Here's a not-so-nice Tale:
Sometime during this year my parents caught wind of my want for an X-Box, since that's what I told them my main motivation for getting a job was. In mid October they reserved an X-Box bundle from Toys'R'Us. On launch day November 15th they picked it up.
Now I was sure they had got one for me but I had no idea they got a launch X-Box. Fastforward to December 25th, X-Mas day.
Within 5 minutes of unwrapping the heavy unit I set it up on the upstairs big screen. Everything was smooth. I turned it on, entered what language, the time and date, the options screen alone was cool. Then we decided to put in a game...that's when the perverbial shit hit the fan.
The disc tray would not open more than a 10 of an inch. I called the tech support line and they told me to JAM A PAPER CLIP INTO THE MANUAL EJECT! So there I am jamming away for a good fifteen minutes on the phone with this dude until he says he has to go and tells me to keep trying. After a half-hour of JAMMING I finally get the bloody thing to open! VICTORY! Or so I thought...
For some reason or other I had to leave the house for a few minutes but told my cousin to try a game. When I returned there was the Options display still on the screen and my cousin's head, shaking back and forth. Apparently the X-Box wasn't reading the CD's. It wouldn't read games or music and we even tried a DVD even though I didn't have the kit. Nothing.
We call Tech Support again and here was their expert advice:
1. Are you sure it won't work?
2. Are you sure it's plugged in?
3. Try turning the power off and on?
4. Oh well just exchange it.
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F**king brilliant!
Well I was pretty dissapointed but didn't show it on the outside. While I do want to play Munch's Oddysee and the other great X-Box titles I am just VERY THANKFULL my parents thought me worthy enough to buy this not-so-cheap item for me on this day of traditional commercialism. I have plenty of game systems including a PS2 and I know I'm spoiled. But out of everyone my mom was the most upset and was ready to f**k some sh** up!
Anyhoo I knew what I had to do...I packed up the Ex-X-Box back into it's black/green coffin and prepared myself to go to rise early the next morning, the most hellish day of the year...THE DAY AFTER X-MAS!!!
After waking up at an hour, which I thought was outlawed, this morning, the 26th, I threw on some dirty laundry and drove my dad to Toys'R'Us. We arrived early enough to be third in line. By the time the doors opened the line was winding around the large building.
Once we got in and to the makeshift return counter they told us there were no more in stock and all they could do was refund our money. We asked if we could just recieve another X-Box when the next shipment arrived and the 'kind' ladies told us that THE guy who was in charge of the game department was convienantly "sick"!! That's when they asked for the credit card...
My dad uses cash when at all possible and doesn't carry all the same cards as my mom who was the one who purchased the X-Box! Damn. I then drove back home, quickly told my mom the story, got the card, and hurried back. Well we weren't about to wait in that monster of a line again so we just pushed our way through the surly crowd and luckily the 'kind' ladies remembered us. They re-charged the card.
That's when I thought, "My mom planned WAY in advance for this and now we get screwed?" This wasn't right, so I asked them to take our name down so we could get first dibs on the next shipment. They told us they couldn't do that but the would give our name and number to THE elusive "guy" who is in control of all of the Power Road Toys'R'Us video game destinies.
So now after spending a nice day with my girlfriend and holding in my grubby hands a FFX strategy guide I'm a little bit calmer, a little bit wiser. Not to say I didn't check every store in a 50 mile radius to see if they had any of these green devils in stock, but whatever...
The End.
Moral of the story kids, be early for things and get SCREWED!!!!