iPad stolen from Wal Mart ?

[Klae17]

Hello, I've been reading the website for a while now. I purchased an iPad white 16gb for 7 year old cousin who's parent (my aunt) is going through chemotherapy. I went to deliver the iPad but when we opened it the iPad was filled with phonebook cutting from the local phonebook (area code matched, therefore not stolen from Apple's end).

What I'm thinking is someone returned the iPad as "new" and weighed the package and I picked up the fake iPad. It was the exact weight I believed it. Shrink-wrapped perfectly.

What is your advice on this situation? I'm embarrassed because my cousin was really excited for the iPad. I'm mad because I was fooled. Please advise, I plan to go talk to the manager of walmart, etc. But I don't think that is enough. Police report has been done also.

[hammten]

Very strange that it was shrinkwrapped. Have you booted it? I would return it asap, good luck

[Klae17]

Originally Posted by hammten

Very strange that it was shrinkwrapped. Have you booted it? I would return it asap, good luck

Let me clarify: there was no iPad in the box, only cut outs from a phone book. Basically I paid $535 for paper that is as heavy as an iPad.

[blueroom]

Sounds like a matter for the Police.

[Lagmonster]

Call your credit card company. Have the police report wen you call.

[sushi]

Originally Posted by Klae17

Let me clarify: there was no iPad in the box, only cut outs from a phone book. Basically I paid $535 for paper that is as heavy as an iPad.

Let me get this straight.

You paid for a box that there was no electronic equipment in it, only a copy displaying a phone book?

If so, you need to go back to Wal-Mart right away and explain what happen.

Originally Posted by Lagmonster

Call your credit card company. Have the police report wen you call.

Definitely.

[AlphaDogg]

Originally Posted by sushi

You paid for a box that there was no electronic equipment in it, only a copy displaying a phone book?

No. The OP said that he (or she) bought an iPad 2 from Walmart that was perfectly shrinkwrapped. There was no iPad in the box, but instead there were a bunch of pages from the local phonebook in there to make up for the weight. Someone obviously bought an iPad 2, took the iPad 2 out of the box, replaced it with phonebook pages to make up for the weight and shrinkwrapped it with a shrinkwrapping machine (?), and then returned it as if it had never been opened.

[MattSepeta]

I'm sorry, but this is hilarious. Someone pulled a fast one on walmart!

[Klae17]

[Klae17]

Originally Posted by MattSepeta

I'm sorry, but this is hilarious. Someone pulled a fast one on walmart!

Not that hilarious. The kid's mom is dying. But thanks for your input.

[Nukemkb]

Looks like there is a serial number on the box..

[AlphaDogg]

Originally Posted by Klae17

Not that hilarious. The kid's mom is dying. But thanks for your input.

PWNED lol sorry. Is that sand in the box? Take it to Walmart and see what they say. They are probably going to call you a liar though.

[urkel]

Originally Posted by MattSepeta

I'm sorry, but this is hilarious. Someone pulled a fast one on walmart!

Well, someone's pulling a fast one, but the real question is "Who"? I used to work retail and youd be surprised how many times the "victim" is actually the perpetrator. And from limited experience (but lots of discussions with security) the bigger and more intricate the sob story the less believable the situation. But, given the benefit of the doubt, the obvious steps to be taken are this.

So the proper steps here is:
1) Store
2) Manager
3) Credit Card
4) Police
5) District Manager w/Police Report
6) Apple to check if serial number was activated/registered

It'll be interesting to see further photo proof of how this is resolved so good luck to whoever was wronged in this scenario.

EDIT: Does anyone else find it odd that instead of doing ANY of those things to protect himself, he instead signed jup to a message board to post pictures and tell his story? Why would anyone care about the opinions of strangers over the decisions of people who can rectify the situation?

[sushi]

Originally Posted by AlphaDogg

No. The OP said that he (or she) bought an iPad 2 from Walmart that was perfectly shrinkwrapped. There was no iPad in the box, but instead there were a bunch of pages from the local phonebook in there to make up for the weight. Someone obviously bought an iPad 2, took the iPad 2 out of the box, replaced it with phonebook pages to make up for the weight and shrinkwrapped it with a shrinkwrapping machine (?), and then returned it as if it had never been opened.

Which is what I said (only in shorter terms).

And the OP verified with the pictures above.

[bootloader]

If you print an iPad to one of the pieces of paper in the box, it should work just like an iPad.

[jenzjen]

Originally Posted by Klae17

What I'm thinking is someone returned the iPad as "new" and weighed the package and I picked up the fake iPad. It was the exact weight I believed it. Shrink-wrapped perfectly.

Slightly OT, how do you know this fake box is *exactly* the same weight as one with a real iPad inside?

[Richdmoore]

Take it back ASAP to walmart. If they give you any hassle and don't either provide a replacement iPad or your money back, contact your credit card company and get your money back by disputing the charges.

Don't let them trick you into holding off filing a dispute if they want to run an investigation first, by the time they are done it may be too late to file a chargeback.

No one has mentioned it, but walmart probably has shrink wrap machines in the back that they use to rewrap returns, so this very well could be a case of employee theft, vs a consumer who did a fraudulent resign. (It would be very easy for an employee to simply open a box, take the iPad, dump a phonebook from a nearby desk in for weight and rewrap....)

I remember a case on the consumerist a couple of years back that someone had replaced a hard drive with something like a brick...

[Richdmoore]

Here is the article, it was a hard drive from best buy that was replaced with tile.....

Here is the link to the original article, some good advice....

http://consumerist.com/2007/10/best-...ue-refund.html

Here is the resolution from Amex...

http://consumerist.com/2007/10/updat...ard-drive.html

[urkel]

Originally Posted by jenzjen

Slightly OT, how do you know this fake box is *exactly* the same weight as one with a real iPad inside?

I did find that to be an odd thing to say. Maybe he just meant "it didn't feel empty"

[Richdmoore]

Actuualy, I believe the thread starter said he did file a police report already in his opening thread.

Both employee theft and fraud by a consumer happens all the time, there is no 100% way for us on an Internet forum to really know who actually did it. Obviously, if I was an innocent purchaser I would be very angry of being accused of theft! If I trying to scam a company, why would I highlight it on an Internet forum as well....

File the chargeback, I have had very good outcomes with Amex when I have had to do that in the past.

If walmart will not make this right, the purchaser may have to file a case in small claims court. Keep records of all your contacts, keep the box and all the material, pictures, receipts, credit card records etc...

[gmans46]

ive seen alot of funny stuff and things that were the ops fault but this isnt one of them. This is why i like to buy from the apple store because i have them open it up in front of me to make sure everything works perfectly. That being said when you buy a sealed product you expect the damn product you bought. Im really sorry about that op and i hope everything is promptly resolved.

[jenzjen]

Originally Posted by urkel

I did find that to be an odd thing to say. Maybe he just meant "it didn't feel empty"

Perhaps ... I just saw a murder show where a "random" 911 caller reported the victim's neck was broken. The truth was the random person was in fact the killer and let it slip. My radar went off when I read that comment about the package being the exact same weight in the OP.

[Klae17]

Thanks for the advice everyone. The store manager and police resolved the problem and refunded me the money. I took money instead of another iPad 2 from the store because I going to buy from the apple store online.

I called the police first last night and got them to come to my business suite. When they met they said I should go to the store first (like many of you said), but they said they will accompany me. When we were there about five or six people were involved excluding the cops. They spent about one hour viewing video tapes from the store.

The female general manager explained that one customer bought two iPads and returned one of them. The iPad WAS NOT checked when returned, and the manager explained that was not procedure. If the item was opened they send it back to the manufacturer ( Apple I assume). They thought it was unopened so they put it on the floor again. There is a report now, however, the customer they tracked paid cash.

Thank you all for the kind replies. To all the people who doubted the situation, it took five minutes to sign up for the forum and post the pictures while I waited for the police. I don't know how long it takes you to post pictures on a website but for me it's quite easy. It is quite sad the skepticism and pessimistic views of the world and of people. And have you ever held an iPad 2 box with an iPad 2 inside? Yes. That's how much it weighed. Not that hard to comprehend.

Again, thanks for your help. I posted for ideas for anything I can do in addition to what I have already done. It was more of a brainstorm to see if I missed anything in the process. The store manager wanted to assure me that it was not a walmart employee that acted like so and walmart was very professional in that regard and secure in their important products. Definitely writing a thank you letter.


Edit: the manager also confirmed that the shrink-wrap was not standard of apple products. I should have known better seeing how I have bought an iPad 2 before.

[The-Pro]

Glad you got it sorted. never heard of something like this before maybe jsut because it doesn't happen in Germany

[Tiggs]

Definitely never heard of something like that happening before. Glad was resolved amicably.