Retail Horror Stories.

So this weekend, I purchased a Dell XPS laptop that Walmart (SHUT UP) was running a good deal on.

Upon getting home and opening the box to unlease some raw power, what do I find in my box?

Not a shiny new laptop.   Rather, a large chunk of copy paper.

Of course, this will never do, so I took the box and paper back to the store.  For some strange reason, the people working returns and the store's management had some trouble realizing why I should be refunded my money. 

I'm guessing they thought the paper was some REALLY SWEET paper.

After going just a clip under nuclear on their asses, I had my refund.  Just a remind as to why I try to avoid WalMart at all costs, I guess.

 

Has anyone ever had anything like this happen to them?  Whoever changed the laptop for the paper must've been a pretty slippery dog.

Yep i have bought cd's before that were just empty cases.  Also sold a few like it too after people have nicked them.

Hmmmm my mother bought the display blender because she couldn't find a boxed up one, apart from missing a leg and being a bit grubby there was a used tissue inside it, hmmmm snot smoothies,

I bought a box of hair dye that someone had replaced with generic tampons.

Why would someone replace hair dye with tampons? That's just weird. I've never had anything crazy like the OP, just mistakes with putting CDs/games in cases. It makes me sad that you didn't get the XPS, I have the M1330 and I love it.

Not exactly retail but early on I worked for Home Shopping Channel right after the went from a access radio show to a local access channel and continued on as they went national.

Items that were returned went on the shelves to be resold.  There is a whole gig about knowingly selling damaged, broken and defective goods along with the normal stuff because HSN had 60-90 days to credit someones charge card plus buyers had to pay return shipping unless they fought it.  During those 2-3 month, HSN earned mucho interest on all that stuff that normally would be thrown away assuming the buyer bothered to return it at all.  Customer service was to persuade them to keep it with a few "HSN $Bucks" credit to buy more junk stuff.

I got complaints of coffee makers with grounds already in filters, radar cockroach repellers filled with bugs, etc.  Certificates of authenticity were a joke - they'd by them by the crate and be thrown indiscriminately with everything from 'collectibles' to jewelry. 

After enough people got on the air with hosts bringing up such occurances, HSN started screening callers for their return issues to determine if they were a risk to put on the air. 

One of my first jobs and remember how we were outright told to lie about it all to customers. 

I worked in retail for 16 years..so I can verify that some people go to great lenghts to steal.  They carefully open the boxes and take out the product and then replace it with an old product that doesn't work.  They then return it to the store and claim that it has never been opened.  The sales clerk believes them and restocks it not knowing. 

What's worse than buying something like this?  Giving it as a gift to someone.  Like my father in law...Christmas morning...opens his new drill...ooops...in the box is a drill from like 1960 and the box looked like it had never been opened. 

After doing some research on the problem, it seems to be something that occurs regularly. 

There are all kinds of stories on the internet about people buying ipods and finding decks of playing cards, folded paper, or even meat inside. 

I'm curious as to what kind of liability the retailer holds in these situations.  I understand that trying to return such an item is suspicious. 

After all, what would prevent me from buying said laptop, taking it out of the box, replacing the area with something to give it a similar weight, and then returning it with the claim that there had never been a computer there in the first place?

However, in cases like mine, this is a legitimate claim.  Most people, myself included, could not afford to be out of a considerable sum of money and no product.  I can just imagine a person less aggressive and confrontational than me taking 'No' for an answer and being boned out of a large sum of money.

In such a case, what would be the appropriate recourse?  Continually arguing with management?  Alerting the media? 

When you really dig into this situation, I guess it boils down to personal morals. 

When it comes to certain things, I open the boxes to check and see if there's everything.  When I bought a child's bicycle seat, the box was opened and inspected.  If the box isn't sealed up and look completely undisturbed, I open it and check to ensure things are in there.  Except, obviously, in cases like hair dye or tooth paste, little things that you don't really expect someone to mess with.

Whenever I've been to customer service, they always open the package you're returning and inspect to ensure things are there, at least at the WalMart's around here.  Never seen Meijer do it.  More stores need to make a habit of it and I don't think there'd be anything wrong with you sending a letter to the owner of your local WalMart about the issue, and urge him/her to instruct employees to inspect returns.

Ultimately it is the retailer's responsibility to open the box and check to make sure the product is actually in there, when they accept a return.  By not doing so, they are accepting the risk that the box contains something else, which they then turn around and sell to another customer.  They definitely owe the customer a refund or exchange when that happens, and I think arguing with the management is the definite recourse.  I also heard about a couple that this happened to last Christmas (I think it was at Best Buy) and the store refused to give them a refund - the story was all over the news and I think Best Buy eventually broke down and gave them a refund, in light of all the bad press.  If that's what it takes, that's what it takes.

I guess the other option would be, if you are buying a large ticket item, is to open the box in front of the cashier to make sure the item is really inside and not damaged.  That would also protect you and would save all the hassle of returning it and having to go through all the arguments later.

Where I work we sell a lot of collectibles (most of which are tacky & vile but people lap 'um up) & I'm always paranoid about giving people an empty box. Some of the ornaments are quite light so I make a habit of checking.

As for customers returning or getting stuff repaired - we've had some classics! The usual one is "It just fell off". which is fair enough sometimes, but when you can see where it misshapen or pulled or stood on you'd rather they just admit it. Best story I heard was a woman bringing in a gold chain to be repaired that is her elderly aunts. Her aunt, being 95 & slightly loopy, told her that a bird had flown in through the window, sat on this chain & broken it. Looking puzzled I asked if it was a magpie, apparently the aunt had told her "it was a very pretty colourful bird" then the woman had found the empty bottle of sherry...

Original Post by sun123:

Not exactly retail but early on I worked for Home Shopping Channel right after the went from a access radio show to a local access channel and continued on as they went national.

Items that were returned went on the shelves to be resold. There is a whole gig about knowingly selling damaged, broken and defective goods along with the normal stuff because HSN had 60-90 days to credit someones charge card plus buyers had to pay return shipping unless they fought it. During those 2-3 month, HSN earned mucho interest on all that stuff that normally would be thrown away assuming the buyer bothered to return it at all. Customer service was to persuade them to keep it with a few "HSN $Bucks" credit to buy more junk stuff.

I got complaints of coffee makers with grounds already in filters, radar cockroach repellers filled with bugs, etc. Certificates of authenticity were a joke - they'd by them by the crate and be thrown indiscriminately with everything from 'collectibles' to jewelry.

After enough people got on the air with hosts bringing up such occurances, HSN started screening callers for their return issues to determine if they were a risk to put on the air.

One of my first jobs and remember how we were outright told to lie about it all to customers.

That's horrible! :O

Retailer and manufacturer are both responsible.  The magic words are "warranty of merchantability."  

I once had a job at the return counter of a Walmart.  I had someone return a used pregnancy test because it was "defective".  Always wondered if "defective" meant she didn't get the answer she wanted.

Original Post by lysistrata:

Retailer and manufacturer are both responsible.  The magic words are "warranty of merchantability."  

 I wish I had known that when the situation arose. 

From Virginia law code 8.2-314:

(1) Unless excluded or modified (§ 8.2-316), a warranty that the goods shall be merchantable is implied in a contract for their sale if the seller is a merchant with respect to goods of that kind. Under this section the serving for value of food or drink to be consumed either on the premises or elsewhere is a sale.

(2) Goods to be merchantable must be at least such as

(e) are adequately contained, packaged, and labeled as the agreement may require; and

(f) conform to the promises or affirmations of fact made on the container or label if any.

I'm not a legal person by a long shot, but I'm guessing that the product advertised on the box NOT BEING IN THE BOX would directly violate these two sections of that code.

The exact same thing happened to me.

 

I purchased a Dell Inspiron laptop computer. The box was sealed. When I opened it, instead of a computer, it contained a bunch of photocopy paper (to simulate the same weight). The power adapter was also missing (although the manuals were there). Since it was in the original sealed package, I didn't think it was necessary to inspect it. Upon discovery, I immediately returned to the store. The manager was out, and the asst. manager (after reviewing their security tapes and finding nothing) didn't want to do anything.  I'm waiting for the manager to review the matter and make a decision. If it's not to my satisfaction, I will involve the police and may pursue a civil action against Wal-Mart for fraud and misrepresentation.  Especially knowing this has happened to others.

UPDATE:  After conducting an "investigation" the store made things right.  Actually, once they decided they were willing to provide the computer, they were out of stock on the model we should have had and gave us an upgraded model.  My faith in Walmart is restored.

OMG, you guys need to read consumerist.com -- great, great horror stories when it comes to Dell.

I bought a dvd once that was empty.

I once bought a lamp at KMart.  When I plugged it in it sparked and blew the circuit breaker.  I put it back in the box and taped it shut with some green decorative tape, which was all I had, and took it back and got a refund.  The next week I was in there, and there was the box with the lamp, with MY GREEN TAPE holding it shut, on the shelf for sale.  I took it to customer service and raised Cain.  Guess what?  It was back on the shelf the next week.

Original Post by deathrocket:

Not a shiny new laptop. Rather, a large chunk of copy paper.

Has anyone ever had anything like this happen to them? Whoever changed the laptop for the paper must've been a pretty slippery dog.

One of the employees took it. I used to work at an Office Depot and we had a string of things like this happen. At first it just seemed like the customers were trying to pull a fast one on us (It's impossible to tell when the products got switched out, and that sort of situation is a significant loss to the company) but we installed a security camera in the lock-up section of the store and it turned out there were two or three employees that would take the stuff, and then repack the boxes with something similarly heavy.

I ALWAYS check inside the boxes of the hair dye I buy to make sure it is the color it is suppose to be!  I always imagined some mean person switching the blonde for a red and when the unexpecting blonde puts the dye in her hair, and immediately washes it out when she discovers the mistake, her hair is probably red by then or at best a muted pink color.  whoa, that would suck.