When I was flying home last week, I had my Playstation Portable in my coat pocket. I was playing football in the terminal and I didn’t finish the game, so I just put the PSP in my pocket so I could get on the plane, get seated, and finish the game. Well I had Row 2 so there was no, beneath the seat ahead of you, spot and I had to put my backpack in the overhead bin. The consequence of all this is, when I finished my game of football, the only place I had to store my PSP was back in my coat pocket.

The problem with this is, I don’t have deep pockets on that coat. When the plane took off, and banked up hard, all the stuff in my pockets fell out, including my phone and PSP. The PSP ended up three rows back and towards the aisle, so it made quite the trek just falling out of my pocket.

I mention all of this because, in falling out of my pocket and skidding across the plane, one of the little buttons on it fell off and was irretrievably lost. My PSP is fine, and I can play all the games okay. It’s just missing this button.

Cut to today, when I drove around Saskatoon trying to find a store that could sell me a replacement for this button that I could just, stick on, and go back to playing as if the airplane incident never happened. I went to EB Games, which I thought was my best bet. No luck. I went to the Sony Store. He said I was SOL and should try calling Sony and he gave me the number. I went to Toys’R’Us too and asked there, because I was buying my nephew a birthday present anyway. The guy sympathized but couldn’t help either.

So I call Sony. First of all I went through automated phone service HELL. Eventually I get a service guy. I explain to him my problem. I lost the little button that goes on the joystick of my PSP. How can I get a new one?

He asks me a bunch of questions, is anything broken off, is the PSP damaged, and so on. I answer no to everything. I just lost the little button on my PSP. Can I please have any another one?

He puts me on hold for a minute. When he comes back he tells me:

They can not send me a replacement for this little button. I would have to send the WHOLE unit in for service. They don’t have replacement buttons for people to buy. My PSP would have to be discarded, and I would be issued a full replacement unit. To do all of this would cost $79.95 plus GST for a grand total of $82.95.

$83 to replace the stupid button on my PSP. Oh, and he got the province that I live in wrong THREE damn times!!