Super Tuesday

I always try to keep politics out of my rants.. not because I am afraid of starting something.. but because there is always something to say. That said, I have one thing to say:

Get out and vote, or don't whine about the electees!

Alright.. now on to more important matters.

My Xbox finally came back for repairs today. This is the end of a 6 week process that made me rip out my hair. IN late September Mary and I planned on a night of Guitar Hero, but instead got the 3 red rings of death (RROD). I called Xbox, and they were very cordial and stated that I would be shipped a box to return the unit to them in.

2 days later that repair was canceled. I called back and repeated the process. I was told that I would receive a mailing label by email to use this time. This was also canceled 48 hours later.

My third call did not turn out any better, but I was assured it would go through. Now, please note all these calls were canceled because I do not have a standard street address, and instead have a "Grid Address" in the form of N12W12345 MyStreet Dr., where N is North, and W is West.

The fourth call I was pretty upset, and was told that they were not allowed to make any more service calls for me because it had failed too many times. I spent 30 minutes on the phone with that person's manager, and was once again told I would be emailed the shipping label.

Can we guess what happened next? Yes, this call too, was canceled. I put it off for about a week, then finally called back. When I was asked if I was SURE I could receive mail at this address, I went off on the person on the other end. They put me on hold for no less than 19 minutes and finally explained that my address would not validate because it was in their system twice.

Twice. Wouldn't that send up a flag that someone maybe should have taken as "Oh, I guess this is the correct address". I received a Box overnight, and finally got my Xbox back today - exactly 7 days later. The only consolation is that I was sent a brand new unit (mfgr date 8/29/08) which means it will not have the same flaws, and will be MUCH MUCH quieter. Oh, and a free month of Xbox Live.