stealing hotwheels

[bcwang]

I was just at the local kragens, and looking at the package of mothers hotwheels premium wax. I noticed the car that came with it wasn`t any of the 4 that I remember it`s supposed to come with. So I check the next box, then the next. They all have some hotwheels car in it, but they all seem different from the ones I remember. Some of the boxes didn`t have a seal on it, and some had a seal that still looked intact.



Once I got home, I went to the mothers website and now I know that the hotwheels were all swapped out with different ones. That sucks, especially if you are buying the wax just to collect the mothers hotwheels, if you don`t pay attention you`re gonna be hosed. Very strange don`t you think, that someone would go and steal the hotwheels from all the bottles of wax!

[forrest@mothers]

It`s unfortunate, but I`m not surprised. THe cars are selling for $10-40 on e-bay, and there are lots of dishonest folks out there.



We made it as hard as we could, but someone always finds a way.



BTW, where was the store?

[bcwang]

They are? Why would people buy them for so much on ebay when they can go to a local shop and just buy the wax? Some people...



Based on yahoo yellow pages, I think it`s the one with the address:

1770 W Campbell Ave, Campbell, CA

The dot on the map doesn`t quite look like exactly where I thought it was, but there`s no other one closer.



Interestingly, I was at another kragens earlier in the day, and now thinking back, I don`t remember that they had the right car in the box either. I only looked at the first box though. I remember looking at the seals of the boxes and noting a lot of them looked opened, but I just thought it was a cheap seal that doesn`t stick to the box well. Maybe someone went through them all to do the same thing. This store was at :

815 E El Camino Real

Sunnyvale, CA



I wonder if this problem goes up farther or if this is just a coincidence..

[imported_edschwab1]

Maybe the store has the hotwheels behind the counter.



Eric

[bcwang]

forrest works at mothers I think, so maybe he can handle it somehow. The problem is, the seal is so weak, you could probably remove it and it`d look like the box of most other car care products, which don`t come with a seal. Maybe manufacturers should start sealing them in plastic so it`s very obvious if it`s already been tampered with. I saw some brand of claying kit that was sealed like that, and every box looked brand new. At the same time, looking at the mothers claying kits in the same store, you`d be hard pressed to know if someone did something to it, without opening it yourself to make sure nothing is missing or opened inside the box. It doesn`t help that most of the boxes are dented or scratched, or have compressed corners from being forced onto the shelf or being dropped.



edschwab1,

The hotwheels are in the box, visible through a hole. It was obviously swapped discretely with some random hotwheels.

[shaf]

Yeah, I think certain products should be made more "DONKEYhole-proofed". Apparently the Canadian Tire stores up here often have the problem of punks slitting the tape on the top of the Mothers Clay and stealing the bar, leaving everything else behind. :angry :mad:

[Spilchy]

Originally posted by 4DSC

Yeah, I think certain products should be made more "DONKEYhole-proofed". Apparently the Canadian Tire stores up here often have the problem of punks slitting the tape on the top of the Mothers Clay and stealing the bar, leaving everything else behind. :angry :mad:



When I bought the Mothers Clay, the clay bar that was in the shrink wrap had one of those electronic sensors serioulsy attached to it so no one would walk off with it without setting off the alarm. Good idea.

[bcwang]

Well, I was at another kragens today, and what do you know, 2 of the 4 bottles had swapped hotwheels, these 2 had visibly broken seals though. The interesting thing is, when I was walking around the store, I found out that they sell hotwheels cars there. This probably has some correlation with the problem.



I also picked up (literally) 2 boxes of the clay bar kit, one weighed like 1/5th the other one. Guess the spray was swiped or something. I don`t go opening boxes before I buy, but with this kind of stuff happening, I think I may have to so I don`t leave with an empty box.

[forrest@mothers]

It would be difficult to swap the cars in the store, since the Mothers Hot Wheels car does not have a UPC code on it.



No UPC = no ability to sell @ register.



Only thing I can think of is someone buys the box; takes it home and swaps the car, then brings it back.

[bcwang]

Yeah, you`re probably right. It`s most likely customers doing all this swapping. What`s become of society these days?



By the way, kragens is having a sale on the hotwheels wax for $9.99. I picked one up, but haven`t decided if I`m going to use it for waxing my car or just for collecting the hotwheel. Wow, these marketing gimmics really work. Next thing you know I`m going to have 4 bottles of the wax just to get the 4 hotwheels.

[forrest@mothers]

Originally posted by bcwang

Wow, these marketing gimmics really work. Next thing you know I`m going to have 4 bottles of the wax just to get the 4 hotwheels.



That was the idea. Wait until you see the second series of cars - they`re even cooler!

[Vincent Vega]

Originally posted by 4DSC

Yeah, I think certain products should be made more "DONKEYhole-proofed". Apparently the Canadian Tire stores up here often have the problem of punks slitting the tape on the top of the Mothers Clay and stealing the bar, leaving everything else behind. :angry :mad:

Saw the same thing here in WI. They had two clay kits on the shelf. When I got to the register I realized it was open. I looked inside - no clay. I went back to get the other one- no spray. The spray was on the shelf below, so I got what I wanted. The retailer get screwed on that one, and passes the losses on to us. :nono