Birthday girl gets two rock-filled iPod boxes

We're tempted to believe this story just isn't true, but if the details are indeed factual, we're a bit flabbergasted to say the least. Turns out, a teenager's mother scurried to Target in order to snap up a video iPod for her daughter's upcoming birthday, and she put it on a Target credit card in order to receive a discount. Upon opening it up, the gal's 14th birthday party took a turn for the worse as Regan Ritter found nothing but rocks packaged neatly inside. After demanding a refund and getting rejected, store employees were able to locate another iPod at a different Target location. As you can probably guess, that box was also stuffed with rocks. Target still refused to refund the lady's dough and insisted that she blow the $350 on other store merchandise instead. As it stands, Ms. Ritter is expecting some higher-ups to contact her and truly resolve this, but there's no word as to whether or not Regan ever acquired an iPod from anywhere else.

[Via Techmeme]

[Andrew Chen @ Oct 9th 2007 1:00PM]

weird, my friend walked into a Target just yesterday to buy a 360. when she brought it back she realized the box appeared opened and when she looked inside all the xbox live accessories were missing. doesn't seem like Target is too reliable these days.

[paloooz @ Oct 9th 2007 1:13PM]

Store employees steal stuff all the time. It's terrible. My guess is that somewhere along the line someone stole the iPods out of the boxes and replaced it with rocks of the same weight. Like Indiana Jones.

[superseagulls @ Oct 9th 2007 1:17PM]

Similar thing happened to me last year, I purchased a 10" Philips portable DVD player, and when I got home there was a REALLY beaten up 'el-cheapo' taiwanese player in the box... try getting Target to believe you aren't trying to scam them....! Anyway, heads up CHECK THE CONTENTS OF EVERYTHING you buy.

[Derbeste @ Oct 9th 2007 1:18PM]

They are called factory seals, people. If they are broken....DON'T BUY IT!!!!

Just another reason I think this story is BS.

[Scooby03 @ Oct 9th 2007 1:23PM]

Lol just Lol

[something @ Oct 9th 2007 2:02PM]

1 - No factory seals on ipods
2 - More like someone returned it without the ipod than an employee brought rocks to work don'tcha think?

[paloooz @ Oct 9th 2007 2:45PM]

iPods have factory seals, and when you return an iPod, then look in the box to check that everything is there.

What stores have you been going to ....

[paloooz @ Oct 9th 2007 2:45PM]

"they," not "then."

[FreeRange @ Oct 9th 2007 3:02PM]

I got an ipod touch here (from target, coincidentally) that had nothing more than plastic wrapping around it. There was no security seal.

http://www.engadget.com/photos/ipod-touch-unboxed-and-um-touched/401152/

The link is to a picture of the back of the box with no seals from Engadget's own unboxing.

[Bistro88 @ Oct 9th 2007 3:38PM]

wow, i am amazed they took it back, i mean if i was the guy at the exchange counter i would have thoiught it was a joke. I understand check your stuff before you leave - but you still wouldn't expect a rock.

Bah, its apple, the new microsoft, i wouldn't get a ipod anyways, meizu baby!!

http://www.mp4nation.com/products/index.php?PID=mp4

[senyl @ Oct 9th 2007 1:01PM]

I guess that "rocked" her world...

[yoshi @ Oct 9th 2007 1:53PM]

Gives new meaning to the term "a bricked iPod".

[Tim @ Oct 9th 2007 5:09PM]

kid: (unwraps gift) Awesome! An iPod!
brother: You got an iPod?
kid: Yeah, iPod rocks! (opens box) What the...?

[Thomas Bags @ Oct 9th 2007 7:01PM]

well technically its impossible to brick an iPod, it can always be reformatted. The one thing you can do though is to physically break your iPod but I do not think it would qualify as being "Bricked".

[FermitTheKrog @ Oct 10th 2007 7:53AM]

Thomas : I bet you are the life of the party eh?

[bondsbw @ Oct 9th 2007 1:01PM]

Looks like Santa's testing a more efficient lumps-of-coal delivery system in time for the holidays.

[Nathan @ Oct 10th 2007 2:48AM]

Santa doesn't want the environmentalists on his hands they would go to town on him for how much coal he gives out.

[W00ter @ Oct 9th 2007 1:01PM]

"The Grand Prairie store's employees, perhaps unforgivingly after hearing the sob story, insisted that the new iPod had to be purchased before opening it. The family finally agreed, purchased the iPod, and opened in in front of Target employees. Again, the box that should have contained an iPod contained rocks. The woman once again asked for her money back, but again was denied. She then, according to the article, had her daughter pick out other items in order to use the store credit."

WOW! What are the odds of getting two boxes of rocks in two different stores...??

Can't believe they refused her a refund after she opened the box in front of them. That's just terrible customer service.

[anonymous @ Oct 9th 2007 1:04PM]

doesn't sound like Target CS to me. Target is usually one of the most forgiving of the retailers and is always the one to break their back to make things 'right.'

[Spoon!! @ Oct 9th 2007 2:39PM]

She bought it with her credit card. Call up the credit card 800# on the back of the card and dispute the charges.

[Jacob Kennedy @ Oct 9th 2007 4:58PM]

Agreed. After opening it up in front of them they refused a refund? Probably because the box was opened...

[Argot @ Oct 9th 2007 1:02PM]

It's the next gen iBrick.

[oshean @ Oct 9th 2007 1:45PM]

Motorola & Apple's new DAP/phone device.... the iPEBL

[huh? @ Oct 9th 2007 1:05PM]

The article explicitly states
"Because it was her daughter's birthday, the mother decided to stop arguing. She told her daughter to pick out $350 worth of items around the store to use the credit on."
That sounds like definitive word that Regan didn't get an iPod. It doesn't mean she won't in the future but for now... the rest writes itself.

[matthewfkennedy @ Oct 9th 2007 1:06PM]

Maybe she should try a Zune....

[Derbeste @ Oct 9th 2007 1:13PM]

Maybe she should try a different store.....permenently.

[NHAnimator @ Oct 9th 2007 1:07PM]

That's what she gets for asking for rock. Maybe next time she'll ask for alternative.

[nth256 @ Oct 9th 2007 3:11PM]

If asking for "rock" garners you rocks,
what would "alternative" get you?

Word to the wise: think twice before asking for "death metal".

[Rob @ Oct 9th 2007 6:28PM]

Alternative would get you a male prostitute or maybe a female one???

[Tom @ Oct 10th 2007 5:49AM]

Death Metal is a box filled with a critical mass of uranium, set in such a way as so when you open it the mass of metal joins and fission occurs.

[Smells Fishy @ Oct 9th 2007 1:11PM]

Wait... is this the same lady who found a finger in her food at a fast food restaurant?

[Ellianth @ Oct 9th 2007 9:08PM]

lol!!

[Scooter @ Oct 10th 2007 10:17AM]

coffee-stained crotch

[Nathan @ Oct 9th 2007 1:15PM]

This reminds me of a Christmas 2005 story when a woman purchased an iPod at Wal-Mart, but instead of receiving an iPod, it happened to contain raw meat. But instead of them refusing to refund/replace the item like in this story (whether true or not), Wal-Mart gave the excellent customer service.

http://www.local6.com/news/5710517/detail.html

[Dave @ Oct 9th 2007 3:32PM]

why the hell wasn't the meat rotten, and why didn't it smell? that makes no sense, ipods aren't kept refrigerated..........

[Tony @ Oct 9th 2007 6:00PM]

Dave, obviously the meat was rotten when she opened it.

[Derbeste @ Oct 9th 2007 1:16PM]

I'm inclined to call BS on all this. If the women opened a box of rocks IN FRONT of sales people, then I've never seen a store that wouldn't at least offer an even exchange or refund.

If they didn't, that's a lawsuit waiting to happen and the store knows it.

This just sounds like a new generation of Urban myth.

Besides....I'm surprised the women could even tell the difference between the pile of rocks and the ipod (I kid! I kid!)

[joe23521 @ Oct 9th 2007 1:29PM]

I have to agree that this is likely fictionalized.
In a situation like this, even an Apple Store would give your money back, let alone a Target.

[something @ Oct 9th 2007 2:08PM]

The problem is that she didn't open the FIRST one in front of the employees

[sean @ Oct 9th 2007 2:35PM]

You didn't read. They were offering even exchange. $350 in the store; the Target just didn't have the iPod there.

What they were refusing was a refund. Which is BS.

[Tony @ Oct 9th 2007 6:03PM]

They went to another Target, 20 miles away to spend their store credit on the iPod they had in stock there.

They opened that iPod in front of an employee, and guess what was inside?

Rocks.

[Chris Heinonen @ Oct 9th 2007 1:18PM]

Back when I was much younger, I got a nice new Sega Genesis game for Christmas (I can't recall which game, unfortunately). My happiness was quickly crushed when I opened the box to find a piece of wood wrapped in cloth where the game should have been.

Thankfully the store was good about letting me exchange it for whatever other game I would rather have, but of course I had to wait a day since the store wasn't open on Christmas.

[John P @ Oct 9th 2007 1:26PM]

I call BS on this too. First, I dont know many people who wouldnt fight to the bitter end if they ended up with two boxes full of rocks. And even if they did, why didnt they just go for a third ipod? I doubt Target stores only keep two on hand. No, this doesn't seem plausible to me.

[something @ Oct 9th 2007 2:08PM]

"As it stands, Ms. Ritter is expecting some higher-ups to contact her and truly resolve this"

Sounds like she did to me.

[Tony @ Oct 9th 2007 6:06PM]

It's possible. They wanted a specific color, and memory. This has happened in other stores, and according to Target, two other people who purchased iPods in that store had the exact same thing happen.

[Melanie Ritter @ Oct 15th 2007 6:57PM]

The first Target had one in stock.... sent me to the GP Target and they only had one in stock... both ROCKS!!! I spent 4 hours of my daughters birthday fighting with Target, gee, Happy birthday sweetie. Read the article before you start making accusations!

[Smells Fishy @ Oct 9th 2007 1:26PM]

Back in 1995, I bought a laptop out of a van in a California mall parking lot. At $150, it was a killer deal. Of course, when I got back to the hotel I was staying in, I opened the box, only to find a landscaping stone. That stone now sits in my yard as a reminder of just how stupid I was.
I think this lady tried to con the first store, and was able to switch the box of the second one before she opened it.
Of course, I may still be jaded from being an idiot.

[NotJustTarget @ Oct 9th 2007 1:27PM]

I used to work at a Wal-Mart in the Electronics Department. Someone at the service desk handed me a dvd player that the had taken back from a customer so that I could put it back on the shelf. I could tell immediately that it felt weird. I opened it up and inside was 1 huge rock. I thought our employees were especially incompetent but apparently it's an epidemic.

[Jugomugo @ Oct 9th 2007 4:43PM]

Wal-Mart never checks their return. Many people like to refer to them as "Borrow Mart".

[Trevor @ Oct 9th 2007 4:59PM]

That's true. There are reports of people returning Radio Shack brand goods to walmart for cash refund. Don't ask me where they got the amount to refund. Radio Shack Price match???