scamming stores....how evil is it

[opie's twisted balls]

I work with a person who regularly scams stores (sears, home depot, megalowmart, etc). A couple of his favorite methods are:
1) buying something, using it for a few months then returning it (with packaging) claiming it was a gift (so he doesn't have a receipt) and getting store credit
2) going online (say sears) cutting/pasting a product info into word, lowering the price, printing a copy so it looks like it came directly from the website then going to a competitor (say walmart) and getting them to match the lowered bogus price


How evil is he?

[STC-Dub]

Not sure evil is the right word. My wife used to work at Sears and people would by things and return them a lot more than you would think. Still, what "your friend" is doing ends up costing everyone more money as those companies have to make up for the lost money somewhere.

[opie's twisted balls]

"your friend"
Most definitely not a friend.

[Suspect Chin]

1) I don't think is illegal as it must fall within each store's return policy. I think they assume you are using it for the 30-90 days they allow.
2) This is probably illegal. A lot of stores now ask for really in depth personal info so they can track your returns. I think there was even a big court case about the legality of them tracking your returns in the recent past.

[PapaBear]

Not sure evil is the right word. My wife used to work at Sears and people would by things and return them a lot more than you would think. Still, what "your friend" is doing ends up costing everyone more money as those companies have to make up for the lost money somewhere.
Definitelycosts us all. Years ago, I worked at Wal Mart. The most common items returned were camping equipment, power washers, and those lead lined bags you put film in when you travel.

[Tenbatsuzen]

I work with a person who regularly scams stores (sears, home depot, megalowmart, etc). A couple of his favorite methods are:
1) buying something, using it for a few months then returning it (with packaging) claiming it was a gift (so he doesn't have a receipt) and getting store credit



I dont see how this is a scam... he's still out the initial investment he made to buy something.

[Devo37]

both methods are pretty slimy.

First one: the store may re-sell the item as 'new', even though it's been used (and potentially damaged). whoever buys it after <strike>you</strike> your friend is buying a used item thinking it's new.

Second one: Outright fraud. i'm surprised the big stores don't check the offers to make sure they're legit before they match prices.

[SatCam]

it's dishonest unethical and borderline fraud, and its what makes stores crackdown on returns and those of us making legit returns get fucked over.

i feel like gvac when i say this but what ever happened to an honest days work?

[opie's twisted balls]

I think there was even a big court case about the legality of them tracking your returns in the recent past.
Do you happen to recall if it was state or federal?


Definitelycosts us all.
Not disputing that there are costs. Both in tangible amounts to the store being ripped off as well as some poor fucker who might buy something that was previously used thinking it was new then having to go through the hassle of exchanging it.


I dont see how this is a scam... he's still out the initial investment he made to buy something.
Kind of. Its more like he's laid out the cash for a rotating series of items.


<strike>you</strike>
Trust me (which I realize is an odd thing to say given the context) but if I was to steal or commit fraud it certainly wouldn't be over something bought/sold like this. It would be on a MUCH larger scale to the point that if successful I'd be nothing more then a headline and disappear Keyser Soze style.

i'm surprised the big stores don't check the offers to make sure they're legit before they match prices.
I'm also surprised he gets away with it. I bought a cordless phone @ Staples wanting them to price match Office Depot and they went through the effort to confirm the prices and that they had it in stock. That being said the washer and dryer I just bought from sears (which on a side note was a throughly easy and actually enjoyable experience) was a price match to home depot and the sales dude didn't bother to check, just took my word for it.


i feel like gvac when i say this but what ever happened to an honest days work?
Its been outsourced to Honduras

[TripleSkeet]

Meh. I say good for him. He found a way to work the system in his favor, so it doesnt bother me. If he gets caught of course I wouldnt feel bad but hey, if hes willing to take the risk it doesnt bother me that hes getting over on a company.

[Suspect Chin]

Meh. I say good for him. He found a way to work the system in his favor, so it doesnt bother me. If he gets caught of course I wouldnt feel bad but hey, if hes willing to take the risk it doesnt bother me that hes getting over on a company.

You sound like the type of guy who leaves carts in the middle of the parking lot and is never kind enough to rewind.

[TripleSkeet]

You sound like the type of guy who leaves carts in the middle of the parking lot and is never kind enough to rewind.

Rewind? How old are you????

[Suspect Chin]

Rewind? How old are you????

100

[opie's twisted balls]

Rewind? How old are you????
LOL, last time I returned a DVD @ blockbuster I told the clerk I didn't rewind it....I got a :unsure: look and wasn't sure if it was because my joke crashed or that given her tender years she wasn't aware of a pre-dvd world

[Curt]

Meh. I say good for him. He found a way to work the system in his favor, so it doesnt bother me. If he gets caught of course I wouldnt feel bad but hey, if hes willing to take the risk it doesnt bother me that hes getting over on a company.

This is my feeling exactly, good for him.

[sr71blackbird]

I know people who take the tag off a less expensive article of clothing and put it in place of the more expensive articles tag. Sometimes they peel off the barcode off like a plastic dish and put it over the barcode of a frying pan or something along that line.

[GregoryJoseph]

both methods are pretty slimy.

First one: the store may re-sell the item as 'new', even though it's been used (and potentially damaged). whoever buys it after <strike>you</strike> your friend is buying a used item thinking it's new.

Second one: Outright fraud. i'm surprised the big stores don't check the offers to make sure they're legit before they match prices.



Couldn't agree more.

[Bob Impact]

You friend is a thief.

[TripleSkeet]

You friend is a thief.

Doesnt make him a bad person.

[Reephdweller]

I know people who take the tag off a less expensive article of clothing and put it in place of the more expensive articles tag. Sometimes they peel off the barcode off like a plastic dish and put it over the barcode of a frying pan or something along that line.


I firmly believe that one of the "people" you're referring to in this scenario is my brother.

[tanless1]

It is wrong,dishonest.

[Zipgun]

When it comes to Mom & Pop type stores, never, but major chains? Fuck 'em.

Whatever inferiorly made Chinese piece of shit you're being sold was marked up probably close to, if not more than, 100% for profit, so YOU are being screwed before anything. Not to mention that whatever giant conglomerate incorporated that made it, did so probably in a foreign slum for slave wages.

Depends on the situations, also. For example: I was remodeling my bathroom and doing tile around my shower using a pre-mixed grout. As I got toward the end, I needed some more, and I mean like 8 ounces worth. Well, you can't buy grout in that little of an amount, you have to buy a gallon (or whatever size) of it. So I bought it, but when I was done, it was literally impossible to tell that I had even used any. Was I getting the 20 bucks back from Lowes with them knowing no different? Fuck yes. And if they put it back on the shelf, no one would know.

Most times places don't put that shit back anyway and they send it back to the wholesaler where it gets recycled or sold to auctions or odd-lot types or whatever the fuck they do with it.

Some stores started charging "restocking fees" years ago, this was really the last straw for me which made me say fuck them. I brought back an item legitimately because it was defective at Sears (an expensive DeWalt drill) and they charged me a restocking fee. For what? It's fucking broken. You can't put it back on the shelf. You're gonna charge me the shipping to send it back to the warehouse or wherever? Fuck you. So they were screwing me and getting close to 20% of the cost of the item anyway, and leaving me with just a new unbroken version of the same thing I bought at regular price in the first place.

Oh, and if I lose a knob for something? I'm headed right to the store for a new one off of the display. I'm a knob stealin' motherfucker.

[Crossweird]

This is Jack's warped sense of entitlement to knobs.

[oh_kee_pa]

Whatever inferiorly made Chinese piece of shit you're being sold was marked up probably close to, if not more than, 100% for profit, so YOU are being screwed before anything. Not to mention that whatever giant conglomerate incorporated that made it, did so probably in a foreign slum for slave wages.

then dont buy it... thats an idiot statement... that it's ok for ripping them off because they rip you off?

you sir are a contradiction in yourself

[Zipgun]

you sir are a contradiction in yourself

Never said I wasn't, just being honest about my deceit.

[biggestmexi]

Meh. I say good for him. He found a way to work the system in his favor, so it doesnt bother me. If he gets caught of course I wouldnt feel bad but hey, if hes willing to take the risk it doesnt bother me that hes getting over on a company.

what is this system?

He didnt find a way to beat anything, he made a way.

[TripleSkeet]

what is this system?

He didnt find a way to beat anything, he made a way.

Now youre just talking semantics.

When it comes to Mom & Pop type stores, never, but major chains? Fuck 'em. .

I feel the same way actually.

To me its not about right or wrong, its about if it bothers me. And no, when ordinary people rip off huge multi million dollar corporations, it doesnt bother me.

[SatCam]

If you're going to scam a store like this you might as well just shoplift. It's the same thing. Yea, you might have to open your wallet pulling one of these scams, but you're still stealing money from a store's bottom line either way.

If you try to convince yourself that "they're fucking you over with those prices anyway" then you are a fucking moron with a sense of entitlement. If you dont like the prices then shop elsewhere. We're not talking about life or death. These aren't people being gouged for a quart of milk and a can of spam. We're talking about people who want luxuries but are too dishonest to earn them through a hard days work.

Youre stealing from the shareholders/owners, from the employees, and you're fucking over the customers because now the store has to "build" that loss back into the price of the product meaning they up the price so they can recover their losses.

[Zipgun]

If you're going to scam a store like this you might as well just shoplift.

Uh huh.

Cargo shorts rule for that.

[sr71blackbird]

We all need to stop doing this kind of thing. Period. It messes up too many things. I have seen women use their children to steal walking out with a kid wearing a sweater with the tag dangling while the beep is going off as she passes the detector. The kids screaming because she's pinching his leg to make him cry.

My mother once told me that when I was a little kid we had gone food shopping and when we got home and she was putting away the food, she saw I had a candy bar in my hand. I must have taken it on the way out. She walked back to the store with it and returned it. She didnt drive when I was a kid.

[SatCam]

We all need to stop doing this kind of thing. Period. It messes up too many things. I have seen women use their children to steal walking out with a kid wearing a sweater with the tag dangling while the beep is going off as she passes the detector. The kids screaming because she's pinching his leg to make him cry.

My mother once told me that when I was a little kid we had gone food shopping and when we got home and she was putting away the food, she saw I had a candy bar in my hand. I must have taken it on the way out. She walked back to the store with it and returned it. She didnt drive when I was a kid.

maybe me and you can get along after all

[sr71blackbird]

I dont know why you dont like me. I like you. :sad:

[TripleSkeet]

My mother once told me that when I was a little kid we had gone food shopping and when we got home and she was putting away the food, she saw I had a candy bar in my hand. I must have taken it on the way out. She walked back to the store with it and returned it. She didnt drive when I was a kid.

Thats happened with my kids, but not a candy bar, just some toy here or there. Good for your mom, but sorry, I wasnt driving back to the store for that shit. I just chalked it up as an "Oh well".

[sr71blackbird]

She walked back, the store was almost a mile away. She didn't learn how to drive until I was in high school.

[TripleSkeet]

She walked back, the store was almost a mile away. She didn't learn how to drive until I was in high school.

Well I figured it would be obvious that if I wasnt willing to drive back to return it I sure as hell wasnt walking back!

Besides, when I was a teenager I was making money off of scams alot worse then anything posted here.