Big Mess with IPAD 2 and best buy

[Mtnmedic]

@ Freebird..i am going to best buy in next hour and will ask for a manager

should i call the cop in front of the best buy manager or report this to the cops and go there ??? (note i still have the shrink wrap with me and if have to go to an extreme of filing a case and do a freakin...forensic level to see if the best buy sales persons finger print was on it before me....and i will not let this go that easy)

Thanks
Vinnan

Well, seeing how this is NOT a dire emergency and that there are plenty of out there, call the police dept. and have them take a desk report and they'll decide whether it's worth sending a cop out for. But at least you get a case number to work with and, if they believe a crime has been committed, they'll refer it to a detective.

Michael "Spam, spam, bacon, eggs and spam. Hold the bacon and eggs." Sent from my iPad using iPF

 

[DontUnderstandMyIpad]

@OP

Most iPads are linked to their owner including full name, email address, etc.

So you might want to go to an Apple Store and ask them to read the iPad. All that is required is to connect the iPad to one of the MacBooks at the genius bar.

Finding out the initial owner might help your claim to show that it is really not your iPad.

 

[Mtnmedic]

@OP

Most iPads are linked to their owner including full name, email address, etc.

So you might want to go to an Apple Store and ask them to read the iPad. All that is required is to connect the iPad to one of the MacBooks at the genius bar.

Finding out the initial owner might help your claim to show that it is really not your iPad.

YEP! I mentioned something on that order earlier in the thread: it's a fairly easy matter to track down the prior owner and then ask HIM why his iPad mysteriously turned up at a Best Buy or in some stranger's hands.

Start with a police report-get that case generated. Then corner this guy. He can't suddenly decide to say somebody stole his iPad. But then, he'll probably NOT want to even talk to the cops.

Michael "Spam, spam, bacon, eggs and spam. Hold the bacon and eggs." Sent from my iPad using iPF

 

[Tinman]

@OP

Most iPads are linked to their owner including full name, email address, etc.

So you might want to go to an Apple Store and ask them to read the iPad. All that is required is to connect the iPad to one of the MacBooks at the genius bar.

Finding out the initial owner might help your claim to show that it is really not your iPad.

And Apple will act like he is asking for Steve Jobs' home phone number.



Michael

 

[SweetPoison]

@OP

Most iPads are linked to their owner including full name, email address, etc.

So you might want to go to an Apple Store and ask them to read the iPad. All that is required is to connect the iPad to one of the MacBooks at the genius bar.

Finding out the initial owner might help your claim to show that it is really not your iPad.

And Apple will act like he is asking for Steve Jobs' home phone number.



Michael

This is true. They aren't going to give him this information. "oh sure. Just pay him a visit"

 

[richgalen]

Not at home to check, but if the IMEI is on the box it would be pretty simple to have ATT/Verizon block it until this gets straitened out.

 

[qnet]

I pray that it works out for you

So do I, that's messed up.

 

[Mtnmedic]

So do I, that's messed up.

No kidding. I once bought a keyboard from Fry's and brought it home only to realize it'd been switched out and a crappy used one was in there. I went straight back to the store and up front told them that we both had been scammed. They were nice enough to refund me without any questions, especially since I just wanted an exchange or store credit so I could buy something else there. I ended up just exchanging it.

From that point on (years ago) I decided that any small, big-ticket item I buy in the store is something I would open up IN the store to briefly check it out and be satisfied that it's exactly what I expect it to be.

The only surefire way (with ultra rare exceptions) to get the genuine article is to get it directly from Apple.

Michael "Spam, spam, bacon, eggs and spam. Hold the bacon and eggs." Sent from my iPad using iPF

 

[Mtnmedic]

@sweetpoison...PM me. I tried PM'ing you but your "inbox" is "full".

Michael "Spam, spam, bacon, eggs and spam. Hold the bacon and eggs." Sent from my iPad using iPF

 

[SweetPoison]

Oh. So it is! I'm on it.

 

[Fifi1992]

Bestbuy

Lesson learned: if buying a 'returned item', ALWAYS check the content of the box before paying or at least before leaving the store...

I ran into a guy at bestbuy today he bought the last ine they had it was a return on I warned him after reading thus story to check the box before he leaves the store.

 

[Mtnmedic]

I ran into a guy at bestbuy today he bought the last ine they had it was a return on I warned him after reading thus story to check the box before he leaves the store.

Good work, catching that.

I just find it a bit odd that someone would return an iPad 2 SO QUICKLY after purchasing it. It's a rather specific tech device, with much fanfare, press and info on it beforehand. And it's something people are willing to get in line and wait for. It's not like one of those impulsive buys like; "Oh wow...nice TV! I'll get it right now!" then returning it when you realize you've bit off more than you can chew. People who get an iPad, for the most part, kind of know what they're getting in to, already.

Michael "Spam, spam, bacon, eggs and spam. Hold the bacon and eggs." Sent from my iPad using iPF

 

[ipaduser434]

Contact local media AND Apple to see if they can trace the serial # of the used iPad to a name and address. Might be able to match that info with the name of the person who pulled the scam. Bummer.

 

[madhatter61]

bought an ipad 2 32GB from Best Buy store's Customer Service Desk today (11th march, 2011). I was told that a customer just returned an ipad 2 32GB so it was made available to us at 19:23 hrs on the day of its release (awesome? Nope, AWEFUL). I went home, removed the wrapper and opened the box that had ipad older version in it and NOT ipad 2.
I rushed to the Best Buy store from which I bought it at around 20:00 hrs,
They said the guy who returned it had given it with seal which the lady at the service desk testifies it to be "Apple Seal" from her experience. They said we switched it with ipad older version in 30 mins not considering the fact that it has been returned by their previous customer and he could have switched it.
As a result we are losing money and product, which I do not need

Questions we asked,
1. How could we ever trust you? Do you want us to open the pack right at the store when we buy stuff?
Answered by Sales Manager: 'Yes! you probably should open it right here'

2. Do we pay for YOUR fraud customer?
Answered by Sales Manager: 'Yes! because you opened the box and we don't know who switched it'
Answered by another lady (I suppose a rep): 'our previous customer is not a fraud because he had returned with good seal and I could totally say it was genuine. I don't know if could say this, but he returned it because he bought it for his friend who couldn't pay'

3. Are we stuck with this then? Do I have a solution?
Answered by Sales Manager: 'you can talk to Apple. they are reputed and will consider your complaint because this is not the previous customer's fraud return - If you believe you have not switched it'

4. I just bought it from best buy and i'm back here in 30 mins. Are you saying I switched it?
All of them: 'we can't do anything about it. Talk to the manufacturer'.

Experience: The lady Service Rep was rude and was arguing that the customer who returned was genuine only because of the transparent wrap. When I came home and checked out the wrap - it was one of the cheapest plastic material that Mr. Jobs would laugh at. And of course my husband didn't realize it while opening it and I did not bother to touch it and feel it when I was expecting a brand new ipad 2 in a neat white box.
I am sure the lady who argued about it wouldn't have agreed with us about the wrap because we could have switched that too. This makes me feel that she definitely has her HAND in it or she doesn't like brown skinned like me. May be she doesn't want to accept her fault for not having checked it properly when
SHE received the return and believed the story of her fraud customer.

i need help What can i do

As others in the thread have mentioned ... call human Resources at Corporate Best Buy. Ask for Customer Service group manager ... Tell them what happened. The contact your credit card company and get them to stop payment, then contact your three credit score companies and let them know that Best Buy has inappropriately charged your account, as you did not get what you paid for. Since it was a returned product Apple is not responsible, Best Buy Customer Service is. If they did not inspect the contents of the box when it was returned they failed to do their job properly. Any retailer can put shrink wrap on an open box and it looks very much like it is factory.

Then contact the local TV station in the town in which you live and notify the General Manager of the Best Buy store involved. Contact the Better Business Bureau, and the Chamber of Commerce, and then post this situation on Facebook, and keep up the pressure.

Make sure you keep all the packaging, the receipts, so you have evidence.

Then don't give up ... Don't let a floor manager take the pressure for the General Manager, though they may try to give you the run around. File a report with Loss Prevention person at the door and you keep a copy. Don't stop going, back and back and back. See what happens then.

 

[tzimisce]

Having said that, some people who work for best buy doin give a damn about our policy. These issues are few and far between.

Personally I was just (a bit) surprised as the recalcitrant attitude of the shop people. If nothing else, just give the customer the benefit of the doubt - it's good business sense if nothing else.

The minor loss you incur on one returned item, no questions asked, is more than rectified by a very satisfied customer who will (i) tell his friends about how great your service was and (ii) come back again in the future to buy from you, because you resolved a bad situation to his satisfaction. I'm surprised how and why some employees take it so personally.