Sony exchanges camcorder for pasta sauce

updated 6:55 p.m. ET Nov. 28, 2006

ST. LOUIS - A couple who found a jar of pasta sauce inside a box where a camcorder should have been said Tuesday that Sony Entertainment Inc. is giving them a new camcorder.

Melisa Rittenberg, 36, of Perryville, said she was contacted by Sony on Monday, after talking to The Associated Press about the incident, which happened after the Rittenbergs bought the camcorder at a suburban St. Louis Best Buy.

Rittenberg said she was told a replacement camera was in the mail. Phone messages left with Sony were not returned.

“I’m satisfied because we’re finally going to get the camera we paid for,” Rittenberg said, though she remained angry that Best Buy Co. didn’t resolve the matter.

The Ellisville Best Buy store manager, Wade Trapp, said the company had been in touch with the Rittenbergs, and would follow up on the matter.

The Rittenbergs paid about $1,600 for a camcorder at the Ellisville Best Buy, in suburban St. Louis, last week. They said when they opened the box, they found a jar of Classico pasta sauce, a telephone cord and an electric outlet cover. The items were all positioned in the box where the camera equipment should have been, Melisa Rittenberg said.

The couple said they went back to Best Buy, but the store declined to give them a replacement camera or a refund.

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