:troll:

"Mark Sandhu thought he bought a $620 iPad 2 for his wife for Christmas, but they received a nasty surprise at the family gift opening on Christmas Eve when they realized there was no computer in the box"


I actually lol'd coz imagine if that was a real troll prank to your wife/gf hahahha

:considered:

My friend returned a sealed blackberry playbook to Walmart, they took it without inspecting it.

He returned another one to best buy, they opened it and checked it thoroughly. Is it true that they have to sell as open box after that or can they reseal and sell as new? I've heard both.

once the seal is opened it's supposed to go back to manufacturer/sold as open box.

sold as open box unless item is defective
(former bb employee)

Most places do now for these exact reasons. They know it sucks to open a supposedly brand new product, but with thieves now taking the product out and shrink wrapping it again to make it look unopened, they have no choice but to be diligent.

It's not a good situation for retailers, that's for sure. Even if they "catch" a scammer and open the iPad when it was returned, the scammer can just pretend to be as shocked as they are and claim he never opened it. It's not going to be easy for the store to prove they took the item, instead of it coming that way.

does future shop record the serial number on the invoices like memory express?

"Walmart and London Drugs say that fake Apple iPad 2s made of clay are also appearing on their store shelves, a day after electronic giants Future Shop and Best Buy revealed they are launching a major fraud investigation into the scam."

Fake iPad 2s hit more major retailers | CTV British Columbia

When scammers return fake iPads
They get paid back in cash ?
Posted via RS Mobile

You only get paid in cash if you purchased in cash. So now it's more like, buy an ipad in cash, return it, get cash back and you have an ipad to sell.

Yeaaahhhh so if u were cashier u would be a little suspicious eh
Posted via RS Mobile

time to start weighing the returns on a scale.

I thought that was a pretty good idea, actually... but now I think that the scammers are smart enough to probably try making the fake product weigh near the same as the real thing.

Since this is all over the news now, what if the thieves buy the ipads now and bring them back filled with clay claiming that they bought them like that?. How would someone prove that they are/aren't lying? This could potentially be really bad.

The guy in that CTV video has quite the attractive wife!

Not sure if this is doable for FS/BEST BUY.... but when I got my ipad2 from Apply store they let me open it in front of them, do all the updates for me etc etc..... so that way I know what I bring home is a working ipad.

well i was gonna just buy a fake ipad in china & then replace it with the real one, but this seems like a better deal for sure

Damn, I thought I had replied to this yesterday...

Anyways, it's one thing for them to let you open it in front of them, it's another thing for them to force you to it.

As a regular consumer, it certainly benefits you to open it in front of them to avoid a situation just like the iPad situation, but there's no way a store can force you to open the item. What if it's a gift for someone?

^^ true but at least for ppl who are buying for personal use it safer that way.

Same with how EB Sell games now. They take the Game disc out of the box and store it in their canbiet when u buy the game they give the disc to you, and the seal it back to the box. If you do refund it, they open the box again to check the disc.

Thinking about buying a brand new iPhone 4s on craigslist but this thread has me paranoid.

^There's some precautions you can take.. open it, inspect and test the device, meet up in a public place, etc.

I was a victim of stolen goods before so I try to use Revscene or something similar for bigger purchases (phones, camera, etc)

^^ iphone 4s would be different coz if it is reported stolen the IEMI# goes on some kind of list and that phone can never be use again.

http://www.revscene.net/forums/60431...ed-phones.html

If I buy an unopened iPhone 4s, open it and test it out before I buy it, and everything seems good.
It can still be bricked in the future if it gets reported stolen correct?

If I remember correctly, doesn't it only get bricked/locked/etc. if it's reported stolen from stores/distribution centers or something similar?