CHEROKEE COUNTY, Ga.,None — A Cherokee County man said the iPad he bought his wife for Christmas is more like a lie-pad.
Ken Lemal said the iPad case is plastic, not metal and the glass is synthetic. Lemal showed Channel 2 consumer investigator Jim Strickland the image on the screen, which was a printed likeness of a homepage. Lemal said Walmart won't take it back.
"I was pretty angry," he said.
Lemal said he then bought a real iPad at an Apple store. The difference, he said, is clear. Strickland said he could tell the fake version was lighter and less substantial.
" Are there any innards in this?" he asked Lemal.
"I don't know," Lemal said.
Got a consumer complaint? E-mail Jim.Strickland@wsbtv.com
Strickland decided to take the fake iPad to a 10-year veteran Apple technician.
"This is obviously not a real iPad. It looks to be like a store display," said Myles Foley of Elite Techs Computer Repair in Woodstock.
Foley said there's a name for what likely happened: a "brick in the box return."
He said someone probably bought a real iPad, switched in a fake and returned it for cash.
Lemal said he told management he got stuck paying $829 for a restocked iPad prop.
"They should go ahead and give me my money back, but he decided I was the one that put it in the box. It was not their fault," recalled Lemal.
Walmart released a statement to Channel 2 regarding the situation.
"Apple products sold at Walmart are sourced directly from Apple, delivered to our stores and kept behind locked displays, available for customer purchase. In the case of customer returns, the product is sent directly to Apple and not restocked on store shelves.," the company wrote.
Lemal wants his money back, and figures there's only one way to get it.
"A lawsuit," Lemal said.
Walmart spokesman Ravi Jariwala told Strickland, "We want all of our customers to enjoy a pleasant shopping experience. We'll continue to investigate Mr. Lemal's matter and plan to respond to his claim through the legal process."
WSBTV
