ok, so I decided to go ahead and pick up BF1942. I had a little cash in the paypal account...enough to cover the game and a joystick.

Paypal has a feture called "shop anywhere" that gives you a virtual mastercard. I figured I'd use this rather than withdrawing the funds and waiting for it to hit my account

I chose Best Buy, because they said they had the stuff in stock, and I could order it online and then just go pick it up in the store. Seemed easy enough.

So I ordered the game and a Logitech Wingman Extreme joystick. Came to about $96 out of the $98 I had in there.

Order process went smooth. I got the email notification from paypal saying that the account was charged for the amount of my order.

I get a confirmation from Best Buy, and it says the game is in stock, but not the joystick. Then it says I can come pick the game up if I want, but I need to bring ID (no problem) the confirmation number (no problem) and a copy of the credit card (BIG problem).

How am I supposed to do this when its a virtual credit card? GRR

I email them explaining the problem. They tell me I MUST have the credit card to pick it up. I tell them to just ship it then (they can do this without seeing a copy of the credit card but I can't pick it up in person without it). They tell me thy can't convert my order from pickup to delivery!! WTF!! They say they canelled my order, and I will have to resubmit it as a delivery instead. In the meantime, they have already taken the funds. They say they are crediting my account for the game, but the joystick was never charged. It was just authorized and it will be released depending on my financial institutions policies. Well, paypal's policy is 10 days!! And then Best Buy tells me that their credit to my account may take two to three billing cycles! again, WTF!!

So, it looks like I am just not destined to get this game before the LAN party for a little practice with it and the joystick. The only reason I had any cash in there was because I agreed to deliver the sold fiero to TTA1415 on my way to the LAN party for a small fee. I guess I should have just waited for the withdrawal...

again: grumble grumble




EDIT: and what do you want to bet, paypal will charge me their percentage again when the amount from best buy is credited back...