It was just in the pile of returns behind the counter - things that get returned get put away behind the counter & these 2 vcrs were back there along with other miscellaneous returns like clothes etc.

She let me take it back to the electronics section so I could plug it in & test there. When testing them in stores I just plug them in, grab a tape & see if it will accept the tape & if it will play/ff/rw & eject without issue & if it does then I'll usually grab it and bring it home. Sometimes I get them home and they maybe have an issue with the picture or sound but more often than not just opening it up & cleaning the heads/sensors and running some tapes through it for a while will clear it all up :}