They are just nicer, safer, more pleasant forms of good-old-fashioned theft.
It makes it easier for them to justify and deal with that fact, IMO.
People ****
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They are just nicer, safer, more pleasant forms of good-old-fashioned theft.
It makes it easier for them to justify and deal with that fact, IMO.
I guess...
Is it really any different than abusing a tool then replacing it under "lifetime warranty" when it breaks? Or wearing out a tool until the end of its useful life and doing the same? Or buying broken tools at garage sales or wherever then doing a warranty claim?
Not to stir the pot, but there are all kinds of threads around here from GJ members that makes it seem that this is pretty normal behavior...
Lassen Forge
Well-known member
Ours still has like a $200 deductible... so even if she got the insurance and waits a month, if she has the same plan as ours it won't be free.
I heard the phones cost some ridiculously small amount to make (well under a hundred bucks) - not only would it not surprise me, but even IF the pones cost $100 each to make and ship, they're STILL getting their $8 a month and $100 profit.
There IS a bit of bad new for her, tho... those insurance policies - generally don't cover water damaged phones. And there are about a dozen ways that show if they've been dropped in water. So she may not be as "lucky" as she thinks. They'll look for the color change on the detectors, hand it back, and say "so sorry..."
pescados666
Well-known member
I'm sure at least one person that read this thread thought to themselves "hey I didn't realize it was just that easy..."
Carquest
Well-known member
So obviously, I am in the auto parts business. Telephone convo from twenty minutes ago: "Hey, I ordered that fuel pump from you yesterday, but found one cheaper and bought it. Now I can't get the fuel lines loose, will you let me borrow the tool to take them off??"
ganymede
Well-known member
People don't view it as a lack of honor and dignity because they have the childlike mentality that the mfg or the retailer brought it upon themselves .
I hope you told that person to F off and to go ask the place he ended up buying from...
I work with a guy that is always pulling shady ****. They were going on a long distance road trip so they bought a portable DVD player for the car so their daughter could watch movies on the trip, when they got back he returns it saying they changed their mind. Then they had a aquarium leak and it was out of warranty, so he buys a new one then puts the old one in the box and returns it. I can't stand people like that. Always working the system to their advantage.
This makes absolutely no sense to me. How can anyone honestly justify that behavior???
Sorry, this thread hit a nerve. Vendors need to start saying "no" to these idiots...
And then people complain about why the cost of everything is going up. Look in the mirror much?
Carquest
Well-known member
Lol, another true story from several years back. " How long is the warranty on that radiator I bought from you?" Two years, I say, what's wrong with it? "I hit a deer this morning and it is leaking antifreeze." You can't make this stuff up.....
What's your point here?
Is this justification that Apple is making $ anyway, so it's OK to defraud them? Are they making too much money?
lol, so the idiot is going to put himself through MORE work to remove the part and to return it and then rip you guys off -- all to save himself a couple bucks. I hope that cheaper fuel pump is Chinese made and is DOA. That'd be hilarious.
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I think she said she signed up for the plan (after the fact) that does cover water damage. My wife once dropped her Android phone into the bathtub, and it did cover it. But that's different. My wife had been paying that insurance fee for like 1.5 years at the time, and she still pays for it.
Even though the phone itself may only cost a couple of hundred to make, that doesn't mean that the cell phone carrier paid a couple of hundred for it. They buy the phones from Apple. I'm sure they get a wholesale price, but they probably pay a lot more than $200 for a new iPhone.
ganymede
Well-known member
It doesn't make sense to me either but that's their puny way of thinking.
I'm sure retailers will clamp down eventually at least to some degree.
I know I check stuff in store or in the lot now. :/
Lassen Forge
Well-known member
jd_1138 said:
Actually they get them cheap enough that 2 years of service pays for both the service and their cost of the phone. I think the MANUFACTURERS cost is something like $26.00 I saw a thing on it, and my jaw dropped. Their wholesale is scaled round $200 -$300 (supposedly), but Apple contractually sets the retail price on these things to keep them all at $799-$899-$999.
I would have never guessed.
I hope he paid for it when he ordered it. Don't know if you guys have a "no returns on special orders" policy... sure hope so.
I'd sell him the tool. Sorry, we only loan tools to our customers. Since you didn't think enough to remain our customer and buy the part here, then we can't help you, sorry.
It's because it is normal, any more.
There is a whole "Robin Hood mentality", out there, where, "hey, they are rich and I am poor!", which then justifies their action - at least to them. Maybe the consumer feels "ripped off" - right or wrong, when a company charges $50 for a refrigerator filter, that probably cost them a buck or two, to make. $50 is a lot of money to some people, so they say "hell yes, they will return the used one".
Not justifying anything, just stating that's the mentality. Shoplifting is running rampant these days, so no surprise, return fraud is increasing.
Besides, sticking a gun in someones face, kicking in a door, or shoving a new drill up under your coat, is pretty risky to get caught (or shot) and is a clear cut report-able crime.
Return fraud - aye, maybe not so much IMO, since it's a little harder to prove intent and probably hard and time consuming to prosecute.
I'm not surprised at all.
bcradio
Well-known member
Nope! If it's sealed, it's sealed... it isn't rocket science to tell what a factory seal looks like.
Also, you want to look at the packaging for wear/use marks.
Nothing new, just more inflated money involved. My mother told about some women in the neighborhood back in the early part of the last century who, when invited to some social function, would get clothes out on approval, wear them to the function, then return the clothes. Much later my daughter while in college was working at a local Lowes. One return story was that someone bought a 5 gallon bucket of paint, drilled a small hole in bottom, siphoned out the paint, refilled the bucket with water, sealed the hole, then returned the obviously unopened bucket for a refund. Well, paint is expensive so this trick makes some dishonest sense, but how about the guy who returned a bag of topsoil. He had carefully cut a small hole in the bag, got the topsoil out, the refilled it with common clay dirt, all that trouble for a less than $5 bag of dirt.
KEH
KEH
warweapon762
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There has been individuals stealing the Lithium Ion internals from batteries and then returning the battery casings to my local HD (often with rocks or something wedged inside to replicate the weight). It's been going on for YEARS.
I assume they have been selling them back to knock off manufacturers (which is a rumor that has been circulating for awhile).
Unfortunately the idiots at customer service haven't been checking the returns to see if they have been messed with so they end up back on the floor or in the discount bins to be sold AGAIN.
I've basically resorted to buying batteries off Amazon because of it.
Corndoggeh
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This happens far more at HF, I knew, at the time, a manager that worked at the one on the other side of town and he would tell me how some people would try to buy a cheap toolbox and then stuff it with light items so that it didnt feel heavy (towels, sandpaper, etc). I've also encountered when I would shop there evidence of people attempting to stow away tools in other boxes or using the tools like a rental service.
DanielC99
Well-known member
Laugh out loud. My son called me early one morning, about 1:30 AM, because he had car trouble. I got up and was talking to him while taking a leak. Was half asleep. Dropped my iPhone in the toilet. Dammit! As soon as it hit the water I reached in and grabbed it, rinsed it off, shook it, dried it off with a towel. It is my work phone, would not cost me anything to get a new one.
Was 6 months ago, still using it today with no problems.
Darn, I can't believe I admitted that on the internet...
DanielC99
Well-known member
Sounds like the Amway charades from back in the 80's. Lost some good friends over that ****.
But I think your experience is even worse. Putting up pretense with stuff they bought just for the purpose of impressing folks, then taking it back to return it.
Yep, people ****!
toolmiser
Well-known member
I once worked at a Walmart, we had a manager take back a pine tree around the first of the year because it was dead. It had tinsel on it.
Socket Pounder
Well-known member
Right after 
there was a pallet at the local HD with a handwritten sign, customer returns old tools new boxes. They were marked down 15-20% off retail of the NEW tool price. So people got new tools for , put their old one in the box and returned it and HD is trying to sell them for a percentage off new tool price, lol. I couldn't decide who was the bigger scammer.
there was a pallet at the local HD with a handwritten sign, customer returns old tools new boxes. They were marked down 15-20% off retail of the NEW tool price. So people got new tools for , put their old one in the box and returned it and HD is trying to sell them for a percentage off new tool price, lol. I couldn't decide who was the bigger scammer.reader2580
Well-known member
Water filters I have purchased have had the filter itself shrink wrapped inside the box.
reader2580
Well-known member
One of the Home Depot stores locally has a note at the register to open any return that can be opened to verify the contents.
reader2580
Well-known member
The iPhone 7 is water resistant specifically so the phone is not damaged by dropping it in water. The phone should not need replacement other than the ick factor.
Nobody knows what the actual cost of manufacturing an iPhone 7 actually is, but best estimates are that manufacturing cost is $225.
donpauli2
Well-known member
I've had this happen at Menards also. It's like they don't check it when returned or someone from the store borrowed it. Bought a laminated floor saw that ended up showing blade wear and bent track piece. Only one left
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donpauli2
Well-known member
I had a father in law bought a half inch DEWALT corded drill to drill holes in retainer wall ties. Put tape around the chuck and plastic bag around drill and got a full day before it overheated. Took it back for a full refund. *******
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byoungblood
Well-known member
We had people "rent" stuff all the time when I worked at Radio Shack back in the day. You sold some things (radar detectors, FRS radios, telephone recorders) just knowing they'd come back.
Unfortunately we weren't authorized to discount anything for being open box and unless it was defective it couldn't be written off or sent back either. So you just had a bunch of inventory that had been opened and returned. Frustrating to say the least. About once a year they'd finally let stores round that stuff up and discount it, but it was aggravating to have people come in and be looking for something, and then decide not to purchase it because it had been opened and returned.
kctyphoon
Banned
I had something similar happen with my first m12 kit.. 2 old batteries inside, and it was the last one at hd cause it was a Black Friday deal 2 Christmas' ago.. got the date codes and the batteries were 2 years old.. brought it back, told the manager I wanted the set, but the batteries were an issue. He let me take 2 brand new batteries off the shelf. I was actually amazed..
Years ago I bought 5 quarts of Mobile1 synthetic oil. Brought it to an oil change place cause I'd always supply my own stuff.. manager called me in and showed me all 5 quarts had used oil inside.. I didn't even bring them back, I knew they'd never believe me..
Years ago I bought 5 quarts of Mobile1 synthetic oil. Brought it to an oil change place cause I'd always supply my own stuff.. manager called me in and showed me all 5 quarts had used oil inside.. I didn't even bring them back, I knew they'd never believe me..
Wakefield
Well-known member
This mentioned kind of return fraud,should on a dollar for dollar basis,be legally treated and prosecuted the same as shoplifting.If people were subject to and knew that there could be $ thousands of fines and/or prison time most of this **** would stop. At least from people who have gainful employment and status in society as homeowners.
Awhile back I bought wiper blades from walmart, the expensive ones as my truck doesnt work well with the cheaper ones. A month later I finally get around to changing them. Open the box and its two totally different types and not even the same side. I go back, receipt in hand and the lady just sighs and tells me no problem it happens all the time.
Another time I went to home depot and some shady **** people in the parking lot tried to get me to return stuff cause they didnt bring a drivers license?? WTF did you walk there on the hwy? Reminds me home cheapo pissed me off several times..I went to exchange a husky ratchet 2x now that didnt hold the sockets on and they gave me a hassle till I got a manager. **** says lifetime guaranteed right on the package. Whats the big deal with exchanging it? It wasnt abused either.
I worked for a computer store back in the day. People tried to return all kinds of items, thankfully the boxes have serial numbers on them. Good luck faking that one as the serial stickers need to match and many dont realize that. Plus when it says netgear on the box but the card is a linksys lol.
Another time I went to home depot and some shady **** people in the parking lot tried to get me to return stuff cause they didnt bring a drivers license?? WTF did you walk there on the hwy? Reminds me home cheapo pissed me off several times..I went to exchange a husky ratchet 2x now that didnt hold the sockets on and they gave me a hassle till I got a manager. **** says lifetime guaranteed right on the package. Whats the big deal with exchanging it? It wasnt abused either.
I worked for a computer store back in the day. People tried to return all kinds of items, thankfully the boxes have serial numbers on them. Good luck faking that one as the serial stickers need to match and many dont realize that. Plus when it says netgear on the box but the card is a linksys lol.
Once, at an office supply store, I purchased a cash register. When I got it home, I followed the directions on setting up the tax rate, etc. Then I unplugged it to take to the store I was going to use it at, and plugged it in, only to find out that none of that programming stuck. It was as if I had just taken it out of the box. I made sure I had put new energizers in it so the backup memory would stay in case of a power outage. I took it back and got another register, same make and model, and that one actually worked. WELL, some years later, I went to that same store to purchase another register like the one I had, (liked the model), and got it back to the new store location, and programmed it, and guess what! It was that same one I had returned years earlier! The idiot at the customer service desk that did my exchange years ago had simply put it back on the shelf! I had to go back to that store to return this register yet again, only to find out that there were no more of that particular model.
byoungblood
Well-known member
It is, it is just very hard to catch it. At my previously mentioned stint at RS, there was a return fraud ring that got broken up and several folks got hauled off to jail (including a couple of store employees) for grand theft. It came to light when a new district manager came in, and one of his first actions was to do an inventory at each store...with managers and employees from other stores assisting. This one store came up something like $30,000 short in inventory when that happened.
Usually when people are buying something new, putting their old, busted **** in there and taking it back for a refund, usually someone in the store is complicit in it, or the store isn't holding employees very accountable for following policy processing returns.
I bought a half gallon jug of car wash soap at wallmart for 8 bucks a couple years ago. A brand I always use. When I opened it the foil seal was missing and the soap was watered down. Probably 80 percent water. Who pulls this **** for 8 bucks?
1LargeDog
Well-known member
Why are the big box stores to blame? It's their customers doing the switch-er-roo.