Bogus UPC on Lego

[kibosh]

I just stopped by a local Target to see if there was anything on clearance. I saw a lonely Clone Turbo Tank, and knew I had gotten the same set at this store on clearance before. When I scanned it, it came up as $26.29! And said there were more in the stockroom. I was all set to clear them out.

Then I noticed the name on the Scanner. Something like Droid Transport.

Suspecting something fishy, I looked art the UPC on the box. Sure enough, someone printed the UPC from another set, and stuck it on the box. I'm sure they were going back later to get it.

I was REALLY tempted to buy it anyway, but I left it where it was.

[just2good]

Suspecting something fishy, I looked art the UPC on the box. Sure enough, someone printed the UPC from another set, and stuck it on the box. I'm sure they were going back later to get it.

People usually get arrested for doing that. So I think it's a good thing you didn't get it.

[splatman]

Did you tell the store staff about it?

[Legobrandon]

Good for you for leaving it on the shelf. But you should of have told an employee. This happened like a month ago:

http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=69976&st=0&p=1290935entry1290935

[legomr]

Funny. Two weeks ago, I saw an opened Alien Defender box in a local ASDA. There was a price reduction sticker on it, GBP 4.00. I peeked inside the box, it seemed complete, and I went to the cash register to buy it.

However, the clerk said that it's not the usual sticker for reduced prices. We called a manager, and who confirmed that. Apparently somebody walked into the ASDA, tore up the box, and put the reduction sticker on it, for later collection.

In any way, if you have as much CCTV in the US as we have in the UK, it should never be difficult to prove that you didn't put the sticker on there.

[AFOL SF]

...the exact same thing happened to me three weeks or so ago... saw a SW Clone Turbo Tank with a stickered UPC code on top of the original... out of curiosity, I scanned it and came up with a really low price (can't remember what it was)... rather than buy it, I placed it back on the shelf... I told myself it's not worth the trouble... besides, knowing what's been going on lately, I didn't want any negative karma coming my way...

[Hive]

I don't quite get why you just leave them on the shelves instead of informing staff.

[Hrw-Amen]

I think it is because in the UK and I presume Europe as well(?) there is so much red tape and form filling it is never as easy as just telling member of staff, who want to know everything about you down to what your grandmother's favorite food was. At the end of the day most people are not dishonest enough to steal, but are too busy to get roped into hours of paperwork and questions being made to feel guilty themselves with no thought of a thank you from store staff when they are only trying to help. I just is too much hassle to help. Very, very sad, but very true. I cannot say it is right, but most of officialdom (In the form of large companies.) does little to encourage helpfulness from Joe Public.

Edited July 18, 2012 by Hrw-Amen

[Lego Otaku]

Bogus UPC aside, there are other thefts. Few days ago evening I was at Toys R Us looking at the new LEGO Monsters set, and to get The Werewolf 9463 for a hair under $19 (sale, regular price $20, Toys R Us regular price $25)

And I went looking around for sale stuff (one ripped to heck Atlantis set which I left behind) and video games. I did find something disturbing:

Swamp Creature 9461 all piled in with action figure aisle. All boxes with instruction, no LEGO pieces. Someone took around 30 of these sets to a different area, opened it all, stole all the LEGO pieces out, and left without paying. 30* $7 each = loss of $210

I got a hold of the manager, and showed her the mess. Fortunately for me I knew the store security better than the thief, there are several security camera including 2 watching LEGO isles and whoever moved it would have shown up in security tape hauling arm loads (or pushing cart full) of those LEGO sets to another area, and leaving the store without any visible LEGO sets. I bet a large bag or backpack is involved. Unless the person is a master of disguise, he/she won't be able to come back to the store unnoticed at all. This person will likely be watched very closely next time and be stopped if he/she touched LEGO and then tries to leave the store with no LEGO.

No way of knowing if the thief are on Bricklink or just selling on eBay, there are too many local sellers on both for me to guess who did it.

[TheLegoDr]

Another reason why I'm hesitant to just buy minifigures from bricklink/eBay instead of the actual set. Sometimes I don't want the full set, but I'd hate to support a thief financially.

I haven't seen any bogus UPCs around here, but I have seen opened packages with random lego pieces on the ground before. I picked them up and put them on the shelf, but I was in a hurry so I didn't have the time to talk to anyone. That is, if I would have even been able to. They always seem to disappear when I need the most help.

[Vindicare]

Swamp Creature 9461 all piled in with action figure aisle. All boxes with instruction, no LEGO pieces. Someone took around 30 of these sets to a different area, opened it all, stole all the LEGO pieces out, and left without paying. 30* $7 each = loss of $210

I got a hold of the manager, and showed her the mess. Fortunately for me I knew the store security better than the thief, there are several security camera including 2 watching LEGO isles and whoever moved it would have shown up in security tape hauling arm loads (or pushing cart full) of those LEGO sets to another area, and leaving the store without any visible LEGO sets. I bet a large bag or backpack is involved. Unless the person is a master of disguise, he/she won't be able to come back to the store unnoticed at all. This person will likely be watched very closely next time and be stopped if he/she touched LEGO and then tries to leave the store with no LEGO.

I would LOVE to catch someone in the act of ripping open a box and taking the contents. The other day I saw an empty 9471 and S7 pack...