Eh, I didn't think so. This way, the people that are actually doing all the hard work of running around and checking stores for them, asking clerks and all that, will actually get one if they ask at that store. And they aren't just snapped up by any jane-six-pack who happens to walk into the R-Zone. :)

Oh come on now... I do I get the no no face? You love me, you know you do.

Lets see how this works... We have got a total of 57 systems in our store to date. I am the only employee that has bought one (and that was only cuz a manager felt sorry for me) from our store. If you want to give the no no face to someone, give it to the people who are buying them just to resell it on ebay, not to the guy who stands out in the freazing cold not once, but twice and has no intention of ever letting it out of his sight.

I am not sure how people think Best Buy could have handled the situation better. There is all kinds of postings in the store saying that employees can not buy one, alot of the stores in the area open up early to let the people in so that they do not have to freeze in sub freezing temps, numbers handed out to people in line to avoid confusion and mayham, police called to remove people who try to cause problems.

Yea, best buy does have issues, but the way I see it they are trying their best to handle this situation as well as they can.

You guys are better than Target or Walmart who are rampantly selling to employees.

OK :) I'm just wondering how many of those in that store went towards buddies... ;)

Saw this in my local paper:

Karen Frank planned on getting her son an XBox 360 for Christmas.
So did thousands of other shoppers. Stores have been selling out of the new Microsoft game console since it launched in November. Some retailers exhausted their supplies months before that, with waiting lists exceeding several shipments.

So Frank did what other desperate parents do when the holidays approach and shelves are empty. She turned to online auctioneer eBay and paid $810 for the game system - double the retail price. Frank won the auction, beating 30 other bids. The package also included the racing game "Need for Speed: Most Wanted."

"As soon as the auction was over, I got e-mailed from somebody who said I'd been had," Frank said.

"Did you realize that you were bidding on an empty box?" the informant asked. When her order arrived, she indeed found only an empty box. It was, as the Wisconsin-based seller later told her, exactly what the description said: a "new XBox 360 Premium box."

Frank, who works at Artistic Carpet One in Lancaster, contacted the seller, Joe Lumley, to cancel her order. He refused.

He wrote: "Mrs. it is clearly stated in the auction that u where bidding on a premium box with an unopened copy of Need for Speed: Most Wanted. Had you been the only bidder, I would refund you.

"I in no way scammed you," he continued. "Please read closely next time before you bid. Thank you and have a wonderful Holiday season."

Frank complained to eBay and PayPal, the online cash register owned by eBay she utilized to pay. PayPal investigated and eventually stopped payment. Frank received most of her money back and the seller can't use eBay anymore.

The incident shocked Frank, who is a frequent eBay buyer and seller. "I'm sure it's quite rampant," she said. But Hanni Durzy, an eBay spokesman, said more than 50,000 XBoxes have sold since November and the vast majority are legitimate.

"A tiny handful of listings, out of all those, have been pulled because of misleading titles," he said. Durzy added, eBay isn't the ideal setting for a con scheme.

"If you list things on eBay, you're out in the open," he said. The Web site maintains detailed profiles of everyone who has an account, including mailing and e-mail addresses, phone numbers, credit card numbers and other identifiers.

"We're willing to turn all that info over to the police," Durzy said. "Most people, even dumb criminals, are not going to risk getting caught for a few hundred dollars."

He added that eBay's security team constantly combs the site for fraudulent sales.

"We try to identify and take down any listing deemed purposely misleading, and there aren't that many to begin with," he said. "Occasionally, some slip through, which is why it's crucial that people pay safely." He said eBay will facilitate $40 billion in trade this year. Of that, confirmed fraud occurs in 0.01% of cases.

EBay gives three recommendations for online shoppers: Know what you're buying. Know who you're buying from. Pay safely.

Frank doesn't blame eBay, but she's fuming at Lumley, who told her to return his box and game and has threatened legal action.

"I have over 622 transactions on eBay, and I've never had a problem," she said. "I don't think it's an eBay thing. I think it has to do with Xbox.

"People are in kind of a frenzy to get these things."

Number one, there was no policy against it. My manager ASKED me if I wanted one. And number two, the demand for the DS was NOTHING like the demand for the Xbox. We didn't have a list of 100 people on preorder, or people waiting in the cold. The slim PS2s were off limits, as the demand was much higher and we did have people on a waiting list. And I didn't buy it to sell it, I did that after realizing after Christmas presents for my family I really couldn't afford it at the time.

Circuit City near Knoxville Center in Knoxville TN had some around 3:00 PM today.

3:30pm EST. Finally.

http://photos-830.facebook.com/n9/24...08830_4158.jpg

http://photos-831.facebook.com/n9/24...08831_5032.jpg

http://photos-832.facebook.com/n9/24...08832_5853.jpg

http://photos-833.facebook.com/n9/24...08833_6740.jpg

http://photos-834.facebook.com/n9/24...08834_7532.jpg

Im quite impressed thus far.(Now all I need is a less crappy Digital camera :))

Congrats gmal2003 great pics lol. I can't wait to get mine too :)

:lol: Awesome pics Gmal!

Damn, I can't wait to see the pics of his reaction when he actually opens the box.

Another reason to hate and boycott Best Buy!!! :grunt:


Er, wait a minute. :confused:;)

gmal2003 YOU ROCK!! :lol::up:

btw, I saw people getting 360's at Best Buy Friday so...

:lol:

That reminds me of Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle. The scene where Kumar is daydreaming about the bag of weed, and he spends all the time with it.

wal-mart in north olmsted, OHio had about 30 in stock this morning, but "arent allowed to sell them until January 1st at 7 a.m.". I complained to a manager but they said that it was corporate's decision and that the computers have the 360's on block until then. fuck.

btw, the systems were in plain sight in shopping carts guarded by employees.

That makes a lot of sense.
"Hey, on Christmas Eve day, let's NOT sell the biggest in-demand toy since Tickle Me Elmo".

I don't mind employees buying them, as long as:
they buy them *as a customer* [off the clock, waiting in line, not hiding them];
they only buy one
and
they don't resell them.

I forget where I heard it (maybe here) but the rumor is Wal-Mart is holding them back until after the 1st due to tax reasons. Not really sure if that's true or if it even makes sense, but I heard it somewhere.

yeah i thought it a HORRIBLE decision to not sell them on christmas eve. The store got 8 on launch day and NONE since then- now they get a shipment of 30 on one of the most important shopping days of the year and they refuse to sell them. And why have them in PLAIN VIEW in the electronics area and piss a TON of shoppers off. I was one of about 6 people complaining about their decision. looks like no 360 this christmas for my bro.

That's amazing... that would be enough to make me not shop there again were I looking for a 360

yeah, i dont think ill be going back there. it really pissed me off. ive been out so many times looking for this stupid 360 that i dont even care if i get one at this point.

I would be pissed if I was MS as well, they want these units sold so they can report the sales and the fact that they are shipping units. Wal-Mart holding them is just crazy.

:thumbsup: gmal. have fun !!!!

btw, what does a 360 eat?

Time ;)

great stuff, gmal. that's comedy. congrats!