Dang you Microsoft!

[Flashback2012]

I'll admit this is nitpicking at it's finest, so let's get that out of the way before the obligatory thread crapping ensues.

A while back (like sometime late last year) my buddy and I were in Best Buy and we happened to spy a Xbox Wireless Gaming Receiver on the rack. For those that don't know, it's a little dongle that plugs into the USB drive of your PC and lets you use your Xbox 360 controller with compatible PC games. They used to go for $20 but Best Buy had it marked down to $10. I spotted it but he really wanted it so I let him buy it (it of course was the last one in the store). I figured since I get around more, I'll just find it at another Best Buy and pick it up.

Flash forward to a couple of weeks ago. No other Best Buys had any stock on the receiver and I'm mildly kicking myself. All of the places online such as Amazon and some others, if they had them at all, listed them for $35-40 or so JUST for the receiver and I wasn't about to pay that. A few stores around me had the units bundled with a wireless 360 controller but they wanted $60 for the bundle.

Here's a pic for reference...


I stayed on the lookout for the unit by itself and did a search on eBay and noticed someone selling a ton of them. They had them in both white and black. I really wanted a black one to match my black PC case and for when I did get a 360, which was going to be the black Elite (this is the nitpicking part btw). I couldn't tell from the pics if they were official pieces of hardware or not so I held off from bidding on one. I ended up in a Best Buy and was looking around and happened to notice the unit pictured above on sale for $45. While I still wondered if MS made an official receiver in black, I figured that this was the best I was going to get and justified it in my mind that if I had bought the two items separately new, it would be about the same price so I went ahead and bit the bullet.

Flash forward to today...I happened to be in Micro Center today looking for an external HDD casing. I meandered into their gaming department to see what I could find.

I missed a part of the story. Not long after I bought that combo pack, I happened to stop into Micro Center and saw they got in a TON of refurbished gaming receivers for $25. I was going to return the combo pack I bought but I couldn't find the receipt to save my life.

Anyway, as I was saying, I was in the store again today and was looking at their PC peripherals. I saw the a bunch of the combo packs on peghooks and right next to it...was a bunch of peghooks with the combo packs...in BLACK.

I'd link a pic but I can't find any info / pics of them on the interwebs. I never did break the unit I bought from Best Buy out of it's packaging and I half debated buying the black one, peeling the sticker off, and returning the white one. Problem is, they of course have different SKUs and I didn't think it would be worth the hassle. So because of that, I say Dang You Microsoft! Dang You to HECK!!

[kupomogli]

Why not just bring it back, so you just recently bought it and decided you wanted a black one. You can't find the receipt. See what they say. Show the person when you walk in the door the item so he can put a return sticker on it.

[Baloo]

They won't do exchanges without the receipt?

[gepeto]

can you order one of the receivers online from micro center?

[carlcarlson]

The Best Buy here takes returns without receipts. You'll get a gift card instead of money, but that's not so bad. That might be YMMV but I doubt it.

[Flashback2012]

can you order one of the receivers online from micro center?

Yeah but the refurbished ones they sell are the same as the one I have in the combo pack.

http://www.microcenter.com/single_pr...uct_id=0332206

Here's a pic of what their "refurbished" version looks like...



These units are sealed in the packaging and are probably NOS units they acquired from someone other than MS, hence their "refurbished" status. They only had them in white though. If I did spy a black one, I probably would have picked it up.

[Flashback2012]

Why not just bring it back, so you just recently bought it and decided you wanted a black one. You can't find the receipt. See what they say. Show the person when you walk in the door the item so he can put a return sticker on it.

You have to surrender information such as your name and what not for returns. They are able to track what you've purchased from the store. I had to do a return there on a pair of 120mm case fans a while back and only had the receipt for one of them. The guy looked up all of my transactions and found the transaction where I bought the other one. Knowing that they can do that, it'll be a little hard to pull the no receipt move on them.

[Iron Draggon]

Dude, just ask them to print you up a duplicate receipt and then exchange it!

[Flashback2012]

Dude, just ask them to print you up a duplicate receipt and then exchange it!

The combo pack I bought was from Best Buy. The combo pack in black was at Micro Center. However, I dropped by Best Buy yesterday and noticed that they too have the black combo packs in stock. I'm not going to try and do any kind of returns, I think I've got a workaround figured out.

[erehwon]

I've been wanting one of these, but haven't wanted to pick up that combo. I have been looking at the knockoff ones that are on dealextreme. Have any of you tried those?

[Leo_A]

You have to surrender information such as your name and what not for returns. They are able to track what you've purchased from the store. I had to do a return there on a pair of 120mm case fans a while back and only had the receipt for one of them. The guy looked up all of my transactions and found the transaction where I bought the other one. Knowing that they can do that, it'll be a little hard to pull the no receipt move on them.

How do they know what you've purchased? You have to provide your personal information just to purchase something?

Unless you've opened it, I fail to see why you can't return it without a reciept.

[exit]

Why would it matter if you returned something without a receipt before? Most of the time you can returned things without a receipt X amount of items within X amount of time. For instance at Wal-Mart you can return up to 3 items within 6 months (1 Year if they want to be dicks about), then it's out of the system. So unless you've returned items without a receipt an obscene amount of times, you shouldn't have a problem.

[Overbite]

dang it!

i have one of those. sucks if you have a computer in the same room as the xbox because when i press the guide button to turn on the controller to use on the computer it turns my xbox on.

[Flashback2012]

I've been wanting one of these, but haven't wanted to pick up that combo. I have been looking at the knockoff ones that are on dealextreme. Have any of you tried those?

I have not and I'm only interested in an official unit (even if the knockoff works just the same )

How do they know what you've purchased? You have to provide your personal information just to purchase something?
Unless you've opened it, I fail to see why you can't return it without a reciept.

I might have confused you guys a little. I got the white combo pack from Best Buy for $45. It was at Micro Center that I saw the black combo pack, and they want $60 for it. I mildly considered buying the black one from Micro Center, peeling the price sticker off of it and slapping it on the the white one I got from Best Buy and then return said white one to Micro Center and not have to spend anything extra out of pocket. I decided against doing such a thing though because it would have been too much of a hassle to deal with Micro Center's return policy. I've been in Micro Center's system for forever and a day, I signed up to receive their monthly sales ad to be mailed to me. I usually pay by card there and when I swipe, my info from the mailing list automatically pulls up on the screen. That's how they can tell what I have and have not bought from them.

Why would it matter if you returned something without a receipt before? Most of the time you can returned things without a receipt X amount of items within X amount of time. For instance at Wal-Mart you can return up to 3 items within 6 months (1 Year if they want to be dicks about), then it's out of the system. So unless you've returned items without a receipt an obscene amount of times, you shouldn't have a problem.

At Micro Center, I returned an item without having the physical receipt with me as the CSR was able to look up the transaction I purchased it on and applied my refund against that transaction. I've never tried to return an item there that I bought elsewhere.

I'm sure I could probably return the combo back to Best Buy where I bought it from but I would get back what I paid for it but like I told Leo, I was hoping to get the black one without any additional cost out of pocket. As I mentioned previously, Best Buy now has the units as well so I can cut Micro Center completely out of the equation but if I do the unit back to Best Buy, I'd have to pay the difference for the different color. So now I'm left with the conundrum of....is getting the combo pack in the color I want worth paying full price for?

[Poofta!]

ive used the knockoffs. work the same. problem is they cost about the same as the real ones (about 20$).

[Leo_A]

I mildly considered buying the black one from Micro Center, peeling the price sticker off of it and slapping it on the the white one I got from Best Buy and then return said white one to Micro Center and not have to spend anything extra out of pocket.

Peel the price sticker off and say you recieved it as a birthday gift and decided to exchange it for a black model and that you were told it was purchased from whatever store your making the return at (Or better yet, keep your mouth shut and just let them assume it so you don't even have to lie). The chain isn't out of a thing and they just satisfied a customer by doing it that is going to be more likely to shop there first the next time they need something.

If that strikes you as dishonest, just straight out tell them the truth. Perhaps they'd be in an understanding mood and realize there's no harm to anyone with what you're wanting to do as long as they carry both for the same price.

If you're bothered by this, it's easily solved by exchanging it for the black model at a store that carries both for the same price, returning it with or without receipt to where you purchased it to get your money back, or by returning it anywhere that carries the product for at least as much as you paid for it.

You aren't going to have a problem unless it's been opened. If it has been opened, you'd probably only be able to return it where you purchased it by showing your receipt and saying it's defective and getting the same thing off the shelf in return.

I've been in Micro Center's system for forever and a day, I signed up to receive their monthly sales ad to be mailed to me. I usually pay by card there and when I swipe, my info from the mailing list automatically pulls up on the screen. That's how they can tell what I have and have not bought from them.

Tell them you paid for it with cash. It's hardly a problem since they're not going to have a record of it then.

I'm sure I could probably return the combo back to Best Buy where I bought it from but I would get back what I paid for it but like I told Leo, I was hoping to get the black one without any additional cost out of pocket. As I mentioned previously, Best Buy now has the units as well so I can cut Micro Center completely out of the equation but if I do the unit back to Best Buy, I'd have to pay the difference for the different color. So now I'm left with the conundrum of....is getting the combo pack in the color I want worth paying full price for?

Are you just assuming the black one cost more? Or did they actually have white ones on the shelf for a lower price? My experience with Wal-Mart and the GameStop chain in the US and Canada (No MicroCenter's locally so I've never been in one) has been that the black versions of 360 accessories are priced the same as the white ones.