Signing up for cable TV and internet is bad enough. Not only are you given any real options for service providers, you really aren’t given much choice as to what stations you want on your TV either. Well, Jenni and I decided to buy a cable modem this time around since Ygnition was trying to sell us an overpriced one, so we head on over to Walmart.

We found a decent cable modem there for $60. Not particularly cheap, but we wanted the internet as soon as possible seeing as we just moved to a new area. We get home, just barely open it, but I put off setting it up. Within the next couple days, we find ourselves at Target, and there happens to be a sale on a cable modem there for $40. We grab that one up quickly and then head on over to Walmart to return our first cable modem.

Wait in the line at the service desk for a bit, and give them our receipt and the (barely) opened cable modem box. The employee opens it up, asks why we are returning it, and if anything is wrong. We simply tell them that we found a cheaper one elsewhere, and that the box was barely opened. She checks the cable modem, looks at us funny, and asks again why we are returning it. We explain again that we just found a cheaper one somewhere else. A few minutes pass as she is mulling over something, and then a more senior manager comes up and asks the same set of questions.

At this point, I’m getting the sense that something is wrong. We have explained our situation several times and each time the Walmart employees look at us suspiciously. They explain that the serial number on the cable modem doesn’t match the serial number on the box. So now they think we are trying to pull a fast one on them or something. They call in some electronics manager and they look at it, and the suspicious eyes continue. They go through the box a bit more and find that the CD that was included was shattered into pieces, making us look all the more guilty I assume.

We continue to insist that that is the cable modem that came in the box, we never even set it up. Grudgingly, the senior manager says “Well, since the serial numbers don’t match, I’m not supposed to take this back, but I will let it slide this time.” This time?!?! What kind of implication is that? I have no way of checking to make sure that the serial numbers match before I purchased the cable modem, how am I supposed to support my case to them that I’m not pulling a fast one on them? I suppose that we are now on some sort of Walmart watch list for returned electronics, but I don’t care.

So yeah, just a warning to anyone who is thinking about buying electronics from Walmart.

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