My wife has “signed off” on the purchase of an Xbox 360 Kinect. Being the semi-somewhat-half-frugal guy that i am (I believe that constitutes 1/8th frugal), I decided to shop around on some of the local classifieds. To my surprise, someone was looking to unload theirs for $60. I shot him a text with some generic questions: Does it have HDMI out? How big is the hard drive? Does it have wireless?

He explained that it did NOT have a hard drive, but that wasn’t a deal-breaker for me. 250GB hard drives can be had for about $20, so whatever. However, he very clearly stated that it did indeed have HDMI out. “SOLD! I can meet you at such and such place at x time.”

We met at the agreed upon location, and I handed over the cash while he handed me the box. “Hey … umm, where’s the HDMI out on this?”

“OH! ha ha … it’s my buddy’s box. Let me ask him.” He leaned into the car and asked about the HDMI. The guy driving muttered something about not having HDMI, but what did it matter? “Yah … sorry guys. That’s a deal-breaker. I need HDMI out.”

They handed me back my $60, and I drove off. Not a minute later they call and say, “Hey, ya know … my buddy brought this all the way up here for you to buy, and he doesn’t want it … would you take it for $40?”

“Well, no … it still doesn’t have HDMI out, and that’s what I’m interested in. I have a HUGE TV that runs 1080p … I don’t want a box that isn’t HD.”

“OH! Yah, well, hey … I have a huge TV too and it looks GREAT! It’s all just a signal man.”

“Yes … but the signal coming out of THAT box isn’t in high def, or it would have an HDMI out.”

*silence on the other end*

“So …. you don’t want it?”

“No thanks, but thanks for offering all the same.” *click*

It just infuriated me that a) they  lied to get me to buy it, b) act all pissy when they call back and ask me to buy it anyway, and I tell them no. I want HDMI out; I’m GETTING HDMI out. Period. How hard is that to understand? Seriously.

Oh well. The search continues.