iPod Bait-And-Switch Thefts Rock Wal-Mart
10:02 am, January 13th, 2009, Nicole Martinelli
Crime is ugly. But it’s hard not to crack a smile at an enterprising thief who bought iPods, then returned the packages weighted down with rocks.
The thief took the empty Apple boxes back and exchanged them for four Zunes at a Wal-Mart Supercenter in Nebraska.
Police believe the culprit used heat to reseal the plastic packaging. The iPods were put back on shelves, a customer who bought the iPod box without the MP3 device alerted the store.
Authorities warned that other stores in the area may have been hit by the same bait-and-switch scam.
Photo used under Creative Commons license, thanks to Dan Taylor on Flickr
Posted by Nicole Martinelli in iPod | Comment on this article
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This reminds me of why Toys ‘R’ Us stopped taking video game returns in the late 80’s or early 90’s. From what I was told, people would pop open the NES cartridges and swap out an old game for the game they just bought. Then they would return the game.
Amazing how things repeat themselves.
Cyxodus, on January 13th, 2009 at 10:29 am
They exchanged them for four Zunes.
For real?
Daddy or Chips?, on January 13th, 2009 at 10:41 am
could you imagine opening up your ipod touch box and finding rocks… lol
andrew, on January 13th, 2009 at 12:54 pm
Now I can go to Wal-Mart, pick up and iPod touch, empty the box, fill it full of rocks, then tell them that I got one of those stollen iPods but I’ll really have the one I got out of the box. What a clever little trick I can use now! (Just kidding)
Steve, on January 13th, 2009 at 3:36 pm
Guys were pulling up to cars in Philly, claiming to get two sets of expensive speakers at the dock instead of one set, so they would ask if you want to buy them for $50 – $100, but they were actually speakers cases filled with rocks, not speakers.
Bill, on January 13th, 2009 at 3:58 pm
I bought a printer this way once from CompUSA, which someone had replaced with a How to Cut Hair video.
Scammers take advantage of the post holiday Returns Rush, and stores do not second guess the customer -lest they lose them-, although they have reshrink wrapped something bogus to rip off the store again.
The scam is as old as Shrink wrap, which is why there are other ways to package items these days. This is what led to the invention of the blister pak.
Of course, once you have bought your rocks, or how to cut hair video that you thought was something else, YOU get to try to return the item they stupidlly resold.
bud, on January 13th, 2009 at 4:05 pm
Better then buying an iPod Touch, opening it up, and finding a Zune inside…
E, on January 13th, 2009 at 4:25 pm
What’s the difference between a 30MB Zune and a rock?
Jake, on January 13th, 2009 at 7:32 pm
ya, wait till they try to sell those Zunes on ebay… they’ll get about as much as selling a rock….
jonk.., on January 14th, 2009 at 7:01 am
Yeah, have to go with everyone who understands that a Zune may not have been a great investment. Should have gone with replacement iPods instead.
phoenix, on January 14th, 2009 at 8:18 am