Mum Buys Nintendo, Gets A Box Of Rocks Instead

Somewhere in Florida, a kid is saying “aww, gee, Mum, you shouldn’t have.” No, really, we mean it. Because when a sixteen-year-old opened up his brand new Nintendo DS, all he found was a pile of rocks and some newspaper with Chinese lettering.

Someone was apparently watching Hotel For Dogs before they made their Wal-Mart return. There’s a scene in the kiddie flick that features kids packaging up a box full of rocks and trying to sell it as high tech gear.

Wal-Mart said “don’t look at us,” and was reportedly refusing to give Mum her money back until a Florida TV station got involved. The store tracked the box . . . only to realise it had been returned to the store by another customer. Perhaps the one who grabbed the DS and ran?

The story comes with yet another reminder to always check boxes (this mum says she did – and nothing looked awry) and warns that if you’re unsure you should always ask a store employee to open it in front of you to verify the contents. I understand caveat emptor, but how far do we have go to? Most kids products these days are so hard to get out of the box that having the store open ‘em up and unpack them will mean never getting them back INTO the box… and all that protective packaging that’s supposed to keep the item from breaking on the ride home is now gone. Plus the open box now makes it harder to keep all the pieces inside.

Of course, I’d hate to disappoint my kid by opening up her birthday present this June to find a box full of rocks. What about you readers, do you make the store open things before you check out?

Image: PBase