19 replies to this topic

[Hum]

A Carmichael dad says when he opened the box for his $700 laptop, there was only a stack of paper inside. When no one would help, he called Kurtis.

“I’m an honest guy. I mean, I’d never try to scam anybody,” said Gary Prudler.

But Prudler is caught up in something fishy. After buying a $700 laptop from Fry’s in Roseville, he says he got it home and sliced it open, going through three seals on the box.

“Folded open this cardboard tab here and that’s when I discovered the paper,” said Prudler, showing us the box.

There was no laptop to be found, only a stack of printer paper. Prudler thinks someone must have gotten their hands on it before him and taken it out of the box without cutting the seals.

“It looks like somebody must have forced the edge of the box open, removed the laptop, put the paper in there, sealed it back up with rubber cement,” said Prudler.

He says Fry’s and the manufacturer, Acer, refused to give him a laptop.

“Once you pay for it it’s yours,” said Chris Morran, deputy editor of The Consumerist.

Morran says whenever you buy something expensive, you should check the box before you leave the store.

“You just slit open the top a little bit, peek inside. You should be able to see a TV or a laptop or a computer monitor,” said Morran.

We contacted Acer, who told us: “Our internal quality controls would prevent this from happening at the factory and our records show that the PC had been registered prior to Gary Prudler’s purchase. We are currently investigating how this happened.”

Fry’s told us: “Fry’s examines all returns. We open boxes/packages, for a number of reasons, not the least of which is to eliminate/prevent any occurrences like the one here. If a customer brings in the original invoice, no ID is usually required. We only ask for ID if the invoice is absent.

“Our review and investigation of this situation, to date, does not suggest there was any tampering with the computer (packaging) in the store.”

After we got involved, Acer sent Gary a laptop. From now on, he says he’ll open boxes at the register.

“I’ll have to because I do not want this happening ever again,” he said.

source & video

[jnelsoninjax]

I've heard about this with TV's also... someone was selling TV's outside of a Best Buy for a fraction of what they were selling for inside. Turns out that the box was full of wood!

[Obi-Wan Kenobi]

now THAT'S messed up!

[Hum]

Hum, on 02 August 2012 - 23:50, said:

We contacted Acer, who told us: “Our internal quality controls would prevent this from happening at the factory and our records show that the PC had been registered prior to Gary Prudler’s purchase. We are currently investigating how this happened.”

“Our review and investigation of this situation, to date, does not suggest there was any tampering with the computer (packaging) in the store.”

Whomever registered the computer is a thief or has bought stolen merchandise.

The thief should be arrested and the laptop given to the rightful owner.

[Davo]

Quote

We contacted Acer, who told us: “Our internal quality controls would prevent this from happening at the factory and our records show that the PC had been registered prior to Gary Prudler’s purchase. We are currently investigating how this happened.”

Quote

Fry’s told us: “Fry’s examines all returns. We open boxes/packages, for a number of reasons, not the least of which is to eliminate/prevent any occurrences like the one here. If a customer brings in the original invoice, no ID is usually required. We only ask for ID if the invoice is absent.

Someone not named Acer is lying

[+SharpGreen]

Davo, on 03 August 2012 - 02:47, said:

Someone not named Acer is lying

Unless it was store employee who stole it. In which case the person who stole it will be the one processes the return, skipping over the "examine" step.

[monomellow]

Sounds like someone from Fry's did it. Computers are usually checked & registered by the manufacturer before it's boxed for shipping.

[Reisen]

Sounds like an employee of Fry's made off with the laptop.

jnelsoninjax, on 03 August 2012 - 02:12, said:

I've heard about this with TV's also... someone was selling TV's outside of a Best Buy for a fraction of what they were selling for inside. Turns out that the box was full of wood!

I heard about someone doing that with the iPad.

[Glassed Silver]

Reisen, on 04 August 2012 - 00:33, said:

Sounds like an employee of Fry's made off with the laptop.

I heard about someone doing that with the iPad.

Yupp, it was wood too even I think.

Next iPhone and when I'm ready iPad, too will be bought at an Apple Store.
(iPad maybe online at Apple/Amazon)

Glassed Silver:mac

[SoCalRox]

Then again, there is the possibility the guy who claims to have bought the laptop is lying.

[FMH]

Even though it was an action by their PR department, it was still a nice gesture to send him another one.

[PsYcHoKiLLa]

My friend used to work in the distribution warehouse for the Dixon's group in the UK (Like Best Buy in the US) and he told me crap like this used to go on all the time, the biggest "scam" would be that people would steal components from OEM computers, mostly memory sticks and even hard drives in some cases, some people would even bring in their parts and swap them with the parts in the PC, like graphics cards, so I would go as far as to recommend getting them to check the computer is working and as described, it's not usually a problem with laptops though.

[Mr Nom Nom's]

Why would anyone buy from Fry's in the first place? just buy direct from the vendor and be done with it! same reason I buy online from Apple - cut out the middle man and go straight to the manufacturer.

[+Brando212]

SoCalRox, on 04 August 2012 - 00:54, said:

Then again, there is the possibility the guy who claims to have bought the laptop is lying.

the whole "the laptop was registered prior to the purchase" part kinda rules that out in this case
though I wouldn't put it past someone to come up with a lie like this, this case is actually legitimate

[Dot Matrix]

jnelsoninjax, on 03 August 2012 - 02:12, said:

I've heard about this with TV's also... someone was selling TV's outside of a Best Buy for a fraction of what they were selling for inside. Turns out that the box was full of wood!

Wasn't that an iPad scam too?