Popular Nintendo Consoles Were Switched With Bricks At Retail Distribution Centers

Thousands of consumers are discovering that the Nintendo Switch consoles they purchased on Black Friday were switched out with a 4 and 1/2 pound red clay brick.

While similar stories have been reported over the years they have typically been one offs where a consumer, sometimes complicit with a store employee purchases a legitimate game console. They swap the system out with a brick, and return it to the store for a refund. The employee never checks the contents of the box and simply places it back on the shelf only to be sold to another consumer. That consumer returns the dubious console back to the retailer only to find out that the retailer will not help them, and in some instances accuse the consumer of attempted fraud.

While some parents are taking the precautionary measure to check their system before giving it to their children on Christmas morning, more astute gamers are having employees verify the box contents at the point of sale.

It’s uncertain who is behind the organized theft, but its widely believed to have been perpetrated at a distribution center as many consumers are reporting the alleged rip-off occurring from purchases at Wal-mart, Target, Best Buy, GameStop and Amazon.