Buyer Beware: Check that new iPad 2 in store before you leave!

 By Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla

Reports from CTV News of 24 sealed iPad boxes containing modeling clay sold from Canadian big box retailers has brought to light a scam where brand new iPads and chargers are replaced with clay and then the boxes are shrinkwrapped, returned for a refund and then sold to unsuspecting customers who come home only to be surprised by a lump of clay.

According to CTV, Scam artists are taking advantage of the popularity of Apple's latest offering, says Future Shop spokesperson Elliott Chun.

"It's really sad that people stoop to these low levels to take advantage of really hot sellers. As you probably know, tablets were the number one touted gift items for the holidays this year," he said.

Chun said in the future all iPads sold from Future Shop's stores will only come factory sealed, direct from Apple.

Aside from Future Shop, Best Buy, Walmart and London Drugs in Vancouver have experienced similar scams.

The biggest problem with this scenario is that it puts the burden of proof on unsuspecting buyers who feel they have already been cheated and yet have to go prove their innocence to the stores where they bought the iPad 2's. In most cases, the stores will cooperate but in some instances customers will need to jump through hoops.

CTV cites the example of Surrey resident Mark Sandhu, who said he was treated like a criminal by a manager when he tried to return his fake device to Future Shop on Boxing Day. He has since been given a full refund, an apology and a new iPad 2 after coming forward to CTV with his story.

The best for buyers to avoid this is to crack open the iPad 2 box and make sure everything is as expected. This may be difficult for items purchased as presents which need to preserve original packaging including the shrinkwrap.

As for the stolen iPad 2's, they are out there somewhere and people should avoid any cheap deals on iPad 2's without boxes as these could be stolen property.