Wow, somebody is a scumbag employee!

[lionheart4life]

My mom just got me a new sound card for Christmas to upgrade from the onboard audio in my computer, but someone switched the freaking card out of the box for a cheaper one. The card should be a Creative Sound Blaster Live! LS, which isn't top of the line but would definitely be an improvement as it supports 5.1 sound. The card in the pack however is clearly not this card, as it doesn't have any of the outputs shown in either the instructions or the box and only has the same audio out as the onboard in my computer already has. Now I though something was suspicious when I opened the box and the antistatic bag was already open at the bottom, since the card fell out as I pulled the bag out the top of the box. I though maybe they just put it in upside down at first, and installed the card in my computer, noting that it looked quite different from the one shown in the pictures in the instructions, which is also possible as things usually look a little different. When trying to install, the install disk didn't have any drivers that supported this card, and didn't recognize it as a Live! card. I figured something was up and looked up out of box pictures of the card online, and sure enough it was different from what I got. I then looked at the box again and noticed that the seal of it had been cut with a razor to open it, and the card was probably switched this way. I know I didn't do that because it opened it from the top, and didn't have anything to even cut the tape. I can't believe someone would do this crap, but I'm not surprised since it came from Wal-Mart and they have tons of scumbag employees there. We're taking it back tomorrow to see what we can do about an exchange, this is such crap!

[Darkfire001]

Actually some customers do that, that really bites dude.

[Scorch]

Those jerks. I hope you get either a refund or the card you deserve. It's sad that stuff like this happens.

[JSweeney]

Yep. It all comes from some jerk being selfish and feeling entitled to something.
Hopefully they have another card available, and don't give you to much of a hassle with the return.

[craven_fiend]

man thats shitty. i'd be so pissed about something like that. email a complaint today, then take the stuff in tomorrow, but you better go early. i hear crowds will be crazy tomorrow.

[coolsteel]

Sounds more like something a customer would do, switch it up and return to customer service hoping they don't check. All the same pretty crummy.

[lionheart4life]

Yeah, I figure they have to at least give us the money back for it if they don't have a replacement, I just hope they don't think its us trying to pull a scam on them.

We plan to try to get there as soon as it opens, I'm sure the return line is going to be insane tomorrow, especially at a Wal-Mart which is always packed.

[CappyCobra]

What even more sad is that they sold you an open-box item as new. I'd be ripping mad if I were you.

[lionheart4life]

I am upset, but I will have to wait until tomorrow at least to go try to deal with them. If this was a former return, they definitely should have examined the box to make sure it wasn't open before putting it back on the shelf. I mean it was tough to tell that the bottom had been opened with a razor since you don't usually look there at first, but I just wish they were a little more responsible with things. I wouldn't be surprised if it was actually an employee who did it after hours or something. They could probably turn a nice profit this way. I just want to warn anyone who is going to be buying anything in the post-Christmas sales to be careful what you are getting and if you can make sure to examine the packaging completely before you buy something.

[ananag112]

This must be the work of EA. I just know it.

[lionheart4life]

I wouldn't be surprised if EA and Wal-Mart were in collusion to take over the world. I also wouldn't say no if they offered to buy the license to use me in a video game exclusively.

[bmsdaddy]

The same thing happened to me about 12+ years ago at Best Buy. I bought an expensive video card (and this was before dedicated 3d cards) and somebody had replaced it with a cheap one. Best Buy gave me no problem exchanging it, but they placed it back on the shelf while I was still in the store!
One of the presents my son opened today, Geo Trax Clocktower, we got at Walmart and turns out it had been opened and parts are missing. This is a very hard to find toy and it really is maddening that they don't check this stuff out better.

[ananag112]

The same thing happened to me about 12+ years ago at Best Buy. I bought an expensive video card (and this was before dedicated 3d cards) and somebody had replaced it with a cheap one. Best Buy gave me no problem exchanging it, but they placed it back on the shelf while I was still in the store!
One of the presents my son opened today, Geo Trax Clocktower, we got at Walmart and turns out it had been opened and parts are missing. This is a very hard to find toy and it really is maddening that they don't check this stuff out better.

Wait, BestBuy has been around for 12+ years? I thought it was a lot newer (like 5 years).

[bmsdaddy]

Best Buy has been around much longer than 12 years. Perhaps they are newer in your area, but I live near where the company started and only a few miles from there new HQ. Found this on one of their sites:

Best Buy began in 1966, when founder Richard Schulze opened the first Sound of Music store, an audio components systems retailer, in St. Paul, Minnesota. In the early 1980s, the Company quickly expanded into video products and appliances, adopting the name Best Buy in 1983. Best Buy became a publicly-traded company in 1985. In 1989, Best Buy pioneered a new superstore concept that placed all inventory on the sales floor and featured non-commissioned product specialists. Best Buy acquired Future Shop, Canada's largest, consumer electronics retailer in 2001 and launched the Best Buy brand in Canada in 2002. The Company opened its first global sourcing office in Shanghai, China, in 2003.

[lionheart4life]

That sucks bmsdaddy, its really crappy that these places do this, especially on things that parents are buying their kids as gifts. I sent them an email to see what they say back, and I'll go in for the exchange tomorrow I guess. Good luck with yours, sorry to hear about that bms.

[ananag112]

Thank you bmsdaddy for that breif history of BestBuy. I live in New Jersey, so I guess BB didn't expnad to there until recently.

[blueweltall]

Yeah I never buy anything expensive at wal-mart any more. My friend bought a PS2 there and he got a borken ps2, the one with DRE. Also the person took the Dualshock2 controller and switch it with a regualr psone controller. Boy was he piss.

[khc]

lol, that sucks

[the_deej]

that sucks man.....