Futureshop Update

This is about one week too late, but I just haven't been motivated to post an update to my previous post.

As per my previous post I had an unpleasant time at Futureshop trying to get a replacement for my PS3 which had broken down and had not been fixed after 60 days, so I sent off the email which was in my previous post. Here is what happened after I sent off the email.

Approximately two hours after I sent the email I received a reply telling me that my email was being forwarded to the appropriate people at the store in question and I was told to wait 48 business hours for a reply. This was on a Friday, so 48 business hours would mean that I would have to wait until end of Tuesday at the earliest to know if they would do anything. I wasn't expecting much. In fact, I was planning on sending another email on Monday just to remind them how pissed I was and that I wanted something done.

However since some things came up I didn't get around to send another email which turned out to be OK in the end. Shortly before 5:00pm on Tuesday I get a phone call from the store where I dropped off the PS3 to be fixed telling me that I can pass by and pick up a brand new system.

So I head over there and they hand me a brand new system. End of story. Happy ending and all that other good stuff.

The only thing that pissed me off while I was there was how the exchange was treated like the normal thing to do. It had passed 60 days so they gave me a brand new system. Yet the last time I had been there they had refused to do it.

So in the end I got a new system, its just unfortunate that I had to send an email to their head office for them to do what they should have done in the first place. Its unfortunate they try to cheat their customers this way, but its also good to know that they care enough about your money that you can get things done if you go out of your way.

I certainly won't be buying the service plan from them ever again, but in time I might start to buy a few items at their stores again. I'm just glad I didn't have a PS3 with backwards compatibility or I would have lost it.

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Futureshop Sucks

This post should interest those of you who live in Canada and shop at Futureshop.

I bought a PS3 from them about a year and a half ago, and against my better judgment I got the service plan they offer. The sales guy told me if anything went wrong all I would have to do would be to take it back and they would give me a brand new one. BULLSHIT!!!!!

Something went wrong alright, the system stopped reading disks. Since I had the warranty I took it back to futureshop thinking I was going to get a nice brand new PS3 only to be told they didn't replace them, they fixed them. After being told it would take 1 week to get it back and actually waiting 8 weeks, I'm fed up with this bullshit company. They lie to their customers to make the sales but don't stand behind anything they say because its all lies.

I went by today to get a new system since it had passed the 60 day repair period and was given the total runaround by management at the store. They write their warranties extremely vague so they can get out of them. So here I am still without my ps3.

I'm pretty pissed so I figured I would sent an email to their head office. The email is below.

Dear Sir/Madam

I am writing this email to Future Shop due to the extremely poor customer service I have received regarding a Product Service Plan.

Seventeen months ago I bought a Playstation 3 at Futureshop 067 and I purchased a Service Plan with it to protect my item. At the time of purchase I was told that if anything ever went wrong with the system all I would have to do would be to return it and I would get a brand new one in its place. This turned out to be a lie, as when the system finally broke down two months ago I was told that the item would actually have to be repaired and there would be no replacement. This was the first lie I was told by a Future Shop employee.

At the time of sending the item to be repaired, this time to Futureshop 617, I was also told that it would take approximately one week to receive my item back. This was the second lie I was told by a futureshop employee. Two months passed by before I finally had to go to the store to pick up a new item according to your 60 day warranty.

Before I went to the store I called to make sure the item was in and I was told that it had not arrived and I could pick up a new one. This was yet another lie by one of your employees, as I now have to wait beyond the 60 day limit. Apparently I can only pick up a new item after you have received my old broken one.

Not only is your warranty extremely vague on this point, but this should have nothing to do with me. Once I handed my item to Futureshop to be repaired I was out of the loop and trusted in Futureshop to repair it. Instead I was told that it was out of their hands because Sony had not sent them back a PS3. This is extremely irresponsible of Futureshop as a company.

I fail to see why I should have to wait yet another undisclosed amount of weeks for my item to be repaired, as I have no control over the current location of the item. I am extremely disappointed at the unprofessional matter in which your employees have shifted the blame from themselves to a third party (in this case sony), as my agreement is not with Sony but with Futureshop. As such I would expect Futureshop to replace my item regardless of what your current position with the third party is.

As it currently stands I was told that once my broken item is returned to Futureshop 617 I will be able to pick up a brand new unit. I hope that I have not been lied to again. I would be greatly disappointed if I was told I would be receiving a new replacement, only to receive a refurbished item.

So far in this ordeal I have been lied to multiple times so I would spend my money on your service plan, had your employees try to irresponsibly shift their blame onto someone else and been given the runaround. This is not how I would expect a company like Futureshop which relies on customers to survive to treat said customers. I only hope your employees do not try any further deceiving tactics in the future or I will have no choice but to stop shopping at your store, and to tell everyone I know to also stop.

I am providing you with my receipt TAG number in the hopes that you will look into this extremely unpleasant occurance and take steps to prevent it in the future.

I highly recommend never getting any warranty with them since anything you are told will be a lie, or better yet, do your shopping elsewhere. Futureshop is the worst electronics store you can possible buy from.

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Asterix

If you're looking for a new TPB comic to read, then I highly recommend the Asterix Omnibus books. I recently picked up volumes 1 & 2, and I haven't been disappointed. They're completely different from the typical superhero comics, and are full of humour.



For those of you unfamiliar with Asterix, it is a French comic book from the 60's. The story takes place during the Roman invasion of Gaul (France), and revolves around a small Gaulish village as they resist the Roman invasion. The Gauls are able to do this due to a magic potion they brew which makes them invincible.

Asterix is one of the Villagers, and along with Obelix his friend who is super strong due to falling into a cauldron of magic potion when he was a baby, and Obelix's dog Dogmatix they get into all sorts of adventures.

The stories are comedies for the most part, and are full of satire. Many of the things that the characters say are funny because of how well they apply to today's culture and society. The backgrounds in many of the panels are also full of little things that have no place being in ancient Rome, but sure add to the humour of the stories. Even the characters' names are funny. The Gauls have names like Getafix or vitalstatistix, while the Romans all get names such as Crismus Bonus and so on.


This panel is in french, but the volumes are being released in English.

The art in these books is extremely well done. Normally when I think 60's, I think really bad art in the old DC or Marvel comics, but this art is as good as any that you will find in today's comics, and the colours are extremelly bright and vivid, which really help to bring everything out of the pages.

There have also been a series of live action movies made about Asterix, although they are in French, so unless you can understand french or can find some subtitles for them it won't be much fun watching. Below is a short clip from one of the movies. Its surprisingly true to the series, sort of how the Flintstones movie was true to the original source.

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Super Mario.....Pizza????

I was going for a walk the other day and came across two pizza restaurants which had very familiar looking images on their windows and logos.

First up is Uncle Nick's Pizza. Uncle Nick is looking a lot more like a certain famous plumber than your typical pizza chef.






If we compare Uncle Nick above and Mario below, we'll see that they share many similarities. Bushy eybrows? Check! Bulbous nose? Check! Blue eyes? Check! Heck, everything about them is the same with the exception of uncle Nick's sinister looking little beard.



This place, called Mario Bross. didn't even try to draw their own interpretation of Mario, just just stole the image from somewhere and put it up on their sign.



Although Mario seems to be missing his right leg, its an obvious ripoff of everyone's favourite portly plumber. I wonder if Nintendo knows about this?

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Another Blog on the Internet

Well, here it is, my second attempt at a blog. I have to admit, the first attempt didn't go too well. Problem was, shortly after I created it I started to lose interest in the very topics the blog was about.

So here I am, one year later. I've scrapped all the old posts and am trying this again. This time I will not focus any any one thing, but will instead just talk anything that interests me at the time, ensuring I will always have something to talk about. This can be anything from books to movies to comics and even videogames.

For now I leave you with a Final Fantasy 12 music video I made. I will try to update the blog once a week, but there probably won't be any sort of fixed schedule for updating.

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