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CompUSA sells man empty camera box; won't issue refund

lostremote.com — This TV news consultant bought at $270ish digital camera from a CompUSA clearance -- but only gets an empty box. A staffer blamed the buyer! "It ’s not just 'buyer beware,' it’s 'don’t be a buyer.'

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  • DrMatt, on 10/11/2007, -19/+222Ummm... Why didn't he notice the weight of the box? Shouldn't it have been VERY light?
    • 13tongimp, on 10/11/2007, -101/+39Yeah, he bought this at a liquidation sale and didn't bother to check in the box. His dumb mistake. Yeah, Comp USA is a big company and everyone on Digg loves to complain when the little guy gets screwed, but this guy isn't that little and should have been smart enough to check the box. If you buy anything at a liquidation sale and don't check to see what is in the box, it is your dumb fault for being stupid.

      Sorry people, but this guy is just a rich cry baby.
    • hndgns4hrts, on 10/11/2007, -9/+127This isn't the first time it has been done, back in my days at CompUSSR we sold a empty office box (an honest mistake), and our GM would not allow us to refund the guys 130 $ instead offered him 10% of a new copy.

      Needless to say the guy returned 2-3k worth of stuff, and a hefty service plan.

      CompUSSR is a ***** company, to deal with in anyway, customer or employee stand point.
    • nogami, on 10/11/2007, -10/+144Is it the guy's responsibility when buying a camera from a store to ensure that the camera is actually IN the box they give him? No. That's the store's responsibility, and even more important on open-box clearance items.

      Clearance or not, the store doesn't have a leg to stand on. The purchase contract is for a product of a camera, not an empty box. The merchant is responsible for holding-up their end of the contract. No camera = no contract = money back.

      If taken small claims court, he'll win without a doubt. In the meantime, CompUSA will be getting tons of bad PR about it. Any bets on how fast they fold?

      N.
    • Sino, on 10/11/2007, -57/+14In Soviet Russia, Camera Screws You!
    • sockpuppets, on 10/11/2007, -4/+155Quick, put the box on eBay. I'm sure someone will give him $270 for it if he words it properly.
    • thatsmyaibo, on 10/11/2007, -8/+94I went to Japan in 2001 for a couple of months and bought a Sony printer that printed on wallet sized photo paper. Anywho, when I brought it back to the place i was staying, everything but the printer was in it. With instructions, cartridges and so forth in there, the weight seemed ok. I took it back the next day and they said for my troubles, they would give me 2 in and photo paper replacement packages. That's customer service and the Japanese folks were much more apologetic and reasonable. Night and day to American retail.
    • arcooke, on 10/11/2007, -48/+16I went to 2 CompUSA stores being shut down a few weeks ago and bought a whole bunch of crap for cheap.. there's signs posted EVERYWHERE saying there are absolutely no refunds. If this guy was stupid enough to buy a cardboard box without realizing it weighed next to nothing, he deserves what happened. Why should they make an exception for him? It's not their fault the box was empty, someone probably stole it. If you have been to one of these CompUSA stores getting shut down, you'd see there's literally no security. When I went (to two different stores), the only security they had was a cop by the front door to make sure nobody tried to run out with a TV or something. No cameras, no security tags that beep on the way out, nothing. They were even selling the store's office furniture (the stuff the employees used). Maybe next time he'll check what he's buying.
    • Tankslap, on 10/11/2007, -10/+93The box was clearly mislabeled. It should have said Duke Nukem Forever in bold print.
    • st0nes, on 10/11/2007, -5/+81He bought a bunch of other stuff as well ($3500 dollars worth), so amongst all the other boxes he might not have noticed that one was lighter than it should have been. He should get his money back.
    • AriaStar, on 10/11/2007, -21/+54@ nogami:

      How the hell do you know that the guy didn't take the camera out of the box and then complain? If CompUSA and every other company out there were to just refund every buyer who said that "the box was empty" to try to be nice guys and err on the side of caution, then you'd have the problem of people buying stuff, taking it out, and trying to get money back.

      On top of that, a liquidation company sold the camera. CompUSA would have sold the stock they were getting rid of to the liquidation company, and the liquidation company then sold it. He needs to take his complaint to the liquidation company. CompUSA is in the clear on this one.
    • gimianame, on 10/11/2007, -5/+21I bought a music cd from best buy - new and in the wrapper - I open it up and nothing was inside...brought it back to weird looks, but I ended up with an exchange. Even if the guy did return an empty box and take the camera, the store is still in no position to judge his character and accuse him of fraud unless proven otherwise.
    • ionbattle, on 10/11/2007, -11/+3@tankslap
      boo.
    • ryogahibiki, on 10/11/2007, -1/+31A similar incident happened a Best Buy last year when a man bought a $1600 camera and inside was a jar of spaghetti sauce!

      http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/retail/2006-11-27-pasta-camcorder_x.htm
    • Rhino2, on 10/11/2007, -7/+21
      Mmmm, sixteen hundred dollar spaghetti sauce. That stuff is WAY better then olive garden.

    • subxero37, on 10/11/2007, -4/+12@Sino: Weird, 'cause I don't ever remember screwing cameras in America...
    • BeyondGoodNEvil, on 10/11/2007, -19/+13I bought a camera once, brand new, took the camera out out of the box, and then noticed there wasn't a camera in the box any more. I went to get a refund at the store, but they didn't refund me, so I posted the story on muh blog.
    • GawtMilk, on 10/11/2007, -10/+16CompUSA recieves complaint from man claiming a liquidation company sold him an item that used to be CompUSA's, but it turned out to just be a box.

      1) Talk to the liquidation company?
      2) Any proof of this?
      3) Didn't the box feel a little light?
    • hungryJonJon, on 10/11/2007, -22/+9I call shenanigans on this whole story, who the hell buys $3,500 from a big box store? A scammer, that's who.

      Buying everything and returning it costs him nothing and is used to try to make the story credible. "He bought $3,500 of stuff, he couldn't be lying!"
    • NearlyHeadless, on 10/11/2007, -5/+15"Buying everything and returning it costs him nothing and is used to try to make the story credible."

      He didn't return any of the items he bought.
    • jaxcs, on 10/11/2007, -3/+5@ 13tongimp

      Your comment and scorn would make sense to me if compusa was in the habit or business of selling empty boxes. Even in a clearance section, people usually expect there to actually be stuff inside the boxes. I have never heard of a box being sold for 200+ dollars except for scamers on eBay
    • roosterjm2k2, on 10/11/2007, -7/+42Actually, buying alot of items and wrongfully returning something does, in fact, happen alot. Its easier to get a store to budge on a return if they risk losing high-dollar sales over it.

      First, let me get something out here... CompUSA isnt a bad company at all. Maybe the store that ome of you worked at that say they are terrible just had a bad manager? I worked there for 2 years...not a complaint at all other than constantly being told to sell more warranty *****, but thats almost any retail these days. I didnt (ok, there is going to be alot of words lacking apostrophes ... ***** firefox quicksearch bug) usually attach more than 2% (thats usually about how many people ASK for it...i never offered it) and even though the requirement was like 15%, i never got a written notice or any "official" warning. Not only that, but our store consistantly got the highest ratings in the region for customer satisfaction...and I cant honestly think of a single "corporate" issue that ever caused a fuss (other than the fact that they rape on profit margin for ram...but, again, common in retail)

      Aside from that, I know for a fact that people try this. In 2 years, i seen this same claim 3 times are items -I- sold. Once was a copy of office 2000 with the microsoft seal on teh box still ... he claimed the box was empty ... if he had just taken the CD out, he might of gotten it, but he took the manual out as well...and 2000 had the heavy manual still ... i personally went to the lockup to grab the box for him, and i KNOW it wasnt empty. The 2 others were both electronics. 1 was a first-gen IPOD ... again, when I sold anything in boxes without seals on them (Apple is the worst about not actually sealing a box...i think they want stores to be able to show off their product...i dunno), but i checked it. This particular case i know for sure that I checked the box because i remember the guy actually reachign into the box while i was opening it to grab it to check it himself.... like 3 days later he came back, while he was making his claim I walked up and he went into the "you know what...i dont need to talk to you...im just going to call corporate." he never did.

      The last one, of all things, was, and this is the best, a sony camera (the ones that had the floppy drive built in ... hot ***** at the time) ... he bought one one day..came back like 4 hours later. Not only did the serial # on the box not match either the one I had wrote down when i checked it out of the lockup, but it didnt match the one that the register scanned either. Top it off with the fact that the serial DID match a number that was stolen and missing on inventory like 2 weeks before. What makes this story ever sweeter was that when we noticed the serial, we quietly called the police. They arrested him for possession of stolen property, and based on a complaint that was filed against him from best buy like 3 days earlier for trying to return a stolen video card, they got a warrant for his house and found like $250,000 worth of stolen stuff. Not only that, but he documented all his buy & switch (steal one, buy one, return stolen one as empty or put weight in the box and seal it back up ...) stuff so when they looked at his computer, they realized that this guy was making a really nice living off of stealing...and somehow managed to work on it for over a year and not get caught....

      Im not saying this guy is scamming anyone. But if stores just took you for your word, it wouldnt take long for them to be out of business. Sometimes you just have to face that fact that ***** happens to everyone, and youre going to get bit in the ass every once in a while.
    • SolipsistD, on 10/11/2007, -1/+7It surprising how much you can get for an empty box on eBay .... £42.00

      As it happens I saw this auction earlier today,
      http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Canon-Speedlite-430EX-Empty-Box-Exc-Mint_W0QQitemZ190115691179QQihZ009QQcategoryZ30033QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

      ...suspect the buyer didn't read the add very carefully (or at all).
    • mkriss5681, on 10/11/2007, -5/+4It said he bought $3500 worth of merchandise from CompUSA. He probably didn't check the boxes until he got home.
    • Cerebral, on 10/11/2007, -4/+11@rooster
      You are absolutely correct on everything you stated. I worked at two different CompUSA stores over the course of 4 years and I was the Customer Service return guy.

      You all would be surprised as to just how easy it is to get the store to take a hit on their "shrink" numbers in order to keep customers from "calling corporate". Calling corporate was the threat to end all arguments and generally the customer would win no matter what the case. The reason is that if a customer called corporate on your store for whatever reason all management lost $$ on bonuses starting with the GM and would trickle down from there. The GM almost never made his bonus on having the .25% shrink number (usually around .4%) so they would gladly take a hit there. Not only that but they could easily doctor those numbers to not reflect true shrink numbers by placing items in RMA and let them sit there for months and then take them off the shrink number on a month when they were lower.

      The worst case was when Microsoft moved to the blister packaging for the XP and office 2003 product and someone had taken the package home, opened the blister pack by attempting to slyly unmeld (unmelt?) the plastic around the outsides, took out the disk only and brought it back claiming the box was opened when he got it and the disk was not inside. Well the customer used the "corporate" excuse and the manager on duty took the item back! Needless to say it almost cost CompUSA the loss of a long time employee (over 10 years) because of the fact that Comp did not side with it's employee on this also considering how rude the customer was to the employee.

      There is a lot of scum out there that love to target big box stores because they will bend over backwards when they feel that they may lose some bonus $. The sad part is that just like DRM, the honest customers are the ones who suffer when it comes to honest mistakes, errors and returns. I would say that the biggest thing that we ran into that ***** us off is the "rental" customers. Since our store was the closest to the airport we would have lots of business people who would be in town for a meeting and forget _________ so they would come purchase it at our store and return in a couple days before they went back or even later that day. For non business people it was the people who need to do ONE thing and they don't have the thing they need so they would come purchase it, do the thing they needed to do and then bring it back. You could always spot out these people because they would actually ask you questions and you could pick out what it was they needed to do. Needless to say but those two types of people are the reason why you have a 15% restocking fee on opened items. I personally never charged the fee to legitimate people but to those that I sold anything to that I felt was going to be a rental, I warned them up front about the fee and was sure to note it on the receipt to charge them the fee.

      and not that I don't side with this customer (as hard as it is) but I have seen cases where a camera is sold (open box) and either a different camera was in the box or there was an empty box. No matter which the situation was, we always had the camera that SHOULD have been in the box and swapped with the customer. I'm sorry but I smell a rat here.
    • aragon127, on 10/11/2007, -2/+10A similar thing happened to me at Compusa. I bought a video card, the last Voodox model they made if I remember correctly. When I got it home I noticed it was actually a cheap 16mb card in the $200 Voodoo box. They couldn't take it back because the CS reps couldn't figure out how to code it. I ended up processing a chargeback on the credit card for it.
    • navghtivs, on 10/11/2007, -2/+7Similar thing happened to me in WalMart years ago: bought a 30GB HD, found it's a used 1GB HD inside, the manager baffled and argued and scolded and tried everything when I wanted to return it, eventually after many minutes she let me return it, and I never went to Walmart after that.
    • user777, on 10/11/2007, -3/+4I'm for the big company on this one. An empty box is difficult to miss. Stores need a solid policy on these kind of things, otherwise, they'd run over by people trying to cheat the system. Chances that they really do sell an empty box is
    • user777, on 10/11/2007, -3/+4a lot less than one. Chances that people would recognize an empty box is i suppose, more than 50%. Chances that people are evil and capable of trying to scam the big company for this kind of thing is also a lot more than that.
    • ventralnet, on 10/11/2007, -2/+9@drmatt

      Not necessarily, i mean with some of the cameras today, the packaging materials will weigh more than the unit.
    • EmailAddress, on 10/11/2007, -11/+1CompUSA blows.

      Additionally that guy is a cheap ass. He spent $3500 at CrapUSA that day, he should have gone to a well established store, which wasn't running a GOING OUT OF BUSINESS LIQUIDATION SALE, and bought the camera at regular price.

      Good luck trying to prove you didn't remove the camera at home...

      If however he is successful.......................... "WTF MAN!!! this PS3 box was empty when I opened the box at home!"
    • hppyfngy, on 10/11/2007, -1/+7In a hurry, I once bought a flat screen monitor from CCity only to find an equally heavy piece of particle board inside days later. I totally freaked but they were cool about it and gave me another, which of course I opened before leaving the store...

      Have to admit it took some cojones for the thief to return that piece of particle board for a refund, unless it disappeared from the stock room..
    • mike17032, on 10/11/2007, -1/+6Depends, a lot of hand held things are very light.

      I got an "open box" (though it was sealed back up) ipod from Best Buy that was really just an open box a few years ago. They didnt give me any trouble about returning it for a refund though.
    • therightside, on 10/11/2007, -5/+1@ cerebral- you do realize .4% is bigger than .25%? even tho there are less numbers?

      I once bought a sony cd rom from best buy got home and it was some knock off brand piece of crap in the box. so this stuff does happen.
    • butterpat, on 10/11/2007, -3/+1If you have a second, send CompUSA a note, telling them what you think of their customer support -

      http://www.compusa.com/help/contact/contact.asp?type=sales_support
    • saferwaters, on 10/11/2007, -2/+2Best line in that pasta sauce/camcorder article:

      "Sony Electronics said it had a record of the incident. The company said it had not fielded any other complaints about pasta sauce being discovered in place of cameras."
    • EarlOfLade, on 10/11/2007, -8/+1This is an "Only in America" thingy again.

      Thank $DEITY that other 1st world countries have decent consumer protection and are not the victims of consumer extortion as we see here in USA. But I guess Americans love to be cheated, have to pay extortion prices and what not, at least it seems so because you guys don;t want anything to be done. You love to be a consumer with no rights, damn you guys are dumb!
    • adolfojp, on 10/11/2007, -2/+7@drmatt (#7001149)

      My camera is very light and it came in a box with a heavy manual, some CDs, some Styrofoam, etc. There is virtually no way of telling if the camera is in the box or not without opening it.
    • KingBabi, on 10/11/2007, -4/+7No, I have to say that American retail and service in general is head and shoulders above everything else. Here in France when something like that happens, they'd refuse to admit their mistake, and then make you pay an additional 270 just for existing.
      Seriously though, I can't tell you how many times they're messed up an order at a restaurant and the refuse to admit it, no matter what.
      In the states, when they make a mistake, they usually give me one to replace it and make them both on the house, no convincing needed.
      You guys have it good.
    • VinceNoir, on 10/11/2007, -3/+2I've gotten more than my fair share of modern gadgets that are light enough to make one think that the box is empty. I don't see why a camera wouldn't possibly be that way.
    • LordBen, on 10/11/2007, -0/+4People are missing that this was bought from one of the stores being liquidated. Compusa no longer owns the store this was bought at thats why they're refusing to help him. On the other hand the store still has their branding all over the place, but the fact remains compusa did not sell him it...

      if this guy sues compusa he will get nothing as compusa did not sell him the empty box the liquidator did. He needs to sue the liquidator for false advertising... i would agree no returns, but when you buy something you expect to get what your buying if it was broken i would say tough luck on the guy.
    • onlyclave, on 10/11/2007, -1/+3I used to work at CompUSA as the "Customer Service Manager" (most ***** job I ever had) and I remember a case where a customer bought a Sony camera and came back to mea couple of hours later claiming we had given him the empty box. I had checked the camera out of lockup myself and I knew for a fact it was factory sealed with the Sony tape and there was a camera in that box.

      I refused to give him a refund and when he threated to call the corporate office on me I advised him that if he was in possesion of a box that had apparently had the camera stolen out of it then he was now part of a criminal investigation and I would need him to give a statement to the police as soon as they arrived at the store. He left very quickly without further incident.

      The retailers view the public the same way that the public views the retailers: crooks. It doesn't matter if the business is a $1M or $100M a year business, an unnecessary loss is just that and they shouldn't have to bend over for every asshole who claims they got "ripped off" by the retailer. If he was buying an open box camera then he has no excuse for not opening the already open box and checking for (among other things that should be in there) the camera.
    • humperdeath, on 10/11/2007, -1/+3to the 60 or so that Digg down on @13tongimp, ask yourself what would you do. Would you honestly buy something AT A LIQUIDATION sale, and clearly all sales are FINAL with big signs telling you such, you would buy a box withough openning it first? Hate to say it too, but this person screwed up. CompUSA, at this point has nothing to gain by refunding his money, so probably wont.
    • TehMasterer, on 10/11/2007, -1/+1that's y CompUSA is Best Buy's bitch!
    • mre5765, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1He paid with a credit card right? So tell the cc company he was defrauded and he won't have to pay.
    • Cerebral, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1@therightside
      Of course I know that .4 is larger than .25. In retail they want to aim for .25 (meaining lower % of missing goods) however the true number that is reflected is normally around .4 (meaning more missing goods than a .25). Since their "goal" is .25 they normally did not get any bonuses in the shrink area (hence what I said).

      Of course digg readers knew what I was talking about and thus you have been buried.
  • AmandaEmily, on 10/11/2007, -4/+30If its your typical small digital, the boxes are very light anyway - huge boxes of mostly packing material.
  • TheGambit, on 10/11/2007, -10/+45wow $269 for an empty camera box. The only thing more unbelievable than this was their response that they could not honor the exchange because it was his fault they sold him an empty box!

    I guess we know now why Comp USA is closing the 126 stores!
    • AriaStar, on 10/11/2007, -8/+19How do you know he didn't take the camera out of the box and try to exchange the empty box to get two cameras for the price of one?
    • Flytrap, on 10/11/2007, -9/+5The Guy spent $3,500 in the store for goodness sakes! Why would he want to risk his public reputation on a stunt like this. If I was in his shoes I'd also return everything...

      That's a $3,500 transaction lost simply because CompUSA chose to view this customer, who had spent several thousand dollars in store the previous day, as a criminal trying to defraud them of another camera.

      Sounds something like what the music industry (RIAA/Sony/...) is doing: Treat everyone that purchases your product as a potential music pirate and do everything you can to prevent them from doing so... and as with CompUSA, such customers begin to look for alternatives.

      Fly
    • roosterjm2k2, on 10/11/2007, -6/+11Flytrap, his purchase setup is a common retail scam though.

      You buy alot of stuff ($3500 worth in this case). You then buy something you want to steal.. relatively high dollar. Then, you can do just what he did, threaten to return everything if they dont refund your empty box. Then if they do refund you...you just go to another store of that chain on the same day, and return the rest of your unopened items. You spend alot initially because it gives you some weight to throw around to get the refund.

      Did he do this? Don't know...but you can't expect a store to act on blind faith.
    • Cerebral, on 10/11/2007, -0/+5Not only that but generally when they do the large purchases they will purchase the warranty as well and generally accept ANY addons you suggest to make it seem like you care. This will help their case when they try to come back. Plus stores HATE to return warranty and generally do ANYTHING to get out of doing it because so much rides on those damn things: bonuses, quotas, jobs, store rankings... the list goes on.
    • Oracle95, on 10/11/2007, -1/+12It's funny how everyone is trashing CompUSA. I used to prefer that store to Best Buys. I always assumed that Best Buys worked on commission because of the hard sell the reps made on the computers. I work with computers at my job and every Best Buys I've been to has treated me like an idiot because I'm a woman. They're worse than car dealers who think I'm only interested in the vanity mirrors and the radio.

      Plus, I'll never forget when my brother in law bought a computer from Best Buys, only to discover later that most of the software that came pre-installed was pirated.

      The morale of the story, any chain can have made management, some are just more likely to have it than others due to corporate encouragement.
    • Goombellaofgoom, on 10/11/2007, -0/+12I think Best Buy works with the anti-commission policy. Instead of "Sell more and you'll get a percentage or bonus," They tell their employees: "Make your sales quota or you're fired."
    • Spuy767, on 10/11/2007, -0/+3Best buy workers always seemed like they didn't know their ass from a hole in the ground, but tried to pretend that they did. It always seemed to me like they wanted to tell you what to buy even if you came in and asked for a product. When they were selling the original iMac, Just as a gag I tried to buy one, and all I got was a salesperson telling me why, instead of the iMac, I should be buying whatever twice as expensive PC. It's just one of those things I guess. I'm so used to it now. I'll tell you tho, Fry's has the best store associates. If you tell them that you know what you're looking for, they usually leave you alone. They usually only approach you when you genuinely look flummoxed, and they try to be helpful whenever possible. Oh, not to mention that Fry's here is the size of a ***** stadium and has nine times as much stuff as best buy.
    • ChromaticDragon, on 10/11/2007, -1/+3Fry's is simply great for several reasons. One Christmas season, mid-December, I stopped at Best Buy's to pick up a game. I turned around to see the line snaking along two sides of the perimeter of the store. I put the game back on the shelf and drove over to Fry's.

      At the height of the Christmas buying frenzy, that Sunday afternoon, I timed my experience at Fry's. With toddler in tow, the time from closing my car door and walking towards Fry's to the time returning to my car with the desired game in hand was nine minutes.

      Fry's is simply much, much better designed to handle volume quickly (50 registers available when needed).

      Their stock is great. They have one of the best anime collections around here.

      However... when purchasing appliance type items, they fall in with all the other stores desiring to sell you on their incredibly worthless extended warranty plans. I got a washer/dryer from them. They're initial install was fine. But getting them out within the normal (one-year) warranty coverage was like pulling teeth. When something the same problem (never fixed) that generated the initial calls came up again after the first twelve months, I called back. They basically wouldn't give me the time of day. They wouldn't look up my order. They wouldn't provide me manufacturer hotlines. Nothing. I brief bit of web search and I contacted the manufacturer directly. They sent someone out and fixed everything free of charge since it was STILL under their standard warranty.
    • drakethegreat, on 10/11/2007, -1/+4@ariastar

      I doubt he would make such a huge fuss about a scam of his if it didn't work. Nobody would publicize their failed scam. Not only that but I'm sure the employees know because the camera is probably laying around their inventory somewhere without a box. This is absurd really and you are an idiot for thinking this guy is scamming.
    • smarba, on 10/11/2007, -1/+0@oracle

      don't lie, there's no women on digg
    • AriaStar, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2@ drakethegreat:

      That's exactly it. Part of the scam is trying to make people believe him, and you do. It's the very thinking that no one would publicize a failed scam or sue for damages in court unless they were actually right. People take advantage of this mindset.
    • TheGambit, on 10/11/2007, -0/+0@ariastar

      Guilty until proven innocent?

      Pretty elaborate scam to write letters, call the company, etc... to get a "rip-off refund".

      He must have REALLY wanted that second camera!
  • PeteyEks, on 10/11/2007, -10/+12Yes, because he was incompetent enough to not check the box of a clearance item, which probably was on display.

    People these days...
    • bupublue, on 10/11/2007, -1/+5I can't tell whether you're being sarcastic or not.

      Nevertheless, although the article doesn't state that the camera was a display model, if it was, then the store would obviously still have it unless they decided to do a double cheat and sell it later to someone else without the packaging (or an employee stole it). In that case, they should just give him the camera. Or they should at least check their inventory thoroughly to see if the camera is in fact still in the store, and just give him the camera. Unfortunately the story is pretty vague as to how the camera was actually purchased, so it's very difficult to judge who, if anyone, is at fault here.
  • DrKillPatient, on 10/11/2007, -2/+27I (unfortunately) worked there for a short period of time (quit). I'm surprised they didn't try to sell him an extended warranty on the empty box.
    • ferrco, on 10/11/2007, -6/+4Seriously guys, you hate all computer/electronics stores, Comp USA, Best Buy, Circuit City, etc. Is there a store you do like? Besides Newegg, I mean to me part of going shopping is watching shining stuff on display.
    • BooleanTrees, on 10/11/2007, -2/+1@ferrco

      Most small distributors are very nice places to fulfill your techie needs. I used to shop at Altex for parts and bits. I'll agree that the displays can be cool sometimes, but the only way I've been convinced to enter their store is with a promise of free computer parts (plus tax).
    • tmyprod, on 10/11/2007, -3/+3@ferrco
      Costco
  • rrasco, on 10/11/2007, -0/+7thats it! at least I now know to open all gifts prior to giving them out as any normal gift giver should be.
  • RagingWombat, on 10/11/2007, -2/+37Half the time the manuals weigh more than the actual camera does, so I can see where the mistake might be.
  • jgamboa, on 10/11/2007, -5/+4This actually happened to my mom at a Office Max in Sacramento about 4 or 5 years ago! She raised hell and was able to have it returned.
    • Junkey, on 10/11/2007, -12/+38Yo momma soooo dumb she bought an empty box!
    • gutistg, on 10/11/2007, -10/+3Yo momma soooo dumb she raised hell and was able to have it returned too!
  • jmpeagle, on 10/11/2007, -10/+5as much as I would love to blame the company, this is his fault as they have no control over the liquidators. They can't issue a refund for something they didn't sell him.
    • gutistg, on 10/11/2007, -1/+9How does that make it his fault?
    • drilldown, on 10/11/2007, -1/+5HMMMmmm... was it a liquidation sale at a Comp USA store as they went the ***** out of business? Cause it kinda sounds that way. Kindly, do not feed after midnight.
    • s1mph0ny, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1So they should have issued a refund and back-charged the liquidators. Honestly how this guy spent $3500 at a compusa liquidation is a mystery to me. I went to one (also run by "a liquidator") everything was either broken or barely below retail.
  • poet, on 10/11/2007, -1/+19One time, when I used to work at Staples, we sold someone a Digital Rebel XTi and inside the box was just a jar of tomato sauce to simulate the weight. Was *****' ridiculous. We gave him a refund though and sent it back to Canon, sauce en route.
    • ninjapirateUK, on 10/11/2007, -0/+6A friend of mine worked in Argos in the UK and they got a returned mobile phone and didnt check in the box when they issued a refund, when they processed the refund and actually looked in the box later they found a vibrator and batteries...
    • Ouze, on 10/11/2007, -0/+15As a guy who likes to buy expensive digital cameras and then returns the boxes loaded with jars of spaghetti sauce and/or vibrators to big box retailers, I'm getting a kick out of some of these replies.
    • Novagenesis, on 10/11/2007, -2/+1This one time, at band camp...
    • tech42er, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1@ouze
      That's more of a Farkism than a Digg cliche.
  • graystar, on 10/11/2007, -3/+40In the old days, this was called Fraud.
  • ninjapirateUK, on 10/11/2007, -0/+26I work in a camera shop in the uk and we had a guy return a box saying there was no camera in it, the management issued a refund to him. The next week the same guy returned the camera as faulty to another store in the next town and said that he threw away the box. So typically the management issued a second refund. Harsh if the guy in the story is genuine but there are good reasons that they wont issue refunds for stuff like that.
    • drilldown, on 10/11/2007, -1/+1People don't know what they're selling and don't know what they're receiving.
      How could this have ever happened - governments control and create ideas.

      hehehe.
    • Novagenesis, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2EXACTLY... the company very quickly figured it out.
      High ticket items tend to have an electronic trail long enough to trace the thieves back.

      I used to do physical inventory. Even TJ Maxx had enough of an electronic trail to catch MANY steal-and-returners due to them having significantly more returns than purchases
  • iamcool, on 10/11/2007, -4/+1Something similar happened to someone I know, though a different retailer. The person opened the packaging of the new computer to find a nearly 10 year old computer.

    Lesson: Always inspect the packaging all sides of any high dollar item you buy,
  • Spr0k3t, on 10/11/2007, -1/+2"Now why couldn't you put the bunny back in the box?"
  • phroztbyt3, on 10/11/2007, -6/+3if i bought a 270 dollar camera, and knew there was NO REFUND, because in every CompUSA closing there are signs literally everywhere in the store saying "NO REFUND", I would check the box in any case before leaving the store. CompUSA does not give refunds because of the liquidators, but if there was a problem with the product in the store, they would give another 1 to him and just switch it. But if you walk out of a store like a retard without even thinking about it, without thinking "hmm... no refund, this means i can't return it for ANY REASON!!!!", then you deserve to be screwed.
    • venom8599, on 10/11/2007, -1/+8In this case, he didn't receive the item he paid for, so he isn't returning it, just asking for the money he paid for merchandise he didn't receive, or that they give him what he paid for.
  • slyzxx, on 10/11/2007, -5/+2I work retail and man do people try that one alot not to mention the bait and switch. We know and some people might return them but most managers don`t. If there was no camera that damn box is very light so both parties are to blame for being stupid.
    • venom8599, on 10/11/2007, -2/+8He did buy it when he bought $3500 of merchandise, so it's not like he just walked out of the store with only the camera box.
  • Shaman760, on 10/11/2007, -6/+3Caveat Emptor.
  • nreisan, on 10/11/2007, -1/+2ive been working at a retail store part time for just over 2 years and ive seen it happen many times
    usually customer gets a refund but usually we are able to tell its a display box

    either way people try and dodge returns all the time

    i can understand why they dont get a refeund
  • moosepile, on 10/11/2007, -4/+2Caveat emptor is right.

    In this case, he bought a liquidation item from a store that in his own words, was closing.

    He went to a different branch to complain, after shelving the purchase (or lack thereof) for a time without looking. I've done it, we probably all have. And we've all taken the cost up the arse when we are too stupid to check our items within reasonable doubt.

    Is the store at fault? Yes, the selling outfit was a total tool-factory for selling that. He certainly has claim against them. But they are gone.

    Is another CompUSA at fault for this? No.
  • etnu, on 10/11/2007, -4/+2CompUSA is owned by Carlos Slim Helú, who's a slimy, evil bastard. Why would you expect anything less than ***** customer service from a business owned by a man who thrives on ripping off poor people?
  • joejoeson, on 10/11/2007, -3/+7I agree with Comp USA. How do they know he didn't just take the camera and say that there was nothing in it?
    • nreisan, on 10/11/2007, -1/+6exactly it happens a lot of the time


      but there are also legit cases where people get sold display model boxes on accident and you can usually tell
    • Novagenesis, on 10/11/2007, -1/+2When it happens on a high ticket item, there's an electronics trail that shows it... Besides, it's not a one-time return that hurts the company... and someone who does it as a living gets caught -every- time. They're just being assholes
  • omyard, on 10/11/2007, -4/+8Well if it was a liquidation sale then a liquidation company was running the CompUSA not CompUSA iteself. Technically once the liquidation company purchases the assets the store is no longer controlled by CompUSA and thus something like this wouldn't be there fault and another still fully operating CompUSA shouldn't have to reimburse the customer. They also have fliers all around the stores saying sales are 100% NO REFUNDS. That alone should make someone check and insure everything is the way it should be.

    The guy in the blog and the link within the blog to his friend that actually bought the camera clearly blame CompUSA when it wasn't their fault. They seem to fail to understand what a liquidation company is and how they run their business. It'd be like buying something at Best Buy and trying to get a refund at CompUSA.
  • dingdingding, on 10/11/2007, -0/+24So he bought Schrödinger's camera.
    • outsid3rNo17, on 10/11/2007, -1/+2There's also an hypothesis that states that in a parallel universe, the same guy is enjoying his new camera. This guy just happened to be in the wrong universe.
  • jordanlund, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2Forget about the weight... if you're buying something w/an LCD in a 'no return' situation, wouldn't you at least power it up to check for dead pixels and such? Seems pretty common sense to me.
  • BentleyGT07, on 10/11/2007, -2/+3Ironically I work at Compusa and yesterday a co-worker accidentally sold the display box for a Vivitar camera and the guy returned within an hour later and we refunded him his money. Like others who know what there talking about have said already, those stores that closed down BELONG TO THE LIQUIDATORS theres nothing CUSA could do at that point after the liquidators start running the store.
    • s1mph0ny, on 10/11/2007, -1/+0arg, refund the customer backcharge the liquidator.
  • Elliuotatar, on 10/11/2007, -3/+0If I was him, I would have threatened to return the $3,200 in other merchandise if they didn't give me the camera they owed me.
    • bafjohnson, on 10/11/2007, -1/+4Except that (as has been pointed out numerous times before) if the liquidators were treating all sales as final they wouldn't refund any of the other items purchased either.
  • xSEED, on 10/11/2007, -1/+1take them to judge judy
    • s1mph0ny, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2CompUSA would just show up with a girl representative and the tv man would lose.
  • jjamesb, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2something very similar happened to me, except it was an online order, the camera was missing along with the battery and charger, I contacted customer support and they were very good about issuing a refund and getting another shipped out quickly. It shouldn't have happened, but I was pleased with the way they dealt with it.

    In this case, your best option is to be firm but curious, and always keep in mind the customer service people probably won't be able to do much for you, make your way up the chain of command until you find somebody who is capable and willing. This often entails a call to District as they usually don't have enough time to deal with issues like this and offer refunds more readily. Keep detailed documentation of who you talk to and possibly record phone calls, it makes it easier in the end.
  • smacksaw, on 10/11/2007, -0/+11Unbelievable, but true:

    I worked at Comp, and the San Marcos store had some Seagate hard drives come in.

    Guy buys one, takes it home and opens it...not a hard drive in there. Care to guess what it was?

    Cocaine.

    The entire shipment of hard drives was cocaine. Amazingly the guy DROVE it back to the store. If he got busted for speeding on the way...what a dumbass. So the Sheriffs came and took it all away, but it was like 32 drives in the shipment and they were all 100% coke where the HD should be.

    We did, however give the guy a refund. I think a lot of this stuff depends on the IQ of the manager, but my experience was generally that CompUSA was pretty easy on returns, even after Slim took over.
    • s0nicfreak, on 10/11/2007, -1/+6I would've just kept the cocaine...
    • tmyprod, on 10/11/2007, -0/+7He should have gone back and bought all the "hard drives" he could afford. He would have made bank moving that much coke. And don't try to argue that he might not know anyone who could move that volume of cola, everybody knows someone who knows someone. i.e. True Romance.
    • Cerebral, on 10/11/2007, -0/+6So that's how CompUSA has been able to stay open for so long...

      I worked there ~99 - 05 and there were always talks about comp going under, not making any money etc. Well this explains how they were able to keep going for as long as they did.
  • RealmDown, on 10/11/2007, -3/+4This is the store chain that started the whole "You are guilty until you prove yourself innocent" method of force checking receipts at the door.

    Years ago I bought a $400+ color printer. After words with the SS guard at the door walked, I straight to the returns desk and returned the printer. I left, and have not returned. Called them the CompuNazi's ever since.

    I don't really care about the guy with the camera, but I am ecstatic the ***** are closing down.

    • Cerebral, on 10/11/2007, -1/+3It sounds like you are the type of customer we didn't want in the first place. If you knew your rights you would know that you never had to show the person at the door any receipt. Especially since you just paid for the product. It's not like Sam's/Costco where you signed a contract saying that on your way out you will show them your receipt or they will take away your membership.
    • chetanw, on 10/11/2007, -2/+3And why should the store not ask to see your receipt? If the rate of shoplifting in a store increases dramatically, I would agree to showing the receipt while exiting (a la Costco/Sams Club)
  • graberc, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1This article mentions liquidation company, and a third party.

    I'm not sure if we are getting the entire story here. If the inventory was sold off to a liquidation company who is cleaning out the story - then technically it wasn't CompUsa that sold the camera.

    yeah I'm suspicious about this story.

  • indio007, on 10/11/2007, -3/+4All sales are final? too bad a sale did not take place. He never received the item that he paid for. It's fraud at best and theft at worst. No company or person can "sell" an item and not deliver that item legally. It's fraud plain and simple. He should goto the local police and file a criminal complaint.
  • mkriss5681, on 10/11/2007, -1/+3CompUSA has really dropped in customer service. My story is no where near as bad but it will make me never shop at CompUSA again.

    I ordered a processor off their website and a week later I hadn't heard anything. I got an email saying "Bank number need off back of card". I found this some what cryptic so I gave them a call. The girl I got on the phone was pretty ***** and said she need my banks 800 number. I asked if there was any problems and she said they call every bank for orders. I found this kinda odd because they took the money off my card and figured this must be expensive to have people call banks for every order. Anyway I gave the girl my bank number and was put on hold for 10 minutes. She came back and said could get a hold of anyone. She asked if there was another number. I told her that's the number I call all the time and I double checked the bank website. She gave me a horrible attitude and said if she couldn't talk to my bank they couldn't ship my order. I was refused a manager. I told her if there was no other option cancel my order and she said "fine" and hung on me. I wrote their customer service an email and they basically gave me a scripted "sorry" but offered no resolution.

    I ordered the same processor off of newegg.com for almost 1/2 the price and got it literally the next day. No wonder CompUSA is going out of business.
  • autryld, on 10/11/2007, -1/+1I just read the story and I'm still shaking my head that the purchaser couldn't tell an empty box from a full one. When I see "all purchases final" I check the box for the manual, cables, etc. Geez.
    • Novagenesis, on 10/11/2007, -1/+11) He probably wouldn't be allowed to unseal the box until after the purchase
      2) The camera manual of 100 pages weighs more than the camera itself, in most cases.

      I bought a camera recently, and the box feels just as heavy "empty" as "full"
  • UrbanVoyeur, on 10/11/2007, -2/+1And CompUSA wonders why sales are falling and it had to close dozens of stores...
  • TechCF, on 10/11/2007, -1/+1I worked at a place where we had to open boxes to sign and stamp warranty cards - and I can remember two cases over five years that I opened a brand new sealed box that had something missing. So I know it happens, but I would not beleive everybody.

    The stores should check the contents before high-value sales. Because if the customer does it, they think you don't trust the store or the salesman.
  • deeboe, on 10/11/2007, -0/+3The same thing happened to a friend of mine. He bought a camera from Best Buy and it had a rock in it. After much argument with the management there, they told him to go home and they would call him when they can figure it out. 2 weeks later (and him calling every day) they refunded his purchase.
  • richnrockville, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2Kinda stupid to not even heft the box to see if there is a camera inside. I believe that he was wrong and kinda dumb for not checking out a purchase from a liquidation sale. kinda like the pig in a poke... You got a real slick box.
  • tomis, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2And that's why you should always check the contents of the box, especially if it's not shrink-wrapped.

    How does the store know this guy didn't just take the camera out of the box once he got home? How does he prove that it wasn't in there in the first place? Short of a mass police investigation there's no way either side can prove the other one is at fault.

    So, why should they give him a refund?
    • Novagenesis, on 10/11/2007, -1/+3What if it -was- shrinkwrapped?

      I got a shrinkwrapped NIN cd with...two identical discs in it once.
      That means the cd case after (or before) mine was released empty.
  • drunken0monkey, on 10/11/2007, -3/+1Another example of people not taking ANY responsability for their own actions. I'm not suggesting that CompUSA is a good store and I'm definitely not defending them but come on. If you KNOW AHEAD OF TIME you're buying from a shady retailer, take EXTRA care. If I buy something from a high-end store, I don't worry so much because I'm confident they'll help me out if things don't work out. If I buy something at a clearence centre or a flea market, well... I leave with the notion that I probably won't get help if unhappy after (for whatever reason), and I'm OK with that. I think this is being blown WAY out of proportion. Life sucks, people get screwed, it's been like this since the begining of time (this is an assumption), get used to it and get over yourself.

    To the people that say this is fraud, well I'm not sure that it is. It would be if they DELIBERATELY and knowingly sold an empty box. I don't believe the facts support this. This could have easily been a mistake.

    Should the store help him? Again, this goes back to the level and quality of the retailer. High-end retailers probably would give the consumer the benefit of the doubt. The clearence centre of a store that is generally held in low regard however would not be expected to do so. Probably with good cause, simply due to their volume and potential for fraud.

    peace
  • user777, on 10/11/2007, -2/+1doh, comment in the wrong place. [removed]
  • kali25, on 10/11/2007, -4/+1I call BS. I bet the guy took it out of the box and has it at home. Now he is trying to scam them. And we are all helping him. Boo Hoo.
    • Novagenesis, on 10/11/2007, -2/+1You don't usually escalate an issue if you're a scammer... the more you escalate, the more attention you draw...attention leads to investigation... which leads to getting caught if you're guilty.
  • crobinso, on 10/11/2007, -1/+2again i will point out the stores that were closing and being liquidated were no longer owned by Compusa. They were all bought out by liquidation companies, meaning they had no ties to the rest of the chain.Just because they had a Compusa sign on the building, They were operation on their own rules for selling and would sell anything and everything people would buy. One stores I went to to pick up some racks for our store had a tv for sale, a big plasma, for less than half price. Why you ask, well the box said slight screen defect. So I was thinking dead pixel, or maybe a scratch on the front. NO, it looked like someone dropped the tv on its top corner off a high shelf, it was a complete wreck.
    The guy a few months ago that was fighting with best buy cause he bought a camcorder that had a soup can in it atleast had a box that weighed like a camcorder, this guy bought an EMPTY BOX. Boo on him for not looking at what was inside before he left the store, especially if the box was open at a liquidation sale. Hell I open higher end stuff i buy at my store that is still sealed before i leave.
  • Sizzor, on 10/11/2007, -2/+1Time to call Jackie Chiles.
  • LancerX, on 10/11/2007, -1/+2Well, if all sales are FINAL, including those for empty boxes, would it be okay to pay the liquidators with checks from empty accounts? "Sorry, you should have checked the account before accepting that check..."
    • crobinso, on 10/11/2007, -1/+2some places have those fancy check readers that check the account to see if it has enough money BEFORE they give you the product, so by the same token the guy should have checked out the product fully BEFORE he actually bought it
  • booga1134, on 10/11/2007, -5/+2This guy is an idiot and deserves to be screwed over. Never is a customer always right, the customer is usually WRONG! This dude will now learn lesson that should have been taught to him by his parents.
  • qwerty1263, on 10/11/2007, -4/+1They probably couldn't it would have lowered their margins so bad they'd have to close yet another store, (sarcasm/humor) considering they sell great products and give the best customer service out there next to maybe Best Buy or Staples (sarcasm/humor). Sorry I keep writing (sarcasm/humor) it because there are some (sarcasm) on this website who don't pickup on the (sarcasm/humor).

    On another note how the hell can you not think the box was probably empty due to the weight. What did it have a 5 lb. instruction booklet stuffed in it(sarcasm/humor)?
    Did he read the sign posted on the front door??
  • dm33, on 10/11/2007, -2/+2How can you not notice a missing camera! How could Compusa know the guy just didnt take it out.

    Lame.
    • s1mph0ny, on 10/11/2007, -1/+2Like many others have said, with the average weight of a camera, and the variable weight of accessories it's really not possible to tell if a sealed box has a camera in it. Just think about how heavy transformers can be, add in a 50-100 page manual and you have a complete uncertainty.

      With a policy like this, CompUSA is making the jobs of retailers harder. When you don't accept a return due to a box being partially empty you force the customer to break the plastic seal on any boxed product.
  • novask, on 10/11/2007, -1/+2this is why i always open my expensive products right in the store after i buy them. i had a few horrible experiences with compusa and that's mainly why i don't go there anymore. for example i bought a mac keyboard once to test on my PC (just because i liked the look). i got home, opened what looked like a brand new box and there was the most discus ting keyboard i have seen my entire life. it had hair in between the keys, orange ***** stuck inside the keyboard (which i can only assume was nacho cheese) and the keys were worn away. i returned it and was lucky to run into some girl who just dint (hence the reason i could return it), exchanged it for another one, opened it up and that keyboard was also in a new box, with clear signs of use.
  • akatherder, on 10/11/2007, -1/+4If you let liquidators work out of your store, you have to expect to be liable when they do something shady. That's like holding a yard sale and selling a TV. They take it home and it doesn't work. They bring it back and you say "Oh that's Uncle Louie's, go ***** yourself". You can bet you're getting a rock through your picture window and your tires slashed later that night.

    I find it strange that people expect the customers to open boxes. Can I just walk into CompUSA and start going down a line of video cards and opening them? Even if it's just the clearance merchandise, can you imagine a table full of open boxes, manuals, and electronics sitting all around.
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