Gamestop Said Call Nintendo and I Said Are You Serious

This is part two of upgrading to the new 3DS XL Nintendo from a DS XL and first version 3DS.  I decided to open the gaming systems and set up my daughter's so she could just unwrap and go.  I figured having the old SD cards would be enough.  Oh no it is not.

The system requires the OLD nintendo to move your information and purchases to the new system.  Do you think Gamestop told me this?  NO!  Did they know I was upgrading?  YES!  I spent an hour and half in this store trading in the old systems.  Right here I must insert this is not a potshot at Nintendo, because Gamestop sold them to me as authorized dealers for Nintendo.  I will get to the shortcomings of Nintendo and postulations of how such incredibly smart people can neglect everyday thoughts in product design in a moment.

I call the store and get a manager on the phone.  I am expecting the normal coolness that Gamestop people exude in talking with someone as inexperienced as myself in the gaming realm.  Oh man, the romance is over.  I get handed good luck with this problem, as its not ours, and we have reformatted your old systems, but we'll hold them for you to come pick up.  You will have to call Nintendo and work this out with them and you will also have to repurchase these old systems in order to get online with Nintendo as we have no WiFi.  WHAT??  I am fortunate enough to have credit to do this operation, but what about other people that simply saved enough for the new system?  They are screwed.  Nice job of telling people the ins and outs of updating.  This guy wanted me off the phone, and when he told me he was over the store I interpreted that to:  I am the biggest jerk in the store and could care less that you spent over four hundred dollars yesterday.  I about blew a gasket.

I called Nintendo.  That part was painless, and with the old serial numbers the nice lady on the end of the phone said my data was intact, but yes, I had to get the old systems.  So off to the store to pray that manager had went home.  My old systems cost me two hundered and thirty dollars.  I am so glad I had presence of mind to not try going over to Panera bread and using their WiFi.  I just went home and went to bed.

The next day, I plugged in old SD cards and found all my software.  Another call to Nintendo about how to move software between two systems.  This is where Nintendo falls short.  First thing, I can't just move things if I had points on the DS XL, I had to spend them before transfer.  So I lost money on that little venture.  Then I could only transfer all this software to one system.  I could not move the Suduku to my system and let my daughter have Sparkle Snap Shots.  All this took over six hours to do.  Downloading two systems, updating and combining them onto one 3DS. 

Sprint loads my phone into a handy plug and transfers the data every couple of years.  Card or no card.  I had thought it would be so simple.  I need to quit assuming and realize anything with an electrical outlet has the potential to be a customer service nightmare because I refuse to let go of anything I paid for as:  Oh well.  Whatever, I paid for it, I want it, and by God no one is going to make me pay for it a second time.

And people do this every day.  Just chalk it up to whatever the salesperson says as being true.  I really wish I were paid to do this kind of thing, but the only good thing is the fact my little voice saved me the agony of all this drama with a seven year old chomping at the bit to have her new toy.

So buyer beware.  Know your product and do the research, because no one else cares until you make them.  I will say Nintendo has the absolute nicest customer service people and you don't hold for long.  That alone makes the idea of calling them in the future more palatable than switching over to a playstation.  Woe is Me.