That's really lame of ThinkGeek. They should have checked that shit out.

@bhive01: True, but look at the mad profits they made off of "new" Dreamcasts. I could simply be vilifying ThinkGeek, but given the hot demand for the console even now, "new" is insta-sell.

Sneaky bastards! I actually tried to grab one but i couldnt rally up the cash quick enough. Good thing i guess. Bummer for the folks that got ripped off.

I'd be absolutely furious!

That sucks. I was wondering where they got a bunch of brand new dreamcasts out of the blue but I guess we know now. =\

To buy a New in Box Sealed Console I would have only payed maybe $100

but me and my brothers already have 6 DC console, Prices when bought ranged $3(just the console no hookups but came with Ecco:DotF) to $50 (With Box, a few games, 4 controllers and all the hookups)

@ScottyG - They didn't have to think, these consumers were told the consoles were brand new. That's fraud on ThinkGeek's part.
Now, I can understand if they went to a brick and mortar like Walmart or Gamestop, then they could have actually checked the merchandise to make sure they were actually brand new consoles. But come on, how exactly is an internet consumer "dumb" for buying something that was ADVERTISED to be in a specific condition?

That really does suck prtty sad... sorry for your misfortune, mysterious DC buyer...

I can understand getting duped buy an independent seller on ebay or something. Ive actually expected it a few times, but when youre buying from what i assume is a trusted online retailer like ThinkGeek, i dont think its ridiculous or dumb to believe that what theyre selling is what they say it is.

I'm going to give Think Geek the benefit of the doubt. They probably didn't know that they were used units being disguised as new ones. I'm sure they didn't open up every box and examine them all. Why don't we reserve judgement until some facts come out?

Think geek catches no slack on this. If I got sold something labeled as new and it turned out used, I'd call their customer service. If two weeks had passed with no reply, like in this case, I'd be on the phone with my credit card company asking for a chargeback. Think Geek is a big enough company to where they should be on top of making this right, by either issuing a discount or a refund. They haven't so far, so 'eff 'em.

Paying 200 bucks for a Sega Dreamcast new or used is foolish.

It's not quite as foolish as selling a product as new when it is in fact not.

They cost 200$?!? I had missed that part. Well, fools and their money...

@The Reborn

The Dreamcast will never die!

First off, it costs $100 on thinkgeek and even with shipping, there's no way this would put the guy at anywhere near $200. Maybe if he got 3 extra controllers or ordered overnight shipping (which would be further stupidity at hand) Either way, $100 is an absurd price to pay for a Dreamcast in ANY shape.

Second, Thinkgeek has ALWAYS had some of the best customer service and shipping policies of any site I've ever been on (I've placed at least a dozen orders there). I'm almost inclined to believe this guy is lying or at the very least sent his complaint email to the wrong place if he hasn't heard from them in two weeks. I've sent in questions by email (and called them) and I get responses within a day.

Third, even if this is completely true, I don't think Thinkgeek is to blame. From what I understand, basically someone came across a large shipment of "new in-box" dreamcasts and Thinkgeek understandably bought them all up. It seems far more likely that Thinkgeek was duped and that this stock of dreamcasts was of factory refurbished ones instead. They could open a couple of boxes, see everything wrapped up as if new and assume they were all this way. As I'm sure you all know, refurbished item quality can vary DRASTICALLY from unit to unit.

Don't let this story tarnish the reputation of such an amazing site.

@DinnertimeNinja:

I completely agree. Yes, sometimes they sell total crap that breaks when you breathe on it, but they've never given me a problem on any return, they ship hella fast (of course I'm only about 200 miles from them), and their customer service has always been top notch.

It's certainly possible that he got a bad apple from the basket. That happens even on products coming off the assembly lines this very second. But there's something here that's making my bullshit detector go off. Something's not being told.

Definately some info lacking here. I've ordered from ThinkGeek a few times, and always have been satisfied with the site. I think that a few posters here are jumping on the hate bandwagon, seeing as their making their judgments purely on one guys evidence, who is anonymous to boot. sketchy stuff.

$200 total? Was he international? Maybe that has to do with the inflated cost?
Still sucks.

Hello from ThinkGeekland!

We emailed Destructoid's editors late last night but haven't seen the posted amended, so here's our Official Apology, in blog comment form.

First, a little backstory: We came upon an amazing cache of new-in-box Dreamcasts not too long ago. We had a bunch of units shipped to us to inspect them, and indeed, though the boxes were a little worse for the wear on the outside, the consoles had nary a scratch and even the wire twists that bundled the cables had never been undone. It was like magic--magic that had been hiding in a warehouse, unknown, for years.

So we asked our source from whence these beautiful Dreamcasts came, and they didn't know--could've been a liquidator, or a Circuit City that had closed shop. (Hear that? It's the sound of a plot thickening.)

But we'd seen them with our own eyes and figured it was best to share our discovery with the world. Hundreds were snatched up quickly and squees were heard 'round the internets.

So far we've had 2 instances of not-so-new-in-box Dreamcasts. The individual who received the one reported here contacted us via email (which never appeared in our inbox, for some reason) and Twitter (through which we've taken care of the situation) has already been issued a return shipping label. We're more than happy to refund him for the Dreamcast as well as shipping.

We're very sorry about the whole thing--we never meant to ship used Dreamcasts. We know our customers are smarty pants and could tell if they'd been duped with a stale Dreamcast; we'd never get away with taking advantage of you guys, so why would we try?

And now we have 3 options: 1. Stop sharing the gift of new Dreamcasts; 2. Have them all shipped to us and inspect each one individually and then ship back to the warehouse; and 3. Continue spreading the (mostly) untainted Dreamcast love and working with the very few customers who get lemons.

We hope you'll understand why we're continuing to offer them on our site (when we get our grubby little paws on more, of course). And again, we apologize to the 2 customers who ended up with what appears to be returned merchandise.

--The ThinkGeek Monkeys