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AIBU?

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Original poster

To give you all a warning please do take it!!!

203 replies

TheLadyEvenstar · 27/07/2011 12:40

I went into toysrus yesterday and purchased an elonex etouch tablet pc. for DS1 and DS2 to use.

I set it up when I got home and found it to have a history which contained porn sites - therefore it was preowned.

I returned to the store and got a replacement.

I set it up and again have found not only a web page history of porn sites but downloads a well.

They are telling me they didn't know these had been returned as there is no record of them being which leads me to the conclusion that a staff member is using them.

So please if you buy this item please do check the history first!!!

I am doing an interview tomorrow with a local paper.

OP posts:
herbietea · 31/07/2011 11:27

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

Original poster
TheLadyEvenstar · 31/07/2011 11:33

NL,

I am sorry but I disagree. There is every need to make this publically known. Anyone could have bought these for a child and the child see the sites. If TrU had not been so arsey about this right from the off then I would have happily accepted a full refund. As it stood they sold 2 tablets both containing porn. Now correct me if I am wrong but this is inappropriate for something sold as new and in a toy shop.

Also what I find hard to believe is that the sites looked at or the videos/images came from "xvideos" on both machines - unlikely that a customer bought one downloaded porn onto it, took it back to the store bought another downloaded more porn onto the second one and then returned it to store. Which tbh leads me to believe that a staff member somewhere along the line has done this.

TrU had the first one back. When it was taken into store they powered it up, connected to the internet straight away and viewed the web bar - where you type the address in, so they saw for themselves what was there. They powered up the second one and looked at the same thing there was nothing on that however when I was setting it up, I touched an icon which is 4 lines and it brought up the history which is when I saw the download history of a month ago. All I asked them for was a replacement nothing else thats when I was told they had no proof I had not put it on there myself - even though I had only had it 1 day at this point.

OP posts:
Original poster
TheLadyEvenstar · 31/07/2011 11:35

Herbie, TrU booted it up instore but there was nothing on the search bar hence why I thought it was fine. It was only when I touched an icon that took me to the download history did I find there was porn on it.

OP posts:
DuelingFanjo · 31/07/2011 11:47

I think she is right to make a fuss. If Toys are Us had taken her seriously, and if the second one hadn't also got porn on it, then she might not have felt like making a fuss but good for her for doing so IMO.

I think digging about in her old posts is unfair too.

TillyTellTale · 31/07/2011 11:49

Well, fluffy bunny rabbits don't have the same potential ramifications and that's why whoever is messing about with these tablets is using the stock to access porn, instead of his/her own computer. And thus he/she is risking that the customers may land in serious soup.

But then, I have ishoos with children being unfairly blamed for pornographic content.

Original poster
TheLadyEvenstar · 31/07/2011 11:56

Duelling, Its par for the course if you are me it seems Wink

Tilly, oddly enough so do I have ishoos with children being blamed. But if I had given it to DS1 with him being a teenager etc I probably would have blamed him if he had been using it. Sad

OP posts:
NetworkGuy · 31/07/2011 16:22

NL wrote ... "Going to the papers in a 'won't someone please think of the children' manner is nearly always an over-reaction."

It's not just about the children in my view, it's also about the item being brand new and supposedly unused. That, and the fact it was not just one tablet, but two, and then the reaction (perhaps after someone in the store deliberately caused a malfunction, though that's just my speculation! ) of TrU Head Office in shrugging it off, rather than making a "we regret this happened, will investigate and in the meantime, will take action to prevent any repeat" statement, which would have been far more suitable (even if it was a bit of good PR, rather than what they might actually do).

In 2009, there was an article in a newspaper in the Torbay area about a firm providing plastic clothes-collection bags, with the slogan 'Helping Hands' and all sorts of wording which suggested it was a charity, including a 'registration number' but it was an Essex business.

While the bags were designed to mislead, there was nothing that Trading Standards or the Police could do except warn the public. When I saw similar 'Helping Hands' bags delivered in my locality (N Wales) about a year later, I gave one to the local paper and sent an e-mail with a link to the S Devon article.

Perhaps you'd call it 'over reaction' to use the local press to publicise something where a company is showing poor business practice - whether that is selling 'used' goods or misleading the public at large, but the media make plenty of sense in cases where not everyone will see a discussion on a web site (which is a popular method these days, and could reach millions but equally, may not be seen by certain sectors of society).

PieMistress · 31/07/2011 18:12

There was a small article in yesterday's Sun Blush about this! I spotted it and remembered this thread ...

Original poster
TheLadyEvenstar · 31/07/2011 18:26

Pie, yes I was told about it, could have been worse it could have been on page 3 Grin

OP posts:
ScarlettIsWalking · 31/07/2011 18:35

I think you absolutely did the right thing op well done.

Can't believe some of the shitty comments you have had on this thread Confused it is an appaling thing to happen and I appreciate the info on TRU.

AmberLeaf · 31/07/2011 18:37

I dont think its an over reaction at all.

There are several issues that should be brought to the publics attention;

Sold as new/unused when it clearly is not.

Porn. aside from the fact that hardcore porn could have been accessed by the OPs DCs, it could also be accessed by anyone elses that bought one. its obviously not a one off as she has been given 2 devices with porn in the history!

I dont care about the OPs posting history, she was right to go to the press.

FairhairedandFrustrated · 31/07/2011 22:28

Not an over reaction at all!

And as a result of reading this thread I refused to buy a PC yesterday in Currys when it emerged it would be the store one we would be given!

The guy said he would wipe it, but still I refused.

I think a lot more people would read it in a paper than may log onto MN.

Well done on bring it to the attention of the public.

And those who are doing the eye rolling and dragging up old posts should be ashamed of themselves - not the way to do things.

wherearemysocks · 01/08/2011 00:22

I was thinking of buying a similar kind of device for my dd1 for Christmas, it would not have crossed my mind at all to check the history so thank you for bringing this to my attention.

It happened I read it on here but I'm sure that there are those that have read it in the papers that will now know to check the history when they buy something like this.

I think some people on here are being extremely petty, how can warning people of a potential hazard be a bad thing?

Original poster
TheLadyEvenstar · 01/08/2011 00:38

It is going to be more widely spread through the press. I have had 5 emails asking if I give permission for various newspapers to run the full story and also a couple of magazines with consumer sections plus one which is a consumer magazine. At the end of the day IF this alerts enough people of what to look for then I will continue to do it.

Yes it would have been awful for DS1 to have actually accessed these sites, he may be 13 but in some ways is very young for his age. It would have also been dreadful if as planned he took it into school for help in french lessons, the IT team at school were to put french software on it for him - can you imagine the reaction if they had found it and not me?

OP posts:
mathanxiety · 01/08/2011 00:58

You are right to hold onto the second one and deal directly with Elonex. they will be able to see when the porn was downloaded and will probably know at exactly what point it happened in the distribution.

Given that TRU has form for this kind of thing, I don't think going to the press is a bad idea, even if you didn't know that when you first contacted the press. If TRU employees have access to new products or if second hand products are being sold as new, or without history being cleaned out if sold as used then they are risking exposing children to unsuitable material and this needs to be known by consumers.

Original poster
TheLadyEvenstar · 01/08/2011 01:31

Math, which is all I am aiming to do. Grin

OP posts:
monoid · 01/08/2011 01:48

Thanks for posting, TLE. I would never have thought to check that a "new" item hadn't already been used. I will remember this for the future.
I think you've done totally the right thing in going to the papers. I hope you also went to the police because it's completely unacceptable to have that sort of content on electronics that are meant for children.
I hope you receive the outcome you are looking for with Elonex. Glad they are treating you better than Toys R Us.

Original poster
TheLadyEvenstar · 01/08/2011 01:53

Mon, Elonex are gems tbh. They are far from impressed and when I called them on Friday after TrU had given me a bollocking for contacting Elonex, and telling me they were going to stop them replacing it Elonex made it very clear that they had an internal investigation going on and the MD of Elonex had given permission for an exchange to be sent to me. They are not letting TrU have it until they have looked at the tablet.

OP posts:
monoid · 01/08/2011 02:12

I just can't believe that Toys R Us are being such complete and utter twats about this. No company should be big enough that they can have this sort of disregard for their customers and get away with it. They don't sound like they've taken your complaint seriously since the start and it's not just a run of the mill complaint, they are potentially exposing children to pornography. I certainly won't be shopping there again.
Excellent news about the investigation. Hope Toys R Us get their comeuppance.

duchesse · 01/08/2011 02:14

Fairhaired- wise decision! You can NEVER entirely delete the history on a computer. That's what forensic IT people do- recover histories and hard drives from the computers of dodgy people who think they've "wiped their computer".

duchesse · 01/08/2011 02:16

FWIW LES I would be extremely worried that an employee in a TOY SHOP apparently thinks it funny to access porn about "young teenagers". We are talking about 12-14 year old children. Not even slightly an overreaction imo.

HowNowKernow · 01/08/2011 12:40

TheLadyEvenstar Have you seen this www.halifaxcourier.co.uk/news/local/girl_8_finds_porn_on_laptop_at_toys_r_us_in_wakefield_1_1933931 ? Not sure if anyone else had linked to it, it was a while ago though.

TheMonster · 01/08/2011 13:05

I'm in Wakefield - I shall have a look at that article in a mo.

Aside form the porn, I'd be worried about what could have splashed onto the tablet...

wannaBe · 01/08/2011 13:18

firstly, I think who the op is is totally irrelevant, people should be able to see past a username, if they can't then the issue is theirs not the op's.

Secondly, I am a bit Shock that people seem to think the op should have either just accepted a refund or worse just deleted the history and moved on. Even if you take the content out of the equasion here, the issue is that this particular store is clearly selling used products as new, and that many people wouldn't think to check the history before handing it over to their dc. When you buy a boxed product in store it is not unreasonable to expect it to be unused, if I wanted a second-hand pc tablet I would buy one on ebay.

Mobile phone numbers are different as these are recycled. My dh's current mobile phone number used to be harry Rednap's. Shock he's had calls/texts from journalists/agents/alex ferguson! Shock

rockinhippy · 01/08/2011 13:21

InterestingShock - thanks -

DD just bought something very similar yesterday & noticed on getting it home that the seal on the box was brokenHmm - I did check it for fingerprints/signs of use etc before letting DD have a look at it,

its currently charging - but when I can work out howBlush I will certainly check the history

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