Updated 3:11 p.m. Tuesday, August 21

Rebecca Bitsko, the Walmart customer who ended up with a stack of paper instead of an iPad, has now received her device, she told Patch.

"I got an iPad this evening, finally," Bitsko said. "The manager who finally helped me at the store was very nice but it took media to get her attention."

It wasn't easy. Bitsko went into the Tucker location at Cofer Crossing on Saturday, Aug. 11 and picked up a sealed box clearly labeled 'iPad' but when she got home she discovered it contained nothing but a stack of legal pads.

When she returned to the store to complain, Bitsko said she was given the run-around and was treated with contempt by employees.

"The management at the Tucker Walmart has been so extremely rude to me it is unbelievable," Bitsko said when she contacted Patch. The subsequent article was seen by Walmart Media Relations personnel at the company's headquarters in Bentonville, AR.

“Unfortunately, this is a case involving fraudulent returns resulting in an innocent customer falling victim to a scam artist’s greed," said Walmart spokesperson Dianna Gee. "We will work with law enforcement to share what information we have on the initial purchase in hopes that whoever is behind this is held responsible for their selfish acts."

Walmart appears to have quite a problem on its hands. An almost identical incident happened at a store in Michigan recently, with a similar response from employees there. 

Gee said the company is taking steps to prevent a recurrence. “We never want our customers to have a bad experience and we want to focus on doing what is right for the customer. We are reaching out to Ms. Bitsko to offer her a new iPad and an apology for the mix-up. We are also reviewing the way we process returns in hopes of preventing this situation from happening again."

However, that apology from Walmart has yet to appear, Bitsko told Patch this afternoon. "No one from Walmart ever contacted me," she said.

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