Wal-mart MP3 Player Comes with Free Porn

by Mary Ann Romans | More from this Blogger

Imagine giving your 10-year-old daughter a MP3 video player for Christmas only to find out that it was preloaded with video porn and explicit songs? That is just what happened to one family, according to the Associated Press (AP), who are reporting the story from Cookeville, Tennessee.

According to the news report, Daryl Hill purchased an MP3 Player at a Walmart in Sparta, TN, as a gift for his young daughter. In fact, he purchased three of the players for his children. One of the devices was chock full of pornography that had his daughter in tears. "I wish I could take the thoughts and images out of her head," Hill told the AP news reporter.

How did all of the nastiness get on to the player? The theory is that it was previously purchased by another customer, loaded with the pornographic images and songs, and then returned to the store. The Wal-mart store then sold the MP3 player as new.

Selling used merchandise as new goes against Wal-mart Stores, Inc.'s policy. Stores are not supposed to return opened packages to the sales floor. But for some reason, they did. A company spokesperson told a local Nashville television station that the matter was under investigation.

Wal-Mart did offer to replace the tainted MP3 player with a new one, but Hill declined the offer. Instead, he purchased a new player for his daughter elsewhere. He plans on holding on to the pornography-loaded device as evidence until he speaks with a lawyer.

What would you do in this situation? Would you sue the store for traumatizing your child? Would you chalk the whole thing up to an innocent mistake? Dies this story make you more cautious about buying electronics or shopping at Wal-Mart?

The other day, we were visiting an electronics store as a family and looking at HGTVs. To demonstrate the picture and sound quality, the sales associate put a DVD in the player. It happened to be the latest Harry Potter movie, and the opening scene scared the daylights out of my small children. Do you think that was appropriate for the sales associate to do?

I'd love to hear your opinions!

Mary Ann Romans writes about everything related to saving money in the Frugal Blog, technology in the Computing Blog, and creating a home in the Home Blog. You can read more of her articles by clicking here.

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Learn more about Mary Ann Romans

Mary Ann Romans is a freelance writer, online content manager, wife and mother of three children. She lives in Pennsylvania in the middle of the woods but close enough to Target and Home Depot.

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