Almost here!

When my wife went to leave the house this morning, she found a FedEx delivery attempt slip. Arrrggghhh! She never heard a knock or doorbell chime. They will make two more attempts before I can pick it up at the central staging area. The package requires a signature and my wife will be in and out of the house over the next couple of days. My neighbor will be home so we're going to put a note on the door that says any packages that need to be signed for will be accepted next door and hope that FedEx will go for that.

Posted by VenomRudman @ 9:41 pm EDT | Permalink | 0 Comments

It's on its way home

Just checked the xbox repair status page and it tells me that my xbox was shipped back to me today via Fed Ex. After checking the tracking page I see it is due on March 11th. WTF ever happened to overnight delivery?

Anyway, that is good news and it will be nice to have 2 xboxes in the house...

Posted by VenomRudman @ 11:16 pm EDT | Permalink | 0 Comments

Something came today....

So guess what came in the mail today?

Yep, a coffin. Still no email or any other acknowlegement from Microsoft but I'm glad I'm able to get this thing into the mail tomorrow.

The whole "Buy a new XBOX, use it for 30 days and return it" had bothered me a bit on a moral level but I kept justifying it to myself by saying Microsoft deserves it for 1) putting out a defective product and 2) not fixing the problem when it had my box last August. Luckily for me, my brother in law proposed a solution.

A little background: When my BiL gets something he usually goes for the top model. Last year, when he got a new flat screen he insisted on getting a 1080p model even though it was a 46" and he sits about 10 feet away. And after he got a PS3 he insisted he saw the difference between 1080i and 1080p and had lamented that his XBOX 360 only did 1080i. He had been thinking about getting a new XBOX and my RROD gave him an idea.

He suggested that he buy my new XBOX and he would give me his old one. So he gave me $150 and his used XBOX and he got a new XBOX that supports 1080p. Considering that I paid $300 for the new one and was going to pay a $40 restocking fee, this is a great deal because once I get the busted XBOX back, I can keep one downstairs for my use and the other one can be used by the kids. Win/Win for everyone!

Posted by VenomRudman @ 9:15 pm EDT | Permalink | 2 Comments

5 days and no email from Microsoft

I filled out the repair request form on Wednesday night. Microsoft STILL has not emailed me back acknowleging the problem. 5 freaking days......I guess I'll have to call India and get the ball rolling that way. I had really hoped to avoid that.

Posted by VenomRudman @ 11:31 pm EDT | Permalink | 0 Comments

The solution

With my COD4 obsession in full force and with games like Army of Two and Rainbow 6:Vegas 2 coming out in a few weeks I simply cannot be without an XBOX 360 for a month or more. But I also cannot afford to outright buy a new 360.

Costco has an incredible return policy. 90 days, no questions asked. That was the plan, buy a new one at Costco and return it when I get my repaired one back. There is a Costco about 5 miles from where I work so at lunchtime on Thursday I went there to get an XBOX 360. There was only one flaw in my brilliant plan: They were not selling any XBOX 360s. They had plenty of PS3s but no 360s. In a panic and my plan in tatters, I went to the Walmart next door. 14 day return policy. Damn! Not enough time. Spotted a Best Buy and went there, 30 day return policy, all right plan B in effect, grabbed an Arcade for $279, $303 after taxes! The only problem is that they have a 15% restocking fee, so I'll be paying a $40 rental fee for my months use.

Up Next:
A deal too good to turn down.

Posted by VenomRudman @ 8:50 pm EDT | Permalink | 4 Comments