought once you've left the store with your purchase. Even harder with mailed items, because it's not likely that the FedEx guy will stand there while you open your package, providing some kind of witness. A lot of our purchases are made on some kind of faith, and these scammers count on that.

 

[Hayles66]

Well, I received a case of wine last year and luckily I noticed a hole in the box with win seeping out. I photographed it and complained and they told me to dispose the box and I received a new case of wine.
I realise this doesn't always happen but there are companies who do care about their image.
Another time, I received a jewellery box for my daughter but didn't notice that the box was damaged and Xmas day my youngest was faced with shattered mirror glass everywhere. Can't replace the memory unfortunately but I did take a photograph of the box and damage and was refunded the money.

Sent from my new iPad using iPF

 

[Kaykaykay]

Well, I received a case of wine last year and luckily I noticed a hole in the box with win seeping out. I photographed it and complained and they told me to dispose the box and I received a new case of wine.
I realise this doesn't always happen but there are companies who do care about their image.
Another time, I received a jewellery box for my daughter but didn't notice that the box was damaged and Xmas day my youngest was faced with shattered mirror glass everywhere. Can't replace the memory unfortunately but I did take a photograph of the box and damage and was refunded the money.

Sent from my new iPad using iPF

Yes, in many cases businesses will take care of their customers, especially if you can show damage of something sent to you. The prob with these scammer returns is that it leaves a legit customer without proof that they weren't the ones who switched the items. If you're lucky, the company will believe you, but Wal-Mart didn't initially believe the legit buyer, for instance.

I created the thread in case people buy stuff and want to check their purchases before leaving the store, to save themselves what could possibly be a costly hassle.