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this woman's in the running for the darwin award

hdroadglide

BoM x 2, BoY 2011
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“Spectacularly stupid.”

That’s what Gawker is calling Ashley McDowell, the woman who bought a block of wood with an Apple logo on it, thinking it was an iPad.

Two men approached McDowell in a South Carolina McDonald’s parking lot and told her they had a special deal on new iPads. They wanted $300 for their specially-painted block of wood, but when McDowell only had $180, they decided to make the deal anyway. It wasn’t until McDowell got home that she realized her super cool new gadget was really a wooden block.

There’s more.

After McDowell realized her mistake, she called the police and they actually launched an investigation into the duplicitous scammers. McDowell claims that the men told her they bought the iPads in bulk and were selling them at a discount.

But the craziness doesn‘t end with McDowell’s less-than-prudent purchase or the police investigation. The crooks are bonkers, too. They took the time to paint a screen and a couple of fake icons onto the block of wood they sold in a taped-up FedEx box. They may be good artists, but if anyone asked to open the box it’d be pretty hard to pass a block of wood off as the sleek (not wood) new tool, even with the most accurate of painted-on icons. It’s probably a better idea to keep people from opening the package in the first place.

A warning to all the bargain hunters out there: If you swipe the screen of your new iPad and get a splinter, you may have gotten duped. In addition, a general caution to not make purchases from guys who approach you in McDonald’s parking lots.
 

bdc30

BoM May '11
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It's unfortunate that people are that stupid, but it happens every freakin day. Those guys driving around selling 'extra speakers' out of the back of their van...same deal.
 
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Fort Riley, KS
Damn thing probably didn't even have the power adapter with it either....I had a guy in a van wanting to sell me an "extra home theater system" at Home Depot the other day. When I came out some rather unintelligent looking guys were actually checking it out.
 
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Pearland, Texas
Damn thing probably didn't even have the power adapter with it either....I had a guy in a van wanting to sell me an "extra home theater system" at Home Depot the other day. When I came out some rather unintelligent looking guys were actually checking it out.
Rofl! That was prob Kenman!
 
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Texas
yep, I got some extra home theater from a few random dudes and it works like a champ!

they were at northern tool! haha
 

Zedman05

Fiend4theLeaf
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Great white North
What a moron. Why would she buy an Ipad if she doesnt even realize the thing is an electronic piece of equipment.
I have had those dudes rollin in a mini van at the shopping area parking lot ask me if i wanted to buy a home stereo too, WTF is with that ploy? The second time they asked (about a year later) i told them to F*+k off. I said I wasnt interested in their hot lot, and they sped away...idiots
 

Baldanders

Jim AKA Patty
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Quincy,Ma.
While she did buy a fake iPad she did not think the wooden iPad was real. It was in a taped-up FedEx box that was not opened until she got home. Was it stupid to trust that an iPad was in the box? Yes but she did not look/hold a block of painted wood in her hand and think it was an iPad.
 
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