Who does this ****?

[Jimmy_B]

Picked up a versa tool ( I think that's what they're called) from HD the other night. I got home from work yesterday and start preparing to install my hardwood flooring. I knew I'd need this tool right away, so I unpacked it and put the battery on the charger. Twenty minutes later it wasn't charging at all. I notice the battery looked well abused, as well as the tool.

HD was good about it and gave me 10% off for the hassle, but I would rather have skipped that part and worked on my flooring last night instead of dealing with some loser's way of saving a buck. It would never cross my mind to carefully re-package a used tool and return it.

I feel like someone owes me a couple hours of my life back.



Has this happened to others? Is this type of theft common?

 

[cburnscrx]

Yep, it's common. I even know people who joke about the Walmart tool rental. When I asked what's that, I was told when you use the tool then return it to Walmart. I think that's pretty....well, you know.

I can also tell you I visually inspect everything I buy to make sure the packaging hasn't been tampered with at all, even retaped.

Anyway, as a former retail manager, this type of stuff happens all the time. It's sad really...

 

[Tim The Tool Man]

All the time unfortunately! I even purchased a can of what I thought was white trim paint only to find out it was purple when I opened the can!

I am one of those guys that totally opens the box before I buy the tool or light fixture, and I don't really care about the dirty looks I get.

 

[dave*99]

I bought a bathroom fan from Lowe's and installed it. Went back and bought another one of the same model for the other bathroom. Noticed the second unit was twice the size of the first. Some low life had returned the first unit I bought with a cheap $30 fan in the $80 box. I had to uninstall and replace the first unit. The store replaced the unit.

 

[purplezr2]

I have had this happen on alot of stuff purchase from alot of places, impact gun from amazon that was used different model. Used CV axle that was not even from the right car from Oreily auto parts. Used boots from a sporting goods store.

 

[70R]

Years ago I had a friend that proudly told me how he bought a new VCR, removed it from the bottom of the box, inserted his broken old one, sealed it and returned it as if it had never been opened.

He was surprised when I told him that sucked. Not only is he ripping off the store, but he's also ruining someone else's day. I just picture a dad opening up a gift from his wife and kids on Christmas day...

This whole country needs to raise the bar on the morality front!

 

[Haywood]

Sure, 15 years ago when TV/DVD players were a new thing in cars we sold an all in one floor console for minivans. People were buying the things, 10 days later bring them back for a refund. Found out from the manufacturer after calling them when a couple came back they had a huge problem with people buying them before a vacation and returning them when they came back. Ended up dropping the whole product line because of all the return issues.

 

[CNGsaves]

There's been worse cases on TV lately where tool or item in box isn't there at all . . . . instead they've returned item to get "their money" and substituted brick, sand, or some other heavy item in lieu of the original contents!!

Tim The Toolman is right to open up stuff at store if worried contents might not all be there or shady.

SAP VP and his wife caught in scam ripping off Target by buying expensive Lego sets by creating his own barcode that reduced price from say $140 to $16 and he zipped right through the checkout line!! Cops found whole stockpile of Lego boxes at his house and Ebay/CL accounts that had done over $30,000 in sales !!

See at:
http://www.slashgear.com/sap-vp-arrested-over-lego-scam-at-target-23229502/
http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/VP-of-Palo-Altos-SAP-Arrested-in-Lego-Scam-152320475.html
http://www.sfexaminer.com/local/cri...lding-case-against-sf-man-suspected-lego-scam

 

[ffjosh]

People who claim everything on insurance pisses me off as well.

My phone got "stolen" AKA I lost it.

Insurance!

 

[info2x]

People **** plain and simple.

Bought some premixed grout (small touch up kind of job), found one of the containers was only 3/4 full. It's a 9 dollar tub and that was too much for some douche nozzle.

 

[justsam]

I agree this is certainly a moral issue, and as morals decline this type of thing becomes the norm, and considered "smart" behavior.

Knowing the state of morality, I do blame the stores at times for being too liberal on returns. They need to confirm what the issue is and deal with it. Yes it will mean angry customers, and perhaps longer lines. Do you really want these customers who cheat anyway?

Returns should be treated as "B" stock, reduced in price accordingly.

All of this is just factored in as a "cost of doing business" which of course raises the price of goods for all of us.

 

[KEH]

At least the scams posted above involed a significant amount of money. Daughter worked in a Lowes when in college. Someone returned a $2.00(at the time) bag of topsoil that they had removed the topsoil from and filled it with red dirt. They burned gas to and from the store to do this. Economic and moral stupidity.

Another scam that made a little more economic sense was to buy a five gallon bucket of paint, drill a small hole in the bottom, get the paint out, refill with water, seal the hole, return the bucket for a refund.

There has always been a crooked element. I heard this story from the Depression: Used model A Fords were cheap, like $20 or so. Someone would get an A model, insure the car, buy a new set of tires, go home, take the tires off, put old ones on, drive to a remote area, burn the car, collect insurance, have a new set of tires free.

KEH

 

[Toolfool]

My FIL's buddy takes pride in this type of thing. He buys something and returns his old one in the new box. He buys tools to do work on his house then returns them. When he needs some nails or screws and the packaged quantity at HD is more than he needs, he just opens the box and pockets what he needs, claiming "I spend a lot of money here, I deserve special privileges". He has even purchased 8' studs, gone back to HD an hour later claiming he wants to exchange them for straighter ones, load his cart with 12' studs and wave to the cashier on the way out. He has done the insurance fraud thing too. All his buddies just laugh, they think he's hilarious. I think he's costing all of us a lot of money.

 

[Train]

We all love the places that have a no hassle return policy, but I guess there's a price to be paid sometimes. I always try to look and make sure the box is unopened but in a lot of cases you can't tell. I also returned a set of car dollies one time because they bent as soon as we used them. I just shoved everything back in the box including all the little plastic bags the hardware came in. But, when I closed up the box, it looked like it did when it came off the shelf. What do you think the chances are that it got put back into stock, even though it was returned defective?

 

[21411]

along with the petty side. once i was talking with the plumbing aisle guy, and customer service brought back a used fitting. i mean 20 years in service soldered on gunked up fitting. they took it back. thank fully he just threw it out.

also a buddy was working at walmart and they take back bikes that have been spray painted. he just thought that was hilarious.

 

[mmack66]

I have had this happen on alot of stuff purchase from alot of places, impact gun from amazon that was used different model. Used CV axle that was not even from the right car from Oreily auto parts. Used boots from a sporting goods store.

How did you end up with used boots?

 

[Toomanytools?]

My FIL's buddy takes pride in this type of thing. He buys something and returns his old one in the new box. He buys tools to do work on his house then returns them. When he needs some nails or screws and the packaged quantity at HD is more than he needs, he just opens the box and pockets what he needs, claiming "I spend a lot of money here, I deserve special privileges". He has even purchased 8' studs, gone back to HD an hour later claiming he wants to exchange them for straighter ones, load his cart with 12' studs and wave to the cashier on the way out. He has done the insurance fraud thing too. All his buddies just laugh, they think he's hilarious. I think he's costing all of us a lot of money.

Someone needs to beat that guy upside his head. Returns can cripple a business it's unfortunate. Silly stupid people in the world.

 

[supra90turbo]

All of this can be fixed by hiring competent people, and admitting that the customer can and will be wrong.

I work in a Dealership and we occasionally get a starter or alternator repackaged so well, it's not questionable from the outside, but inside, it's a junk core.

 

[Norcal]

Those people need 500 lashes.

 

[malibu101]

All the time unfortunately! I even purchased a can of what I thought was white trim paint only to find out it was purple when I opened the can!

I am one of those guys that totally opens the box before I buy the tool or light fixture, and I don't really care about the dirty looks I get.

I have seen paint that is purple in the can and when wet. It dries white.
It is supposed to be so you can see if you missed any spots when painting white over white

EDIT- Like this- http://www.valsparpaint.com/en/find...int/ultra-premium-color-changing-ceiling.html

 

[kuhner]

I buy Motorcraft oil filters for my vehicles. I look at them before I buy them now, someone took the motocraft filter out of the box and switched with a generic.

 

[NewShockerGuy]

I think a lot of stores don't check stuff.. For example. I bought LED bulbs at lowes. It was the two post bulb can't remember the name par 35 or 38?... anyways.

There were 4 leds in the bulb with a magnifier.. I could tell that one led wasn't on so I took it back and said one of the LEDS does not light up.. Being 30 bucks a bulb I wasn't going to settle for that. They said ok and I exchanged it for a new one. I go back to the store a week later and see the same bulb I returned on the shelf taped up and being sold as NEW.... I KNEW this was my bulb because they way I cut the packaging it looked like I used a chainsaw with how it was glued together, on top of that I used a little sharpie mark on the bottom edge of the bulb on the prong. For some reason I always mark things that are bad or defective. Sure enough my little "tick" mark was there....

I've returned stuff to the big box stores that are hundreds of dollars and they don't even open the box to see if something is there, and I've returned stuff that was 6 dollars and they open it and look at it with a microscope almost..lol I really think it's a hit or miss on what they check... I've also purchased things and they have infact looked like they were opened before.

-Nigel

 

[malibu101]

I buy Motorcraft oil filters for my vehicles. I look at them before I buy them now, someone took the motocraft filter out of the box and switched with a generic.

X2.
Same experience. AC Delco box with a store brand filter. I check too.

 

[R6 Racer]

A lady I know owns a high end ladies clothing store. Dresses in the $1,500.00 to $10,000.00 range & like. She has a constant problem with people trying to return a dress a couple of days later after wearing it. She said it was from people wanting a piece of custom designer clothing for a "special" occasion, wearing it & returning it afterwards. Her policy now is, if the tags are removed, the item is not returnable. Some people were even buying the special guns that retailers have & using new tag hangers (the thin pieces of plastic used to hang the tags off the garments) to install her tags back on the garment. She even had to go as far as using custom made plastic tag hangers that were only available to her from the manufacturer.
These were supposedly "high society" people who had way more than enough money to buy the item but still felt the need to get something for free.
She has even had to ban certain people from her store because they would continuously try to do this.
Morality seems to be almost completely lost nowadays. It's almost to the point of being scary to think about where we are heading as a society!

Steve

 

[tube_guy]

People **** plain and simple.

Ah....Now that right there is the root of the problem.

 

[pudgybear]

Back years ago when i was in college and worked at SEARS we had a small general contractor who would buy a tool and come back a couple of days later - walk up to the stack of tools he just bought earlier take one and his reciept go to the counter and ask for a refund, so he got his money and the tool for free, and then if it was a hand tool he could destroy it and return it for a new tool.......

 

[lowcountrygamecock]

I noticed a sign in the return line of my local lowes the other day reminding the sales associates to check the items being returned for signs of use. It spelled out what to look for and included pictures. I laughed out loud because one of the pictures of items they were not supposed to accept for a return was a dewalt tool case filled with rocks. Makes you wonder but in reality it's only on there because some thief has tried to do it.

 

[JohnK007]

This whole country needs to raise the bar on the morality front!

This sums it up pretty well I think!

 

[Bugeyed Earl]

Years ago, I worked in a company that repaired & sold copier & printer parts to field service companies (mostly via mail order.) Part of my job involved evaluating return/warranty claims and we'd actually require a detailed explanation of the failure, which we would use to determine whether or not to issue credit. If the explanation simply said "bad" and the part was ok, no credit for you!

We also repaired electronic p.c. boards and stamped them with UV fluorescing paint (which was invisible until you shine the UV hand lamp on it.) No stamp, no credit. Customers had to work awfully hard to rip us off.

 

[cburnscrx]

All of this can be fixed by hiring competent people, and admitting that the customer can and will be wrong.

I work in a Dealership and we occasionally get a starter or alternator repackaged so well, it's not questionable from the outside, but inside, it's a junk core.

As a former retail manager...good luck with that.

In truth most companies are WAY more concerned with internal shrinkage.

 

[cburnscrx]

A lady I know owns a high end ladies clothing store. Dresses in the $1,500.00 to $10,000.00 range & like. She has a constant problem with people trying to return a dress a couple of days later after wearing it. She said it was from people wanting a piece of custom designer clothing for a "special" occasion, wearing it & returning it afterwards. Her policy now is, if the tags are removed, the item is not returnable. Some people were even buying the special guns that retailers have & using new tag hangers (the thin pieces of plastic used to hang the tags off the garments) to install her tags back on the garment. She even had to go as far as using custom made plastic tag hangers that were only available to her from the manufacturer.
These were supposedly "high society" people who had way more than enough money to buy the item but still felt the need to get something for free.
She has even had to ban certain people from her store because they would continuously try to do this.
Morality seems to be almost completely lost nowadays. It's almost to the point of being scary to think about where we are heading as a society!

Steve

I used to work at a higher end retail store (outdoor mall), and things got so bad there we changed the dressing room carpet to carpet tiles. Why you ask? Because apparently the bathroom across the street (less than 30 yards), was just too far to walk. For us it was easier just to replace the carpet tile than call somebody in to steam clean all the time. Oh, and we didn't exactly stock toilet paper in the dressing rooms, so they had to use something...

 

[cburnscrx]

I noticed a sign in the return line of my local lowes the other day reminding the sales associates to check the items being returned for signs of use. It spelled out what to look for and included pictures. I laughed out loud because one of the pictures of items they were not supposed to accept for a return was a dewalt tool case filled with rocks. Makes you wonder but in reality it's only on there because some thief has tried to do it.

And because the person behind the counter missed it...

 

[mrodgers]

But, when I closed up the box, it looked like it did when it came off the shelf. What do you think the chances are that it got put back into stock, even though it was returned defective?

100% chance.

along with the petty side. once i was talking with the plumbing aisle guy, and customer service brought back a used fitting. i mean 20 years in service soldered on gunked up fitting. they took it back. thank fully he just threw it out.

My wife works at Lowes. She has people doing this on an almost daily basis. She had someone return some piece of yard equipment (mower, tiller, can't remember now.) It was years old, very dirty, very rusty, and very well used. Returned for a complete refund.

All of this can be fixed by hiring competent management, and admitting that the customer can and will be wrong.

Fixed that for you. Don't be calling my wife incompetent when she has management coming to rectify the screaming lunatic swearing at her because she won't refund a 10 year old mower telling her, "Just refund it for him..." and walking away.

 

[rickyboy]

Years ago I had a friend that proudly told me how he bought a new VCR, removed it from the bottom of the box, inserted his broken old one, sealed it and returned it as if it had never been opened.

He was surprised when I told him that sucked. Not only is he ripping off the store, but he's also ruining someone else's day. I just picture a dad opening up a gift from his wife and kids on Christmas day...

This whole country needs to raise the bar on the morality front!

I agree this is certainly a moral issue, and as morals decline this type of thing becomes the norm, and considered "smart" behavior.

Knowing the state of morality, I do blame the stores at times for being too liberal on returns. They need to confirm what the issue is and deal with it. Yes it will mean angry customers, and perhaps longer lines. Do you really want these customers who cheat anyway?

Returns should be treated as "B" stock, reduced in price accordingly.

All of this is just factored in as a "cost of doing business" which of course raises the price of goods for all of us.

I was about to say the same thing, and I I'm sure there are other posts similar to these/mine, and I haven't read all the posts yet.
But people wonder why our prices on items go up so much,.... this is one of the reasons. Our auto insurance is another good example where people are ripping us off. Why is it, do you think, that here in BC Canada you can only buy a $200. deductible on glass/windshield {which I just had to do} Because people would take a baseball bat and smash their windscreens to get that small chip replaced. We all end up paying the cost for these idiots no matter if it's a small or a big ticket item. I had a father-in-law who would buy a pair of western boots, wear the **** out of them and then rtn them saying they hurt his feet or something lame.
And the cycle continues and prices keep going up. Granted price hikes aren't only because of this abuse. There are greedy company's out there running on the supply and demand principal and not a fair market price.
I'm just say'in.

 

[cburnscrx]

Fixed that for you. Don't be calling my wife incompetent when she has management coming to rectify the screaming lunatic swearing at her because she won't refund a 10 year old mower telling her, "Just refund it for him..." and walking away.

It's just the cost of doing business. That directive is coming from corporate. I've never had a regional/district manager question why I did take something back, but I have had them question why I didn't. It's all about P&L. If it becomes enough of a loss, they'll deal with it, until then just keep taking it back and keeping those pesky customers out of corporates hair.

I don't necessarily like it, but that's the reality of the situation.

 

[rr361]

I've seen the store do this folks too. A few years ago I returned a Dremel Multi Max to Home Depot because it got so hot you could not hold it. I told them it was defective. A week later I'm back in the store and there it is for sale again. Same one. Still has my tape on it where I packaged it back up. Looking back I should have taken it up front and told the manager. Of course he might have been the one who had them resell it.

 

[mikegt4]

A lady I know owns a high end ladies clothing store. Dresses in the $1,500.00 to $10,000.00 range & like. She has a constant problem with people trying to return a dress a couple of days later after wearing it. She said it was from people wanting a piece of custom designer clothing for a "special" occasion, wearing it & returning it afterwards.
These were supposedly "high society" people who had way more than enough money to buy the item but still felt the need to get something for free.


Steve

I had a female college professor (accounting class) that was quite proud of following that philosophy. A "I am special" and those losers (the store) could afford it. She didn't care if the rest of us had to pay a higher price to make up for the loss, she got it for free!

 

[mmack66]

I've seen the store do this folks too. A few years ago I returned a Dremel Multi Max to Home Depot because it got so hot you could not hold it. I told them it was defective. A week later I'm back in the store and there it is for sale again. Same one. Still has my tape on it where I packaged it back up. Looking back I should have taken it up front and told the manager. Of course he might have been the one who had them resell it.

Whenever I have returned something at Home Depot, they just put it in a cart that is marked for whatever department it came from, and every so often an employee will take the cart and restock it all. Walmart does that as well.

 

[imok]

I bought 2 quarts of Blue Bell ice cream. When got home and opened one I could see the spoon marks where someone ate almost 1/4 of the contents and put it back in the cooler. I guess they got hungry while shopping.

 

[Squeeker]

Several times I've found the small packets of screws/nuts/washers have had one poked through and taken.
Can't be bothered to buy three or four when they only needed one.