Screwed by Walmart Clearance - Heavenly Sword

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blitztwn36

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So - I have a terrible habit of buying games on sale, adding them to my backlog, and then playing them a year later. Case-in-point, I purchased Heavenly Sword in April of 2010 (I still have my receipts all stashed with the games), on clearance for $19.99. I finally finished DA:O after pouring 60+ hours into the game, and thought to myself, "I want something that I can just tear through in a night or two" - and found myself holding my still sealed copy of Heavenly Sword.

As my wife headed out the door for a night out with her girlfriends, I poured myself a tall beer and prepared for a little R&R evening of gaming. I have a confession to make, I have a cellophane fetish - as in removing the cellophane from a brand new game, it is something I really enjoy doing. So as I opened the plastic, I felt the cellophane packaging was a little sturdier than the other games, but alarm bells didn't instantly ring, as I know these things have been getting thinner over the years (and this game is 3 years old now). However, once I popped the case open, I found myself staring at a DVD-R disk with "Mortal Kombat - Armageddon" written on it in blue sharpie. All manuals are in tact, and nothing looks to have been touched. Just a burned DVD-R - which I'm leery of evening putting in my PS3.

I'm not sure how the hell this even happens, my only guess is somebody bought the game, removed the disk, put the fake in, re-shrink wrapped it and returned it. Now I know I'm not going to get anywhere with my in-store customer service friends, so I'm going to try my luck with their customer service number.

Now I open the floor to you my friends - has anything like this ever happened to you, and how did you handle it?
 
[quote name='Tsel']I am sorry, but I cannot help but LOL![/QUOTE]

No worries - it's a tale of woe, you're allowed to laugh. After my initial shock and realization of what happened, I had to laugh myself. Only Walmart. I'm just happy it was only $20 and not $60. I've decided I'll head down to my local Walmart to see if I can make any progress or at least a gift card. This one has to be a bit off the wall for the manager, and I'm just hoping they give me $20 out of pity.
 
[quote name='blitztwn36']No worries - it's a tale of woe, you're allowed to laugh. After my initial shock and realization of what happened, I had to laugh myself. Only Walmart. I'm just happy it was only $20 and not $60. I've decided I'll head down to my local Walmart to see if I can make any progress or at least a gift card. This one has to be a bit off the wall for the manager, and I'm just hoping they give me $20 out of pity.[/QUOTE]

I'm not necessarily laughing at your situation, but more so the reaction.

I can only imagine the facial expression you had after gleefully unwrapping just to discover a burned disc with the words Mortal Kombat: Armageddon written on it. xD
 
Update - figured I'd head to Walmart to see what I can do. After waiting in line for 10 minutes hearing about somebody buying a $20 gift card, and somehow it only being loaded with $10, and the store manager subsequently telling the poor lady there's nothing he can do, I figured I was SOL.

Up to the counter I walked with my game case, burned copy of Mortal Kombat - Armageddon, the fake cellophane wrapper, and my original receipt, dated 4/3/10.

To my surprise, the clerk took the game, no questions asked (although she did smirk). The store manager tried to tell me I had to take the same game - which I said I was happy to do, but that they didn't carry it anymore. This floored him, and he just stood staring at the box like the answer lied in Nariko's breasts on the cover. Finally he shrugged, said "give the man a gift card for what he paid" - even though the receipt was almost 14 months stale.

I walked out of Walmart, drove the 1/2 mile to the local rental shop, picked it up for five nights, got Red Faction - Guerrilla, and Star Trek on Blu-Ray both for free, and a large pizza from the place next door.

Turned out to be not so bad of a night. I actually have to applaud Walmart on not turning out so bad.
 
Actually this is fairly common. If you notice at best buy they *should always open the game in front of you when you return it. Prior to working at Best Buy I worked at KB toys. No Mercy had come out and we had a copy returned, sealed. We then sold it to a soccer mom who returned it complaining that wrestlemania 2000 was in it. I happened to be there for both transactions and knew it was legit that she didn't scam us.
 
[quote name='Bubbakja']Actually this is fairly common. If you notice at best buy they *should always open the game in front of you when you return it. Prior to working at Best Buy I worked at KB toys. No Mercy had come out and we had a copy returned, sealed. We then sold it to a soccer mom who returned it complaining that wrestlemania 2000 was in it. I happened to be there for both transactions and knew it was legit that she didn't scam us.[/QUOTE]

Yeah - they said typically when this happens that the cases are just empty. She said this was a first that there was actually a disc in the copy I purchased. Lesson learned - I guess I'll be more apt to more thoroughly inspect my purchases, or even get in the habit of opening much sooner.
 
I've not had something like this happen to me. But what I hate is when I open a new game and find minor damage to the instruction booklet or cover art. The worst case is my copy of Metroid Prime Trilogy for Wii. I open it up and the edge of the cover is a little messed up including being slightly torn at one spot. I guess it was loose enough to move around and it got pushed too hard against the side of the case.

It also sucks when I get an awesome deal on a used game from Amazon Warehouse and it comes empty or with the wrong game disc inside. Its very rare but has happened a couple times each. Or at GameStop when I find out they gave me a greatest hits disc when I picked out a case of a black label game.
 
I had this happen to me with Devil May Cry 4. Had it still in the wrapper for a few months, and when I finally decided to play it I opened it up to find it was empty. Couldn't find my receipt and had bought it on clearance sale for less than $15...couldn't bring myself to even try to do anything at Wal-Mart CS. Figured it was a lesson learned...
 
I bought a PSP game from Walmart a couple of years ago and just held on to it. When I finally got around to playing it I discovered the metal thing on the back of the UMD was missing and it wouldn't play. I had no idea where my recipt was by then so I ended up buying a cheap replacement copy on eBay. Since then I check all my PSP games as soon as I get them.
 
[quote name='rainking187']I bought a PSP game from Walmart a couple of years ago and just held on to it. When I finally got around to playing it I discovered the metal thing on the back of the UMD was missing and it wouldn't play. I had no idea where my recipt was by then so I ended up buying a cheap replacement copy on eBay. Since then I check all my PSP games as soon as I get them.[/QUOTE]

I figure the odds of something like this happening again are slim to none, but I might not be so lucky next time trying to return the game. I'm just going to get into the habit of opening them when I get to the car to inspect. I figure though with a backlog 30+ games deep, opening them when I buy them isn't a complete disaster.
 
That certainly sucks but is also precisely why I open everything I buy immediately regardless of whether or not it is destined for the backlog. Making sure everything is there and intact is too damn important. I just never understand why people don't open their games right away.
 
I bought GOW Collection off gohastings.com and had it in my backlog forever. Got around to playing it two hours into it it freezes and won't go past a certain point. I ended up trading it in for $20 credit at Best Buy after I purchased the controller gh combo off gohastings for 40.
 
[quote name='Nogib']That certainly sucks but is also precisely why I open everything I buy immediately regardless of whether or not it is destined for the backlog. Making sure everything is there and intact is too damn important. I just never understand why people don't open their games right away.[/QUOTE]

I can at least share why I don't open mine. It mainly has to do with one of my OCD tendencies. For some unknown reason, I can't bring myself to buy used games, I'm a bit of an anal retentive prick when it comes to my games, cases, manuals, etc. Although I never have had an issue picking up the greatest hits versions of games like some people, as long as they were new (I don't display my games anywhere, in fact everything I beat goes in a closet in my 'man room' and kinda disappears forever). I still have every video game I have ever received/purchased, dating back to the old school NES game 'chests" that were made of fake leather/plastic and had a handle to lug around to your buddies house.

But the feeling of peeling off the cellophane in preparation of playing a new game brings back memories of Christmas morning, when I would anxiously rip the corner off the plastic off of my NES games and get ready for an all day marathon.
 
it happens all the time, there have been many posts about it on CAG. Its even happend to me open your games in the parking lot at the store. My buddy worked sucurity at Target he also told me it happens all the time.

I know CAGs love to keep stuff sealed "too keep its value" but these are games, they're going to lose their value no matter what.
 
This reminds me of the one Sears store a bit further away from here. They actually took to using clear packing tape and mummifying the games on their clearance shelves.:shock:

I'm talking literally like 4-6 layers of the shit. They would run the tape around the game cases until they felt it was sufficiently 'protectamafied' from the old slit, grab n dash routine I guess some shoplifters were using in that area.

I actually still have several still sealed games sitting around here(including recent releases like LA Noire), but this story has me nervous to open them now just in case they're not in there.:whistle2:#

But I do hate opening games unless I intend on playing them SOON.
 
A similar thing happened to me back in 2006 when I bought Mortal Kombat Deadly Alliance at Wal-mart. I opened it on the way home and there was an AOL disc in it. I took it back without any problems, and they said that others were having the same problem.

 
[quote name='IAmTheCheapestGamer']This reminds me of the one Sears store a bit further away from here. They actually took to using clear packing tape and mummifying the games on their clearance shelves.:shock:

I'm talking literally like 4-6 layers of the shit. They would run the tape around the game cases until they felt it was sufficiently 'protectamafied' from the old slit, grab n dash routine I guess some shoplifters were using in that area.

I actually still have several still sealed games sitting around here(including recent releases like LA Noire), but this story has me nervous to open them now just in case they're not in there.:whistle2:#

But I do hate opening games unless I intend on playing them SOON.[/QUOTE]

I wish my Sears did that, I went in a few weeks ago and saw they had a black label copy of Burnout Paradise and I was thinking of buying it, but as soon as I picked it up I could tell there was nothing in the box.
 
I bought Need for Speed Pro Street from a Target in St Louis the day after Christmas the year it came out and when I came home the security sticker was easily removed, like it had been removed once before and when I opened it nothing was inside. Had my mom call and complain and they let her bring it back right then and grab another copy, and they opened it at customer service. I had her call because I was worried they wouldn't believe a 24 year olds story.
 
[quote name='karkyco']No shortage of criminal scumbags pulling all sorts of tricks.

Here are some consumerist stories you all might enjoy related to this:

PS3 switcheroo - console and electronics switching has been going on for decades.[/QUOTE]
I remember having the old switcheroo pulled on me at either Hill's or Ame's in the 90's. I was picking up a PS1(replacement because apparently the lasers failed after a short while back then:bomb:) and they had already switched over to the PSone, the smaller Playstation model.

Before even getting out of electronics I noticed the weight seemed a lil off on the box, so I opened the box right there in front of them.

Someone had literally crammed an old 'fat' PS1 into the box for the PSone system. They even tossed their non Dual Shock controller into the box with it.

It was a dirty/nasty looking pos.

I'm glad I took the time to double check it before taking it home though.
 
[quote name='blitztwn36']This floored him, and he just stood staring at the box like the answer lied in Nariko's breasts on the cover. [/QUOTE]

:lol:

Great story, OP. Glad to hear everything worked out.
 
This has happened to me about 3 or 4 times at Target and K-mart. In most cases they were clearance games. I had good luck with returning them though, clearly this happens a lot because the customer service employees understood what happened and gave me no problems with returning them.
 
[quote name='Bubbakja']Actually this is fairly common. If you notice at best buy they *should always open the game in front of you when you return it. Prior to working at Best Buy I worked at KB toys. No Mercy had come out and we had a copy returned, sealed. We then sold it to a soccer mom who returned it complaining that wrestlemania 2000 was in it. I happened to be there for both transactions and knew it was legit that she didn't scam us.[/QUOTE]

When I returned a Guitar Hero Aerosmith Bundle to Target, they opened the bundle box to check the contents but did not open the game itself. I figured it was to make sure everything was there. I ended up returning it since I decided I didn't want it (it was an impulse buy at $24.98 down from $99.99), and found it at Sears a few months later for $7.97.
 
I saw something like that from the retailer end of it. But it was more elaborate. It was a 360 copy of Tekken, but they at least printed out a sticker to put on the bogus disc.
 
Honestly, that's what you get when you shop at Walmart. Same thing happened to my boss when she bought her kid a game last Christmas. Walmart employees have to get you games from the glass casing they're in. The employee got the game for her and something was felt wrong, as far as the packaging goes. When my boss questioned the employee about it, she was told that they don't take back open games and that the game was new. Christmas day when her kid opened the gift, there was no game in there. Ha! It had been taken out and the game case was re-shrink wrapped. Awful. fuck Walmart.
 
I worked in retail for several years doing inventory management at a large fruit-named electronics company.

Things like this were pretty common and with employees who couldn't care less, lots of it gets through. People would buy cables, cases, external hard drives, etc and swap out the new stuff for their old used crap. The people working the registers don't know anything about the products so they happily return it. By the time it gets to the inventory people who actually catch it, its too late and the company eats it.
 
i think this happened once with a used game at gamestop....
I always open as soon as i get to my car, lock the car, open the game, pop out the disc and flip thru the manual. No matter if its used or new.
 
Glad that went well OP.

Something similar happened to me at my local Sears. I purchased Patapon 2 on clearance. I knew it was going to be a little light given that it was a download voucher.

I asked the clerk to open the locked glass case to get a copy. The clerk rings me up. I walk away thinking I bought a cheap PSP game. Before I leave the electronics department, I decided to open the case.

I noticed earlier during the transaction that there was no plastic wrap and it was sealed with a white tape, similar to blank white sticker over where you open the a normal PSP case. I find out that the download voucher had been torn with the redeem code portion missing.

I go to the clerk to see if anything can be done. The clerk exchanged it for another copy. So I got the game and was glad that went well. Glad that I didn't get hauled off by Lost Prevention or called a liar or something to that nature.

At first I thought it was an inside the company theft, but then again it probably was in the budget game bin and someone swiped it. I've seen a game missing the plastic wrap before at my local Sears, so I wasn't too surprised.
 
I totally understand having a backlog—I also cannot pass up certain deals and will buy a game that I won't be able to play for months—but I simply don't understand why some people keep their games sealed for so long, like they're going to lose their freshness. I might keep a game sealed for a few days to give buyer's remorse a chance to sink in (doesn't happen often), but once I'm confident that I do indeed want the game, I rip the sucker open so I can inspect everything and flip through the manual. Missing, switched, or damaged discs occur so often that I feel like it's too much of a gamble to not open games ASAP. Besides, the shrinkwrap looks ugly up there with all of my other games.


Anyway, I'm glad to hear that the situation worked out for you, although I am slightly bitter because I know it wouldn't have worked for me. Employees usually give me a hard time when I return games; they either look me up and down like they just know I switched the disc for something else...or they'll tell me that I can't return games and I have to ask for the manager so he/she can explain that it's okay to return games that are still sealed.
 
I once bought Neo-Contra on the PS2 at Sears and despite being completely sealed (including the old PS2 seal sticker that Sony used to put on the top of their games) it was missing the game disc. Of course it was months after I purchased it so I wasn't going to try and return it, but it did only cost me like $3 something so it wasn't that much of a loss. Another issue was with a Wii game. The game was sealed but there was a tiny slit in the plastic wrap near the part of the case that you open up. The case felt suspiciously light so I opened it immediately and sure enough the disc was missing. Luckily I opened it right away this time so I ended up getting my money back.
 
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