This was a new sale. If Target resold an iPad that someone else returned sealed, then it could have been them. Or someone at Target. Or someone anywhere up the transportation food chain.
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Bought iPad 2 at Target and literally got a box of rocks!
- Thread starter Epictatus
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This was a new sale. If Target resold an iPad that someone else returned sealed, then it could have been them. Or someone at Target. Or someone anywhere up the transportation food chain.
Or they could have just diverted the widget hoses to overload the mainframe with fluctuations making it exploded.
( see I can make stuff up too )
I used to work retail and saw scammers try to pull the same trick many times. One time a guy bought a new Xbox 360 and came back an hour later with an old, obviously used, and dirty original Xbox claiming it was in the box.
This happened with some devices which had their serials scanned too, through a hole in the box so we know the real item was bought, and the person would swear up and down and raise hell, call corporate, etc. trying to convince us otherwise. It's amazing the lengths some people go through to really sell their con to the public.
We also had lots of people bringing in a broken unit that matched the box, but serial number was off.
For every legitimate story - and im sure by sheer chance there must be a handful around the country - there are 10,000 scammers.
With open items (that are bought as open items), I think there is a small chance the person doing the return wasn't looking and made a mistake. With brand new items I think it's the consumer pulling a scam 99.99999% of the time.
Talking about it in public and saying things like "if I was scamming I wouldn't be complaining" is just a gimmick to add to the credibility of the con because it makes people think "gee, maybe he is legit" and second guess themselves.
Going public could also be used by the con man to go back to the store and say "if I was a scammer I wouldn't be posting publicly about this" to try to get a manager to go along with it by second guessing themselves or fearing public backlash and bad publicity.
My advice: if you are buying something big ticket and you really worry about this, pay for it and then open it while still at the store to examine it. That way, if there's a problem it's easier to prove.
This happened with some devices which had their serials scanned too, through a hole in the box so we know the real item was bought, and the person would swear up and down and raise hell, call corporate, etc. trying to convince us otherwise. It's amazing the lengths some people go through to really sell their con to the public.
We also had lots of people bringing in a broken unit that matched the box, but serial number was off.
For every legitimate story - and im sure by sheer chance there must be a handful around the country - there are 10,000 scammers.
With open items (that are bought as open items), I think there is a small chance the person doing the return wasn't looking and made a mistake. With brand new items I think it's the consumer pulling a scam 99.99999% of the time.
Talking about it in public and saying things like "if I was scamming I wouldn't be complaining" is just a gimmick to add to the credibility of the con because it makes people think "gee, maybe he is legit" and second guess themselves.
Going public could also be used by the con man to go back to the store and say "if I was a scammer I wouldn't be posting publicly about this" to try to get a manager to go along with it by second guessing themselves or fearing public backlash and bad publicity.
My advice: if you are buying something big ticket and you really worry about this, pay for it and then open it while still at the store to examine it. That way, if there's a problem it's easier to prove.
Don't know why people are assuming you/your friend did this just because it's clearly not from a Chinese worker. Fake returns happen all the time, with all kinds of merchandise, and people buy those fake returns all the time. I hope Target gives your friend a refund. Once I found a bunch of toys at a Toys R Us had been switched for cheaper ones. I took them up to customer service and they were just like, oh, yeah, that happens all the time, nothing we can do about it. And then put them back to sell!
This was a scam going on in Vancouver Best Buy and Future Shop stores this past Xmas. The scammers would buy the iPad 2 legitimately from the retail stores with cash. They would then take the iPad and AC adapter out and replace it with Clay in the shape of an iPad and the AC adapter, and re-seal the shrink wrap packaging that looked like it came directly from the factory. They would then hire guys to return the iPads back to the store and get the cash back.
The new rule now for the Vancouver retailers is if an iPad is being returned, it is opened up on the spot, regardless of the shrink wrap to verify the iPad is in teh box
http://digitaljournal.com/article/318080
The new rule now for the Vancouver retailers is if an iPad is being returned, it is opened up on the spot, regardless of the shrink wrap to verify the iPad is in teh box
http://digitaljournal.com/article/318080
as others have said, this story is a lie. there is no way that a native chinese person wrote that chinese, unless they were one of those under-aged workers, whose english is somehow better than their chinese. too bad people have to spread this kind of stuff.
I'm having trouble believing this story based on the note that was allegedly included.
We have all heard stories of scammers pulling the "switcheroo" when returning items, but the note enclosed just makes the whole thing unbelievable.
I would have more easily believed the story if it was just the three rocks in the box.
We have all heard stories of scammers pulling the "switcheroo" when returning items, but the note enclosed just makes the whole thing unbelievable.
I would have more easily believed the story if it was just the three rocks in the box.
I am the OP of this thread, and I am surprised by the amount of people that think I am lying.
The woman who bought this iPad has been a coworker of mine for over four years now. She was dumbfounded when she opened the box and found the rocks and the note inside. I would be shocked if she was lying and do not believe she would be the type of person to try anything of this sort.
All I know is, I saw the box myself, I saw the note myself, and I know the character of the woman who purchased it, and I believe her story. I asked her if I could take a picture of the box of rocks to share with all of you. As the first thing people would say is "pictures or it didn't happen".
Again, I do not believe this was perpetrated by people in China, but by fraudsters here in the U.S. My purpose in posting this thread was to simply share a funny store. I thought it was hilarious.
Apple told her to go back to Target and exchange the item for a new one.
Cheers
The woman who bought this iPad has been a coworker of mine for over four years now. She was dumbfounded when she opened the box and found the rocks and the note inside. I would be shocked if she was lying and do not believe she would be the type of person to try anything of this sort.
All I know is, I saw the box myself, I saw the note myself, and I know the character of the woman who purchased it, and I believe her story. I asked her if I could take a picture of the box of rocks to share with all of you. As the first thing people would say is "pictures or it didn't happen".
Again, I do not believe this was perpetrated by people in China, but by fraudsters here in the U.S. My purpose in posting this thread was to simply share a funny store. I thought it was hilarious.
Apple told her to go back to Target and exchange the item for a new one.
Cheers
haha this is humor!
And if this is true, just go back to the store, and TRY explaining it. please take a video of the expression on the clerks face haha
EDIT: again, if this is true, wouldn't it be detected in a quality control after they put everything in the box?
And if this is true, just go back to the store, and TRY explaining it. please take a video of the expression on the clerks face haha
EDIT: again, if this is true, wouldn't it be detected in a quality control after they put everything in the box?
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I can't believe you came to that conclusion after admitting to seeing items being swapped and returns so often.
Sorry, but after seeing the level of attention and detail in many retail establishments I have no problem thinking many of the very returns you already called scams do in fact make it back onto the shelves and then resold to innocent buyers. Shame on you to make it sound like that doesn't happen when by your own statements have shown how easily it can.
Michael
Did you check if there's any dead pixels? 
Would love to see the clerk's face when you go the store and explain this to them. priceless lol!
Would love to see the clerk's face when you go the store and explain this to them. priceless lol!
The stories people come up with to get their 30 min of fame
What in the hell is the matter with you? Is this not a community to share stories with? I am not looking for fame, I simply wanted to share something I thought was funny that happened to my co-worker.
I thought people here might enjoy it. If you don't, then shut the hell up and go somewhere else.
Cheers
