Totally unethical question of the day: how hard is it to gut a Wii?

[darkxshade]

Originally posted by: KLin

Originally posted by: darkxshade

Originally posted by: swbsam
Long story short - bought a wii from Gamestop, refurb. I never buy the extended warrant but should have. 3 months later (today) and the unit doesn't work, there's weird interference, squiggly lines every where (malfunction, I didn't do anything to create the squigglies). . I call nintendo and they tell me that the unit in question is over 2 years old and the warranty is void.

I don't get it, what does it matter how old the unit is? The point is that you bought it 3 months ago and it's defective and should still be under warranty even for a refurb. That is unless of course you mean you bought a used Wii instead of refurb in which case as HardcoreRobot so eloquently put it, tough shit.

The Wii's mfg'ed date was over 2 years ago. Nintendo's warranty is for 1 year.

I'm under the impression that warranty usually starts on the date of purchase which is why it made no sense to me because if it's on the date of manufacture then that's a bit shady business imo. Now I don't buy from GS so I have no idea what's going on but I'm guessing they repackage used Wiis that they buy and label it refurb in which case it's pretty much just a used system. If Nintendo refurbed a 2 year old system, it technically should not be labeled a 2 year old system anymore as the warranty should start from the date of refurb.

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: darkxshade

Originally posted by: swbsam
Long story short - bought a wii from Gamestop, refurb. I never buy the extended warrant but should have. 3 months later (today) and the unit doesn't work, there's weird interference, squiggly lines every where (malfunction, I didn't do anything to create the squigglies). . I call nintendo and they tell me that the unit in question is over 2 years old and the warranty is void.

I don't get it, what does it matter how old the unit is? The point is that you bought it 3 months ago and it's defective and should still be under warranty even for a refurb. That is unless of course you mean you bought a used Wii instead of refurb in which case as HardcoreRobot so eloquently put it, tough shit.

Refurbs usually come with a shorter warranty than a new product. I've never heard of Gamestop selling refurb consoles though, so the OP probably bought a USED console. Of course he's going to be SOL with Nintendo, and I think Gamestop only guarantees used consoles for 30 days unless you buy an extended warranty.


(edit: actually I have heard of Gamestop selling refurb consoles, but that was the PS2 where the failure rate was very high and the fix was relatively simple. Even if it was a refurb, the warranty wouldn't be a reset of the original warranty)

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: swbsam

Originally posted by: darkxshade

Originally posted by: swbsam
Long story short - bought a wii from Gamestop, refurb. I never buy the extended warrant but should have. 3 months later (today) and the unit doesn't work, there's weird interference, squiggly lines every where (malfunction, I didn't do anything to create the squigglies). . I call nintendo and they tell me that the unit in question is over 2 years old and the warranty is void.

I don't get it, what does it matter how old the unit is? The point is that you bought it 3 months ago and it's defective and should still be under warranty even for a refurb. That is unless of course you mean you bought a used Wii instead of refurb in which case as HardcoreRobot so eloquently put it, tough shit.

It was a refurb from gamestop. Nintendo tech support says that the warranty period is based partially on manufacturing date, which makes absolutely no sense to me.

I believe it's pretty typical actually. If you don't have a receipt that says when you bought it (new), they go by manufacture date. If you think that Wii sat in a store unpurchased for a year before it was bought by whomever traded it in to Gamestop before you bough it, you're delusional.

 

[DisgruntledVirus]

Originally posted by: mugs

Originally posted by: swbsam

Originally posted by: darkxshade

Originally posted by: swbsam
Long story short - bought a wii from Gamestop, refurb. I never buy the extended warrant but should have. 3 months later (today) and the unit doesn't work, there's weird interference, squiggly lines every where (malfunction, I didn't do anything to create the squigglies). . I call nintendo and they tell me that the unit in question is over 2 years old and the warranty is void.

I don't get it, what does it matter how old the unit is? The point is that you bought it 3 months ago and it's defective and should still be under warranty even for a refurb. That is unless of course you mean you bought a used Wii instead of refurb in which case as HardcoreRobot so eloquently put it, tough shit.

It was a refurb from gamestop. Nintendo tech support says that the warranty period is based partially on manufacturing date, which makes absolutely no sense to me.

I believe it's pretty typical actually. If you don't have a receipt that says when you bought it (new), they go by manufacture date. If you think that Wii sat in a store unpurchased for a year before it was bought by whomever traded it in to Gamestop before you bough it, you're delusional.

Regardless of if that happened or not, he got it as a used/refurb from GS. That means that if Nintendo refurbed it, then it will have a new warranty on it (usually 90 days). If GS refurbed it, they will have a warranty on it (usually 30 days, sometimes up to 90 depending on the store and all. I don't know GS off hand though). Either way OP is most likely out of warranty which is why he wants to get a system still under one, gut it, and send that back.

 

[AmpedSilence]

did you buy the system on a credit card?

If so, most cards do double the original warranty, so in your case, it would double the GS warranty and you might be able to get it fixed that way. just a thought.

 

[ViviTheMage]

call gamestop.

no need to pull a fraud and get your ass sued/jailed over a couple hundred...

 

[swbsam]

Originally posted by: ViviTheMage
call gamestop.

no need to pull a fraud and get your ass sued/jailed over a couple hundred...

Oh, gamestop was the first person I called - they were pretty awful about the whole thing. "Refurbs have a firm 30 day return policy.. Yes, we sold you a 2 year old unit.. Deal..."

nintendo, in the end, was pretty fair.

 

[swbsam]

Originally posted by: TheVrolok

Originally posted by: darkxshade

Originally posted by: swbsam
Long story short - bought a wii from Gamestop, refurb. I never buy the extended warrant but should have. 3 months later (today) and the unit doesn't work, there's weird interference, squiggly lines every where (malfunction, I didn't do anything to create the squigglies). . I call nintendo and they tell me that the unit in question is over 2 years old and the warranty is void.

I don't get it, what does it matter how old the unit is? The point is that you bought it 3 months ago and it's defective and should still be under warranty even for a refurb. That is unless of course you mean you bought a used Wii instead of refurb in which case as HardcoreRobot so eloquently put it, tough shit.

Bingo. I thought factory refurbs usually carry a warranty similar to the original product - or at least a year. If Nintendo's refurb warranty policy is only 90 days .. ick.

Here's what's interesting - Gamestop calls these units refurbished but nintendo only has one manufacturing date - back in 2006. There's no note of it actually being "refurbished." Looks like gamestop (at least my local one) is selling used units as refurbished.

 

[ViviTheMage]

90$ is not so bad...I remember paying to get my PS2 fixed (my sister stepped on it, hahaha) and it was out of warranty, was also around 90$ to get fixed. (years ago)

Originally posted by: swbsam

Originally posted by: TheVrolok

Originally posted by: darkxshade

Originally posted by: swbsam
Long story short - bought a wii from Gamestop, refurb. I never buy the extended warrant but should have. 3 months later (today) and the unit doesn't work, there's weird interference, squiggly lines every where (malfunction, I didn't do anything to create the squigglies). . I call nintendo and they tell me that the unit in question is over 2 years old and the warranty is void.

I don't get it, what does it matter how old the unit is? The point is that you bought it 3 months ago and it's defective and should still be under warranty even for a refurb. That is unless of course you mean you bought a used Wii instead of refurb in which case as HardcoreRobot so eloquently put it, tough shit.

Bingo. I thought factory refurbs usually carry a warranty similar to the original product - or at least a year. If Nintendo's refurb warranty policy is only 90 days .. ick.

Here's what's interesting - Gamestop calls these units refurbished but nintendo only has one manufacturing date - back in 2006. There's no note of it actually being "refurbished." Looks like gamestop (at least my local one) is selling used units as refurbished.

IF that is the case...'sue'

 

[swbsam]

Originally posted by: ViviTheMage
90$ is not so bad...I remember paying to get my PS2 fixed (my sister stepped on it, hahaha) and it was out of warranty, was also around 90$ to get fixed. (years ago)

RE: The update. After some huffing and puffing on my part, they just reduced it to $35, which is very fair to me.

 

[ViviTheMage]

Originally posted by: swbsam

Originally posted by: ViviTheMage
90$ is not so bad...I remember paying to get my PS2 fixed (my sister stepped on it, hahaha) and it was out of warranty, was also around 90$ to get fixed. (years ago)

RE: The update. After some huffing and puffing on my part, they just reduced it to $35, which is very fair to me.

:thumbsup:

cheaper then 90$, or going to jail over trying to fraud gamestop or something by swapping innerds and returning it broken.

 

[alkemyst]

Originally posted by: darkxshade

Not harsh enough, I hope alkemyst catches wind of this thread. BLAMO!

And I would not have been wrong...was your vote above 6/10 thinking this was a parody?

sad man, sad.