Melanie Ritter thought she was buying a video iPod from Target for her daughter’s birthday, only to open the box and find rocks inside. Imagine how much more disappointed she was the second time this happened.

I’ve heard of rocking out to your iPod, but this is ridiculous!

When Ritter tried to exchange the first iPod, they didn’t have the same iPod in stock. When she asked for a full cash refund, Target said they could only give her in-store credit because Mrs. Ritter had bought the box of rocks on a store credit card. She drove to a second Target which did have the iPod in stock. She asked to open the box first but the store said she had to buy it before she could open it. She did, and opened it in front of the employee, only to find it too was only filled with rocks. Defeated, Mrs. Ritter told her daughter to pick out $350 worth of merchandise around the store for her birthday present. Then Mrs. Ritter contacted a consumer reporter who has only been able to get pat boilerplate answers out of Target so far.

Sigh. Ok. Here we go. One, Target obviously has a supply chain problem in the Fort Worth, TX with assholes replacing iPods with rocks. Two, Mrs. Ritter might have had more success getting a full refund at that first store if she had called Target’s 1-800 line while she was in that store, or asked for a manager. Escalate. Don’t just accept the laminated notebook answer the grunts give you. This was obviously an extenuating circumstance where the no refund policy should have been waived, and it takes someone in a position of higher authority to do that.. Shoppers have a policy of their own, it’s called the “we don’t accept rocks in place of my iPod” policy.

Mom upset by Target’s tune in iPod case; teen celebrates rocky birthday [Star-Telegram] (Thanks to Ryan!)
Rocks found in place of girl’s brand new iPod… twice [ArsTechnica]
(Photo: Getty)

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