hey, the one thing in common here is we personally wouldn't do either. A point/counterpoint that often came up in the previous thread was that those in favour of the self-scanning trick were 'impatient children', while those opposed were 'jealous and judgemental'. I have to admit, I actually do have a certain resentment with the idea of some smartass who thinks they can get all the latest things but shouldn't ever have to pay full price.
Example: Walmart purchases 10 cases of Wave 1 and 2 deluxes and places them on the shelf at a retail of $12. Target purchases 4 cases of Wave 1 and 2 deluxes and places them on the shelf at a retail of $12. After a month, Walmart and Target both order the same number of cases, but this time for Wave 3 and 4 deluxes. Walmart still has a shelf full of Wheelie figures and decides to put them on sale for $8, holding the new figures for an additional week. Target has sold all of its deluxes and immediately puts the Wave 3 and 4 figures on the shelf. Someone sees this and decides to take advantage of the situation. He purchases 2 Wheelie figures at Walmart for $16. He then goes to Target and buys two Wave 3 figures he wants for $24. A few hours later, he returns the Wheelie figures to Target and gets his $24 back for figures he only paid $16 for. This now leaves Target with 2 Wheelie figures at $12, compared to Walmart who has them for $8. Assuming these figures make it back to the shelf, they will most likely never sell until clearanced. They effectively just lost $24 in sales because they no longer have a new product that may be more desirable. This is called shrink and it accumulates, costing retailers a lot of money on an annual basis because of people that do things like this. This is almost identical to toy swapping, both in ethical and legal terms. Are you going to get away with it? Most likely. However, I agree with Scorpion, if you are so sure that it is legal or within the rules, then why not just tell the customer service representative or loss prevention up front what you are doing. But hey, if you need that extra $4 that badly...
Okay, here's another way of putting this in perspective: How do you feel when you buy something, then it goes on sale a few days later? You probably feel like you missed out on a discount & you'd also probably go back to the store with your receipt & ask for the price difference to be refunded to you. And you'd be perfectly justified in doing so, which is why most any store will give you the money, no questions asked, when you show your receipt. Sounds right so far? I don't think anyone would find anything wrong with the above scenario, not even the store or it's stockholders. Now let's flip that around & ask how you'd feel if, a few days after buying something on sale, the store manager comes to your house & asks you to give him a few dollars more since that item you bought is no longer on sale & the price is now higher. You'd most likely laugh & slam the door in his face, right? The very idea is absurd, isn't it? The point here is that "on sale" prices are just that: "ON SALE" PRICES. They're a promotion to get you into the store & spend money, and they are TEMPORARY. Nobody cries foul after the sale's over, and some stores still even issue rain checks for items that sell out during that sale. But that's just not good enough for some people, is it? Don't even get me started on the jackass who bought six Unicrons, good lord. Look, it's perfectly acceptable to buy Toy A at Store A, then find that same Toy A at Store B for less, then return one of those Toy As to Store A (though it could also be argued that you should ask Store A to match prices first.) But when you start mixing up Toy A for Toy B at Store C, then you are dicking around, there's just no denying it.
I'd like to get inputs on this: I just bought Leader Prime and Megs through BBTS for $99 and Jetfire for $65. (Pile o' Loot and Pre-order) Leader Prime and Jetfire is $99 Megs is $55 Jetfire is $70 I wrote to them and asked if I could get the Jetfire for the case price since I am buying all 3 Leaders, and pretty much ALL of the Deluxe, Legends, and Voyagers from them. The customer service rep wrote back and said she couldn't adjust the price, but I could cancel my order and rebuy the Prime/Jetfire combo and Megs individually. This would save me about $15. Wouldn't this be about the same thing as what this thread is about, but with permission? (And why the hell is Jetfire $15 more expensive....?)
The key word is "permission." You cleared it with the seller, and did so before you even received any merchandise. You didn't take it upon yourself to try & "exchange" a cheaper toy for the higher priced one.
I'm not entirely sure this qualifies but IC 35-43-5-17 Delivery of a false sales document Sec. 17. A person who, with intent to defraud, delivers a: (1) false sales receipt; (2) duplicate of a sales receipt; or (3) label or other item with a false universal product code (UPC) or other product identification code; to another person commits delivery of a false sales document, a Class D felony. the sales receipt would be considered false since it isn't REALLY for that item...impossible to prove, but still
If the sales reciept says ROTF deluxe and you are returning a ROTF Deluxe how can it be false again?? Ohh and your google skills are developing nicely grasshopper.
Good suggestion, but I dunno. I would take 'false' to literally mean a fake receipt. And in this situation, the UPC would probably match up, so I don't think (3) covers it either. It isn't a fake receipt, because the scamster actually did buy something. I think this'd be more a case of a legitimate receipt for an illegitimate item.
I could very well be mistaken, but doesn't Target have individual product numbers for each figure, even though they may all be labeled as "ROTF Deluxe" or whatever? Anyone have a receipt they can check? And even if they don't, Scorpion's post reminds me of another thing: If an item is on display for a certain price, then rings up at a higher price, the store is required by law to sell it to you at that lower price, since that's the price that affected your decision to make the purchase. Many times a clerk or even mgmt will try to apologize & still charge you the higher price, and many people actually accept this, but the law's still on your side here. Why do I bring this up? To point out that there's already a plethora of practices & laws that favor the customer, and it's kinda disappointing to see that some people think they deserve more.
I find it funny that you say the customer deserves more. In order for Target to issue a refund, they need a receipt. A receipt requires that you buy the product in the first place. So When you get a refund, you are only getting the money back that you spent in exchange for a toy. So, the customer really isn't gaining anything. And in fact your still buying the toy from another store, so you still haven't stole anything. And going back to the first part of your response, If the receipt has the individual product number for the figure and they scan in what your returning, the numbers won't match up so you won't get the refund anyways.
ok here is a pretty far out what if... I buy a deluxe at a store for 7.99. I go to a different store and exchange it for a Voyager because it happens to be at a sale price equal to this store's deluxe price...is that still okay?
