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Arizona man pays $400 for Wii, opens box to find a block of wood

11:01 AM on 03.07.2008, Colette Bennett 70 comments

Arizona man pays $400 for Wii, opens box to find a block of wood photo
     eBay

I'm not sure what annoys me more: the fact that this poor guy was duped by some jerk who decided to sell him a $400 chunk of firewood, or that the writer from ABC calls the item "A Wii game" repeatedly in her article about the incident. You write for ABC, don't you think you could have possibly researched the situation enough to know that the Wii is called a "console" and not a "game?" Do your job, you illiterate trollop.

Anyway, the incident is sadly not a new trend, but of course it's no less distressing for people when it actually happens to them. An Arizona resident won the console on eBay in February, paid $400 for it, and received a Wii box with a block of wood in it shortly thereafter. He filed a complaint with eBay, who found the seller's account had promptly been closed after the transaction took place. They are currently conducting an investigation into the fraud.

A word of advice to all the non-gamer adults out there: don't pay double for the Wii. The reason you want one so bad is because everyone you know wants one, which is very likely more important to you than actually playing the damned thing. Then when you get it you can invite all those people over to play multiplayer games and waggle your Wiimotes at each other and in a few months there'll be a thin layer of dust on it and you'll forget why you clamored for it in the first place. Trust us -- we're real gamers. We know.

[Via ABC15 - thanks, Jonathan]


Next page: More Screw over your customers! stories




king3vbo's Avatar
king3vbo at 03/07/2008 11:07
Pwnt by Ebay.... it happens
Neonie's Avatar
Neonie at 03/07/2008 11:08
Well....that's slightly disheartining.
Mxyzptlk's Avatar
Mxyzptlk at 03/07/2008 11:11
How many non-gamer adults out there are likely to read those words of advice on a gaming blog?
BlackSheep's Avatar
BlackSheep at 03/07/2008 11:12
i think the block of wood resembles a 360 more...
NightDehumidifier's Avatar
NightDehumidifier at 03/07/2008 11:15
Upon hindsight, the block of wood is more fun than at least 3/4ths of the entire Wii library, even more perhaps.
pixelsword's Avatar
pixelsword at 03/07/2008 11:19
@BlackSheep:

A brick resembles a 360 the most, though...
NihonTiger90's Avatar
NihonTiger90 at 03/07/2008 11:20
You'd get more out of the block of wood than a Wii.
Luigi takes over's Avatar
Luigi takes over at 03/07/2008 11:20
Know what would've been funny? If she had bought a PS3 and they sent her a george foreman grill instead.

quit bashing the wii :[.
Technophile's Avatar
Technophile at 03/07/2008 11:21
I dunno, I tend to get wood whenever I order stuff online.
Colette Bennett's Avatar
Colette Bennett at 03/07/2008 11:23
I didn't bash it. I said it'll end up gathering dust because mine has and this is also mentioned a great deal by most gamers. There's a difference between bashing and personal opinion.
GeneralWong's Avatar
GeneralWong at 03/07/2008 11:25
LMFAO!!!!

I know i shouldn't laugh but that is pretty amusing.
PsychosesMan's Avatar
PsychosesMan at 03/07/2008 11:26
Hey, can I steal that? "Illiterate trollop" is the perfect insult to tack on to spelling corrections.
Vader582's Avatar
Vader582 at 03/07/2008 11:27
In other news, a recent review from <insert Nintendo fanboy website here> gave the Wii block of wood a 95% rating and a 4 out of 5 for originality!

Best use of the word trollop I've seen in a very long time. :thumbsup: :)
slapme7times's Avatar
slapme7times at 03/07/2008 11:33
'Do your job, you illiterate trollop.'

at least we're all friends :)

that's so awesome. I would have done it just to see the look on his face.
jdub28's Avatar
jdub28 at 03/07/2008 11:33
I wonder if you will be able to see all the dust flying off wii's from space sunday morning

MGS4 might cause a level 7 dustplosion
MaxVest's Avatar
MaxVest at 03/07/2008 11:36
Colette, you really need to update your info. Nintendo has been putting blocks of wood into Wii boxes at the factory for months now, and it hasn't hurt sales.
harrmonica's Avatar
harrmonica at 03/07/2008 11:36
anybody wonder why this guy even bothers to ship a piece a wood in a wii box? he's obviously decided to pocket the cash...i guess he got satisfaction in sending a nice fu package to complete the transaction. theres a special place in hell for people like that. i am shocked that people still get taken by ebay scammers. good luck. ebay=the suck when it comes to getting your money back.
Xbudz's Avatar
Xbudz at 03/07/2008 11:38
Klytus's Avatar
Klytus at 03/07/2008 11:47
"What sits on shelves alone or in pairs
And collects al your dust for free?
What's great for a snack and fits on your back?
It's Wii, Wii, Wii!

It's Wii, Wii, it's small, it's vapid, it's wood.
It's Wii, Wii, it's better than bad, it's good!
Everyone wants a Wii! You're gonna love it, Wii!
Come on and get your Wii! Everyone needs a Wii!"
brobots's Avatar
brobots at 03/07/2008 11:49
He shouldn't feel too bad. I hear Wood's got some great games coming out for it soon. And it's got awesome hardware reliability. Ever heard of wood breaking down?
MechaMonkey's Avatar
MechaMonkey at 03/07/2008 11:50
So would you say the Nintendo Wii gave this person wood?

Because that would be a great penis pun.
Chocobo Knight's Avatar
Chocobo Knight at 03/07/2008 11:51
Just think of the games you could get with WiiWoo:

No More Termites
Endless Splinters
Super Mahogany Galaxy
Legend of Zelda: Twig Princess
Metreeoid 3
blehman's Avatar
blehman at 03/07/2008 11:52
"Then when you get it you can invite all those people over to play multiplayer games and waggle your Wiimotes at each other and in a few months there'll be a thin layer of dust on it and you'll forget why you clamored for it in the first place."

I have to agree with this. Until just recently when I apologized to my wii (shameless self-plug) it just kinda sat there for....oh, let's say six months, because after the party game fun wore out I hadn't really wanted to play anything on it. And illiterate trollop is my favorite new saying.
BenHaskett's Avatar
BenHaskett at 03/07/2008 11:52
Haha... Trollop.

Poor bastard. Gotta check that user feedback...
Lightthrower's Avatar
Lightthrower at 03/07/2008 11:56
"Then when you get it you can invite all those people over to play multiplayer games and waggle your Wiimotes at each other and in a few months there'll be a thin layer of dust on it and you'll forget why you clamored for it in the first place. Trust us -- we're real gamers."

Exactly! The Wii is a overhyped console that everyone wants because... everyone wants it. It's marketed for stupid people and it works. I love you Colette!
Colette Bennett's Avatar
Colette Bennett at 03/07/2008 12:05
big hugs for Lightthrower

I love your user icon, btw ^__^
Snaileb 's Avatar
Snaileb at 03/07/2008 12:08
THAT.. is depressing.
Samit Sarkar's Avatar
Samit Sarkar at 03/07/2008 12:14
Thanks for expanding my vocabulary, Colette!

WORD OF THE DAY
trol·lop (\'trä-ləp\) noun a vulgar or disreputable woman; especially: one who engages in sex promiscuously or for money

MiOdd's Avatar
MiOdd at 03/07/2008 12:22
Just wanted to add that my Wii is dust free thank you! =)
Aziel13's Avatar
Aziel13 at 03/07/2008 12:24
dun dun DUN!
Vader582's Avatar
Vader582 at 03/07/2008 12:24
@MiOdd: You dust often?
Dexter345's Avatar
Dexter345 at 03/07/2008 12:24
God, people are assholes. I hate other human beings.
Tubatic's Avatar
Tubatic at 03/07/2008 12:28
OH SNAP! Wii Boom Blox street date is broken!

. . . I'm sorry. Really . . .
Vyruz's Avatar
Vyruz at 03/07/2008 12:31
Damn, that's the 4th I've heard this year (yes 2008)
First a man telephone set gets swapped with 2 cans of soup.
then someone's Hard drive with dried beans.
2 (they returned the first and then got an other) Ipod boxes filled with rocks.
(not to mention the Xbox-box filled with clothes)
and now a woo-d.
what is up with people lately, all these switcharoos.

in china people's wii's got switched by a hacked GBA in a casing weighed down with lead, how's that?
Kayka's Avatar
Kayka at 03/07/2008 12:35
Hey kid you want a toy?

*nodnod*

How about a bike?

No!

A videogame?

NOOO!

Well ok...you pick a toy!

Hmm..I want..LOG!!!!
ajay42's Avatar
ajay42 at 03/07/2008 12:37
"Then when you get it you can invite all those people over to play multiplayer games and waggle your Wiimotes at each other and in a few months there'll be a thin layer of dust on it and you'll forget why you clamored for it in the first place. Trust us -- we're real gamers. We know."

Or you know, they could play the games that are made for it. They could do that.
free touch's Avatar
free touch at 03/07/2008 12:48
HAHA ITS FUN TO BASH THE WII PSTRIPLE RULZ XBOXFAGSIXTY AMIDOINITRITE??

And on a related not, ebay will have to give the guy his money back. Because once an internet ninja disappears, the only way to find him is through 4chan... and they aren't your personal army.
Kyousuke Nanbu's Avatar
Kyousuke Nanbu at 03/07/2008 12:49
That reminds me of the PSP box that had a gameboy inside of it.

Goddamn scammers.
tincow's Avatar
tincow at 03/07/2008 12:50
Regarding the crime of "appealing to stupid people":

Nintendo and the Wii, for having the nerve to embrace casual gaming and trying to expand the market with unusual games?

*OR*

Colette, for transparently posting Wii news just so she can spend the last paragraph bashing the system and getting high-fives from the Wii-haters club on Destructoid.


(More the latter than the former, IMO.)

Yeah, we got it... there is a group of people who think the Wii is a dust-coated gimmicky waggle-box with no good games and that only stupid people could enjoy playing.
grrza's Avatar
grrza at 03/07/2008 12:51
Poor guy.
Still kinda makes me lol though.
twincannon's Avatar
twincannon at 03/07/2008 13:00
It's big, it's heavy, it's wood!
Klytus's Avatar
Klytus at 03/07/2008 13:21
Hold on Tincow.
Im dialing 911 right now!
SubOrbital's Avatar
SubOrbital at 03/07/2008 13:54
Unbias journalism? Not here on Destructoid. Way to make the site look like shit with your thinly veiled bit of fanboyism hate on the Wii, Collette. Idiot.
Colette Bennett's Avatar
Colette Bennett at 03/07/2008 14:00
It isn't veiled. The Wii has disappointed me. Last time I checked freedom of speech was still in effect. You may want to stick to Nintendo-centric sites if you can't handle honest criticism. As I said before, there's a difference between bias and criticism. At least I don't stoop to namecalling to people who don't share my every opinion.
TheStripe's Avatar
TheStripe at 03/07/2008 14:03
Well, some of enjoy games like No More Heroes and Zack and Wiki.

I guess that makes us idiots. Thanks, Colette.
Qais Fulton's Avatar
Qais Fulton at 03/07/2008 14:04
Awwwww, somebody got butthurt that people have opinions based on experiential evidence.
Sharpless's Avatar
Sharpless at 03/07/2008 14:10
I was actually just watching an old episode of Numb3rs last night which dealt with an MMORPG's ARG. It was a great reminder of how the mainstream world does not know how to handle gaming. It's kind of insulting, but... I don't know. What the hell are you going to do? (It did have James Urbaniak in it though, so that was a win.)
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