Couple Buys Camcorder, Gets Pasta Sauce

[Amused]

Couple Buys Camcorder, Gets Pasta Sauce
Best Buy Refuses to Exchange, They Say, but Sony Makes Amends

ST. LOUIS (Nov. 28) - A couple who found a jar of pasta sauce inside a box where a camcorder should have been said Tuesday that Sony Entertainment Inc. is giving them a new camcorder.

Melisa Rittenberg, 36, of Perryville, said she was contacted by Sony on Monday, after talking to The Associated Press about the incident, which happened after the Rittenbergs bought the camcorder at a suburban St. Louis Best Buy.

Rittenberg said she was told a replacement camera was in the mail. Phone messages left with Sony were not returned.

"I'm satisfied because we're finally going to get the camera we paid for," Rittenberg said, though she remained angry that Best Buy Co. didn't resolve the matter.

The Ellisville Best Buy store manager, Wade Trapp, said the company had been in touch with the Rittenbergs, and would follow up on the matter.

The Rittenbergs paid about $1,600 for a camcorder at the Ellisville Best Buy, in suburban St. Louis, last week. They said when they opened the box, they found a jar of Classico pasta sauce, a telephone cord and an electric outlet cover. The items were all positioned in the box where the camera equipment should have been, Melisa Rittenberg said.

The couple said they went back to Best Buy, but the store declined to give them a replacement camera or a refund.

 

[Demon-Xanth]

R

 

[sourceninja]

That is why I buy items like this with my credit card. Much easier to get my money back.

 

[Injury]

Originally posted by: Demon-Xanth
R

Thread title sucks ass. GG. Repost is the other OP's fault.

 

[Amused]

Originally posted by: Demon-Xanth
R

A deal too hot for hot deals!

Next time try making a more descriptive title.

I searched "best buy," "pasta" and "camcorder."

If it doesn't show up in search, it's not a repost.

 

[sswingle]

Good for Sony. They needed some positive press.

 

[sswingle]

Originally posted by: Demon-Xanth
R

People that make sucky ass titles like that should have no right to complain about a repost.

 

[Amused]

This is quite common at many retailers. I wonder why Best Buy is being so damn obstinate. This happens because of their own damn restocking procedures.

 

[tfinch2]

This is why when you're buying a big ticket item, you actually look in the box.

 

[Linflas]

I bought a game from Best Buy and when I got home and opened it up there was an AOL CD in the game case. I took it back and they finally replaced it after I waded through the layer of flunkies and finally got a manager.

 

[buck]

Originally posted by: ScottSwingleComputers

Originally posted by: Demon-Xanth
R

People that make sucky ass titles like that should have no right to complain about a repost.

I concur.



I would have loved to be a fly on the wall when they went to take it back.

 

[thomsbrain]

sounds like a best buy employee has a new camcorder.

 

[brxndxn]

Retailers need to start taking note of this.. even if an item is still 'shrinkwrapped', it still could be missing its contents..

Dishonest, corrupt, waste-of-life people sometimes buy expensive electronic items and replace them with items that weigh about the same.. then re-wrap them to look like they haven't been opened.

A friend of mine bought a DVD recorder last year from Walmart.. It had a 2x (an ancient relic) cdrom drive in it instead.. When he told the Walmart management, they refused to take back the box. So, he went back a few days later and didn't tell anyone and they took the box back.

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: thomsbrain
sounds like a best buy employee has a new camcorder.

Another customer may have bought it and returned it like that. The big box stores don't check returns thoroughly enough. This happens way too often. If I was buying an expensive item like that, I'd probably open it in the store (not saying this is the customer's fault, definitely the store's fault).

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: brxndxn
Retailers need to start taking note of this.. even if an item is still 'shrinkwrapped', it still could be missing its contents..

Dishonest, corrupt, waste-of-life people sometimes buy expensive electronic items and replace them with items that weigh about the same.. then re-wrap them to look like they haven't been opened.

A friend of mine bought a DVD recorder last year from Walmart.. It had a 2x (an ancient relic) cdrom drive in it instead.. When he told the Walmart management, they refused to take back the box. So, he went back a few days later and didn't tell anyone and they took the box back.

What was your plan for if they "caught" you? That would have sucked if they called the cops on you. :Q

 

[FoBoT]

Originally posted by: tfinch2
This is why when you're buying a big ticket item, you actually look in the box.

yeah, you basically have to open big $ items before you leave the store

 

[DarkManX]

Originally posted by: brxndxn
Retailers need to start taking note of this.. even if an item is still 'shrinkwrapped', it still could be missing its contents..

Dishonest, corrupt, waste-of-life people sometimes buy expensive electronic items and replace them with items that weigh about the same.. then re-wrap them to look like they haven't been opened.

A friend of mine bought a DVD recorder last year from Walmart.. It had a 2x (an ancient relic) cdrom drive in it instead.. When he told the Walmart management, they refused to take back the box. So, he went back a few days later and didn't tell anyone and they took the box back.

not checking the content of a camcorder and finding a can of pasta sauce is one thing, but expecting the wall-mart employee to tell the diff between a CD-ROM and dvd-burner would take extensive training lol

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: DarkManX

Originally posted by: brxndxn
Retailers need to start taking note of this.. even if an item is still 'shrinkwrapped', it still could be missing its contents..

Dishonest, corrupt, waste-of-life people sometimes buy expensive electronic items and replace them with items that weigh about the same.. then re-wrap them to look like they haven't been opened.

A friend of mine bought a DVD recorder last year from Walmart.. It had a 2x (an ancient relic) cdrom drive in it instead.. When he told the Walmart management, they refused to take back the box. So, he went back a few days later and didn't tell anyone and they took the box back.

not checking the content of a camcorder and finding a can of pasta sauce is one thing, but expecting the wall-mart employee to tell the diff between a CD-ROM and dvd-burner would take extensive training lol

Same sort of thing happens with expensive video cards all the time - they return it with a NIC inside or something. But even with the most basic training someone should be able to tell the difference between a NIC and a video card. Telling the difference between a CD-ROM and DVD-RW doesn't have to be complicated - just look at the model number. It's in the store's best interests to train their employees thoroughly.

 

[BooGiMaN]

this seems to happen way a lot..I think the reason big stores dont seem to do anythign about it is that the customer more often than not can not prove they arent the scammers...so the customer loses out not the store

 

[ajf3]

A friend of mine bought a DVD recorder last year from Walmart.. It had a 2x (an ancient relic) cdrom drive in it instead.

Same thing happened to be at staples... supposed to be an 8x dvdrw, but it was an old coffee stained cdrom. What sucked was that I didn't notice until I returned it (got a 16x instead) unopened in the same shrink-wrap I got it in... but they opened it. Fiasco ensued & I had to return it to the other staples where I purchased it.

 

[wasssup]

I got screwed on a 160gb sata harddrive last black friday at compusa. Sad part was this was $20 after rebates, scamming for $20 is just plain sad.

Even worse was the fact that I left my receipt there during the exchange, and when I went back to complain I had no receipt to prove I bought it. Luckily I knew a few people there (worked there in college), they were able to look up my receipt and give me another exchange. But yeah, all that hassle for a $20 harddrive.

 

[MaxDepth]

"I'm satisfied because we're finally going to get the camera we paid for," Rittenberg said, though she remained angry that Best Buy Co. didn't resolve the matter.

The Ellisville Best Buy store manager, Wade Trapp, said the company had been in touch with the Rittenbergs, and would follow up on the matter.

Yeah, like hell. This is holiday shopping time. Those douchebags expect to make their margins and they are okay with it. To them, customer service is something to be endured and not something to make them better in the eyes of the public. That is until news cameras try to interview the manager and it gets picked up by the nation...

I've had my own horror stories about Best Buy.

 

[AbsolutDealage]

Did anyone else see this thread get locked, and then unlocked real quick?

 

[OutHouse]

Thats it, for now on im opening and checking anything i buy at any eletronic store thats in a box before i leave the store.

if i dropped 1600 bucks on a camcorder and when i got home and it was a jar of pasta sauce i would be beyond pissed.

 

[Rubycon]

Did they use the pasta sauce?

:laugh: