iPad Scam: A True Story

A friend of mine wanted to buy a new iPad — almost like anyone else — and with the ridicules prices available in the Saudi market, he thought of getting one form the US.

He started searching for the best bargain he could land, till he found a way to buy it from a well known online site through one of its resellers, when he placed the order, that well known site rejected the order and refunded him with out any explanations on why the order has been canceled.

So while still scratching his head, my friend got a direct email from the reseller telling him that he can still order the iPad directly through him using PayPal. So he went ahead and placed the order.

Jumping with anticipation to get his hands on his shiny iPad, the carrier’s website stated that the device was missing. He initiated emails and over-seas calls to check on what was going on, they simply stated that there was no iPad.

“You [Beep] where is my iPad, you stole it!” said my friend to them over the phone.

“No we didn’t, check with your supplier, please” was their reply.

He sent the supplier an email telling him that something isn’t right. The supplier told him, that the carrier stole his iPad, and gave him a link to the US Postal Service where he can download the shipping details. So that was what he did, and provided it as evidence to the carrier, whom told him that they will investigate the case and get back to him by the end of the week.

Five Days Later…

My friend met staff members from the carrier service, to break the bad news to him.

“An iPads shipping weight is 3.3Lb, the document you got from the US Postal Service states that the shipping weight is 1.6Lb, which means that the seller shipped you an empty iPad box”

The whole world span for a couple of minutes in my friends head, how can that happen?

The moral of the whole story is to make sure where you are buying your stuff from, and never get tempted by prices or hype, the World Wide Web (or as I like to call it the Wild Wild West) isn’t a safe place, so you have to be always carful.

Below you will find pictures captured by the carrier.

UPDATE:

I would like to thank everyone for commenting on this post.

Here are some clarification: As my friend bought his iPad from the well-known online store, he got confused when the order got canceled, and during that period he got the email from the third party (the direct seller) not giving him enough time to make heads from tails.

Regarding the name of the sites, the whole purpose of this article is to warn you, not to defame a specific store or seller.

Did my friend get a refund?

Up and till now, the answer is not yet, he informed the credit card company about the situation, who told him that they will look into the case, and might file a law suit against that seller. Yet they need to check if the empty box was sent by mistake before taking such drastic measures.

Arabic version of this post on SaudiMac.net.

Copyright 2010 © Mazen Al-Angary, All Rights Reserved.