Buyer beware of The Return Scam!
This isn’t really a new scam, but it is newer for the tech industry and it’s becoming more prevalent every day. The basics of the scam is that you buy a new high end tech toy (i.e. Table, Computer, etc.) and when your ready to unwrap and play with your great new device it’s a fake, dud, or maybe not even in the box.
What appears to be happening is that some very unworthy people are buying devices, taking them out and keeping them (or selling them to someone else for profit) and then returning the original wrapping / container for a full refund. The retail stores are then putting them back on the shelf and reselling them, in-which others then buy. These people / criminals are even going to the extent of putting in fake versions of the devices or re-shrink wrapping them so they look like they were never opened. Unfortunately the end buyer then has to take up the issue with the retail store and try to prove that they didn’t take the original device and that they bought it that way from the store. It also normally takes a lot to get the retail store to admit that they were originally had by the scammer and put the returned item back for sale.
For the purpose of this writing we are going to assume that everyone reading this agrees that the scammer is a low life thief, and not worth anymore time typing about. Our big issues is with the retail stores that are somewhat helping the scammer get away with it. If I’m buying a new high end gadget, that is very expensive, I expect that device to have come from the factory and sold to me only. Not to have been sold, returned, and then resold….. Even if it looks like it hasn’t been opened. Scamming aside, what if it was dropped after purchase, or left out in a hot car, etc…. Even these things can cause damage.
Retail stores have to take returns. I get that! However they have different outlets for dealing with those returns. Some have the ability to return them to the manufacturer. Some have outlet stores. Some even sell their returns to companies that specifically resell returned items. At the least, they can mark the item as a returned item and offer either a discount or a warranty with the product. A great example of this is Fry’s Electronics. They take items back all the time. They open the packaging up, inspect it, mark it as a return (so everyone, including the next buyer knows it) and then place it back on the shelf with a small discount. But other retailers shouldn’t be putting returns straight back on the shelf to sell to an unknowing customer.
WHAT CAN YOU DO? This is a great question, and we have a few suggestions….
1. When ever possible buy directly from the factory or company that makes the product. An example of this is any Apple product. Why would you buy an Apple product from a Target, Walmart, or Best Buy, when you can buy it directly from an Apple store for the same price? They will know their products better and have less issues with returns than a general store that sells multiple companies products.
2. When possible, open up the product in the store to inspect it. No I don’t mean go around opening a bunch of boxes. What I mean is that if the store allows it within their policies, open only the one you intend to buy. If its not a store that would allow this, open it up and inspect it as soon as possible. The less time between purchase and finding an issue, the less issues you will have if there is a problem.
3. Always inspect the packaging of the item you intend to purchase. If the shrink wrap, box, container, plastic security tab, or any thing doesn’t look right, pick out another one on the shelf. Each one on the shelf should look identical, and if one stands out for any reason, don’t purchase that one.
At the end of the day retail stores are not trying to sell products that aren’t worthy of sale, but they should have better systems in place to track and stop return situations like these. As consumers, we need to be aware of these situations and do what we can to protect ourselves when possible.
Recent related article: CNN
Jason Thomas
J&J Computers
