This iPad is poplar... seriously...

Don't buy your iPad in a McDonald's car park
South Carolina fangirl finds herself fondling wood
By Brid-Aine Parnell � 31st August 2011 12:24 GMT

A young woman in South Carolina has had her dream of buying a brand-new shiny iPad in the car park of a McDonald's crushed by two swindlers, who left her with a wooden dud.

The 22-year-old saw nothing suspicious in being approached by two men in the aforementioned car park nor in being offered an iPad for $300.

Claiming they had bought iPads in bulk, the fraudsters enticed the naive Apple fan by showing her an actual iPad and agreed to take $180 for it, which was all she said she had, according to a Spartanburg County Sheriff's report.

She was handed one of several FedEx boxes from the boot of their car and, presumably happy and satisfied with her lovely new purchase, she drove home without looking inside.

Imagine her chagrin when she opened the box at home only to discover "a piece of wood painted black with an Apple logo", as the report described it.

While not exactly the most cunning of disguises, you have to commend the effort and attention to detail. Those conmen sat down with their paints and didn't think it was enough to just splash a bit of black paint on the mockPad, it had to have that all-important Apple logo too. �

Don't buy your iPad in a McDonald's car park • The Register

According to Apple it was sold to her by a "splinter group"...

this is exactly why you inspect the exact unit your going to buy and open the box before money is exchanged.

I bought my iPad off craigslist, stipulating we would meet at a place of business with wifi. We did, I checked it out thoroughly, and walked away with a perfect condition iPad for $300.

Ahhh, you beat me to posting this story. I was going to title it:

Wood you buy an iPad for $180?

Originally Posted by TheScionicMan

Ahhh, you beat me to posting this story. I was going to title it:

Wood you buy an iPad for $180?

Some wood, some wood knot...

I like the George Bush thread title.

As in 'nucler weapons'.

As for the seemingly obligatory wood pun...

Too bad she let herself get conned.
Life's a Birch. (or Beech).

The only Angry Birds she'll be seeing are some woodpeckers...

iPad? She was iHad!

Oh ok, I see how this is going. Well, "knock on wood", I hope she learned her lesson. :D

That's terrible. One time a long time ago when I was a kid, this guy came to our house and sold my dad a VCR box full of bricks for $50.

I always open my purchases even if it's sealed.

I guess it's better than paying for an empty box.

Wow... I can see how she was duped! ;) I know...she didn't look inside the box, but did they think this wood work if someone did??

This one time, at band camp, I shoved an iPad in my...
Trunk.

Trunk, tree, wood, get it?
Trunk, back of car....
Innuendo???

Nvm...

Well we certainly made shambles of this thread. Lol.

22, South Carolina, McDonald's parking lot.

Why is this a surprise?

iWood suggest she be more careful with her next tech purchase...

Originally Posted by brindaarnold

Wow... I can see how she was duped! ;) I know...she didn't look inside the box, but did they think this wood work if someone did??

To be fair, that picture was taken after it had been dusted for fingerprints. You can see the powder and smudges. Regardless, it seems weird that they would go to the trouble of making a fake one instead of just putting a piece of wood in there for weight. They probably thought they could fool someone if they had to flash it quickly, but I bet they LOLed when she drove off without even opening the box... WOW... :confused:

imagine if the fedex box contained anthrax or a ticking bomb.this girl didn't find anything suspicious of two men approaching her?wow what a clueless girl with no brains.i wouldn't even buy a candy bar if someone was selling it on the street.i would go to a convenient store just to buy it.another thing the girl should have noticed was why would the men take $180 for a $500-600 ipad?this girl is an adult-she is 22 not some 16 year old who one can understand if it happened to her.have fun touching that plywood of an ipad you purchased you south carolina gal.then post a review of how this woodpad is off the charts.