Title says it all. Don't think it could have been a return since the game just released today and the associate said they hadn't taken any returns for it either. It was sealed and looked completely untampered with – but that was what was in there. It seems whoever did this was deliberately trying to match the weight of a Switch cartridge, and the black bits were pretty meticulously inserted into the cartridge holder.
Definitely not the thing you want to be staring at when you settle down on the couch for a gaming session after a long day. Drove back to Walmart and they gave me a new copy at least, so I'm not out $60 for nothing, but what a weird little side quest to go on before starting this game.
by 311_never_happened
42 Comments
Yeah what a bizarre little Indiana Jones switcheroo they did to match the weight. Wonder how they managed to reseal it too. Hmm…
I open every game in front of the cashier because of this happening to me once years ago.
Zelda and the Googly Eye of Wisdom
Entirely believable.
Damn, accounting for visibility, noise, weight – they thought of everything.
Seems unfair
The googly eye makes it rattle like a cartridge would too
As bad as this is, it’s kind of funny.
Go over to r/eyebombing and get some karma to take the edge off.
Arlo had your copy and gave you an eye for it
This is one of the weirder things I’ve seen game wise…
I work the customer service desk at Walmart, so new fear unlocked.
These boss weak points are getting ridiculous.
guess we found out who leaked it lol
Echoes, Everywhere, All At Once.
Imagine the copy that was in here was the one used to leak the game…
Is that an Unown?
I got mario party one time at Wal-Mart and there was no cartridge.
I’d be so fucking mad at the moment, but I’d definitely be laughing at it having that story to tell later
My homie used to do this at GameStop with Xbox 360 games back in the day. I always thought “what about the person who buys it?” And here we are…
Some people are crafty as hell.
I sold video games at Target way back when. Some kid and his two friends were running a whole scam, buying PS2 games and returning them with note cards and blank CDs inside. The one kid did the purchasing, the two other kids alternated doing the returns. For some reason, they returned without receipt, so this one kid kept coming up to my counter with a gift card for the exact amount of a game – $53.61, after tax – and buying another.
I caught on after the third time the kid returned a game (and two random customers had come back complaining about getting blank CDs). Marched on up to the returns counter, got the game that was just returned from my go-backs, and checked the wrap and seal. Sure enough, the seal has a bubble and the wrap was sealed up with what might have been clear nail polish. I called AP over and told them flat out there was a blank CD in that case.
“No way, it’s sealed! The shrink and security sticker are on it!”
I was convinced, though. Told them I’d pay for the game if I was wrong. Opened up, and I was right.
But that kid and his friends landed a total of eight games before AP moved on them. In part because of the two friends alternating returns (I didn’t know that part before, and couldn’t call it out to AP). But also in part because AP thought I was fucking in on it, because “there was no way I could have caught on otherwise.” Dicks actually told me that to my face after they got the kid and his buddies arrested.
Anyway, sorry OP. Hopefully the store believes you and gets you a new copy, because this shit *does* happen.
I would be pissed if this happened to me, but then I’d probably laugh at how random of a situation it is. Especially it being a googly eye tossed in there.
The good thing, is that most stores would provide a refund or exchange in a scenario like this. It’s just annoying to have to go through the return process when you were expecting to play a new game.
You could have left out Walmart from the title and I would have instantly guessed it being Walmart.
This isn’t a rare occurrence. Well… the eye is, but missing carts from Walmart aren’t.
YEARS ago when death stranding came out same exact thing happened to me. Got the game brand new sealed, ran home tore it open, only to find a home dvd with sharpie of a movie written on it. I was so fucking confused. Ran back to walmart and they thought i was trying to scam THEM. Had to do a little moaning to get a replacement, i was telling em well give me a refund so i can buy it digitally, and im here all the time so after your camera investigation just flag me down later. The part i think it clicked to them that i was honest is when i asked em to open the 2md copy they agreed to switch it with. They were like, well if we open it you cant return it, and i was like, well if the games in there why would i return it after all this hassle🤷♂️🤷♂️🤷♂️🤷♂️🤷♂️🤷♂️
Opening and then resealing a Switch game is child’s play. This has happened to me numerous times in the past, not quite like this though. Anybody who worked in stores like WalMart probably know how easy it is to open and reseal things, and anyone who works at the store can easily accomplish this. Someone opened it, stole the cartridge, replaced it with something that could fool most people, and resealed it.
As much as I hate to compliment a thief, I have to confess, an arts and crafts googly eye is a pretty smart replacement. He factored in everything, even that slight loose cartridge jiggle. That band compensates for the lack of weight and holds the googly eye in place. Considering the amount of effort that was used on the cartridge replacement, I bet the thief didn’t slack off on the resealing process either. It would be VERY hard to notice any difference.
No way!!! This happend to me in “Media Markt” here in good ol germany :I but in my case there was nothing in the …case ._.
You think such a large brand would double check to prevent theft… at least i got a full refund so it wasnt any harm done
But from that day i allways opened games infront of the cashier…sure i get funny looks but thats still better than being scammed!
r/untrustworthypoptarts
I heard a while back of some people that got caught who worked in warehouses swapping or stealing games (meticulously) so it’s stolen before even being wrapped and sent out. I didn’t read the full article, but that was the gist that I got from it.
Texting my mom now to check my game, I haven’t had a chance to open it yet.
did they use the eye thing because it rattles???? thats fucking brilliant. evil, but brilliant.
How do they re-seal it?
This always happens at Walmart, I just turn on the phone flashlight, and angle is to see the teeth of the game card. Also open it after paying.
Too many horror stories from Walmart.
great googly moogly, eye
During the PS2 era, this shit happened all the time. After the second time I got burned, I started opening my games at customer service. It only happened one more time, but the store immediately changed out the game.
Now it’s Switch games. I buy used games and sure enough, this shit is back. So far, I had two games where the inside memory card was replaced with something else. Thankfully, GameStop exchanged them without issue (though I did lose one game because it was an older copy and they had no more in stock), but it still sucks.
Well, almost.
I guess some people don’t realize the letters and numbers stamped on the cartridge are serial numbers. In both cases, I reported them to Nintendo who wrote back to thank me for reporting them. I suspect the company will brick the game if the idiots connect to the internet.
This won’t help OP, but hopefully they’ll start opening games at customer service in the future.
Where I live most of the time they keep the cases in the shelf empty, and the cartridges in a drawer behind the counter. They go and grab the cartridge when you pay for it. I guess it means that this happens a lot less.
No no, you have to run around the package, letting the eye follow you until it eventually spins so fast it disappears and drops the cartridge!
Shit like this is why I genuinely record “Unboxing” videos of anything I buy that is even remotely expensive.
A worker did this. Then it was stocked, and you happen to be the unlucky one.
It is a hassle, but you open the game there at big re-tail after paying. The worker will be confused, but it is for proof. Game there? You walk away. But when it isn’t, manger time.
This has happened to me twice. When I bought my ps4 I picked up Destiny. I pointed out the wrapping didn’t look right, so I opened it there in front of the guy. Case was empty.
And when I picked up the Yoshi switch game as a give, same thing, nothing in case even though there was plastic wrap.
It’s dangerous to go alone. Take this… 👁️
Well, did it work?
They Nintendo Switched it.
I’ll get my coat.
There is a LOT of fraud that happens with Nintendo games at Walmart, I’ve found. My wife bought Tears of the Kingdom and was almost brought to tears when she opened it to find an empty box. Walmart wouldn’t do anything about it despite acknowledging that has happened a lot. No refund, no store credit.
We called Nintendo, and they were absolutely excellent about it. They wanted proof of purchase and even went so far as to contact Walmart on our behalf. Walmart wouldn’t budge, but Nintendo asked for a few days to review our account. A couple of days later, they sent us a digital code for the game. I suspect they were checking to see if that game had ever been played on her account just to make sure we weren’t ripping them off. But Nintendo would absolutely help you out if you find yourself in a similar boat again!
Now, when I buy games at Walmart, I make the cashier watch me open the games. Only once so far did they witness me open a sealed copy of Pokémon Violet to see it totally empty, so they swapped it out for another one (which I also opened in front of him).
I once purchased a game from Target – one of the Prince of Persia games. I made it to the end and it would just not load so I thought I would bring it back, be honest, and explain it. They were chill and swapped it for another copy.
I went home, opened it up, and found the disc was seriously scratched. I was ready to call it quits but decided to try again and explain.
Got there, it was the same person still on. They gave me the obvious and expected side eye and called up a manager, who said okay but they will open it to make sure it wasn’t damaged and said no more exchanges.
I agreed, they got it, opened it up, and found a huge gouge in it. They ended up opening the last two copies they had in stock after and they were all damaged.
Having removed all doubt that I was scamming them, they offered to allow me to pick another game at equal value. And that’s how I started playing Star Wars Battlefront.