As mentioned previously, my Xbox 360 went tits up last week. Again. Thankfully MSFT is going to fix it under warranty. However, it's approaching a year since I purchased the system so it's about to go out of warranty. So the next time the box decides to shit itself, I'm out $140 for a fix. Rather than roll the dice and potentially get stuck with an expensive fix the next time my 360 (ineviteably) decides to shuffle off of this mortal coil, I decided that the best thing to do would be to purchase a new system and then around and flip the newly refurbished box on eBay. Neither option is really optimal, but thems the breaks. I guess. It's kind of bullshit that MSFT ships out machines held together with bailing wire and duct tape in the first place, but I've long made peace with that. Anyway.... So if I'm going to buy this new box I'm going to damn well sure I get the best deal out there. So after spending some quality time with Cheap Ass Gamer it appears that there are two options for replacing my beloved 360:
- Purchase a Core system from Amazon for $300 and then flip it on eBay for ~$220 or so
- Purchase a Premium system from Walmart for $400 (+tax) then flip it on eBay for ~$300 or so. Plus the Walmart deal came with a $50 WM gift card. Nothing I'm really interested in but something I can flip on eBay to further defray my costs.
So the Amazon deal is logistically and logically the best deal. That's not working for me because I want the box RIGHT NOW. This means a trip to The House That Sam Built. The catch is that the only WM in the vicinity is the one in Skokie. I have been to that store in the past and every single time I go there it's all I can do to not kill someone ( <- No joke). It's for a worth cause so I go ahead and jump in the car like I'm on a mission from god. Upon entering the store I noticed that they had redesigned it from the last time I was there. "Oh, that's nice" I thought to myself, "Maybe this experience won't make me want to throttle someone.” Little did I know what mental trauma subsequent events would bring.
Armed with a copy of the weekly flyer, I marched towards the electronics section (why is it always in the back?). I quickly found the game case and noted that the 360 systems included a free game. Bonus! Just as quickly I found a sales associate to unlock the case and ring my up. No line, no waiting. Double Bonus! At this point I was so satisfied with my experience that he even upsold me on the two year warranty deal. It was at this point that things started to go south. As he asked for my payment of $463.37, I asked him how I would go about getting my $50 gift card. I was rewarded with a blank stare. I could actually see him breathing out of his mouth. He didn’t get it even after I showed him the flyer. After conferring with his sales associates (four of them clustered around the register), I was told that that offer was only good for systems without the free game. Fine, whatever, I just want to get out of the store at this point. Apparently he didn’t have void privileges on the register so he called for a CSR (or something) over the in-store intercom.
Waiting.
Waiting.
Glaciers inch closer. The sun moves one more step toward supernova.
Clearly the intercom thingie wasn’t brining this CSR and whatever magical powers they held to the Siberia of the electronics department. Bored, I moseyed over to the game case and found the systems without the free game. I told Mouth Breather that I found the systems. He said he had to wait for the CSR.
Waiting.
More Waiting.
Tectonic plates shift.
Finally one of the other sales associates volunteers to go grab the game-free system from the case. Not trusting these people one bit I tag along. Naturally the SA pulls out one with a fairly smashed box. Digging in the throughout the rest of the systems revealed that the one she pulled out was actually the least smashed of the bunch. Mildly but not fatally discouraged (yet), we managed to make it back to the register where she began to ring me up. I mentioned the $50 gift card again and she looked at me with the same stare as Mouth Breather. It was a this point that I realized that even if I did go through with the purchase, if I ever had to use the WM warranty that I would have to deal with people like this. So like any sane individual I threw my hands up in the air, said “Fuck this. You people make Chris Burke look like fucking Einstein.“ and left the store. (Ok, I left out the Life Goes On reference.). Apologies for the rambling boring tale, but it needed to be told. The moral of the story is avoid WM at all costs, but the smart ones among you already know that.
Sooooo... How 'bout some links?
Stupid Internet Shit
Miscellanea
Fortune
Wal-Mart sucks
- Pedro