(oamg823)
A frequent reader who we’ll call M. wrote in to offer his post-holiday moral dilemma. Well, it’s not so much a dilemma, since he he’s already done it. He bought a Microsoft Kinect controller online, but wanted to return it after the holidays were over. Too lazy to package the controller and mail it back, he instead took it to his local Walmart and returned it for store credit. $50 more than he originally paid for the device.
After Christmas I found myself with a Kinect Controller I didn’t need that I had purchased from an online retailer for $99. On an earlier trip to Walmart I had noticed that they had the same Kinect package for $149. Figuring that rather then go through the hassle of sending the kinect back to the online retailer I would take it into Walmart and see if I could get store credit for it. The person at the return counter didn’t seem too thrilled with the idea, but I ended up getting a Walmart gift card for $149! I made $50 profit!
Was I wrong to do this? Or is this simply the cost of doing business for Walmart
If the device was unopened and Walmart can put it back on their shelf, selling it for $149, then everyone wins. But just because something is possible, that doesn’t mean that it’s ethical. Return shenanigans like this are what leads retailers to tighten up their return policies and require receipts and scans of our driver’s licenses.
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This is the reason we require receipts and an ID, so when shitheads like the OP try and do this to us we can flag them in the system and/or get the police involved. Just did this a week ago actually.
F-ck Walmart.
If Walmart had a chance to get $5 for stabbing this dude to death with a rusty fork, it would jump at the opportunity.
Who cares if someone screws Walmart? If I kick Voldemort in the dick is it wrong? Good work by the OP, I’d do it 100 times in 100 opportunities. Walmart would screw you if given the opportunity.
Whether you think it’s fair to stick Walmart for it or not, it’s not right to return it to them when you didn’t purchase it there. It’s your own fault you’re too lazy to pack it up and return it to the place you got it. If you have to ask if you’re wrong, then you are. Pay attention to Jiminy Cricket next time and do the right thing.
Whether you think it’s fair to stick Walmart for it or not, it’s not right to return it to them when you didn’t purchase it there. It’s your own fault you’re too lazy to pack it up and return it to the place you got it. If you have to ask if you’re wrong, then you are. Pay attention to Jiminy Cricket next time and do the right thing.
I think he was wrong not to purchase as many of these online as possible then return them all in-store. But thats me…..my moral compass is off.
When it comes to dealing with Walmart or any other merchant, I don’t lie, cheat or steal. But nor do I consider it my job to watch out for a merchant’s bottom line, or help them compensate for poorly trained (and probably, poorly paid) staff. There’s a certain major office supply store near my house that once employed a very incompetent clerk. Chairs were sold in packs of three for about $129, or individually for $49. However, if you bought and later returned one chair, she’d credit you for the pack of three. Do the math: buy a chair, return it, and you’ve instantly made $80. I’ll admit I bought and returned more than a few chairs that summer. Did I feel guilty? Not a bit. I did absolutely nothing to defraud or deceive anyone — it’s not my fault that the store had poor hiring and/or training policies — I simply chose not to argue when the store insisted on giving me back more money than I’d paid. I suspect the clerk lost her job eventually, but not before almost literally “giving away the store.” I just wish I knew where she was working now — I could really use some more chairs.
Sorry, but that IS cheating. It’s dishonest.
There should have been a “Yes, it’s return fraud, but screw Wal-Mart” option.
Walmart screwed itself. They have the legal right to refuse any return.
OP is getting a 150$ gift card that can only be used at walmart. If walmart was reasonable in its pricing, they would be making roughly the same profit margin on all the items the OP bought with that 150$ gift card. However, walmart put a 50%+ markup on this product, they will not.
If walmart charged a reasonable price on the kinnect, this would not be an issue
It’s Walmart’s fault for stupidly having different prices online and in-store. If they weren’t trying to rape the in-store shoppers by inflating the price, this wouldn’t have happened. And it’s perfectly legitimate to order something online and then return it to their store. Most stores advertise this ability. And consider how many dumb bastards bought that Kinect in-store instead of online and lost $50 to Walmart.
Having said that, Walmart is an evil company and I applaud anything that causes them to lose money.
technically, it might have been fraudulent, though difficult to prosecute. that being said, I wouldn’t worry about poor walmart, so I honestly don’t care whether its right or wrong.
It is a felony, let me know who M is and I will prosecute him.
Oh, wait you don’t have to tell me, the subpoena duces tecum will compel you to turn over the records.
Is this criminal behavior something Consumerist wishes to condone?
It is Walmart, the evil empire of the retail world. Of course it is OK to profit from their mistake. In fact, such action should be mandatory.
However, if you really see the need to deal with your conscience (an alien concept in the world of Walmart) you could give the money to one of those underpaid store greeters that seem to be working well into their retirement years. I always feel that they must need the money really badly when they should be enjoying their retirement.