DJ tx
01-01-2006, 11:24 AM
Well I have a wonderful holiday story to share with you all. It's long but worth the read.
My plan to find an XBox has typically been that since I dont want to camp out to get one, then the leaked articles and publicly known large shipments must be for all intense purposes ignored, and I focussed on going to Target/Best Buy/WalMart at opportune times to see if I could get lucky with the small number of units that are trickling in there. This way it is all about luck and timing and not fighting 50-100 other people in a line in the cold.
With that said, yesterday morning which was New Year's Eve morning, my plan was to hit Target at 8am when they opened, and Best Buy at 10. I went to the bigger target near me which is a greatland Target, nice sore, and no dice. Rejected yet again by one of the little punks who had previously tried to convince a customer that 60% of 360s were defective (yeah right!) anyway, I then left, and it was a little after 8 by this point, I didn't feel like stopping at the smaller regular Target, but I figured I was up and near it so I had to check.
When I went in the electronics guy was one row over putting some new merchandise on the shelves, and I asked if he had any 360s come in. He said he had no idea because "they haven't unocked my cage yet." I was confused but followed him back over to the counter area and he had this large metal cage on rollers with a padlock on it. He looked through the little metal bars and pointed at a couple of the boxes and said, it was possible they might have some because a few of the boxes had a green label that read "Time Sensitive Shipment, Rush to Floor Immediately!" SO he told me he would call the manager on his radio and have her some unlock. About 5 minutes later he appeared again and said that she told him she looked through the shipping list or invoice or whatever they call it and that no 360s were on it, but that she would still be over to unlock "the cage" in a few minutes. I had gotten my hopes up because of those damn suspicious green labels so i was very disappointed. But I told him, that I am here I may as well just wait. SO 5 more minutes and manager shows up and unlocks. One of the green-label boxes is definitely too small, but the other is still possible. He opens it right in front of me to reveal the top panel of a white 360 box...Bingo! Premium System Baby! The guy told me he had never opened one of these shipping boxes and apparently had not seen any 360s bcause he told me he wasnt sure if it was the premium. I told him, white box=premium and damn if I didn't just find my 360. He jokingly asked if I wanted to buy it, and pu it on the counter for me and started ringing it up. Damn that was a sweet trip to Target. What a great morning. By the way, they only got 2 systems yesterday morning, both packed in that same brown shipping box. So me, and some other lucky unsuspecting person picked up premiums yesterday. Also, he told me he had 4 calls that morning before I showed up at the store at 8:15 and 3 of them were asking for 360 info. He told them to check back at 9 since he did not have the cage open. Damn I got so lucky! It totally ruled! when I bought my 360 he asked me not to take it out of the bag on my way out of the store or say anything about it as he didn't want a mob of people a the store. Been playing PDZero, PGR3, Kameo, and the original XBox title Simpsons: Hit and Run, and they all blow me away, as does the 360. I am SO GLAD i got this. No overheating, no problems at all. The DVD drive is somewhat loud when a 360 game is inside as everyone reports, but not too bad, reminds my of my old roommate's original XBox. Anytime it was on the fan was on, seems a close second. And its not a problem at all. Damn I'm excited, it was a great vindication. Anyway, I hope my story helps someone out there either score there own 360, or at least motivates them to keep trying. You never know when it will be your turn. Persistence and giving up your days off to getting up early instead of sleeping in is hard, but ultimately worth it. Also, this is just my opinion, but calling stares to check availability doesn't work, because if you think about it...if they get in lets say 4 systems, and people call constantly, if you tell them all you have them, then it will be a mob mentality every day at work, so they figure we can't hold one for anyone, and its first come first served, so it makes sense to not tell people on the phone, and just allow people to make the trip to the store to get them. Anyway, I hope this story gave at least a few of you inspiration to keep trying. I know it at least has to put a smile on some faces. And, to anyone out there who desparately wants a 360, dont take this post as me rubbing anything in your face, not my intent at all. Just want to post a positive story. I wish you all luck. I have some questions about XBox Live and GarerTags but I'll save that for another post.
Take care all, and
Happy New Year~
In the immortal words of Homer Simpson...
WooHoo!
My plan to find an XBox has typically been that since I dont want to camp out to get one, then the leaked articles and publicly known large shipments must be for all intense purposes ignored, and I focussed on going to Target/Best Buy/WalMart at opportune times to see if I could get lucky with the small number of units that are trickling in there. This way it is all about luck and timing and not fighting 50-100 other people in a line in the cold.
With that said, yesterday morning which was New Year's Eve morning, my plan was to hit Target at 8am when they opened, and Best Buy at 10. I went to the bigger target near me which is a greatland Target, nice sore, and no dice. Rejected yet again by one of the little punks who had previously tried to convince a customer that 60% of 360s were defective (yeah right!) anyway, I then left, and it was a little after 8 by this point, I didn't feel like stopping at the smaller regular Target, but I figured I was up and near it so I had to check.
When I went in the electronics guy was one row over putting some new merchandise on the shelves, and I asked if he had any 360s come in. He said he had no idea because "they haven't unocked my cage yet." I was confused but followed him back over to the counter area and he had this large metal cage on rollers with a padlock on it. He looked through the little metal bars and pointed at a couple of the boxes and said, it was possible they might have some because a few of the boxes had a green label that read "Time Sensitive Shipment, Rush to Floor Immediately!" SO he told me he would call the manager on his radio and have her some unlock. About 5 minutes later he appeared again and said that she told him she looked through the shipping list or invoice or whatever they call it and that no 360s were on it, but that she would still be over to unlock "the cage" in a few minutes. I had gotten my hopes up because of those damn suspicious green labels so i was very disappointed. But I told him, that I am here I may as well just wait. SO 5 more minutes and manager shows up and unlocks. One of the green-label boxes is definitely too small, but the other is still possible. He opens it right in front of me to reveal the top panel of a white 360 box...Bingo! Premium System Baby! The guy told me he had never opened one of these shipping boxes and apparently had not seen any 360s bcause he told me he wasnt sure if it was the premium. I told him, white box=premium and damn if I didn't just find my 360. He jokingly asked if I wanted to buy it, and pu it on the counter for me and started ringing it up. Damn that was a sweet trip to Target. What a great morning. By the way, they only got 2 systems yesterday morning, both packed in that same brown shipping box. So me, and some other lucky unsuspecting person picked up premiums yesterday. Also, he told me he had 4 calls that morning before I showed up at the store at 8:15 and 3 of them were asking for 360 info. He told them to check back at 9 since he did not have the cage open. Damn I got so lucky! It totally ruled! when I bought my 360 he asked me not to take it out of the bag on my way out of the store or say anything about it as he didn't want a mob of people a the store. Been playing PDZero, PGR3, Kameo, and the original XBox title Simpsons: Hit and Run, and they all blow me away, as does the 360. I am SO GLAD i got this. No overheating, no problems at all. The DVD drive is somewhat loud when a 360 game is inside as everyone reports, but not too bad, reminds my of my old roommate's original XBox. Anytime it was on the fan was on, seems a close second. And its not a problem at all. Damn I'm excited, it was a great vindication. Anyway, I hope my story helps someone out there either score there own 360, or at least motivates them to keep trying. You never know when it will be your turn. Persistence and giving up your days off to getting up early instead of sleeping in is hard, but ultimately worth it. Also, this is just my opinion, but calling stares to check availability doesn't work, because if you think about it...if they get in lets say 4 systems, and people call constantly, if you tell them all you have them, then it will be a mob mentality every day at work, so they figure we can't hold one for anyone, and its first come first served, so it makes sense to not tell people on the phone, and just allow people to make the trip to the store to get them. Anyway, I hope this story gave at least a few of you inspiration to keep trying. I know it at least has to put a smile on some faces. And, to anyone out there who desparately wants a 360, dont take this post as me rubbing anything in your face, not my intent at all. Just want to post a positive story. I wish you all luck. I have some questions about XBox Live and GarerTags but I'll save that for another post.
Take care all, and
Happy New Year~
In the immortal words of Homer Simpson...
WooHoo!