teresa92 Posted November 25, 2006 Posted November 25, 2006 This story aired on my local news tonight - Link "A warning to thousands of shoppers already swarming stores: Make sure you get what you pay for....literally. Because what happened to a Perryville, Missouri couple says happened to them, could easily happen to you. The Rittenberg's dished out more than $1,500 for a new video camera but were served spaghetti sauce instead. Now they have a one big credit card bill, no camera, and no idea if they'll ever see that money again. "I pulled out the camera, or what I thought was the camera, but it's Classico Spaghetti Sauce. $1,500 spaghetti sauce," Jim Rittenberg said. Melisa and Jim Rittenberg say it all started when they went to exchange a video camera at a St. Louis Best Buy store. Jim decided to buy a more expensive model. So, he paid the difference and left the store. But, when he opened the box there was no camera to be found. Instead he got some pasta sauce, a phone cord, and an outdoor outlet cover. The items weighed just over a pound and a half. That's about the same as the High Definition Sony Camera that was no where to be found. Melisa says at least the expensive sauce is covered. "With an extended warranty and a camera bag to put it in," said Melisa. You have to find humor in it because what else can you do!" The couple went back to Best Buy to try and sort out the mess. "They said there was no way it could have happened in the store because the Sony sticker on the box wasn't cut," Melisa said. "I would just like a replacement camera. If not that, then replace my money," said Jim. So far, no one can be sure when or how the sauce got in the box. The Rittenberg's say the issue is far from resolved. But as we head into the busy shopping season, the couple offers some advice to their fellow consumers. "If you're purchasing anything without a window on the box you need to open it at the store with the sales person present," said Melisa. "Because, after you leave the store it's yours." The Rittenberg's still have a lot of red tape to go through before they found out if they'll get their money back or another camera. We did speak with a Best Buy representative. The spokesperson says they hope to resolve the situation as soon as possible. They plan to contact the manager at the store where the camera was purchased, as well as Jim and Melisa Rittenberg."
Ripn Posted November 25, 2006 Posted November 25, 2006 ...sounds like the story of people buying plasma tv's that turned out to be oven doors when they opened the box at home..... Wow! Is that an HDTV from Cool King? It's amazing how much energy some criminals put in ripping people off. Just imagine unpacking your new flat screen TV and finding an old oven door in the box. According to SunTimes.com: A rash of oven-door thefts may be linked to a recent case in which a woman bought what she thought was a flat-screen TV, only to discover that the package held an old oven door, police said. South Bend detective Sgt. Jim Walsh said police arrested a suspect Thursday they believe sold the door to the woman. Police said an oven door and packaging materials were found in the trunk of the man's car. Of course the lady who bought the TV wasn't a rocket scientist: In the case of the bilked woman, she was approached by the suspect Feb. 20 at her workplace with an offer of a flat-screen TV for $500. The suspect settled for $300. But when the woman unwrapped the packaging, she found a cord, a controller -- and an oven door. I guess if you're greedy enough to buy what has to be a stolen TV, you deserve a nice used oven door.
J_Man Posted November 25, 2006 Posted November 25, 2006 And THAT's the main reason I don't support the idea of sitting in front of Best Buy for multiple days. Lots of scam artists are doing it. I'm a toy collector and I do not support scalpers. There are people really wanting to resell what they bought (which I have issues with that all in it's self), then there are those that are going to scam others. If the scams become more and more frequent, what will stop people from adding 2 and 2 together and those "first in line" people get "pay back" for something they may not have even done.
daz Posted November 25, 2006 Posted November 25, 2006 We went through all this last year with the wooden blocks in the laptop box. Why do people still not check their boxes AT the store? Because until you open that box, that's what you are paying for is a cardboard box. Do people still leave fast food drive thru's before they check to see if the order is correct? I know I don't and that's only $5-$15!
AaronOnline Posted November 25, 2006 Posted November 25, 2006 How many are people looking for a free item also. Classico can be bought anywhere. Although, the added crap in the box leads me to believe it happened at the company which packs the boxes. The light items (phone cord and cover) were thrown in to get the weight to the limit where it would pass the scale when moving down the line.. no other reason to throw em in there since you could not tell by picking it up if those were in there with the sauce or not.
raymacfla Posted November 25, 2006 Posted November 25, 2006 And THAT's the main reason I don't support the idea of sitting in front of Best Buy for multiple days. Lots of scam artists are doing it. I'm a toy collector and I do not support scalpers. There are people really wanting to resell what they bought (which I have issues with that all in it's self), then there are those that are going to scam others. If the scams become more and more frequent, what will stop people from adding 2 and 2 together and those "first in line" people get "pay back" for something they may not have even done.huh??
raymacfla Posted November 25, 2006 Posted November 25, 2006 We went through all this last year with the wooden blocks in the laptop box. Why do people still not check their boxes AT the store? Because until you open that box, that's what you are paying for is a cardboard box. Do people still leave fast food drive thru's before they check to see if the order is correct? I know I don't and that's only $5-$15! Good point, but on black friday, things are rather busy and much too crowded. Hopefully, people will check their boxes on subsequent purchases.
mom2thegirls Posted November 28, 2006 Posted November 28, 2006 Sony is going to send them the camera and its also asking for the box and its entire contents returned.
AndreaInNC Posted November 28, 2006 Posted November 28, 2006 Didn't this happen to someone last year too?
lindabacker Posted November 28, 2006 Posted November 28, 2006 Didn't this happen to someone last year too? Someone claimed last year to have gotten a box filled with wood instead of a computer
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