Teen Gets "Grinched," PS3 Box Contains Phone Book, not Console

Iria · Dec 27, 2007, 04:42 AM

Source: Tech-Ex
_______
It was the present he'd wanted most for Christmas. And 13-year-old Brandon Burns tore into the sealed PlayStation 3 box to find ... a Thousand Oaks phone book.

BlueMak · Dec 27, 2007, 04:49 AM

Good kid.

OmegaRED · Dec 27, 2007, 05:45 AM

I heard this happens a lot at Best Buy but they don't believe you. Good to see EB Games did the right thing (and someone should get the fingerprints off that phonebook

).

Tipstaff · Dec 27, 2007, 07:21 AM

First indication you've been had: the PS3 DOES NOT come shrink wrapped!

I have to say, this is something Sony still has yet to correct, and something Nintendo used to do, but stopped. With the Xbox 360 (and previously the Nintendo GameCube and DS which I think still has) you can clearly see the console inside the box, because the serial number on the unit itself is visible through a hole in the box (with the 360 it a little flap you pop back). The likelihood of finding a phone book in that box is very unlikely (although still possible for obvious dumb people reasons). The PS3 and the Wii, on the other hand, is completely wrapped up inside, and the serial number is on a sticker on the outside, which should match the inside unit (if I remember the sticker for the PS3 has a partial number.. not the full one like the Wii does). Because of this it makes it very easy for an employee (anywhere down the chain from the manufacturing planet to the retailer) to rip one off.

Customgamer1 · Dec 28, 2007, 08:02 PM

Guess he should have wanted a 360 instead

mike2h · Dec 28, 2007, 08:14 PM

ouch!

**dj_stick** · Dec 28, 2007, 09:48 PM

Tipstaff I don't think the DS Lite does that anymore, sold quite a few at work, never seen the actual unit without opening the box - but it is a pretty good idea to prevent this sort of thing happening

YAYitsAndrew · Dec 30, 2007, 05:47 PM

I just bought a DS lite for my gf for christmas and I could see the serial number through the box. It came in a much bigger box (it was the nintendogs bundle) but once I removed the game and DS boxes from that bigger box the upc was there and the DS lite box looks the same as it's looked since it launched.

Dec 27, 2007, 04:42 AM	#1
Iria DriverHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Posts: 7,275 Rep Power: 89	Teen Gets "Grinched," PS3 Box Contains Phone Book, not Console Source: Tech-Ex _______ It was the present he'd wanted most for Christmas. And 13-year-old Brandon Burns tore into the sealed PlayStation 3 box to find ... a Thousand Oaks phone book.

Dec 27, 2007, 04:49 AM	#2
BlueMak HH's Asteroids' Dominator Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Hellas->Macedonia->Thessaloniki Posts: 13,465 Rep Power: 349 System Specs	Good kid. __________________ The people who are regarded as moral luminaries are those who forego ordinary pleasures themselves and find compensation in interfering with the pleasures of others(Bertrand Russell)"You go into Afghanistan, you got guys who slap women around for five years because they didn't wear a veil,You know, guys like that ain't got no manhood left anyway. So it's a hell of a lot of fun to shoot them." - Lt. Gen. James N. Mattis This is slavery, not to speak one's thought. [Euripides-The Phoenician Women (c.411-409 B.C.)] http://www.macedonia.info/FALLACIESANDFACTS.htm *Sic semper tyrannis.*

Dec 27, 2007, 05:45 AM	#3
OmegaRED Relapsed Gamer Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Ottawa , Canada Posts: 5,688 Rep Power: 173 System Specs	I heard this happens a lot at Best Buy but they don't believe you. Good to see EB Games did the right thing (and someone should get the fingerprints off that phonebook ). __________________ E Penis Specs: <------------- See System Specs

Dec 27, 2007, 07:21 AM	#4
Tipstaff HardwareHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Real capital of Canada: Torauna Posts: 6,773 Rep Power: 190 System Specs	First indication you've been had: the PS3 DOES NOT come shrink wrapped! I have to say, this is something Sony still has yet to correct, and something Nintendo used to do, but stopped. With the Xbox 360 (and previously the Nintendo GameCube and DS which I think still has) you can clearly see the console inside the box, because the serial number on the unit itself is visible through a hole in the box (with the 360 it a little flap you pop back). The likelihood of finding a phone book in that box is very unlikely (although still possible for obvious dumb people reasons). The PS3 and the Wii, on the other hand, is completely wrapped up inside, and the serial number is on a sticker on the outside, which should match the inside unit (if I remember the sticker for the PS3 has a partial number.. not the full one like the Wii does). Because of this it makes it very easy for an employee (anywhere down the chain from the manufacturing planet to the retailer) to rip one off. __________________ Portal: The Flash Version _________________________________ Brain: So, you sacked the cocky khaki Kicky Sack sock plucker? Mr. Sackett: The second cocky khaki Kicky Sack sock plucker I've sacked since the sixth sitting sheet slitter got sick.

Dec 28, 2007, 08:02 PM	#5
Customgamer1 Fell off the tech wagon Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Wisconsin Posts: 2,273 Rep Power: 74 System Specs	Guess he should have wanted a 360 instead __________________ Asus Laptop: 2.5 Intel Core 2 Duo, 4gigs DDR 2, Windows 7 64bit! Windows 7 > OSX!

Dec 28, 2007, 08:14 PM	#6
mike2h DriverHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: norcal Posts: 6,483 Rep Power: 91 System Specs	ouch! __________________

Dec 30, 2007, 05:47 PM	#8
YAYitsAndrew Anti-Piracy Poster Boy Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: NJ Posts: 2,605 Rep Power: 79 System Specs	I just bought a DS lite for my gf for christmas and I could see the serial number through the box. It came in a much bigger box (it was the nintendogs bundle) but once I removed the game and DS boxes from that bigger box the upc was there and the DS lite box looks the same as it's looked since it launched. __________________ "It is because the resistance to paying for copyrighted material, although often characterized as arising from a supposed technical burden or principled concern for the public interest, arises rather from exactly the same segment of the brain that is dominant in shoplifters." - Mark Helprin, Digital Barbarism In other words, it's never okay to steal even if you think you have a good reason! www.yayitsandrew.com