SweetiePie88 Posted December 31, 2016 Posted December 31, 2016 Got a lego Minecraft Treehouse for Christmas. I spent part of the last 3 days doing stuff in my room in order to make the room to have the treehouse set up. Discovered that the box was tampered with. Discovered that the first bag was opened at a few smaller things assembled and all the figures except one swiped. Did one call to lego and was given the option of either returning the set to Walmart or doing an exchange via the lego company. Was going to do the first one but the receipt is AWOL. Called back and got a different person and was actually able to do a replacement of the figures option. :D But still, this is annoying. I am now stuck waiting probably a week for the parts to arrive and its probably going to be that long before i can actually start building. Whenever i build lego sets, i always start with the Figures plus if there's any tires in the set.
Sven F Posted December 31, 2016 Posted December 31, 2016 I always thought American store return policies were too lenient and opened more possibilities for fraud than customer protection. People will always steal, especially if you make it easy for them. Some imbecile took a scalpel and cut through all the collectible minifigure bags just to see what's inside in one of the stores here.
Only Sinner Posted December 31, 2016 Posted December 31, 2016 Aw, that sucks. If it was from Walmart, we all know what quality kind of people go to Walmart, so that shouldn't surprise anyone. I had a set from Walmart once, and was about to build it with my little girl, but someone had resealed the box after they stole bag 1- the entire bag! Fortunately the nice lady at CS went through the parts list and replaced everything that was in that bag, even though it was Walmart's problem and not TLG's. I received the package about a month later and everything was there except Shaak Ti's cape and Saesee Tiin's head, but at least we could start building the dang set.
Phil B Posted December 31, 2016 Posted December 31, 2016 (edited) Copying this here from a post over on another LEGO forum. Someone found half the contents of their FO Tie Fighter missing from an otherwise pristine looking box. Check it out: 3 hours ago, Sven F said: I always thought American store return policies were too lenient and opened more possibilities for fraud than customer protection. People will always steal, especially if you make it easy for them. Some imbecile took a scalpel and cut through all the collectible minifigure bags just to see what's inside in one of the stores here. I've seen this too - ripped open CMF bags in Walmart. People have no shame there. Edited December 31, 2016 by Phil B
koalayummies Posted December 31, 2016 Posted December 31, 2016 (edited) Thieves steal from everywhere, whether its a multi million dollar theft by an executive from Tiffany and Co, six figure burglary from Gucci, the trashing of the worldwide economy by day traders in expensive suits or a Lego set by a petty thief at Walmart. So you really can't characterize or stereotype an entire group of shoppers by what a thief has done. Walmart sells Lego, so that makes any Eurobricks member who buys a Lego set from them: the quality kind of people who go there. Edited December 31, 2016 by koalayummies
BubbaFit45531 Posted January 1, 2017 Posted January 1, 2017 Steal half the parts from one box, half from another box, then return both to the store? Very dirty. Employees are likely too lazy to inspect boxes for complete contents before accepting returns and then putting back on the floor to sell. You should report it to the store you bought it from because I think they keep track of name and id of people who return. They could probably trace it to whoever returned it to that store. What are the chances multiple people bought and returned the same thing within a short timeframe? The store manager needs to know if customers don't have confidence buying from them, they'll do business with the competitors. You know what else? These days with stores using self checkout where you have to place the merchandise on the scale, they likely have weight data for every product, so how hard is it for the employees to weigh boxes for complete parts before accepting returns? Call the store manager and suggest they weigh all product returns. At Target, I saw a CMF black 3x4 plate base where it looked like someone stole the minifigure and didn't want the plate. I've even seen a partially eaten cannister of nuts or chips on the shelf there.
xboxtravis7992 Posted January 1, 2017 Posted January 1, 2017 Most common Lego theft I see? Stolen minifigures from the DK books. The plastic bubble holding the figures in those books only takes seconds to open, and people steel the minifigures all the time. I dare say %80 of DK books I see on a store shelf are missing their minifigures.
BrickJagger Posted January 1, 2017 Posted January 1, 2017 I've seen this before as well. A few months ago I discovered two or three Spider Man vs Green Goblin Mighty Micros that had either the figures or the entire set stolen. Really a pathetic thing to do.
AFOLguy1970 Posted January 1, 2017 Posted January 1, 2017 I have heard of people buying sets, removing minifigures and/or other certain parts, and then returning it for some random reason. Problem is that the person at the returns counter is probably not a Lego expert and certainly does not have the time to verify the contents. It would be time consuming to also keep a record of who returned it in order to help establish a pattern or identify the culprit. No doubt, this was a key reason why Lego has the seal on the boxes. I would probably not buy a set if that seal was broken. Already, we are in the habit of checking them to make sure they were not tampered with, especially if the set came from Walmart, Target, or any other large store where it is hard to constantly monitor activity in that aisle. The chances of this happening at a Lego Store are much smaller since they are typically well staffed.
legostarwars1425 Posted January 1, 2017 Posted January 1, 2017 I have to keep an eye out for that. Sometimes, the store, if you find any loose pieces, will let you keep them if you are lucky. I have heard of people taking the small bags of pieces but certainly not this. Just saying, if I worked there I would know if the seal was tampered with or something was missing.
Zoshi Posted January 12, 2017 Posted January 12, 2017 Just a quick PSA… if you're buying an advent calendar, make sure none of the doors are open(people will most likely take the parts from the 24th door). I've had that happen to me unfortunately… huge disappointment
LucyCol Posted January 12, 2017 Posted January 12, 2017 I always find it strange when people sell sets which are '100% complete (Except Mini Figs)'. to me that means it's incomplete
zux Posted January 12, 2017 Posted January 12, 2017 1 hour ago, LucyCol said: I always find it strange when people sell sets which are '100% complete (Except Mini Figs)'. to me that means it's incomplete Yeah, that's ridiculous, same with "sealed set, opened just to confirm the contents"
danth Posted January 12, 2017 Posted January 12, 2017 Adults who steal toys for themselves are the lowest of the low.
AmperZand Posted January 13, 2017 Posted January 13, 2017 On 01/01/2017 at 11:16 PM, AFOLguy1970 said: I would probably not buy a set if that seal was broken. Already, we are in the habit of checking them to make sure they were not tampered with, especially if the set came from Walmart, Target, or any other large store where it is hard to constantly monitor activity in that aisle. The chances of this happening at a Lego Store are much smaller since they are typically well staffed. Whenever I buy a set, I don't just check the seal, I check all the glued edges too to make sure someone hasn't used a scalpel to open the box, steal some contents and reseal it. I even go as far as checking several boxes to be sure what the factory-sealed box should look like. I always put the boxes back carefully afterwards so the display is smart. I doesn't matter where I'm buying from whether it's TRU, John Lewis or even a LEGO Store. I have seen CMF packets at a department store that have been opened and the contents pilfered. If I saw someone do it, I would report them to the store but so far I've only ever seen the leftover packets.
danth Posted January 13, 2017 Posted January 13, 2017 If you're gonna steal a freaking toy, just steal the whole thing! Don't take parts out and then return it. That makes you a loser scum bag on top of being a thief.
BrickG Posted January 14, 2017 Posted January 14, 2017 21 hours ago, danth said: If you're gonna steal a freaking toy, just steal the whole thing! Don't take parts out and then return it. That makes you a loser scum bag on top of being a thief. It would make you really dumb too. It would be a lot harder to steal the whole book rather than the exclusive minifigure. Or stealing a whole giant set instead of using cash to buy it, taking the figures, closing it back up, then returning it. Haha I don't mean to defend scum thieves. I just found your comment funny. There is no honor among thieves!
Cobb Posted January 19, 2017 Posted January 19, 2017 I have never seen something like this happen in my country. Here only the Blokker cartel steals from you by mistaken Lego bricks to be gold nuggets.
Japanbuilder Posted January 20, 2017 Posted January 20, 2017 This is crushing to hear. I am planning on visiting the States this summer and was for sure going to hop by a store to pick up some sets on the cheap but now I am not sure. How widespread is this problem?
BrickG Posted January 20, 2017 Posted January 20, 2017 6 hours ago, Japanbuilder said: This is crushing to hear. I am planning on visiting the States this summer and was for sure going to hop by a store to pick up some sets on the cheap but now I am not sure. How widespread is this problem? Not that widespread. I've bought a LOT of Lego in the states. Never had it happen to me with an actual boxed set. It's REALLY common for the books and anything with a VISIBLE and easily stealable minifigure. Luckily you can clearly tell when they're stolen.
kibosh Posted January 20, 2017 Posted January 20, 2017 On 1/12/2017 at 8:53 AM, LucyCol said: I always find it strange when people sell sets which are '100% complete (Except Mini Figs)'. to me that means it's incomplete To us AFOL, yes, this is strange wording. To the average parent looking for cheap LEGO for their kids, perhaps not so much. They may figure, "Oh, he has plenty of figures already. As long as he can build the model, he'll be fine." On 1/12/2017 at 10:21 AM, zux said: Yeah, that's ridiculous, same with "sealed set, opened just to confirm the contents" I see this all the time on Craigslist. Steer clear of these claims. 9 hours ago, Japanbuilder said: This is crushing to hear. I am planning on visiting the States this summer and was for sure going to hop by a store to pick up some sets on the cheap but now I am not sure. How widespread is this problem? It's like anything in life. Just be smart about your purchasing. If you're in a nicer area, there's not so much to worry about. If you're in a not so nice area, then yes, check the seals, edges, etc. I like shopping in the down and out areas. I can find great sales there. I have noticed an odd trend on the LEGO aisles though. I often find empty drinks and food containers there. It's like people steal food in the store, and eat it while they rifle through the LEGO sets stealing parts.
Zoshi Posted January 21, 2017 Posted January 21, 2017 21 hours ago, Japanbuilder said: This is crushing to hear. I am planning on visiting the States this summer and was for sure going to hop by a store to pick up some sets on the cheap but now I am not sure. How widespread is this problem? Don't worry about it too much, I've also bought tons of Lego from stores in the States over the years and never had a problem except with the advent calendar I mentioned before. Plus, if you do have an issue, most stores are pretty good about taking things back(which unfortunately is contributing to the problem, but still ). But yeah… books and CMFs I see taken apart aaallll the time(luckily as someone above mentioned they're pretty easy to catch though). Another thing that bugs me about people stealing minifigs from sets, though, is that it pretty much ruins the entire set… I mean, nobody's going to want to pay full price for a set missing the minifigs, so the entire set goes to waste.
Japanbuilder Posted January 21, 2017 Posted January 21, 2017 Well it is comforting to hear it is not so rampant and still crushing to hear it happens at all. I will be very careful when I visit. Thanks all.
Phil B Posted January 23, 2017 Posted January 23, 2017 On 1/20/2017 at 9:56 AM, kibosh said: It's like anything in life. Just be smart about your purchasing. If you're in a nicer area, there's not so much to worry about. If you're in a not so nice area, then yes, check the seals, edges, etc. I like shopping in the down and out areas. I can find great sales there. I have noticed an odd trend on the LEGO aisles though. I often find empty drinks and food containers there. It's like people steal food in the store, and eat it while they rifle through the LEGO sets stealing parts. It's a risk vs. reward thing. The crappiest stores often have the best deals (75-90% off clearance, sets from 2014 etc.). This is for a reason: the type of customer they attract, and their spending power. If you live on food assistance, you're not going to ploink down $50 for a LEGO set. Some might feel the need to take a five-finger discount, but most leave the merchandise untouched. Which is why you can find the best deals in those areas, but have to be on your toes in terms of set inspection. Most stores however allow you to open up a set on the spot at Customer Service to verify contents, so have your phone ready at a page with a set contents overview and go to CS, pop the seals, and check if all is ok. Then fold the box flat and put it like that in your suitcase, with the bags separate, so you save space on the way back :)
kibosh Posted January 23, 2017 Posted January 23, 2017 3 minutes ago, Phil B said: It's a risk vs. reward thing. The crappiest stores often have the best deals (75-90% off clearance, sets from 2014 etc.). This is for a reason: the type of customer they attract, and their spending power. If you live on food assistance, you're not going to ploink down $50 for a LEGO set. Some might feel the need to take a five-finger discount, but most leave the merchandise untouched. Which is why you can find the best deals in those areas, but have to be on your toes in terms of set inspection. Absolutely. LEGO is the last thing people are looking to spend money on in these areas.
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