Kicker_of_Elves

Not so much an Adventure, more of a horror story:

I bought a gamecube at Target saturday before i had to go into work. I didnt wanna miss out on the 50 dollar gift card thingy and i ended up getting metriod prime and a memory card plus zelda free...

I opened the box up after i got home from work and I realized right away something was wrong when i saw in place of where the Nintendo Brand Controller was supposed to be, was a Madcatz Controller. It wasnt sealed or anything just in there wrapped up looking used.I looked at the gamecube itself and it has little scrapes on it.I was so pissed off when i saw that, gave Target a call and told them what had happened and im going to take it back to them this morning.. This is my second gamecube, my first one was stolen..

Has anyone else had a problem with a system like i have? i have heard of repackaging games but never the system themselves..

PalmerJoss

Man, that's rough. If you're buying a used or refurbished item I believe that the law states that it must be labelled as such. I'd definitely give Target a piece of my mind.

darkside

Someone bought it and returned it, but switched out the controller. Its Target's fault for not catching this and putting a return back on the shelf.

Probably just a guy that wanted a new controller for free and went to all the trouble of buying a Cube and returning it.

asabase

It's pretty common. I almost bought a used headlight from walmart once that someone had returned.

Vision Society

Yeah that happened to my Xbox, I bought it during Christmas time and then I found out that it was resealed, the disc tray wouldn't come out. I had to wait over the Christmas holiday to get it exchanged, that was so rough since I was anticipating it for 15 days.

~~ PAL ~~

There are many unethical people out there pulling craps like this, with consoles, game discs, video cards, hard drives, etc. They swap out the parts, put the junk in the new box, reseal if necessary, and take it back to B&M for a full refund.

MrKen

Yeah, I think Target should have caught this before they resold it, but the real criminal here is whoever returned the system claiming they hadn't used it.

Groucho

It's a fairly common practice to buy a new console, switch out the controller, and return it. In fact, I remember one thread in this very forum where it was suggested matter-of-factly to somebody who had a broken controller, as if it were no big deal.

neiname

My cousin once received a gameboy (when it first came out) for Christmas, sealed and everything, only to open it and find an Michael Jackson audiotape, wrapped up stones and paper. He was about 20 so it wasn't the end of the world but we could only imagine what would've happened if he was a kid.

jediwicz

I've just bought a new one, returned my old one as defective and got a new one on top. 2-for-1. Thanks Target.

crashbang

I once bought a Dreamcast console from JC Penney's and when I got it home and opened it up, there was no controller and the dreamcast was all scratched up. You couldn't have known from the box that it had been tampered with. Luckily JC Penney's took it back with no problem. It's not fun to be on the receiving end of criminal activity!

cheapskate

Too funny... whoever returned that to the store had some nerve. I'd feel pretty awkward returning it too - I mean, it's just as likely that the person who bought the item is switching the gameboy out for "Rock, Paper, Jackson".

Outlaw

Sorry to hear that man. It really sucks what some people will do. I've only been to the return area in target twice and both times I've been there on different days, people were return buying, i.e. "I got this as a gift can I rip you guys off?"

I would definitally talk to the manager or someone for being inconvient and using up your time. You may be able to sweeten the deal by getting by getting an additional %10 to 20% off if you're lucky .

goLUCKY

Sorry to hear that.............That is sooooo wrong...........but why put in a Jackson tape.........that's sooo messed up.....

Bluebomber

Back when I worked at Sears someone returned an n64 game, common since at the time you could do that with no problem. For whatever reason the game was opened up later on, what was inside it? Nickels and cardboard shaped like a game, I wish I was kidding here, it was actually a pretty good job, got the weight just right.

Leatherballs

A friend of mine, someone he knew got a Sega Genesis for Christmas one year and when they opened it up, it was just a box full of potatoes.

It sounds like this practice is more popular than I thought. I can't believe people have the nerve to do stuff like this.

Groucho

In college I knew a guy who would upgrade his computer in this manner. Whenever a new component was released that he wanted (video card, sound card, whatever) he would buy the componant, switch it out in his PC, put the old component back in the box, shrink wrap it at work, and return it to the store.

He was eventually caught (because he used a credit card ). Somehow he avoided jailtime, but he did lose his job.

Dabaomb

agreed. This is why some stores are willing to rip the shrinkwrap off a package to see if the item is actually being returned in new condition. They will then re-shrinkwrap it if it's brand new.

To the guy that got caught, he deserved it.

Kicker_of_Elves

Update:

Took the Cube back and got a refund, was allowed to keep the gift card even though i told them i wasnt planning to buy a cube there again. Told them thank you and would give the gift card to my cousin so he could get some school supplies with it..

I ended up getting a gamecube from wally world.. Got the Platinum Cube, Preview Disc, the Zelda pre-order disc(2 games) and a Gameboy Player bundle for 149.96 plus tax..

sniper308

cool ending, although I would have probably used the Gift Card to purchase another one and tried to get the Gift Card deal again...

Gideon68

I bought Metal Gear Solid from Target (the first one for the PS) and returned it as I got one as a gift. I then went shopping around the store, they called me back to the counter and reversed the refund since there were two music cds in it instead of the game when they opened it. Told them I didn't do it and they called me a scammer. Why would I stick around to shop if I had done it?

I had to call their HQ and talk to the head of security who listened to my story and approved the refund. The store was really upset that they had to give me back my refund.

khai

Strange.. so they decided to open it after they gave you the refund and after you had left the counter.

cheapskate

Was it shrinkwrapped when you returned it?

If they wait until you've left the store to check it, then how do they expect to catch anyone? Just the shoplifters who like to loiter around the scene of the crime...

wedge

This is more common than you can possibly imagine. In my retail days we got at least a few returns everyday of this nature. During my time at Best Buy I actually sat up by the returns table in the days after Christmas to try and stop some of it. The people who do this become more common around that time because they (rightfully) assume that refund counters will be so busy that less attention will be given to checking the product. I had people trying to return $5 cheap coax cables in $80 Monster component cable packages, people returning old early 80's VCRs (those ones with the pop up tape loader) stuffed into DVD player boxes, and one guy who addmitedly had balls of steel tried to return an EMPTY Monster component cable package. It's on a blister card moron!

Gideon68

That's right, they opened it after I left the counter. It was shrinkwrapped, I wouldn't have bought it if it wasn't. Ever since then I check the shrinkwrap very carefully.