So I am at my wit’s end.  I figured if I wrote a blog post, it could possibly draw attention to someone who could actually help me out.  Oh yes, using the internet for my benefit.  What’s it to ya?

Back around early ‘09, (February to be exact), I lent my buddy my copy of GTA IV for XBox 360.  No harm, no foul, until his 360 scratched my GTA IV disc, rendering the game unplayable.  Fantastic, thanks bud.  And of course he wasn’t going to shell out $60 to purchase me a new copy.  But, why should anyone have to buy a whole new copy?  There must be a way to replace a scratched disc.  That’s because there is!

I emailed Rockstar Games, the publisher of GTA IV and explained my situation.  They quickly responded and told me to mail the disc and a check for $8 (in order to ship the game back) to a disc replacement facility of sorts in Ohio.  Piece of cake, or so it seemed.

Time went by and I became engrossed in Fallout 3, no need to rush the replacement GTA IV.  I’d check online every so often to see if my check had been cashed yet.  Then, sometime around late March, I notice that my check had finally been cashed.  Looked at the image of the check to see a big ol’ Take-Two Interactive ,(the distributor of GTA IV), stamp on the back of the check.  Fantastic, that new copy of GTA IV should be mine any day now!  Boy was I wrong.

I gave it a few weeks, simple crap like magazine subscriptions take 4-6 weeks, no need to get over-anxious.  Besides, Fallout 3 was still keeping me occupied.  I wait and I wait, nothing.  Come June, I finally get off my ass and give Rockstar Games a call.  The nice British dude tells me that they had switched over to a new customer service system since my original email.  Because of that, my reference number was no longer in the system, they knew nothing of my claim.

(Boy this is interesting stuff.)

So, I am told to forward the original email that Rockstar had sent me about the replacement process.  I do, and hear nothing back.  I call back a week or so later and speak to someone.  They see that I had emailed the information, but for whatever reason, it was not followed up.  They will pass this on to a manager or God knows who.

More time goes by, I call again, explaining my situation once more.  They have my reference number, why must I keep doing this?  Anyways, a manager will take care of it, but he won’t be in til after the weekend.  Fine.

Call back the next week and they say they just need my address to send me a new copy!  Huzzah!  Thanks manager!

Weeks go by.  Nothing.  Where the hell is my game?

Once again, I call back and speak to another fancy lad who tells me that the information was relayed over to the returns location in Ohio.  The same location in Ohio that cashed my check and never sent me my game!  Great, yeah, they’re really efficient over there.  And the kicker was that they had yet to receive a response from Ohio.  Those British dudes have a tough time saying Ohio, by the way.  But no worries as they will contact them personally for me!  Easy peasy!

I call back the very next day, (which happens to be today), and find out that no one ever contacted Ohio.  Great!  Excellent!  Cowabunga!  Now I have been very patient on the phone.  I’ve worked customer service before, it can suck, so I resisted the urge of losing my cool with these Brits.  This time the rep told me he would forward this on to his manager and have him contact Ohio.  And here’s the kicker:  He told me to call back in a week.  So far I’ve waited 8 months, what’s another week, right?

But I don’t get it.  Why must they contact the Ohio location?  Why can’t they just send me a new game?  What must I do?  I don’t get it.  So, I am pleading with Rockstar Game and Take-Two Interactive:  You cashed my check, send me a game.  Is that so hard?  Please?  I am asking nicely.  Screw Ohio.  This has gone on for far too long.  Got it?  Thanks.