Legal Question

[-FCM-]

If this is a taboo topic then feel free to close it and I apologize in advance, but there's a positive moral to this story, and I need some help from industry experts.

I wanted to play Brawl early, so I imported a copy and got my Wii modified, no shady game-pirating or anything, but still, wrong, lesson learned, it was stupid. It was about three weeks ago, and now my Wii has a disc-recognition failure rate of like 90%. But my question isn't about the chip.

What can I do about this? Obviously the store is at more of a risk considering I'm a minor and the other guy is an adult with a managerial position at the store he runs.

I wouldn't be so upset if the shifty-eyed Hong Kong guy hadn't charged me 100 dollars and assured me nothing would go wrong.

Again, if you're not allowed to help me with this, I understand, and am really sorry if me posting this is a problem, and if it is, just close it and I won't mind. This whole thing was a stupid mistake on my part. But I'm just hoping you can help me with this because you have a better idea of how these things work. Would it be totally unreasonable to threaten them for a new Wii? I'm not a vindictive person, but this has me pretty upset and desperate.

 

[madster111]

My advice would be this:
Un-chip the wii
Update the wii to latest firmware (or whatever it's called)

If that fails:
Tell us which chip it was...maybe getting a better quality one will allow it to play normal games again.

 

[LinksOcarina]

What the above said. Above all else don't go to authorities yet or anything, see if you can solve the problem by yourself right now.

 

[MikeyVassallo]

If it isn't legal to mod systems and somebody did it "on the sly" then there isn't anything the BBB or the "authorities" can do about it.

 

[-FCM-]

It wasn't really on the sly. This guy clearly does this regularly, and his employees know it, 'cause when I asked them who could do it and when I called asking about the problem, they immediately just pointed me in the direction of the manager. Plus I have 4 witnesses. But I guess all that may not be enough. Should have brought a tape recorder or something.

Anyways, I'll try taking the chip out and stuff. Thanks.

 

[crazycracker22]

Wait are you planing on suing him or taking legal actions? Because if so that's fucking stupid.

 

[maca2kx]

If you try to take legal action on this you're no better than the burglars who sue when they break their leg on property they're trespassing on.

Sam

 

[dUKE]

well, you voided your warantee, so nintendo isn't going to help you. i'm assuming you're in the u.s.

i'd try the nice approach first. bring the guy back the wii and ask him if he can fix it since he apparently broke it.

you took a risk when you did this, so i don't think you actually deserve a new wii.

however, if he's a jerk about it, i'd enlist the aid of a calm, intelligent adult (perhaps a parent?). to go in and talk to him. have them say that thgey either want the wii fixed, or the $100 back.

threatening to sue would be pretty pointless, but if he won't cooperate, they can threaten to write to the corporate headquarters of whatever store this is and explain the situation to the head office in full detail.

if you get your $100 back, go home with your broken wii and a lesson learned.

one last thing, did you buy the chip or did he? if he did, you don't deserve the cost of the chip back either, only what he charged you for labor.

 

[-FCM-]

Of course I wouldn't sue, but I would forcefully negotiate. I suppose I couldn't really threaten him with anything though, I would just hope we could come to a gentleman's agreement, lol. But that's probably asking for too much. And yeah I did take a risk. I must say I was unaware of the possible side effects though, and he did nothing in the way of warning me. But I will go and talk to him and see what he can do. Thanks for the help.

 

[Rakon]

I had this same problem a couple years back with my PS2. I tried getting my money back, and even with the help of an adult, I still failed. I ended up having to buy a new PS2. A cruel lesson, but now I know.

 

[madster111]

Did you sign any disclaimer stating if he broke your wii, he doesn't have to pay for it?
if no, go back to him with a lawyer and try to scare the money out of him.
if that fails, buy another wii, and sell the broken one+chip for something on ebay..
learn your lesson and move on.

 

[crazycracker22]

Did you sign any disclaimer stating if he broke your wii, he doesn't have to pay for it?
if no, go back to him with a lawyer and try to scare the money out of him.
if that fails, buy another wii, and sell the broken one+chip for something on ebay..
learn your lesson and move on.

You're an idiot.

 

[-FCM-]

Trust me, I know that any sort of legal action will be an expensive, unnecessary overreaction. Lesson learned.

 

[MikeyVassallo]

Duke is right about one thing. If he works for a company that isn't in the business of modding consoles and he is doing it on the side WHILE at work or at least advertising it while at work, saying that you will write a nice letter to the home office of said company might perk his ears up a little.

 

[Frodo_Bag_Feet]

A few things to keep in mind.

First, you shouldn't mod a console if you don't know what the hell you're doing or in this case, the person you paid. Secondly, this really isn't the best of sites to ask these questions without people squabbling over legalities of the issue. Instead it's best to ask the questions at places with like minded individuals *cough/v/cough*.

 

[madster111]

Did you sign any disclaimer stating if he broke your wii, he doesn't have to pay for it?
if no, go back to him with a lawyer and try to scare the money out of him.
if that fails, buy another wii, and sell the broken one+chip for something on ebay..
learn your lesson and move on.

You're an idiot.

Fuck you.

 

[Eyebrowsbv31]

Did you sign any disclaimer stating if he broke your wii, he doesn't have to pay for it?
if no, go back to him with a lawyer and try to scare the money out of him.
if that fails, buy another wii, and sell the broken one+chip for something on ebay..
learn your lesson and move on.

You're an idiot.

hey, that's what i say! copycat.