Target's Selling Fake Apple Products...?
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Do not attempt unless you are open to the possibility of further damaging your device.
That would suck to find a fake phone
When it's more than a grand💀
I record myself opening any box that’s over $50.
No shit
No shit
Or a big nut
Its common practice in china and hong kong for high value electronics sales to be opened up at purchase with the sales clerk for both to verify. That way the customer can’t just come back and give back a resealed product. It’s also done in the guise of customer service as well to ensure your product is not DOA.
Same here in India
We do that in the us with vapes but that’s it unfortunately
@@depressedtiger677lmao the USA got their priorities straight
@@depressedtiger677 The guy behind the counter is Indian, he brought the idea over.
guise is the incorrect term there bud
One day there's just gonna be just an apple
Hey siri, what apple product can I afford?
Siri: iApple
The thing is, they can just open the seal to check the product and reseal it again it isnt that hard
I mean, if Apple did sell an Apple, people can't use them because they sell what they're called.
Apple shipped out 187 phones with McDonalds bags of apple slices in the boxes instead of phones. There is a massive probability that Apple itself is sending those things out. Apple is that shitty of a company.
That's literally disgusting from those scumbags
Yeah but it's also stupid that these stores actually trust people, like haven't they learned their lesson already with shoplifters?
@@321JarnBLM!
Ye I never thought they would get this bad. Literally selling fake products because they're dumb enough to trust people and then not even taking it back when the customer takes it back because it's fake.
@@oyvey304okay so all shoplifters are black? Great bud great racism
@@carnooo_vr Don’t blame me, blame the blacks.
"big NUT in the box" 💀😂
Probably a return
I’m laughing so hard at this Big nut in the box
The all new iNut staring at $2,999.99
@@justinmabb1997 Ayo pause
@@fawlesssmartspiderman2437 🤣
Imagine spending a lot of money for a fake product and the store won't even take it back 🙄
Idea
At that point you seal it and return it
Fake products are about 5-30$ so it can’t be to much of a hassle for the scammer.
That’s actually genius method of scamming
@@dominicbowie092There being sold for the price of an actual apple product tho
If someone can return a stolen iPhone with fake one then you most likely return the fake one they scammed with just reseal and say you don’t want
The Home Improvement "ahoowuh"
🤣🤣🤣
????
@@helinameinhard7133 when he said "big nut"
Be honest that joke not even funny
@@gamingrobbie6935 oh I'm sorry, skibidi toilet rizz party hahahah
Shut the hell up
Open it in the store in front of an employee
I second this. I don’t know what’s gonna be in that box, or if the product is real. I’m an employee at one of the affected retailers; I’ll gladly take the return and tape a note to my AP team as to why I accepted the return.
Wow thanks for a heads up didn’t know this was happening until you mentioned it
I personally never buy Apple products from anywhere but Apple directly
We either buy them from Apple -T-Mobile or best buy
Same, if I want an Apple product that I’m spending 100s or 1000s of dollars on I’m going to the source for my product, not some reseller.
Well, when you have the opportunity to open it with the salesperson on site, this problem won't matter.
Here in Germany, I'd rather not buy from a big company like Apple because smaller, local retailers are easier to deal with when they falsely deny warranty.
Also, even when you buy it from Apple/Samsung etc. directly, there's still the risk the actual product has been replaced by a dummy in the logistics chain.
@@QwoaX I live in the US, so I would just go to the Apple Store nearest to me. Generally speaking that has the least likely chance of being tampered, especially if I open it in store.
I would agree that in ur case that makes a lot more sense
No no, just stop after 'anywhere'
Any apple product is a scam and you're stupid if you buy one
When I used to work at Target, they told us to open the package and double check the serial number on the product and make sure it matches the number on the package. Even if it's sealed.
There have been numerous times where I would open the package in front of the guest, and they would get mad asking why would I open the package when it's still sealed. Majority of the time, those people had mismatching serial numbers, so we couldn't accept the returns.
What happens to the ones that do match? Sold as open box at a discount?
Same thing at best buy. Before if they would return it, and it was completely sealed, the assumption was they didn't open it. But its gotten to the point where resealing it, and returning it wasn't enough because it was a scam going on to get back the full price on it.
So retailers have to open up the box now, seal or no seal, and check the serial number on it before processing the entire return.
Its not the retailers fault, as the video makes it out to be, its just the scam, and the policy working together to prevent fake products being circulated through the system
I was one of those idiot customers who didn't know about this and panicked while the girl casually opened the factory sealed box 🤣 Glad to know why she did it
A good safety measure would be to open the product in store when the sales rep is present if you suspect you have gotten a fake ask for a replacement or a refund do the same with the replacement you can never be too careful.
so... open them in the store in front of them before taking them home to "check if its real"
I don't think supermarkets would allow that 😅😅😅
@@Matrix_TM.they would and you know they check all products before this guy is just click farming is a fear mongering tatic
@@Matrix_TM. Are you buying Apple products at the supermarket? Apple fanbots used to crow about how exclusive they were... 😅
@Matrix_TM. No idea in America, but here in Spain you have to return the products in person and they inspect them for damage.
You can also just check the serial number on the package and product. If they match it’s the real deal
Walmart really said:"Deez nuts"
This is true, not even with Apple.
A guy who bought a GPU from newegg, a 4090, and guess what?
Just a metal block. And then they deactivated his account. Nice.
Yes, retailers will not inspect the product to keep it pristine and shiny. Yes, they'll assume the product is heavy, and if it is, they take it into the back.
If I had a store or a large franchise, I would change the terms, and probably ask employees to:
Open the box, and check for irregularities or a really heavy block or something.
Lol poor guy spent 2 grand for a block of metal 🤦
@@Matrix_TM.
It's not his fault, it's Newegg's
While still working in customer service, I was once on the refunds team and the amount of refund return request we get in a day from people doing this is insane.
Thankfully, you can scare some of them by telling you'll transfer them the to the account review team but they'll just hang up and then make a new account and do it all over again as they can request a refund a few times before their account can be flagged.
Tech store guy here, yeah we always check to make sure things are sealed when selling them and open up to check serial on return. I recommend opening them up in-store on camera after the transaction if you're worried.
Apple products specifically are on more of a lockdown lately with us. It's gotten SO much worse way faster than I expected
“How does an official Apple retailer […]”
Shows the Reverse Flash dressed as Target employee 🤣
“It was me Barry……I switched out your Apple Watch series 10 with just an Apple before you were born…….”
-Reverse flash sometimes
Dude keep up the great work with the videos! You inspired me to get into phone repairing and I’ve repaired 3 iPhones so far and will start making money when school starts back up again soon!
Avoid there online model of store use local
?
They can check the serial number b4 accepting the return, if it’s activated they will know
And this is how you get an infinite money glitch. You buy the real thing, keep it, return the fake thing and get your money back, then resell the real thing.
Until you get caught and charged with mass fraud and go to prison
@@Rd2NeZZhighly unlikely.
Unless you start self snitching and posting ur methods with specific details online.
The fact of the matter is retailers like target and walmart deal with millions of loss due to theft.
They are never going to check a sealed product box.
Micheal making minimum doesn’t give two shits about checking the sealed box to make sure it’s all good. He just wants u the hell out of his face.
This is a nearly flawless scam
@@dominicbowie092 but can't they know who returned the product?
@@wagwan2 I mean eventually stores would catch in if u attempt the same scam at the same store multiple times.
Loss provention at these stores woukd have a picture of the scammers face in their offfice.
But it’s very hard to identify these people by government names unless they are detained by actual police
Check to see if it’s fake “in the store before walking out” an important caveat
Current target tech employee here, as far as I know, it’s company policy to send all Apple products back to the distributor and not to put back on shelf regardless if it’s opened or not. My store doesn’t put any returned Apple products on the sales floor and they are sent back to the warehouse to be dealt with
I lost it when they had placed a real pen on an Apple Pencil box 😂
Something like this happened to me a few years ago at my local walmart. I bought a copy of the resident evil 3 remake. When I got home, I removed the plastic wrap and sealing stickers. When I opened the case, though, there was a regular burner cd inside.
I went back and showed it to the customer service rep, and she was just as surprised and confused as I was. Luckily, they had an actual copy in the back, and I left with the game that I paid money for.
Easy fix: all returns require one to bring the card used for purchase or photo ID.
Returned products restocked on shelves are tagged with the returner's card or ID info on file.
That’s also used for scams iirc; the customer can request in-store credit to buy the same item again and “return" it over and over. I’ve dealt with it myself. Iirc there’s a limit to how many ID returns you can do in the span of a certain period of time, but I’m not sure since my store declines ID returns.
I call bullshit on target not opening closed boxes. Target employees are REQUIRED to open up sealed unopened electronics that are returned BEFORE accepting the return right in front of the customer. Maybe if it’s some 16 year old that doesn’t know the return procedure but majority of employees are already trained on this
Target employee here. Normally I try to demerch the product as a return or outright open it, but corporate has been telling us to not do that anymore. It infuriates me so much that we’re getting backlash when scammers take advantage of our policies. Like, my store is very close to an Apple Store so I usually tell folks that if something in the product feels off, get a Genius Bar diagnostic and bring it to us so we can just refund the product before the return window lapses. Usually people do that during the 2-week window, but I feel sorry for those with that return window lapsed.
Normally what we’re supposed to do is open the box and verify the serial before accepting the return, but it’s gotten to the point where in my store, I call up the manager when it’s Apple products, and we know who’s a scammer because they always come every other week with two "unopened” Airpods or Apple Watches with a receipt from another store in another borough that’s only 3 hours old.
I work at Target tech department and can confirm. Although I do check Apple products for serial numbers. If there's no serial numbers, look off, dirty or just being opened, i will not put back on the floor. Its usually a group of Chinese decent that are doing this, we are aware of them and are taking a close eye on them. They are also responsible for replacing the gift cards with fakes so that you're giving them money.
This has been going on for years, back in the late 2000s I worked at an electronics retailer and when external drives were getting big this would be the exact thing that happened. People would either buy the drives and return them later with empty enclosures, or my favorite, they’d stick random rocks in the box… After it happened at my store we just started opening anything returned that was sealed confirming it was there and once we issued a refund re-wrap it with new shrink wrap…
Thank you so much for making this video! I was debating if I should buy an Apple Watch from Walmart and this Saved me hundreds of dollars.
This has been an issue with amazon i believe?
But damn thats a new low now 😂
Honestly i couldnt bother since i dont buy iphones or other products and i dont got stores that allow that in my country
Bro, TF Happened To Your Left Hand☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️!? Get Yourself Checked ASAP!
Costco checks the serial number on each Apple products.
That's why they mostly buy on apple stores even if less discount
I got fake AirPods YEARS ago from Walmart 😅 funny how this is STILL an issue
Bro the watch tan 💀
His watch tan 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭
i notice that walmart CS wont take electrinos, u gotta go to the back and return it at electrinos
Or better yet. When you order your phone or Apple product. Pick it up in store. And open it right there.
Just buy directly from to be safe. There will never be a sale at but at least it’s legit.
Not surprised it would be Walmart and target. Probably their employees
Had this happen to me a few years back with some Beats, there was some broken Skullcandy headphones in the box. Funny becaus some guy at self checkout was by me buying a TV and i went to open my the box in the car and saw they weren't beats. That same guy came back with the TV and it wasn't the size on the package and it was busted and we both couldnt get refunds. Even went through trying to go through better business buero or whatever it's was called, dont know if it was what i should've done but they couldn't help. I stopped buying tech from walmart since then, if i ever do I'm opening it in the store with someone there.
Damn.
Amazon does that where they will just put an item back up to sell if it’s returned because 9/10 times it’s returned simply cuz the person didn’t like it, or it wasn’t the right part. But if it’s an actual broken item that was returned for being damaged, Amazon will only flag it after the same box has been shipped out and returned like 3 times before they suspect an actual problem
I thought apple would check if everything is in the box
I remember in like 2012 this was a massive problem with beats headphones.
If they're won't open the returns themselves, Certain expensive products should be promptly returned to the manufacturer for inspection by these stores.
I know the past owner of target. How far they have fallen is sad.
Nothing new. This has been going on for a decade now. This is why BestBuy Canada ALWAYS open returned eq at the Customer Service. When I was a uni student, I used to work for BestBuy and our GM made us open every single sealed returned item. It is better to resell it as open than to have a product returned with a rock inside!
You have to buy the real product in the shop face to face not online
This is also due to Walmart being a Brick and Mortar store
Beo stop using that stupid watch ur hand is becoming worse
That’s why I only buy straight from the Apple Store.
Made from china💀💀💀💀
Does Apple did not do what samsung do at their store? Do a serial number registration after purchase.
Since when do retailers not accept returns that aren’t damaged and within the return period. Really.
Just another reason not to be a Apple bro.
The apple pen one is wild 💀
I just go Amazon Renewed
This is why I prefer Android, it’s very unlikely for you to get ripped off
It’s definitely returned products what else could it be
I remember buying a quest 3 from target and it was open when I bought it even tho it was new, the batteries inside the controllers were Kirkland from Costco brand so I feel like they sold me a used product at full price
Just before Covid lockdown, I bought some Beats Studio Buds from a department store, got them home and the box (still sealed) was empty. I took them back and they couldn’t give me a straight refund because they had to launch a full warehouse investigation, so I had to buy a second pair since I needed them for that week. Second pair was fine, but the next week lockdown hit. All customer service was shut down the entire lockdown so I couldn’t get any updates on the investigation. By the time lockdown was over, it was past the 3 month refund period and I couldn’t get a refund.
The worst part is, it was my first (and last) time doing it on a store card, which meant the amount I was supposed to get refunded was accruing interest the whole time, ended up paying over 2.5x the cost for what ended up being one set of earphones.
Lesson is, 1) NEVER get a store card, and 2) Just buy directly from Apple if you’re paying retail anyway.
former tech consultant
any time we get a return it's labeled as "reshop" and i personally will always defect the product out if the seal has been broken. this means it gets sent back to the distribution center and they choose to do something with it
if it was sealed then i usually would just restock it
just open the product in the store
Few years back I bought Skyrim for the switch from Walmart. Opened it up, and there was no game at all. Looking at the case, someone has resealed it using a heat gun, melted the case partially, and found a strip of the scotch “invisible” tape.
Brought it back after work the next day and they shrugged saying “happens all the time, you can grab a new one.”
Bro took "Iphone from Walmart" to a whole new lvl 💀
Damn PRG got them real deep tanlines lol
It happen with my AirPods I bought AirPods gen 2 and got AirPods gen one charger case was gen one I noticed after I looked at the box and it’s show an entirely different style of AirPods case with charging light in the front rather the top. And was post to wireless charging case and ‘twas not I still use them but target tried plying some bd they didn’t notice. And my Apple Watch was the same I was post to get a 44 mm se 2 but they gave me a 41i believe and it’s was post to black or nightshade but I ended up with starlight not huge problem but still would have been nice to actually have my iPhone and Apple Watch the same color. ESP since now I’ve upgraded from the (Product Red) iPhone SE 2 to a black iPhone 12. My Apple Watch looks so outta place by color it’s make makes me salty as fluck so I just use cases n bands to ignore the fact that its not the color I wanted.
Maybe it's not fake but I bought a brand new, sealed Apple SuperDrive sold by Amazon, it doesn't work, recognized and can eject on Windows but nothing happens if I try to put a disk inside it, it doesn't even take it, I have to force the disk inside and it doesn't recognize that a disk is inside, no sound nothing, or maybe the Apple SuperDrive is COMPLETELY incompatible with Windows 10 I don't know...
With a brand new 12 watts USB-A power adapter from the online apple store, sold by apple, EVERY f*cking device I have, even the ones which take the least amount of power, complain about slow charging, no problem with the same exact charger but from the iPad 4 my high school gave me in 2014...
And last but not least, also bought from the online apple store from Apple at the same time as the 12 watts USB-A power adapter, the brand new 20 watts USB-C power adapter from Apple... well this time maybe it's just stupid old iDevices which don't understand it because, with my old Apple devices (iPod Nano 7th gen, iPad 4 and iPad mini 1st gen I think), with the official USB-C to Lightning 1 meter cable also bought on the online apple store still in the same order, they charge veeeeery slow, I forgot about that but the iPads even say that the device is not recognized/not supported by iOS lol, all my devices have the latest version of iOS supported by apple for them so iOS 9.3.5 for the iPad mini and iOS 10.3.3 or something for the iPad 4 I think...
OK maybe they don't have fast charging with a 20 watts USB-C Power Delivery power adapter, but I didn't expect then to charge SLOWER, WAAAAAYYYY SLOWER than with the 12 watts power adapter I got with the iPad 4 in 2014, again I can't say the same thing for the exact same 12 watts USB-A power adapter but bought in 2023 on the online apple store as it charges slowly...
My iPad 4 on FaceTime even still discharges while plugged in with the brand new 20 watts USB-C PD power adapter bought from the online apple store sold by apple, defective... or just these devices are too old for it? Don't know 🙃
At least I think it fast charges newer Android phones compatible with USB Power Delivery, among others, and it can even charge even while it's being used/turned on a Dell Latitude which needs 65 watts, impressive, I didn't want to do that but my mom absolutely needed to charge her work laptop as she lost her 65 watts USB-C power adapter from Dell, this small 20 watts power adapter from Apple did the trick, it produced some heat and charged it quite slowly but it did the trick so...
Weird 🙃
Damn that’s a BAD tan line
When I worked in retail we were told to open the products regardless if it was sealed and obviously could tell if it's fake or not by seeing if it has a serial number quickly verifying it on Apple's site and seeing if there's still an account still tied to it.
Well now there are going to be x rays machines checking on expensive devices.
If it wasn’t a fake iPhone, then you be getting a used product
shouldn't they sell it as an "open box" product ?
This explains my situation
Last year around Christmas I bought the wrong Airpods as a gift and when I returned them, the employee at Target opened the box and inspected everything to confirm they were real even though they were still 100% factory sealed. I was very uncomfortable through the whole process 😂 Now it all makes sense.
Why can't retailers just open the boxes, check if it's authentic and then seal it back...
I bought a Samsung S23 ultra. And when the lady was writing down info and stuff, while she was breaking the seal and removing the plastic around the box. I told her I wouldn't accept that one anymore. Because it said on the box that: I, as a customer was responsible to check that the seal was unbroken at purchase. "Do not purchase if seal is broken", their exact words.
I got a new one with seal 😂😂
That aint apple thats peach
Are the people getting fakes buying them in the store?? Because first you say store won’t take them back, but at the end you say that’s how they get the fakes…..
I think people are getting the fakes online, and that’s because Walmart and target act as distributors for other companies and aren’t selling the products themselves…..
you can always see if it’s Walmart selling them or if they’re just distributing like Amazon…. But I do think they should make it more obvious when it’s not from them.
This is why I just use my Apple Card and buy from Apple’s website or an Apple Store (except for iPhones, I get those from my carrier). Apparently there is no “make sure” even according to you because once you open the box and find a fake they aren’t accepting returns so that’s a risk I’d rather not take
Which is why Apple Products should be sold “As-Is” with no returns, refunds or exchanges once you leave the store. Any defective merchandise they should have to deal with the manufacturer and obtain warranty service.
Back in October/November when people were buying new quest 3's they would open the boxes and find quest 2's stuffed in the box instead. So this kinda stuff have been going on for a while
The world is getting more and more fishy. As consumers, we shouldn't have to be victims of counterfeit goods. The companies should just stop being lazy and get the freaking act together. Reminds me of the people who would sell AirPods in the street. Ugh 😒
One common solution when it comes to this is literally the most simplest solution, we even do this in the Phillipines, just open the box and test it inside the store... Literally the easiest way to solve those scams, in my country when you go to sm and buy a gadget,its their policy to test the product. A simple yet foolproof solution not only to check if its fake, but also check any defects
If the front end does the job correctly, this doesn't happen. Stores have many ways to verify the sale. All apple products require serial numbers to be scanned. If the store trains well, "hotswapping" is prevented if it's bought in store "a" I force it to be returned there if I can see it's been tampered with. That store has to do its Own investigation in most cases it's an internal case. I have enough of a data sample I can identify fakes really well. This is also the case with switch games and people gut built pcs and return the shell or put garbage in it's place.
Side note we once had a ipad returned sealed and when it was purchased in store they wanted a case and screen protector installed and when opened, it was... a Bible 😂 true story
This is true i bought my AirPods off of walmart and when they arrived they were some cheap fakes. After that i went to walmart and spent like 20 minutes telling the workers that it was fake. Luckily i got my money back and went to best buy to get some real AirPods. The End
Although, it’s not Apple product but back when the Switch released. I bought the rechargeable grip for the joycons at Target. I saw they only had one left so I bought and later found out after I got home that it was the regular grip that comes with the Switch in the retail box. Luckily I was able to return it.
How do people « re-seal » a packaging ? Isn’t that sort of the main thing you can’t fake and holds every single customer’s trust because of it?
Yea.. hate to say it but almost did this at my local target.(I DIDNT DO IT) but you can buy duplicates and replace old or broken version of the same devices and then return them. If it’s open the check to make sure it’s in there and that pretty much it
Even better. Just avoid the entire problem and buy directly from Apple. Yes, a specific store may carry the thing you was for a bit less but just pay the full price and buy it direct from Apple. That way there's no chance at all that it will be fake.
I can’t speak to the in-store experience here, but I’ve run across a lot of counterfeit devices over the last year or two, most of them stemming from online portals like e-bay, amazon, or the marketplaces that companies like walmart run. Be careful with your purchases. If a deal seems too good to be true, it probably is.
I bought a Apple Watch Series 7 GPS model from targets few years ago when I got to the car to unbox it I noticed there was no plastic wrap on the box like my older gen watch when I opened the box it appeared to be a celular model figured it was a display model put back in the box rolled the dice since it was technically a more expensive watch h then the one I went in to buy when I got home to charge it low and behold it was a fake running some type of android OS 💀 took it back to the store same day an hour before closing time and was told someone had already returned this particular watch today and they didn’t know how it got put back into stock 😬 luckily the cs remembered the watch and confirmed indeed it wasn’t supposed to leave the return area
I work at a Micro Center and very rarely I have seen someone successfully return a 4090 but there is just a bunch of bricks or weights in the box. It’s a combination of social engineering and lack of diligence unfortunately
They could solve this so easily. Ask for ID when taking back the product and write down the serial number of the device alongside the person‘s details.
This happened to me at a Walmart in my home town with a pair of AirPod Pros. The box was real and sealed even but the AirPods inside were flimsy and cheap. Luckily the return wasn’t a hassle 😬
Had bought a brand new Nintendo switch from Walmart. It was packaged as is even the small tapes were on it. I opened it up and knew something was wrong where I saw micro scratches on the back and finger prints on the screen. Even when I turned it on usually a Nintendo logo appears but it went straight to home. Got furious and went back and told them that got me a used one and they kept denying it.
Edit: I told them to get me a replacement one but they told me that the serial numbers don’t even match with the box and that I changed it, crazy that they let these things happen
Here in South Africa (though I kinda hate it) they open the phone or tablet at point of purchase and make sure it works and some give a quick basic tutorial for first time buyers, i hate it cause i want to expirence an unboxing myself
There should be more regulations regarding this.
Maybe they should ask for personal info before a purchase of an expensive product...