Buying on Ebay...hmmm

Years ago, I bought a used computer on ebay and it arrived as a broken mess (literally, the power supply had been rolling around in the case). From that point forward, I vowed never to buy used electronics on Ebay again.

I guess it had been long enough that I forgot my vow. Recently, I purchased guitar hero on xbox 360, didn't like it, and decided to give it to a couple I know. They had played the game at a friend's home and loved it. However, they had no xbox 360 on which to play it at their own home. So, I went online and purchased it as a "buy it now" selection on Ebay. A little pricey for an xmas gift (even used, the thing was over $200), but I felt "in the giving mood".

Old lessons should be remembered for a reason, I suppose. This console, which had been advertised as mint, arrived non-functional right out of the box. It even had a label slapped on the side that said (get this) stopped working.

Irate is not the word to describe how I felt. I called the vendor and asked why my mint xbox 360 did not work and why some idiot would ship a machine that was clearly stamped "stopped working". The person on the phone apologized and said that they would be happy to make things right. And that day they emailed me a return shipping label (with a bar code for the cost) to mail this thing back.

But here's the rub. I have to box this up, go to the post office which is a bitch at xmas time, mail it back, and wait for them to receive it and get their act straight before they mail out what I already paid for.

Old lessons should not be forgotten.