Why is the post getting downvoted? Its actually a unique topic with some activity. Nice break from the "I painted this" and "Mine is making a weird noise|smell|color" posts.

My guess is this unit isn’t actually from a recent drop and a employee took it home for a quick joyride and brought it back.

If this happened to me, I would call Sony/PlayStation customer service and see if there’s a way to confirm whether or not this unit has been activated/connected to PSN before your date of purchase.. or something along those lines. If they’re able to confirm that it has, have them send you a confirmation by email so you have proof and I would then go back to the store and request to go straight to a manager or something to avoid any pushback on the matter. Without proof from Sony directly it could turn I to a ‘he said, she said’ situation.

Anyway..kinda sucks but at least you have one! I would still give it a shot though because you paid full MSRP for what is essentially a opened box.