Amazon India allegedly sent a brick instead of a OnePlus One smartphone to a customer, turning him disgruntled. Maninder Walia was expecting to receive a 64GB OnePlus One in sandstone black but found a piece of brick in its place.
Interestingly, some people would be disappointed to receive an iPhone and would be glad to find chocolates instead of the handset for Christmas. But in Walia's case, it was no mere prank; it was a crime.
Such cases are quite common these days. Thieves would take the gadget from inside its box and replace it with something that weighs almost the same. They would then reseal the tampered box and make it look good as new as much as possible. After the process, the swindlers will try to sell it off as a bargain to innocent people.
A similar incident occurred in Oct. 2012 where a customer unknowingly bought an iPad box filled with notepads from Walmart. And in Nov. 2012 at a gas station, a crooked dealer cheated a lady out of her $200 when he sold her an iPad box with a mirror inside instead of the Apple tablet.
Walia posted photos of the brick inside the OnePlus One box, which is clearly tampered with because of its peeling tape, not to mention that under the Amazon tape, the package was already obviously compromised. It is reported that his order cost him about $340.
Amazon has made contact with Walia and says that it is investigating the incident. Hopefully, the retail firm will be able to resolve the case as soon as possible.
It seems that Walia may not have thought that this would happen to him because he ordered his item from Amazon. What this teaches us is to be wary of bargain deals, even if the provider is reputable like Amazon.
Photo: Tristan Schmurr | Flickr
