So, I got home, unpacked it and began playing on the drums. Shortly after starting I began to notice that occasionally the drums would seem to not work for a few seconds and the 4 LEDs on the top would flash and then go back to normal. This would happen maybe once every minute and I would lose a few drum hits in the process. Quite clouded by the new toy, I didn't really notice it as a fault at first, but then we plugged the guitar wireless receiver in to the drum wireless receiver (or the other way around...) and then it went mental. During play the guitar would also disconnect and reconnect as I discovered that was what it was actually doing. It was also doing it much more regularly and more annoyingly.
I tried various combinations but to no avail, the drums were the main cause as when plugged in the guitar on its own, it worked great. This is when the real problems started. I looked through the box it came in and couldn't find any packing note or invoice/receipt. At worst I thought they had made a mistake, but I thought I would give them the benefit and so printed out the various e-mails and web-pages I could find to show that I had bought it from them. On Saturday morning I called around a few Game retail stores to check stock availability and the ones closest to me were out. I eventually got through to one in Lakeside who said they had stock, but once I said I needed to swap my kit they magically changed their mind and the stock was now only "pre-order". I found another store in Lakeside and drove down there to simply swap my kit.
On arriving at the store the first brick-wall I encountered was the assistant telling me they couldn't do anything without a receipt/invoice and I should go away and come back when I had one. Not being a very nice customer, I stated that I wanted a new set today, regardless. By now another unhelpful assistant manager came over and stated that they Game.co.uk and the retail stores were different companies and couldn't help me at all. I was very insistent and after much arguing they said I could try to call Customer Services and ask them to trace my order through my Game reward card, and only then could they organise a replacement. I asked if they could call, had a direct line or could even let me use their phone, but their response was basically "sod off". So I did the only thing I could do, I stood in the centre of the store, blocking traffic while I called Customer Services. Unfortunately for me, I was on the phone for a minimum of 30 minutes before I got through to someone.
I spoke with a very helpful lady who found my order and said she wanted to speak to the assistant manager. She said it was no problem to get a replacement. I handed the phone to him and he took a few details and the proceeded to argue with her that I didn't have an invoice and that he couldn't take the item back without one. He lost the argument quite quickly and then proceeded to try to get me a replacement and out of the store as soon as possible. Let me tell you a little about Game's policy on returns "Partial returns of bundles cannot be made in Store, but must be returned by post using the details above". I was then quite suprised when the assistant manager told an assistant of his to open a bundle box and just give me a replacement set of drums, not even the box the drums come in, but just the drum unit itself. I went along with it, managing to get them to agree to giving me the cymbals and the kick-pedal etc. The assistant manager also wanted the guy to take both boxes out of the back of the store and swap everything out of the way. I was a bit paranoid that they would pull one over on me and so insisted we change it in the middle of the shop, plus it would make a bit of a scene I hoped. I wasn't wrong!
Half-way through swapping everything over, as I was given the drum-set, I noticed there was a whole section of the "new" drums loose, as though it had been dismantled or broken. At this point I think the assistant manager was too embarrased to argue anymore. The floor was covered in 2 sets of drums, both faulty, with me, my girlfriend, her cousin, the assistant manager and an assistant all standing around them. He just said "get him a new set and pack all this away". So, out I walked with a complete new set of drums that I'm glad to say, after trying them for a while, havn't given me any trouble and in many ways seem much better quality than the originals. The sensitivity of the original drums was a little off, but the new ones are perfect.
The game itself is not as good as Rock Band but the instrument seem much better. I just can't wait for the drum incompatibility problem to be resolved so I can use them on Rock Band and Rock Band 2!
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