Johnny_Blaze_47
11-28-2006, 08:43 PM
Mama mia! Take one guess where.
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Couple will get new camcorder in pasta sauce caper
By Michael D. Sorkin
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
Tuesday, Nov. 28 2006
UPDATE at 2:50 p.m.:
ST. LOUIS (AP) -- Sony Entertainment Inc. is giving a southeast Missouri
couple a new camcorder, after they bought one at Best Buy and said they found a
jar of pasta sauce inside the box where the camera should have been.
Melisa Rittenberg, 36, of Perryville, said Tuesday she was contacted by Sony
on Monday, after talking to The Associated Press about the incident.
Rittenberg was told a replacement camera was in the mail. A phone message
left with Sony was not returned.
"I'm satisfied because we're finally going to get the camera we paid for,"
Rittenberg said, though she remained angry that Best Buy didn't resolve the
matter.
The Ellisville Best Buy store manager, Wade Trapp, said the company had been
in touch with the Rittenbergs, and would follow up on the matter.
The Rittenbergs paid about $1,600 for a camcorder at the Ellisville Best
Buy, in suburban St. Louis, last week. They said when they opened the box, they
found a jar of Classico pasta sauce, a telephone cord and an electric outlet
cover. The items were all positioned in the box where the camera equipment
should have been, Melisa Rittenberg said.
They went back to Best Buy, but the store declined a refund.
-----------
Our earlier story:
Closed-circuit cameras at the Best Buy store in Ellisville may reveal whether
someone opened a $1,600 camcorder box and replaced the merchandise with a jar
of Classico pasta sauce.
Melisa and Jim Rittenberg paid for a camcorder but say all they got was the
sauce.
Best Buy is investigating, along with the police.
A spokesman for Sony Electronics Inc., in San Diego, was dubious that any
switch occurred at the company's end.
"Especially with a camcorder, which is shipped directly from Japan, where that
brand of tomato sauce is very rare,'' said Rick Clancy, a senior vice president
for corporate communications. He said the boxes are sealed at the factory.
The Rittenbergs filed a police report and said they bought a $600 camcorder at
a Best Buy in Cape Girardeau. They wanted a better camera and exchanged it
Wednesday for the more expensive model at the Best Buy in Ellisville, while
visiting relatives for Thanksgiving.
They reported the pasta sauce find later Wednesday. The couple live in
Perryville, in southeast Missouri.
"The only thing I thought was, 'you've got to be kidding me,' " Melisa
Rittenberg, 36, told the Associated Press.
Best Buy corporate spokesman Jay Musolf said Monday: "We do not have a
resolution at this point.''
Ellisville police say they don't yet know what happened.
For now, they are treating the matter as a possible theft. They said they hope
the store's closed-circuit videos will show whether any tampering took place
there.
"We'll check into it to see whether it's a stealing or whether it came from the
factory that way,'' said Sgt. Nancy Walker.
"We've never had a situation like this," said Clancy, "where a jar of tomato
sauce was in a box that should have contained one of our products."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/stlouiscitycounty/story/0A758DE268307803862572340015DCF1?OpenDocument
--------------
Now, while technically, Clancy may not be lying (about there never being a pasta incident), it happened more often than you'd think when I worked there. Best memory is when we had a rock in what was a brand-new, top-of-the-line GeForce video card.
----------
Couple will get new camcorder in pasta sauce caper
By Michael D. Sorkin
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
Tuesday, Nov. 28 2006
UPDATE at 2:50 p.m.:
ST. LOUIS (AP) -- Sony Entertainment Inc. is giving a southeast Missouri
couple a new camcorder, after they bought one at Best Buy and said they found a
jar of pasta sauce inside the box where the camera should have been.
Melisa Rittenberg, 36, of Perryville, said Tuesday she was contacted by Sony
on Monday, after talking to The Associated Press about the incident.
Rittenberg was told a replacement camera was in the mail. A phone message
left with Sony was not returned.
"I'm satisfied because we're finally going to get the camera we paid for,"
Rittenberg said, though she remained angry that Best Buy didn't resolve the
matter.
The Ellisville Best Buy store manager, Wade Trapp, said the company had been
in touch with the Rittenbergs, and would follow up on the matter.
The Rittenbergs paid about $1,600 for a camcorder at the Ellisville Best
Buy, in suburban St. Louis, last week. They said when they opened the box, they
found a jar of Classico pasta sauce, a telephone cord and an electric outlet
cover. The items were all positioned in the box where the camera equipment
should have been, Melisa Rittenberg said.
They went back to Best Buy, but the store declined a refund.
-----------
Our earlier story:
Closed-circuit cameras at the Best Buy store in Ellisville may reveal whether
someone opened a $1,600 camcorder box and replaced the merchandise with a jar
of Classico pasta sauce.
Melisa and Jim Rittenberg paid for a camcorder but say all they got was the
sauce.
Best Buy is investigating, along with the police.
A spokesman for Sony Electronics Inc., in San Diego, was dubious that any
switch occurred at the company's end.
"Especially with a camcorder, which is shipped directly from Japan, where that
brand of tomato sauce is very rare,'' said Rick Clancy, a senior vice president
for corporate communications. He said the boxes are sealed at the factory.
The Rittenbergs filed a police report and said they bought a $600 camcorder at
a Best Buy in Cape Girardeau. They wanted a better camera and exchanged it
Wednesday for the more expensive model at the Best Buy in Ellisville, while
visiting relatives for Thanksgiving.
They reported the pasta sauce find later Wednesday. The couple live in
Perryville, in southeast Missouri.
"The only thing I thought was, 'you've got to be kidding me,' " Melisa
Rittenberg, 36, told the Associated Press.
Best Buy corporate spokesman Jay Musolf said Monday: "We do not have a
resolution at this point.''
Ellisville police say they don't yet know what happened.
For now, they are treating the matter as a possible theft. They said they hope
the store's closed-circuit videos will show whether any tampering took place
there.
"We'll check into it to see whether it's a stealing or whether it came from the
factory that way,'' said Sgt. Nancy Walker.
"We've never had a situation like this," said Clancy, "where a jar of tomato
sauce was in a box that should have contained one of our products."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/stlouiscitycounty/story/0A758DE268307803862572340015DCF1?OpenDocument
--------------
Now, while technically, Clancy may not be lying (about there never being a pasta incident), it happened more often than you'd think when I worked there. Best memory is when we had a rock in what was a brand-new, top-of-the-line GeForce video card.