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Guy Orders Ipod, Gets Soap Instead

consumerist.com — We've all heard of the iPod's vaunted "clean design," but this is ridiculous.

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  • emceepecks, on 10/12/2007, -8/+212The soap is more scratch resistant
  • miles01110, on 10/12/2007, -3/+24SmallDog is a great retailer- I'm surprised that this happened. It's good that everyone had a sense of humor about it though.
    • moonwell, on 10/12/2007, -17/+1what a looser, at least he can wash off the dirt what he forget in the last 2 month :D
    • krackle, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6@moonwell I have absolutely no idea what you are trying to say, can someone clarify as it seems like pure gibberish to me.

      Oh and looser != loser. You have looser pants when you lose weight, but in a sense I guess you still are a loser then right?
    • miles01110, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1daza are you totally ignorant of fundamental economics? If a company loses money selling a product, they do not sell that product any more. 1 + 1 = 2. Figure it out.
  • Jolene, on 10/12/2007, -19/+36Maybe someone can clear this up for me.

    Why would you buy an Ipod from any website other then Apple's? I'm doubting you would end up with a bar of Irish Spring if you got it straight from apple. I looked them up on the website mentioned and their the same price as Apple lists, so why would you not just buy straight from the people who make 'em?

    Honestly, if someone has the answer, shout it out. Maybe I'm just looking at it wrong...
    • RadiantBeing, on 10/12/2007, -3/+62There are a few good reasons to shop at websites other than Apple's.

      1. Tax - Apple's online store charges it.
      2. Rebates - Amazon has nice Apple rebates.
      3. Some people just enjoy supporting small businesses.

      As for the Irish Spring, if someone at the shipping company did it, then packages from any store would be vulnerable.
    • hotsoda, on 10/12/2007, -0/+52He ordered an older iPod. Apple doesn't sell the older models.
    • Klisk, on 10/12/2007, -21/+6Right... He ordered an older ipod, probably at a much cheaper price than the modern ipods.

      Apple doesn't sell their old stuff. They're just 'that type' of business.
    • wphj, on 10/12/2007, -3/+16Klisk,
      Yes they do, click on the "Save" tag on the right side of the site.
    • 0siris, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8this could have happened to apple too. apple ships through ups the same as smalldog
    • ketsugi, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6@wphj

      That "Save" button is only for refurbished products, as far as I know, not for brand new (but older) products.
    • lazydrumhead, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5sorry to mod you down, jolene.

      I didn't realize your comment was neutral and not being a jerk.

      digg him up, he was asking a valid question.
    • thespacepope, on 10/12/2007, -6/+1@hostsoda, Klisk,

      Apple does sell older and/or refurb. products. Go to http://store.apple.com/ and look about one page down on the right, right above Education Discount: "Looking for a Great Deal?" That's the link to the refrub section that includes many older models.

      I'd post a direct link, but if I remember, those stop working after a while.

      edit: oops, wphj beat me to it ;-)
    • moyness, on 10/12/2007, -3/+0they sell their refurbished products, but not the brand-new old ones...
      dodgy...
    • daza, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Unfortunately you're not supporting the small business by buying an iPod from them.

      Apple sells iPod's to other retailers/etailers for approximately 95% of what they sell it at. If the iPod costs $400, then Apple are selling it to the store for probably over $380. After shipping/logistics costs are considered, the store is lucky to break even. This happens at the biggest and smallest chains around - it's Apple's practice.

      Why I would buy from the Apple store, if I had to -
      1) 10% Educational discount
      2) Free shipping
      3) More stock than retailers, if I needed an item urgently
      4) Free laser engraving on iPod's (just a gimmick, but would make for a nice gift)
    • RadiatedAnt, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1Apple uses DHL not ups well at least here in Chicago
      Might I add that DHL is the best carrier I haver ever come into contact with and I have tried them all. The only one that comes close is global express I think they're on par.
    • miles01110, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2daza are you totally ignorant of fundamental economics? If a company loses money selling a product, then they do not sell that product any more. 1 + 1 = 2. Figure it out.
    • daza, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1miles01110, please, let me educate you -

      Have you ever wondered why many stores sell many items *at a loss*? Yes, believe it or not, part of making money, is losing money! Why would they do that, you ask? To get people to COME to their store, and buy OTHER things that make money.

      For example. iPod is not making the store money (and I guarantee - it doesn't). But of course, the store will try and persuade the customer to buy a $70 pair of headphones, a few cases, some A/V cables, maybe an extended warranty. It is the accessories that are giving the store the profit, and the iPod is just a utility to get these profits.

      The iPod itself does not make any retailer, any money.

      I work at a large retail chain in Australia and let me tell you, the markup is almost negligible. That is why you will not find any store selling an iPod for $10 less than what Apple is selling it for. The iPod drives traffic to their store, but it does not make them a profit.

      Same thing applies for Xbox 360 and PS3. They make a loss on the console, but make the profit through games.

      Don't be so naive to believe that if a store doesn't make a profit on something they won't sell it.
  • hankosky, on 10/12/2007, -4/+5They have not sold 40gb models in a while..
    • Yarnage, on 10/12/2007, -5/+2Yes they have... this was back when they didn't have any black iPods
  • Shiggen, on 10/12/2007, -11/+3In before owned comment
  • joshwalderbach, on 10/12/2007, -2/+33It was Irish Spring WITH Aloe...god man come on be a cry baby about it. Do you have any idea how many smelly rough skinned people would have been grateful to have gotten what you did?
  • night141, on 10/12/2007, -12/+6OWNED
  • sathia, on 10/12/2007, -1/+24Yet another viral marketing campaign.
  • lat47, on 10/12/2007, -2/+10yeah, this really happened...
  • posneg, on 10/12/2007, -2/+17What's an Ipod?
  • mannymix03, on 10/12/2007, -11/+7how to get on digg:

    Buy a gadget, make up a story, replace your gadget in the box with a jesus statue (or other comical item)
  • Roger, on 10/12/2007, -4/+491) Order iPod
    2) Replace iPod with bar of soap
    3) Return soap for iPod
    4) Profit!
    • ledmonkey, on 10/12/2007, -1/+24you forgot step ???
    • cannibal, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5That is actually..a good..scheme. If I were of low moral status I would try that.

      Although no one should do it, it is a great idea. Now this would have to be from a retailer other than apple..and then you just put soap in it..and then call them. Wow.

      hmm...
  • buzzert, on 10/12/2007, -0/+13Did he use the soap anyway? I bet he did!
  • foxhaze, on 10/12/2007, -26/+2Watch somebody just stole the iPod and replaced it with soap.
  • artik, on 10/12/2007, -11/+1foxhaze: "Watch somebody just stole the iPod and replaced it with soap."
    Obviously...
  • hideous, on 10/12/2007, -1/+26Well, after the virus incident they decided to clean up their act.
  • vudicarus, on 10/12/2007, -9/+1now THAT'S a poor man's ipod!
    http://www.digg.com/mods/Poor_Man_s_Ipod
  • uvscwolverine, on 10/12/2007, -1/+11I actually ordered an iPod DIRECT FROM APPLE about 2 months ago and when the box arrived...I didn't get ANYTHING (I would've laughed my head off if there had been soap in the box). There was a box in there for a 60 GB iPod, but no iPod, headphones, or link cable. I called the shipper (and Apple), an investigation was launched at both ends, and I had my iPod a few days later. Apple overnighted me the new one even though it wasn't the company's fault, and they didn't give me a hard time about it. I thought that was pretty cool.
    • shaolinpunks, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6wouldn't apple be able to figure out where that missing ipod went
      by the thief connecting it to itunes?
  • wupike, on 10/12/2007, -3/+18My brother had the exact same thing happen, he bought it from Best Buy and had the hardest time returning it since they totally didn't believe him...

    It later turned into quite a funny joke, lol. http://www.evilgecko.net/images/soappod.jpg
  • vvvv, on 10/12/2007, -0/+12Let it never be said that Digg isn't willing to focus on the tough issues of today.
  • Maagic, on 10/12/2007, -10/+2If that happened to me, I'd buy a dog, send it to the person I got the soap from, go to their house and kick the dog.

    That'd show em.
    • mikev, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6You kick my dog! You are going to go to jail…
    • teeemoy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1...and now my dog need operation...
  • iStunT, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1do you think he got to keep the box n stuff it came with?
  • vondruska, on 10/12/2007, -4/+2Thats one expensive bar of soap, better have some gold in it or something
  • LividBlivet, on 10/12/2007, -0/+13Yeah, boo hoo. I just bought some Irish Spring and instead of soap I find this iPod thing in it.
    Now how am I supposed to take a shower with that?


    (SmallDog just made my preferred vendors list, see how easy it is?)
    • DrGonzo1184, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2"SmallDog just made my preferred vendors list, see how easy it is?"

      Same here, I am definitively going to check them out now seeing how well they handled a problem like this. I would have assumed that they would have accused him of lying or something, but they handled as well as they possibly could be expected. Kudos to SmallDog.
    • SnapETom, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Amongst old school mac users, Small Dog has a very good reputation. I'm not surprised at this. They stand behind their products, and they run some pretty funny promotional stuff. They definitely deserve to be on people's preferred vendors list.
  • Danyc, on 10/12/2007, -6/+0anybody imagining a [prison] shower scene? no? good.
  • twatwaffle, on 10/12/2007, -4/+2the whole thing sounds like a marketing promotion for smalldog.com.

    I dont buy in to this.
  • batmang, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1I think he may have made it up and now has 2 iPods...
  • Khaos, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8I wouldn't shrug it off so quickly. I used to work at Target and we had a customer return and iPod box that he had bought, taken out the iPod, resealed and inserted soap into it. We only discovered it when one of the store managers bought the iPod, opened it on his break and discovered he just spend $300 minus his discount on soap!
  • OrangeTide, on 10/12/2007, -4/+1maybe the soap was a hint.
  • LordSkywalker, on 10/12/2007, -4/+1If Apple did soap, it'd be Ivory.
    • teeemoy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1yeah...cuz it'd be ridiculous if they sold glossy black soap, wouldn't it...
  • sremick, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Wow, Digg hits close to home. Small Dog Electronics is near where I live. I drive by there often.
  • iNoles, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1iSoap? what a marketing that was.
  • johnnyrotten, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Nobody has mentioned that this could have been done by the shipping company. I've received packages where it was obvious that someone had opened the box and reached in to see if there was anything valuable inside. I've even received packages that were ripped open and had stuff taken out. I wouldn't put it past some sod working at UPS to open a package and remove the contents and replace it.

    Buying it from Apple, or anywhere else for that matter, doesn't protect you from some jerk stealing the contents.
    • harlowsmonkeys, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2It could also happen before the box gets to the retailer. Between the factory in China and the retailer, there will be several ground shipping companies, transfer to and from a cargo ship at two different ports, maybe a train trip (with two more opportunities for someone to switch it for soap). Smalldog (or Bestbuy, or Apple, to name two others mentioned in other comments as having this kind of thing happen) wouldn't be opening the box, so would have no idea if the iPod is really in there, unless the weight gives it away.
  • Lynx34, on 10/12/2007, -5/+1Wow, and I thought the movie wasn't out on DVD yet…
  • therealfoz, on 10/12/2007, -3/+5That was the Zest story I've read today.
    Come on people.. where's the Dove?
    Some guys have all the Lux.
    Irish Spring's like that would happen to me.
    • burke, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3Oh my god. Make it stop. ;)
    • stalefries, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Nice try, but no cigar. Or iPod. Or even soap.
  • digitallysick, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Its the new DRM free model! haha
  • adidax, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Soap seems better to get than that peice of meat that one poor kid got a while back.
  • growler1, on 10/12/2007, -0/+12This is just a mix-up. Somewhere, somebody's scrubbing their armpits with an ipod, wondering why they can't. seem. to. work. up. lather.
  • shaolinpunks, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4"Kudos to Smalldog for fixing this so quickly, and with such grace and humor."

    man that is a scripted line if i ever heard one.
    wonder how much Smalldog is paying for that blog entry.
  • otaleks, on 10/12/2007, -0/+140gb??
    that must the iPod Photo...
  • godfly, on 10/12/2007, -5/+2I totally agree with twatwaffle.

    Let's pretend that I am the CEO of smalldog
    *homegrown
    *SMALL company
    *UNDERDOG
    and I am giving you the privilege of listening to have what my creative mind has to say.

    ....

    Everyone in North America is sick and tired of lousy customer service *cough* outsourcing *cough* cluelessnorthamericanfreshoutofhighschoolreps

    Not that I have anything against our offshore human brothers (or our kids) but sometimes they CANNOT just relate.

    Call it culture clash. Call it whatever you want but globalization is still on its infancy and cultural collisions / communications are inevitable.

    What if we can paint a picture of a perfect world where business representatives (a.k.a. call-centre agents) interact harmoniously and live peacefully with the common consumers?

    ---

    **yay! my first post!**
  • wgchinn, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0When I worked in retail, whenever a customer returned a piece of merchandise that was still shrink wrapped (eg, already have one, don't need it, was a gift, etc) we would still open it and inventory the contents even if we had to open a new unit off the shelf to compare. 10% of the time there was something missing or the rock/soap was present to make it weigh the same. I bet someone took a return and didn't check the contents. Many manufacturers also seal their units with a security code or tape that Customer Service is suppose to check.
  • tinkertoy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1This could all be eliminated in the future once RFID tags are embedded inside all valuable merchandise. Each time the package is loaded on a truck or is received or purchased, scan for the tag. If it's not there, it would be easy to start investigating the people who last had the package.
  • thomashallock, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3How is SmallDog to know that he didn't just do this himself? Maybe I should order a macbook and say there was a pizza in the box and get two macbooks for the price of one
    ... without anchovies!
  • brettotte1, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1I'm guessing it's the typical scam by the BUYER claiming he got diddly squat when in actuality he got his ipod. This was merely to get 2 for 1. Typical scam.

    I've used smalldog for about 8 years and subscribe to their podcast & newsletter for years & there's no way they'd ever do this.
  • AceTracer, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Smalldog is awesome.
  • netferret, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1There is no way they would send soap, this is pure rubbish, nice scam though.
  • suprthug8d, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Does anyone else think that this is a ploy to get more visitors to smalldog.com?
  • wickedman, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3a rather pathetic and spammy way to promote smalldog.com ...
  • zongamin, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Very similar to the old 'iMeat' story huh

    http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=1450350
  •  

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