The sickness continues

3 posts in one day. Boy, I bet you are all feeling lucky.. or maybe you haven't checked in a few days and are feeling overwhelmed.

So the video game saga continues. I am officially down 1 PS2 but instead of hunting for one on the cheap I decided to exchange Guitar Hero 2 for an undamaged disk. What a trip that was. Tom was itching to go to Fry's Electronics because he was in a bad mood. I was in a similar mood and decided to join him. Luckily he had the Best Buy receipt for GH2. He picked me up and we stopped by Best Buy on the way to Fry's.
I stand in the returns line for about 15 minutes while Tom goes and plays with the latest smart phones. I finally get to the service rep, the look at the disk, look at the receipt, then tell me to go get a new copy of the game and bring it back up to them. They also tell me I don't have to wait in line.
I walk to the back of the store, find the game, and head back to the counter. When I get there they have gone from 4 Customer Service reps to 2. I walk to the front of the line and wait patiently. After 5 minutes the guy I am waiting on takes my receipt and hands it to the lackey too his right. I assume this was to speed up my transaction as he is now dealing with a difficult return. So I go stand by the obviously younger and less knowledgeable worker and continue waiting patiently. After 10 more minutes and a few conversations with some other guys in line about cars and manly stuff the young kid finally finds what was wrong with the lady's order in front of me. Apparently she had ordered something, taken too long to pick it up, and they had canceled the order. It took him15 minutes to figure that out. I was still better off though since the smart guy was still trying to figure out how a cordless mouse was on some guy's receipt but wouldn't scan into the system (as in they don't actually carry that mouse).
The guy helping me takes the 5 seconds required to print the exchange receipt and I am done. Total wait time 30 min, total "help" time, about 1.5 minutes.
Amazing.

As I turn around I see a man in the now very long returns line holding a Wii. I immediately approach him and ask if the machine is broken. He says no, he just doesn't want it. I talk with him a little more as I try to grasp the cusp of the situation. It still doesn't quite compute to me and I sort of wander away pondering the mere possibility of the situation he claimed. I find Tom, confer with him and we decide this is an opportunity that can not be passed up. I approach the man again and ask him if he would rather just sell me the machine instead of waiting in line to return it. He politely declines, mumbling something about a credit card. He says I could probably just wait and buy the system as soon as he returns it. I consider this good advice and take my post at the end of the costumer service counter. About 5 more minutes of waiting go buy when the General Manager comes over, I assume because he has noticed how long and aggravated the line has become due to the counter being staffed at half strength.
After inquiring to the where abouts of all his workers he decides to pitch in and help. Instead of helping the next person in line he singles me.. the guy standing randomly at the edge and ask if I need help. I ask him how long the turn around is for a returned item to hit the floor. He looks at me like I just asked how many cucumbers he could shove up his ass in 45 seconds and asks for clarification and specifically what kind of item. I point out the man with the Wii and tell him the man will not sell it to me, but wants to make the full return instead. The manager states he is obligated to make an announcement, then grabs the mic attached to his shirt and makes a call on the radio to all his employees that goes something like this.
"attention, we have a customer returning a Nintendo Wii, however we already have another customer lined up to buy it. Repeat, We have a Wii to sell and somone inline to buy it." He then promised me the Wii and went about bossing people around. Tom and I waited another 10 minutes or so for the guy with the nintendo to get helped. As soon as the transaction was done the CS rep brought the machine to me at the end of the counter and rang it up.
I was in a pretty foul mood today when it came to video games and video game systems. All that has changed. I am a very very very happy boy.
My wife, Tom, and I have spent the last 2 hours taking turns on Wii sports. All the rumors are true. The system is just plain fun. I just wish I could find another controller. Tom and I tried 3 stores and no one has any extra controllers.

I hope you all come over to play soon, it really is a whole new social experience.