Kotaku
Nathaniel loved his Xbox 360, and it loved him back. Purchased at launch, the Nathaniel brought his beloved console everywhere he went, and it showed. The case was lovingly festooned with signatures from Bungie staff, Xbox 360 team members, and even a sketch from Rooster Teeth Comics Luke McKay. His 360 was covered with fond memories, but the outer beauty was soon betrayed by the inner ugliness. Nathaniel's 360 died, and he had no choice but to send it in for repair. He took every precaution to make sure that he would get his friend back in the same condition he sent it, getting assurances from the phone support specialist and even including a heartfelt letter in the packing box, sure to catch the attention of even the most mindless of Microsoft repair drones. And it worked! Soon he was holding his beloved Xbox 360 in his hands - and probably crying.
The serial numbers matched of course, but the case would never been the same. Completely blank save for a few smudges thought to be the remnants of diluted permanent ink. Unless they somehow printed up a new serial number sticker to match the old one, someone had cleaned off the case completely. No signatures, no custom artwork - nothing.
I cannot even begin to imagine what was going through the head of the person who did this. Perhaps there was an accident of some sort - some thinner spilled or something - and rather than return the case with a smudge they simply cleaned it off. Maybe someone was just being a sadistic bastard. I've no clue, but knowing the reason why won't help. That's the saddest thing about the whole situation. Nothing will bring those signatures back, so what could Microsoft even do to appease Nathaniel? Even if they somehow got the case passed around to the various signers and had the artwork redone it could never be the same. What a complete and utter nightmare.
As with all stories of this sort, there's always the chance this could be some sort of hoax, though I highly doubt it, as other than discrediting Microsoft I see no real gain from making this up. We're currently trying to reach Microsoft for comment on the situation.
Hit the link below for the full story, including the text of the letter Nathaniel wrote and more pictures of the formerly signed 360.
Another Gamer Screwed by Microsoft [Hawty McBloggy - Thanks Everyone!]
Comments
BASTARDS!
The Red Eraser of Death! :(
I feel for the guy, but to be honest, I would have never shipped that thing off if it was worth that much to me. I mean really- surely it was worth more than $400 to him? Just buy another one.
That being said, there's no excuse that this was even an issue for him. It's sad that a console like the 360 is marred by such a terrible failure rate.
*sniffles* Thats so sad! :[
Yeah I saw this earlier. How dumb to you have to be to think he would want it cleaned?
Damn . . . that's fucked up.
The fact that Microsoft does things like this often and yet people continue to buy their products shows that gamers have Stockholm syndrome.
It's hard to believe someone could THAT clueless. To take that much time to rub permanent marker off of that poor Xbox ><
It's like hard to believe one person could be that stupid.
Microsoft is out to get you, beware!
Someone must've been thinking he was too much of a nerd. And that person was right.
That. Fucking. Blows. Well good luck to you Nathaniel, hopefully something good will happen to possibly rectify such a dumb situation.
I would have just kept it though and bought a new one. That's just me of course, I've got the spare cash, not to say Nathaniel, or anyone else for that matter, does. But that does really suck.
Life is a nightmare.
holy crap. my jaw actually physically dropped. I feel so bad for this guy.
@Pwnocchio:
Indeed!
About the only thing that MS can do to appear more senseless and heartless in the eyes of people right now is for every MS product sold to have a picture of Bill Gates slamming a bag of kittens against a wall.
man they suck at making working consoles and now they suck at cleaning them. look at those smudges!
Why!!!!
I'd be livid if I were in his shoes.
Wow, there's at least one callous heartless bastard over at the MS repair shop for sure.
considaeetadivorce!
Some Microsoft employee clearly has that 360 sitting in his living room now.
Perhaps he should have bought another console.
The signed 360 itself was worth more than another console if he sent them a letter explaining how much it meant to him.
I've sent letters in my xbox shipments. It's me saying "Fix this fucking thing or give me another working one"
It sucksfor him, yes ... but I find it hard to really vilify microsoft for this.
See I thought it was foing to be a happy story before I hit the jump... I thought he was crying for happiness or something.
I feel for this guy. Man I hope Microsoft compensates him bigtime with something amazing.
My account got hacked for Recon Armor in Halo 3, and Microsoft says they can't do anything about it because the hacker changed my account information, and therefore cannot verify the validity. Microsoft support is bullcrap
That sucks, but if this is true MS would be good to do a nice publicity stunt and give him a special Xbox with more signatures and stuff than the last one.
i read this earlier today. That completely sucks. Even if microsoft sends him a new one that is exactly the same with autographs and such its just not the same. The memories of going and meeting the people in the gaming community is not something that can be replaced that easily.
That is just unbelievable. I mean it, unbelievable.
Whoever did this to him should be shot. Then fired. Then shot again.
@SpikyBry: Lulz. Sounds like you're trying to sweet talk your way into getting someone elses account with recon armor.
I think we should set up a charity fund, I mean I was going to send some money to kids starving because of the conflict in Dafur but this is so much more tragic. he lost some ink signatures and a drawing. we should all cry for that.
hey.. I'm guessing that whomever did this didn't know what he/she was erasing... I mean... from the looks of it.. someone who doesn't even know gaming that well might have thought it was just a drawing a friend made filled with signature from friends... maybe they thought it was going to someone else, so opted to clean it...
@Gofthick: yeah i have a feeling a MS employee swapped the case with his own which is where the smudge came from.
@NightMystic: exactly. the signatures aren't what made it special for him; it's the memories and you can't replace those.
@kingrottenboy: Dude, shut the hell up. Go be an ass somewhere else.
Wow, I feel sorry for the guy, that's got to suck big time
Maybe he could ask them to sign it again next time it goes in for repairs. :|
@swirldude: And yet people still buy EA games and even PS3 who's home town citizens refuse to support American products simple because they are not Japanese. I always wonder what kind of sht Sony would be in if we treated them the same way. I avoid EA games, as for between 360 and PS3 I'm choosing to snubb Sony (well at least till the price comes down and I give in ;)
@Figcoinc:
"We are unable to comply with your request to provide an autographed Xbox 360. Consoles such as that may be purchased from a retail location and taken to the nearest convention or event for signatures."
I'm not sure what this guy was expecting, but I NEVER would have sent this in for repair.
This need to forwarded to the Consumerist! Send it Kotaku! Then the owner of this 360 should send an EECB. This is totally unacceptable.
The letter he put in there was way too long. When the techs at the repair facility opened the package, they probably glanced at it, saw all that text, tossed it aside without reading it, then cleaned it off without a second thought.
I wouldn't rule out malice, though. It's easy enough to imagine some disgruntled tech reading the letter and going through a lot of time and effort to clean it off, just to screw the owner over. I've seen similar acts of technician-aggression back when I used to do computer repair.
I would've bought a new 360 and transplanted the case, personally. trusting something that valuable to Microsoft customer service is folly befitting of a Greek tragedy.
Based on his Serial Number, and shipping info, MS customer support "should" be able to track down the contractor/scum/repair dude-ette that worked on his 360. Or at least the department, and then demand an explanation! Guy, based on what we know, took every precaution he could to keep it in tact. I could understand a few smudges on the ink, but not complete eraser.
That, just, blows.
@daisukeumon:
[consumerist.com]
@DarkGildon: And you're a prick. Oh well, right?
I love how they tell the story like it's some kid's 360, and the guy is actually a registered nurse. If it was a kid I'd kind of feel bad, but this guy shouldn't have been dumb enough to send it in to Microsoft's clueless monkeyhouse for repair. Buy another one and transfer the shell over to it.
.
I would be bothered it it was signed by maybe Yu Suzuki, Shigeru Miyamoto, Hideo Kojima hell even Matsuura or Greenblat or even both!. Halo though! Just another FPS developed by faceless people in a large company!
While I think it was stupid of him to send in something as irreplaceable as that in the first place, it is still inexcusable.
Man up and do something about this, Microsoft. You assholes have fucked up royal yet again.
My heart just dropped about 2 floors and I feel like crap after hearing this. :(
It's like losing my companion cube all over again
Ugh, this makes me sick. I'm glad my Elite hasn't red ringed again; I really don't want to deal with these people.
@brandonf: But Sony didn't do anything to fuck anybody over. You can't blame Sony for the fact that a lot of Japanese people have not bought Xbox 360s. There are a lot of reasons behind it. Just because in your opinion the Japanese have snubbed the 360 for nationalistic reasons, you're going to snub the PS3 for nationalistic reasons? Not only does this make you a hypocrite, but it makes you blind.
Hah, one of the signatures on the back said "360! More like three shitsty!" I bet that is why MS "cleaned" his box.
Ouch. This would be a good chance for Microsoft to earn some good PR though. Get Bungie to sign it or give him a new one. Throw in some recon armor and some Xbox live points. That and find the employee responsible and make him write a personal apology or something.
@Father ColdCuts (please donate to my charity event. Link on...: Ack. If I had lost a Miyamoto signature, I would be out for blood.
Seriously this guy is going to be so well taken care of by this.
I know a lot of people round here think Microsoft are this huge, faceless, money-grubbing behemoth, but there are plenty of people working there who will make sure this is taken care of (Major - I'm thinking of you).
They will probably bend over backwards and send this guy on trips to studios and everything.
He's going to be ok.
But honestly someone's head should roll over this.
And to think that crazy guy with the porno faceplate was a-ok.
@baked ham: Honestly if I valued something like this so much I would never send it for repair. Yeah I feel bad for the guy, but this is no huge surprise.
SOMEWHERE IN MICROSOFT:
"Paul?"
"Yes, Dave?"
"Did you handle ticket 23243993911?"
"Let me check. Yep, that was one of my numbers."
"Here's a link I think you need to check out."
"Oh. Wait, how is bad? I fixed his 360."
"...in the process, ruining a treasured heirloom. One that the phone guys said would be safe."
"But we always clean the boxes. That's what the S.O.P. says to do."
"You erased signatures, not just of random people, but of actual Microsoft Employees. Our staff. Not just random people."
"But I was just following procedure!"
"It didn't work at Nurenburg and it's not going to work here."
"So I should pack up my stuff."
"No, just go. We'll send you your check, though we may erase the signatures off that one too."
And you know the end result of this is going to be some bleeding heart finding a way to get him another 360 signed by even more people, so it's kind of hard to feel that bad about it in the first place.
Clearly the case wasnt scrubbed clean, it was replaced and the stickers were exchanged. Someone somewhere has this kids xbox case, and this kind basically got F-ed.
The silly blurry smudge is just to get someone to think they cleaned off the case. Obviously no one in microsoft is so motivated to clean the case, completely covered in writing, yet leave a small, yet noticable smudge behind.
@kingrottenboy: The only person comparing this to physical pain and suffering is you. Ass.
Even though I'm not a fan of Microsoft, I'm going to have to give both parties equal benefit of the doubt. There's not alot of reason for this gentleman to make this up, but at the same time there's not alot of reason for a Microsoft employee to do that to the poor man's machine.
Curious about updates on the matter.
@Gofthick: Exactly....
thats so so lame... :(
I actually would have kept that 360 at home and saves for a new one...Wouldn't risk it...
This is why you get your 360 repaired by a third party
Jeeze, that is grim. However, judging by my calls to microsoft support, neither the staff or the supervisors have the first idea about customer service. It appears to me that they don't have any insight into how by exceeding expectations they could turn around their customers negative experience into a positive. TBH, I would have been more surprised if his console had come back unscathed.
Damn, now I am inspired to write a letter of complaint.
Wow... tottaly bad karma, Microsoft. Shame on you, shame on you...