Teen surprised with video game after playing at store every day
INSIDE EDITION - Christmas came early for this New York teenager when he was gifted a Nintendo Wii U from kind-hearted Best Buy employees after they noticed him coming into the store every day to play on the gaming console.
"He was caught off guard," the manager of the Valley Stream Best Buy on Long Island told InsideEdition.com. "He didn't believe he could walk out of the store with it."
In a video recorded by store manager Rahiem Storr, the teenager could be seen sitting in front of the Wii U on display, playing the same game he played every day, when suddenly, Best Buy employees Kenneth Fernandez and Pal Ndoja approached him.
"On behalf of all of us here at Best Buy, we got you a Wii U so you don't have to come here every day and play," one of them could be heard saying in a video posted to YouTube. "We all chipped in so you could have one for yourself."
The teen, who Storr estimated to be about 16 or 17, was speechless in disbelief. Storr said the employees had to hand over the box with the receipt and proof of warranty for the teen to realize it wasn't a joke.
Employees even bought him the brand new Super Smash Bros. game to play on his console.
"He was shocked," Storr said. "He thought they were joking or playing a trick on him."
The store associates then offered to drive him home to his parents and escort him to the door after he mentioned he didn't feel safe walking home with the gift, worth about $300.
Storr explained the teen has been lingering around their Best Buy location nearly every night for the past month-and-a-half.
"His mom drops him off here," he said. "He loves coming to Best Buy and playing with the games."
Storr said he doesn't know whether the family didn't have money for the gift, or did not think it was a necessary addition to their home, but he is impressed his employees were generous enough to purchase the gaming console and its add-ons out of their own money.
"Why shop at Amazon when you have genuine people in the world?" Storr joked.