Birthday boy gets box of rocks instead of Nintendo DS

No, you're not being mercilessly attacked by an unyielding feeling of déjà vu for no good reason -- we really have seen something eerily similar to this happen before. This go 'round, we've got a totally innocent ten year old boy who was given Guitar Hero for DS prior to even owning a console; as the mother finally ended the tease, she handed him a shiny new DS handheld for him to unwrap. Unfortunately for everyone involved, all that was tucked inside was a couple of stones, a Chinese newspaper and boatloads of disappointment. After the Walmart store from which she purchased it referred her to the Big N, she furiously admitted the following: "They don't want to do nothing. They want me to keep the box of rocks. I'm not buying a box of rocks for $138." Thankfully, Wally World finally refunded her and threw in a $20 gift card for the trouble (after being hounded by a local news station, mind you), but the real damage -- losing all hope in humanity -- will never be undone. Ever.

[Via plugged in]

[The Dude @ Apr 29th 2009 12:44PM]

Oh the irony. "A DS?!?!?! THIS ROCKS!!!!" And it really was.

[x1500 @ Apr 29th 2009 12:47PM]

Dud

[Seminole @ Apr 29th 2009 12:49PM]

A better joke would have been to point out that he was excited about "rocking out" to Guitar Hero.

[NoPhoneForYou @ Apr 29th 2009 12:53PM]

LOL!!!

[eggothewaffle @ Apr 29th 2009 12:54PM]

At least Rock Band hasn't come out for the DS yet.

[PedoJokerBear (aka Deeznuts) @ Apr 29th 2009 12:55PM]

the irony would be if he had more fun with the rocks

[VeganFreak @ Apr 29th 2009 1:23PM]

The uh weird doll avatar guy. You're must be an incredibly disturbed individual to let such a mess of idiotic memes influence your everyday life, and to display them by your comments.

[PedoJokerBear (aka Deeznuts) @ Apr 29th 2009 1:43PM]

so would 80% of the joystiq population if it were as serious as youre making it out to be, stfu thanks.

[neflow @ Apr 29th 2009 2:05PM]

Wow, I actually laughed reading your comment.

[Temple @ Apr 29th 2009 2:13PM]

Quote Charlie Brown, "I got a rock".
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYFfOJPMnsw

[doug @ Apr 29th 2009 2:26PM]

when my brother (who is now a phd in math) was really young his favorite toy was a metal sucrets box, filled with...you guessed it...rocks and taped shut.

[telepheedian @ Apr 29th 2009 12:45PM]

They don't still sell the original DS, do they?

[giuliop @ Apr 29th 2009 1:44PM]

No, they only sell the old package full of rocks.

[Jason Staten @ Apr 29th 2009 2:17PM]

Zing!

[ChiWax @ Apr 29th 2009 12:50PM]

This happened to me via Comp USA back when the Sony Location Free Base Station first hit the streets. I got a block of wood that had a piece of paper wrapped around it with a picture of the Location Free device on it. I went back to the store right away and got the real deal...Q

[Kamokazi @ Apr 29th 2009 1:05PM]

I worked at CompUSA back in college, and can verify that happened with a couple things there. Apparently when our sales manager asked corporate about it, they had narrowed down one of the Fedex sorting centers a lot of our stuff went through for eastern US distribution had a little ring of employees who had a nice side business going on. They picked out stuff that got palletized for our stores and did the old switcheroo.

[Jeffrey @ Apr 29th 2009 9:45PM]

When I went to buy my PSP, Target actually sold me a PSP box with 4 C batteries and some newspaper. They gave me a real one immediately, probably were scared of a lawsuit.

[bolmedias @ Apr 29th 2009 12:50PM]

Wow Wal-Mart, I know the times are tough, but surely this is a bit too far.

Also Guitar Hero for the DS now rocks the console in more of a literal way.

[sacapuntas @ Apr 29th 2009 12:51PM]

"They don't want to do nothing"

Doesn't that mean they do want to do something?

[Eleazar @ Apr 29th 2009 1:07PM]

That's because a ella le gusta el pollo

[NHAnimator @ Apr 29th 2009 1:40PM]

"I'm not buying a box of rocks for $138."

How much WOULD you pay for a box of rocks then? (Cause I have some magical ones I can give you a deal on.)

[Loonie @ Apr 29th 2009 2:09PM]

They don't not want to not do nothing.

[Doug @ Apr 30th 2009 5:25AM]

A ela A gosta a voce

[feraligatr8 @ Apr 30th 2009 8:51AM]

"They don't want to do nothing" I believe it logically means that they want to do something but not nothing :)

[Adderz @ Apr 29th 2009 12:51PM]

"They dont want to do nothing" ??? lol

Ahhh i remember the original DS, hideous beast it was, incredibly dated looking. The Vaio P aint not much bigger :-P.

[Bizam! @ Apr 29th 2009 2:49PM]

Hey! I like my hideous beast of a DS...

[Kyle B @ Apr 29th 2009 12:52PM]

Fraudulent returns happen constantly, and main items such as game systems and laptops get returned in a still sealed packed replaced with a brick or phone book nearly weekly.

@bolmedias "Wow Wal-Mart, I know the times are tough, but surely this is a bit too far."
Wal Mart didn't replace the DS with rocks you dolt.

How is this news?

[Funke, Tobias Dr. @ Apr 29th 2009 1:12PM]

Only when it happens to a kid or there is some sob story like this does it get talked about.

In other news, a liquor store was robbed, a cat had to be rescued from a tree, and a car wrecked.

[George @ Apr 29th 2009 12:53PM]

Oh trust me - "They don't want to do nothing" - that's exactly what they want to do. :P

[Drew_Ill @ Apr 29th 2009 12:53PM]

Seriously, learn from all those Engadget unboxing (gadget porn) videos - protect yourself by either videotaping it or taking pictures when opening your new expensive items. Also, if the box even looks remotely tampered with (dodgy shrink-wrap, broken product seals, more than one layer of tape holding box openings closed, busted up cardboard), either pick or demand a different one.

[Chris @ Apr 29th 2009 1:08PM]

Really? So you would videotape the process of unboxing every $100+ products you purchased, so you can "protecting yourself" from receiving a box of rocks??? Surely there are much more important things to do in your life. And people don't expect to receive a box of rocks every time they purchase electronics!

[Jay @ Apr 29th 2009 1:24PM]

How am I supposed to video tape the opening of my video camera I am going to have to buy to video tape all of the packages I open? I have a little bit of a conundrum on my hands.

[Mark @ Apr 29th 2009 1:46PM]

@Jay: Kiff, we have a conundrum.

[giuliop @ Apr 29th 2009 1:48PM]

@Jay

You need to be really, really fast.

[Forcewinder @ Apr 29th 2009 2:21PM]

use your iphone video recorder...you dont need to video tape the iphone cuz the screen will break eventually anyway.

[Drew_Ill @ Apr 29th 2009 2:51PM]

@ Chris - Of course not every $100 and up item, but this would at least give you some documentation to back up your claim when you try to return the box'o'rocks to the store and they tell you to f yourself. That's what I meant by protect yourself.

[Alex @ Apr 29th 2009 3:53PM]

Forcewinder has to be a dick, doesn't he?

[ace @ Apr 29th 2009 12:53PM]

I used to work for the returns center for Best Buy (not for one store, mind you - the central returns center for the entire west coast). You can't imagine how many times/items come through that people have simply stripped/replaced/intentionally-damaged. People are greedy and this is a perfect example of a store simply accepting a return, not checking inside, and then putting it back on the shelves for sale...

Stupid store, yes - but some greedy punk just cost us all a little more scrutiny next time...

[Setnev @ Apr 29th 2009 12:54PM]

This was on Yahoo News yesterday, it was actually a disgruntled Walmart customer who returned the box with the shrink wrap on it and somehow it found it's way back on the shelf.

[Kyle B @ Apr 29th 2009 1:17PM]

Wow! Who would have ever known?! A customer returning something fraudulently?! Well I never!

It's not like this happens hundreds if not thousands of times per year at just one single store.

[PEZ @ Apr 29th 2009 1:30PM]

Obviously an inside job. We need retail exray machines to make sure people are getting what they are supposed to. OR ar least a rock detector!

[Kyle B @ Apr 29th 2009 1:21PM]

If an employee wanted it, they would just steal it, they wouldn't go through all of that trouble of swapping the crap inside unless they were doing it at a distribution center, which is unlikely if it's only one product.

[Matthew @ Apr 29th 2009 12:54PM]

$20 gift card? She should claim it was racism and sue Wal-Mart for 20 million for not letting her return it instead.

[htd @ Apr 29th 2009 12:57PM]

she is white, I doubt that she can win racism case.

economy is bad, crime is up

[Patriks7 @ Apr 29th 2009 2:16PM]

Oh yeah! The American way of "life". Just sue yourself to death.

[CJ @ Apr 29th 2009 7:23PM]

Er... they did eventually allow her to return it, AND they threw in the 20 dollar gift card.

[Leejin @ Apr 29th 2009 12:57PM]

Yeah, I work at the BB and this shiz happens all the time.

Unfortunately, we just have to trust the customer and refund the money, minus the product.

So, what's saying they didn't just buy the thing, and fill the box with rocks and claim it was like that??

Aw well, losing all faith in decent human beings is totally worth a $20 gift card amiright??

[Alex @ Apr 29th 2009 1:00PM]

That's scary. And today's my bday too!

[NoPhoneForYou @ Apr 29th 2009 1:01PM]

That is the reason what.... once I pay.... I open it immediately at the register - when they are boxed items. This is specially true if the think costs more then $50. If I buy online, I reject any box that has any kind of damage. Then, I call immediately the Merchant and the Shipping service to inform it. Write down names and stuff.

[Brazen521 @ Apr 29th 2009 2:57PM]

Stores must hate you.