WALMART SUPERCENTER Walmart sold me a new Acer Laptop. When I opened the box it contained wood and junk. Walmart is refusing to refund $500. Rock Hill, South Carolina

A box can be shrink wrapped with a hair dryer and the shrink wrap cellophane that can be bought online.

Boxes sealed with clear packing tape can be defeated with a hair dryer and an application of new tape, or even the old tape if you are careful.

Boxes sealed with those quarter sized adhesive discs can be defeated with a hairdryer.   In all cases the boxes look factory fresh.

ALWAYS check the contents of the box before purchase.  No, I'm not a thief, I'm just passing on what I saw with my own eyes.

While i will apply some empathy for you on this issue it does come down to the fact that before i leave the store i check  such large ticket item esp laptops and anything that is a electronic item to verify what is shown on the package is what is in  the box. 

I used to work for Wal-Mart in the Photo Dept and per policy I was required to open the box of the digital camera and verify all parts where there at the point of sale. That would be to check if it had the cam strap, the camera ( a quick check to see if it had any visible marks ) if it came with batteries to see if those where in there, and CD and Manual on operation of the camera. As an added measure irregardless of the customers request  to pop in a set of batteries we had behind the counter to verified it fired up.  as my final measure I wrote my intials and my ID Code and date on the box. It was my seal of approval that the Camera  was in no way damaged nor missing anything and then placed a piece of tape on the edges 

My attention to detail made sure that if a camera was returned that was my sale and had my initials and ID  and date on it. I could dispute it and as one final check I would check a notepad i had written any camera i sold with the date and time as i would ask a manager to get out the tape of the time and date as to verify the condition . Those eye in the skys at wal-mart are something for details. 

in my time i have only had one customer ever come back with a complaint  of a camera  i sold them as being damaged  ( it came back all screwed up as if it was dropped from a moving car ) The manager  of my dept was going to refund the money and as they where finalizing the refund i had  the loss pervention APC get the  tapeof the date and time and review the dept  and zoom in a brand new looking camera . i asked the woman with the store manager  if she had dropped the camera and she said no it was sold to her this way . The store manager  who had viewed the tape as well said i am sorry Maam  but this camera was sold to you in new condition  the sales associate that sold it to you is here with me and  they go thru  a few extra steps to insure  every camera that she sells  that walks out this store is compete and with out any sort of defect and  i just viewed the purchase of the camera  on ... the woman was like that was a lie and the store manager offered to take the woman to the room to watch the transaction  she refused and  the store manager said that there would be no refund ( as a side note  there was no extended warrenty purchased at the time )  the manager handed back the damaged camera and said here you go have a wonderful day and thank you for shopping at wal-mart. she was pissed the customer and was saying she was gonna call her laywer and tell her friends. the manager was like go right on ahead  we will make a few copies of the recording of the purchase to provide your lawyer  I am sure he or she will find it enlightening. 

so not to say that you tried to rip off wal-mart or anything but  generally  as a golden rule that i was doing when i was 18 years old  and before i am currently 40 i open all big ticketr items with an associate  to verify all parts are there and in the case of a laptop ya bet ya bottom penny  i am gonna power on a laptop wait till i see all the pixals work and it  works  as i expect it to work before i leave the store ( In the case of a laptop i bring in a home burned mp3 cd, a dvd with a few movies and an actual dvd with a usb flash drive . all test  to verify that it does as i expect the laptop to do . my time is valuable and i certainly dont wanna  have to take home a 900 dollar laptop open up the box and find its busted and do a return trip for me a trip to a store and back is 3 hours  total and those 3 hours  matter to me . a sinple  10 to 20 min inspect on my side at point of sale /purchase  makes sure i will not have to run to customer service and wait for a manager to come in and key in his code to authorize a 900 dollar + Refund

so do i provide help you bet ya. I provide my help in sound intelligent adult advice . Check your item before leaving. a few minutes is not gonna ruin your life. So what you are runnjing late and got to watch american idol . that is what a dvr  or  vhs  is for. Nothing is that imp[ortant that requires  ya  to come and go so quickly. if ya kids sick or something then  your priorities to go to wal-mart to pick up a laptop is screwed. kid first  then  get a laptop when ya have time to check it all out

You can't really expect Walmart to always give a refund.

I mean if the box is sealed up....how could they possibly know you didn't get a good product...take it out of the box..fill it with junk..and then return it?

I mean either way..someone did that whether you were innocent or not..how can walmart know when and who put the junk in and re-sealed it?

It is inconvenient..but in this day and age with so many scammers out there..I would always think it wise to inspect what you buy before leaving the store.

I highly doubt Walmart is filling boxes with wood and junk..and putting it on their shelves for sale.

With this said..I am not an employee of Walmart..nor would I EVER shop at one..I don't mind paying a little more for better service. I also believe it or not have good luck buying stuff on ebay..because the seller has a rating..and you can read hundreds of feedbacks about the honesty..shipping time..prices etc. Any legitimate seller on ebay would never be dumb enough to ruin a perfect feedback score by sending a box of wood and junk.

It was a few years ago, and not nearly as expensive, but I purchased a 10" high power sub from the walmart in santee CA. When i got home and unboxed my speaker, it was an old, blown out piece of junk. Took an hour of standing there demanding my money back before i got it! Also, recently at a walmart in casa grande, AZ, my wife and I tried to purchase a DVD. The clerk who took it to ring it up, looked at it funny, shook it and then called a couple managers over. They cut into the security taping(still intact) and the dvd was gone! We were'nt under suspesion and got another dvd.

But it shows, check youre stuff before leaving the store!

I'm going to the new target across the freeway!

I work at walmart in electronics. A customer came in and bought an Acer laptop in the $300 to $500 price range. I am the one who got it for them, it felt like the right weight and the factory seals were NOT broken, but I didnt really look too closely at the seals. I handed it to another employee who rang them up and and the customers left.

About 45 minutes later my manager calls me over and I go to the front with him and the guys are back with a laptop box filled with junk. It did weigh right with the junk they had in there and they said the factory seals were in place when they opened them. The store said there was nothing they could do, the customers were quite upset.. After about 10 more minutes the store agreed to give them a refund.... (i was surprised)

I really dont know if they stole the laptop and put the junk in there or if that was done before we got the laptop.... It can happen either way, more often than not I would bet on the customer doing it, but still...