I bought a Wii in June of 2007. It sat, unused, until Thanksgiving Weekend 2007. My kids were too small, my wife and I disinterested in it and too busy to care. We had Thanksgiving at our home and our guests thought it would be fun to get it out and play. So we did.
For a few hours on Wednesday night before Thanksgiving, we played.
And then it sat. For probably close to another year. Then, my kids, tired of the cold and snow and bored inside the house and my wife going crazy, talked us into letting them play it.
So they have, on occasion.
The bottom line here is that the thing, in spite of 2.5 years of ownership, has been used less than most Wiis in exsistence get used in a week.
So, right before Christmas, we decide we are going to get the 7 and 4 year old some new Wii games as Wii sports was gettign boring for them.
Problem. The Wii doesn't work. "Unable to read disk." I forget that I even bought the stinking thing at Costco and find a place in SLC to get it repaired. We get it back on Christmas Eve.
It works for about one day, only reading the single layer disc but not the new dual layer Smash Brothers disk.
So I take it back to the repair place. They say I need a new drive. Now I'm into this thing $100 for the repair.
We get the thing home and it works for about 20 minutes and then the "Unable to read disc" thing comes up again. So I take it back down to the repair shop. Now they say that we need to get a replacement Wii because they think we have a bad motherboard or some such thing.
Shit. Are you serious? I mean, the thing is practically brand new and now I've dropped $100 bucks to fix it and it's not fixed.
So, on the way home, we stop at Costco to buy some Costco sized stuff. My wife suggests maybe we just get a new Wii and be done with it. At which point, I remember that I had bought the original Wii at Costco. Which leads me to remember that Costco had some type of concierge repair service.
So, I go to the counter and kind of tell them what's gone on and the time line and tell them I am just wondering if Costco's concierge thing applies to something I bought or if I can pay to have Costco repair it because I think these other repair guys are clowns. I never even broach the subject of returning it nor do I ask them "what can you do for me?" All I asked was, "Do I have any options through Costco to get this thing fixed?"
This is where it gets crazy. The Costco employee says, well, let's see when you bought it. At this point, I told here I thought it was August/Sept of 2007. She goes back and tells me it was June.
Then....wait for it...without further discussion she prints out a list of items that were included in the bundle and says, "Look, it looks like you've made every attempt to get this fixed. If you bring these items back in, we'll give you a Costco card for the full purchase price. We don't have that bundle anymore but the amount you paid should cover the new Wii and an additional set of controllers and a game."
I started back with, "I appreciate that. I really don't want to take advantage. Understand I'm more than willing to pay something and just get it repaired..." She interrupted and said, with a smile no less, "We're sorry that this is happening. You've done what you can. Just bring in the bundle and we'll get you a new Wii."
Sometimes you can be completely honest and not even try to take advantage and STILL be benefitted.
I share this for two reasons. One, I am more impressed by Costco now than ever before. Two, you guys that take stuff back and do it with a vengeance because it's "Costco policy" could really just probably be honest and get the same outcome.
Finally, the repair place won't give me back but $20 even though they have a written guarantee. They say the guarantee that they will fix it means that they will continue to try to fix it. Even though they told me they wanted to sell me a replacement. I had originally paid a $25 "rush" fee to get it back by Christmas and then I paid another $25 because they said it required a new drive, which didn't fix the problem.
I told them that I thought it would be fair that they returned $50 of the $100 as they did not repair it in the "rush" fee time period so I shouldn't be charged that $25 as it still isn't fixed and it's nearly a month later and I shouldn't be charged for a part that did not fix the thing.
I hate the Wii. Who's TV was it that got smashed? I have fears that my TV is goign to end up like that because of the Wii. Oh well, at least it's upstairs on the 47" and not downstairs on the big TV.
For a few hours on Wednesday night before Thanksgiving, we played.
And then it sat. For probably close to another year. Then, my kids, tired of the cold and snow and bored inside the house and my wife going crazy, talked us into letting them play it.
So they have, on occasion.
The bottom line here is that the thing, in spite of 2.5 years of ownership, has been used less than most Wiis in exsistence get used in a week.
So, right before Christmas, we decide we are going to get the 7 and 4 year old some new Wii games as Wii sports was gettign boring for them.
Problem. The Wii doesn't work. "Unable to read disk." I forget that I even bought the stinking thing at Costco and find a place in SLC to get it repaired. We get it back on Christmas Eve.
It works for about one day, only reading the single layer disc but not the new dual layer Smash Brothers disk.
So I take it back to the repair place. They say I need a new drive. Now I'm into this thing $100 for the repair.
We get the thing home and it works for about 20 minutes and then the "Unable to read disc" thing comes up again. So I take it back down to the repair shop. Now they say that we need to get a replacement Wii because they think we have a bad motherboard or some such thing.
Shit. Are you serious? I mean, the thing is practically brand new and now I've dropped $100 bucks to fix it and it's not fixed.
So, on the way home, we stop at Costco to buy some Costco sized stuff. My wife suggests maybe we just get a new Wii and be done with it. At which point, I remember that I had bought the original Wii at Costco. Which leads me to remember that Costco had some type of concierge repair service.
So, I go to the counter and kind of tell them what's gone on and the time line and tell them I am just wondering if Costco's concierge thing applies to something I bought or if I can pay to have Costco repair it because I think these other repair guys are clowns. I never even broach the subject of returning it nor do I ask them "what can you do for me?" All I asked was, "Do I have any options through Costco to get this thing fixed?"
This is where it gets crazy. The Costco employee says, well, let's see when you bought it. At this point, I told here I thought it was August/Sept of 2007. She goes back and tells me it was June.
Then....wait for it...without further discussion she prints out a list of items that were included in the bundle and says, "Look, it looks like you've made every attempt to get this fixed. If you bring these items back in, we'll give you a Costco card for the full purchase price. We don't have that bundle anymore but the amount you paid should cover the new Wii and an additional set of controllers and a game."
I started back with, "I appreciate that. I really don't want to take advantage. Understand I'm more than willing to pay something and just get it repaired..." She interrupted and said, with a smile no less, "We're sorry that this is happening. You've done what you can. Just bring in the bundle and we'll get you a new Wii."
Sometimes you can be completely honest and not even try to take advantage and STILL be benefitted.
I share this for two reasons. One, I am more impressed by Costco now than ever before. Two, you guys that take stuff back and do it with a vengeance because it's "Costco policy" could really just probably be honest and get the same outcome.
Finally, the repair place won't give me back but $20 even though they have a written guarantee. They say the guarantee that they will fix it means that they will continue to try to fix it. Even though they told me they wanted to sell me a replacement. I had originally paid a $25 "rush" fee to get it back by Christmas and then I paid another $25 because they said it required a new drive, which didn't fix the problem.
I told them that I thought it would be fair that they returned $50 of the $100 as they did not repair it in the "rush" fee time period so I shouldn't be charged that $25 as it still isn't fixed and it's nearly a month later and I shouldn't be charged for a part that did not fix the thing.
I hate the Wii. Who's TV was it that got smashed? I have fears that my TV is goign to end up like that because of the Wii. Oh well, at least it's upstairs on the 47" and not downstairs on the big TV.
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