adheananda

thedap

I know MS has had a bad failure rate with the 360, but this is one you CANNOT blame on them (not the marker. but the failing) Expensive electronics with many moving parts are not meant to be taken everywhere you go, they are meant to sit in one place.

kuzuboshii

frickinharlem3

buttpwner

_Ted_

And his 'heartfelt note' was probably laughed at, mocked, and followed by cleaner on the side of the 360.

Apitoxin

Sorry...can't help but snicker a little....and then yell:

DUH!! SUCKER!!!

GoonieGooGoo

BenignMuffin

The camera never entered Wal-Mart while I had it.

It has the same serial number, but I just can't believe it's the same camera!

Deozaan

Phenom88

crewj

crewj

DarkNessbear

Simply heartless.

This is one 360 tale that is just depressing.

Anyone who makes fun of this one is just as bad as Microsoft.

Heartless.

xMaverick

>>he had no choice but to send it in for repair.

Uhmm, credit card and an Elite purchase? Can you imagine the resale value on a RRoD with that kind of art?? Perfect for exhibiting on a shelf with not a lick of interaction. Or perhaps the lad actually opens his figurines from their bubble packaging to PLAY with them. Freakish!

Brackynews

@Father ColdCuts (please donate to my charity event. Link on...: HA HA croud! CROWD sorry

GOD

@AstrayPenguin: Yeah, but you are not talking about the same thing...

What developers who helped make Halo 1,2 or 3 can you name and spot in a croud? I don't know any, but people who ain't that into games know Miyamoto.

Putting "in Jokes" in your games doesn't mean the developers are well known. Where do you get your logic from...

GOD

neojam

AnTi PRO

I feel really bad for this kid.

Sniper_Zegai

When I got it back, the space was gone.

chinesedentist

Media attention might get you some help with some Bungie employees that might feel bad enough for you to do another signing, but it's never coming back as it was. It's really the only card you could play in this case. Good Luck.

Mongoosekun

WordVsVoid

Poor guy. You'd think Microsoft would comment on the situation, but nooo.

AceLosesKing

I love how everyone jumps on the 'damnit, MS!' bandwagon. This could have just been one measly person who didn't get the memo and made a mistake. Doesn't mean all of MS is out to erase everything on xboxs.

Kovitlac

I feel sorry for him, I really do. He made the appropriate efforts to make sure nothing would happen to it.(Even a letter, thats paperwork) So thats the main reason. He got screwed like two times. One his Xbox 360 Kicking the can, then all the signatures getting rubbed off and art.

Its really hard to believe that this was an accident, and not some asshole that did this to him. Someone that just said.. "Lifes a bitch to me and I am going to make life a bitch to this guy as well"

The only way I could see something like this happening, is a HUGE lack of common sense somewhere in the line, with the whole communication ordeal.

Or it was shipped to another country where they don't speak or read English to be repaired.

It's not his fault the Xbox360 broke, but it is his fault as far as sending it off.... but he really should have been able to rely on a business to keep up with its word. Especially in this case.

Here's a scenario as well, let's just imagine, you could consider his Xbox360 a collectible even fried as it was. So let's say said repair person, takes the serial #'s off, (If just stickers) sticks them on another box. And then on said box, scribbles in the general area that the signatures were on his previous box. And then rubs this clean to make it look like some kind of screw up. This would totally make people think that an accident had happened. When said repair person had said xbox360 at home with all the nice signatures on it. Of course.. thats probably a bit too creative on my thinking.

--Core--

Whatever. Cling to the illusion of an evil master overlord sitting in his office with this guy's case, laughing about his suffering and beating small children with his pillow case full of cash.

Idiots.

DeviousOne

rodsky

i dont get why someone would do that.

joelface

el_rezzo

el_rezzo

However, How stupid was it to send that 360 for repair in the first place! i would have gone to yellow pages and looked for a local repairer, screw the warranty.

From my time in customer services fthough, this is so typical, guy on end of phone makes promises, he speaks to the warehouse/repair centre/head office, who assure him all will be fine, he tells customer all will be fine. End result, not all fine at all SNAFU.

Local Authorised Repairers. A good system, whatever happened to that?

ManiacFive

gatormatt

LOL damn, gotta love all those M$ stories lately.

neojam

Sinnbox

This guy should know better than to send that in to get serviced. I'm sure that MS has outsourced the repair labor, and they probably don't care what goes bac to the customer as long as it has the right HDD, and Serial #. plus most PC/console Repair tech's are super nerds(Believe me I took several years worth of classes for this stuff.) one of them probaly poped off teh top cover and put it on his at home...

Sinnbox

man_in_gauze

Xmaster

This whole thing is very fishy. It's not easy to wipe off permanent marker.

This also brings up the point that even those 360's that have had no problems so far probably will eventually.

Sugarbloodsuckers

For those bashing Microsoft, you seriously should leave them alone. It was an incredibly stupid mistake made by someone that does not matter in the grand scheme of things. If it was something that all the staff conspired on for the sole purpose of ruining someones day then ok you would all have a point.

Its a real shame that he had to go through this, I hope they can get the signatures again.

Black Arts Viper

As for the cleaning part I've just written a comment on the linked blog, suggesting that it might have something to with the outsourcing of the cleaning to a country like India or Mexico. Sadly, we see this in Denmark as well. To save a few bucks big (and some times smaller corporations, too)corporations usually outsource things like customer service and repair maintenance. I find it highly annoying, since it means that the quality of the customer service and repair maintenance seems to have gone downhill over the last 5-10 years or so...

thurauh1

Microsoft itself does not repair the console. So no one at Microsoft took the case. The case was cleaned, because it's part of the repair process. Simple as that.

DeviousOne

Gam3r

DrunkRaba

baked ham

D3Anon

:(

Onizuka-GTO

I feel sorry for him.

It must Suck.

Shaverdian

Evo

I had a buddy whose 360 ringed out, and they refused to even look at it when the determined it was tampered with. I don't think Microsoft would've touched it sans case.

doubtful

I don't know if a corporation can indemnify themselves from vicarious liability through a warranty clause. Any lawyers, legal scholars, or skilled Googlers know?

It certainly wouldn't be the first or the last time a warranty contained a clause that didn't stand up to legal scrutiny.

Luckily for Microsoft, an issue like this would probably never make it to court.

doubtful

MistahJGM

some of the autograph's on it were starting to fade anyway.

at least he took picture's of it so his memories can live on.

can we agree to disagree folks?

Microsoft isn't the first CR nightmare folks.

God i hate talking to my health insurance and phone company, because i get someone from India.

but i wont post 300 comments about their crappy service.

Dakobah

@KingDavid73: Who knows the guys situation, we shouldn't judge unless we know.

Dr.Chocobo

It is unforgivable and Microsoft should be on their bellies asking, nay... begging for forgiveness.

I do not know what I would do if I was him, my own blood pressure has gone up just thinking about what he is going through after losing all that.

MistahJGM

DeviousOne

rodsky

Oops, Red Ring of Death
Hope my memories are safe
Should have bought Elite

Mr.SithNinja

rodsky

Evo

KEITH1437

Neoistheone2000

Directly from the warranty:

"No information (oral or written) or suggestions given by Microsoft, its agents or suppliers or its or their employees, shall create a warranty or condition or expand the scope of this Limited Warranty."

And that limited warranty states only that it will be in proper working condition.

justhesh

FtGF

I was under the impression that in your previous post you were referring to the person who actually worked on the repair of the 360. My bad.

DeviousOne

FrogJon

My heart goes out to you...I knew there was a reason I didn't buy an Xbox360...and this adds to it.

I know Nintendo wouldn't do something like this (atleast I hope so)

jmac777

Mr.SithNinja

Slightly off topic but when I sent my Vaio they send back a line art of my laptop marking all the indention on it which they did nothing about.

I feel so back for this guy I really do and I hope the guys at Bungie hear about it and send a mighty gift his way. Nothing would replace the memory of the sheer pride in having that holy grail of 360.

stromasdragon

DeviousOne

baked ham

baked ham

Old-school Sonic fanboy

I was noticing a whole bunch of "This is why I bought a PS3 cause Microsoft have shitty customer rep" etc posts, which is why I posted my response. This has nothing to do with Sony, so that's why I posted my comment.

Also, Mr.SithNinja, the person most likely working on the repairs of the 360 is paid very little, and has a sheet in front of him/her telling them what to do. They follow that sheet, or they get fired. It's simple as that. They don't have the time, nor the inclination to note "Hey, that 360 looks really pretty!" and preserve it. They have to do their job, and their job is to follow that repair sheet. So they clean it and they fix it and they send it back. End of story.

DeviousOne

baked ham

DaveKap

Mr.SithNinja

And you know what? Sony eventually fixed that guy's console anyway. Hopefully Microsoft has the sense to fix this situation too. Oh, and another thing, who are the Sony fanboys here? I guess I haven't been reading all of the comments, but all of what I've been keeping up with and responding to have had nothing at all to do with Sony. This is about this instance, and that's it. Having something negative to say about Microsoft doesn't mean that you have nothing but positive feeling for Sony.

baked ham

FtGF

Second, the rep told him something that was beyond the scope of their job. There's no way the service rep could have realistically assured him like they did in such a unique case. They're virtually receptionists; all they do is take the call, take a "message", and pass it along. In fact, the rep was probably only trying to be comforting. Unfortunately, the rep still doesn't have that kind of control over the situation. The best hope the owner would have actually had was to take the mater straight to a higher-up.

Third, the whole thing most likely falls under the parts of the warranty that warn an owner, and tell them the company can't be held responsible. Just like how with infomercials the broadcaster isn't responsible for the claims that are made by the advertisers. All they can assure is that it will come back in one piece. It was already practically in writing that what did happen could happen. The owner decided to take the chance any way. Unluckily, the result wasn't in his favor.

Now, should Microsoft have to do something to remedy this? No, not at all. But could the people involved be sympathetic and send him a newly autographed console, faceplate, or some swag? Yeah, that could be easily arranged and they might be willing.

justhesh

Sony is well known for having absolutely horrendous customer service, so your arguments are pretty much moot and void. Example? [www.ripten.com]

Secondly, the person he talked to on the phone should get fired, or should be looking for a new job. No one else is to blame here. I feel bad for the guy, but frankly, this is corporate America we're dealing with. You think any company as big and massive as Microsoft has the time to deal with each individual unique request that comes through?

No.

They have set policies, and they follow them, because frankly, that's the best, most efficient way to run a corporate entity. I'm sorry dude, but you got screwed through a bad customer rep and your own naiveness.

And to everyone who claims this is exactly why they will never buy a 360 etc. You're going to deliberately cut yourself off from a huge library of excellent games simply because someone's sob story on the internet? Get a clue.

DeviousOne

So, yes, I am saying that liking Rooster Teeth tells a lot about someone's sense of humour. It's just... bad. Blander than Ctrl-Alt-Delete (is that even possible?) and more pathetic than XKCD's "me and my (imaginary) girlfriend!" strips.

It definitely deserves to be mentioned here in the future: [badwebcomics.blogspot.com]

mexxxant

FtGF

There simply is no legal backing in the United States for your erroneous assumptions.

It's called vicarious liability. A corporation is responsible for the actions of their employees, and as I said before a contractor is responsible for the actions of their subcontractors.

This complete lack of knowledge concerning business ethics, legal responsibility, liability, and customer service leads me to believe some of you have never had a job in the corporate world in your life.

[en.wikipedia.org]

And before you skim that article and claim this is an instance of 'frolic,' it is usually only criminal activity that falls withing that scope.

doubtful

Cola82

@doubtful: At this point you are better off arguing your case to a brick wall. It is't as thick as justhesh's head and will be more likely to understand the very simple concept that he is refusing to grasp.

Mr.SithNinja

they need to teach this shit in high school

rodsky

You can't really blame Microsoft as a company for it though. It was just one employee or employees in the repair area.

Except you can. Legally (and ethically) Microsoft is responsible for the actions of their employees when those employees are acting as agents of the company.

That's why hospitals also get sued when a doctor makes a mistake. The company is responsible for their employees.

How have so many developed this belief that a CSR can promise a customer something but the customer has no expectation for follow-through on those promises?

When you call Microsoft customer service, you aren't speaking to Joe or Steve, you're speaking to Microsoft.

doubtful

baked ham

You hire someone its your responsibility to make sure they hold up to the standards and quality of the company.

This is the key issue with Microsoft they are so much about cutting corners and less about helping you.

Volomon

Kotaku - The Happy Clique for Hypocrites!

Amazing-Steve

Repition is necessary because you are equating a collectable item with one-of-a-kind hand drawn artwork and as a fancy paint job.

I was not the author of the analogy so I'm not equating anything with anything. In fact, my initial comment addressed to you was to point out how silly it was that you were (and still are) equating Microsoft with a 'local repair shop' for automobiles, which is absurd on every level.

The local repair shop didn't make the car.
The local repair shop isn't the issuer of the warranty for the car.

It would be in your best interest not to go to the local garage because of the limited edition nature of the vehicle.

And while that may well be true, any damage done to the vehicle, especially if the clerk at the shop tells you up front no damage will be done, is still the responsibility of the shop.

Fortunately, in America, the legal system agrees and we are able to seek reparation from those who wrong us. It may not be a perfect legal system, but at least they don't tell you you're screwed and you should have taken your car to a different shop.

doubtful

Amazing-Steve

The fault lies solely on the shoulders of the rep that erroneously assured him, and no one told them to do that. They acted on their own accord. Unfortunately, the owner chose to believe the rep about something the rep would have no control over. And the repair center, which is also not Microsoft, was only doing its job.

Trying to put this all back on Microsoft is pure sensationalism. Yeah, his console broke, Microsoft's bad. But other than that, they're wrongly being made the fall guy for a rep going off script and an owner that fell for it.

justhesh

Volomon

kojirodensetsu

Jeez, that's just unbelievable.

I swear.... sometimes I honestly think that Microsoft is intentionally trying to bully their already small fanbase to make their next console a failure."

The maker of the THE most used OS in the world and a console that's miles ahead of Sony, and MS has a small fan base. You REALLY are too stupid to live. Please swallow shotgun and pull the trigger. Thank you.

Amazing-Steve

rodsky

Oh he understands it alright, but like all Sony fanboys, if the facts can't support their argument, they are just ignored or spun. They're kind of like the Republicans of the video game world.

Amazing-Steve

must there be (#@(&*(#& microsoft! "they killed my dog and stole my sister and burned my house down!"

?

Dakobah

Plus, in either case they wouldn't be responsible for it... since it probably falls under the "hay not my fault" portion of the warranty.

ekkobi

rodsky

You're trying to make this into some kind of special scenario when it isn't. I'm diabetic, so I don't eat ice cream unless it's sugar free. If I go to my local ice cream shop and order sugar free ice cream, then they tell me "coming right up" and serve me sugar filled ice cream and I become ill, it is their fault. I asked for something specific to suit my needs, they agreed, and then they give me something else entirely. It's not my fault for trusting the guy at the ice cream shop to give me what I ask for.

baked ham

Jobbo_Fett

Amazing-Steve

Gigith

I say sue their assess of, doing that to someone is just to cruel, I would have gone berserk calling support screaming the poor bastards ear off writing hate mail all around in pure heartbreak sorrow.

God I hope this gets fixed for him, I pray that they just removed his old case and still have it so that they can send it to him.

TakeoNinja

JamieA

superbabyproject

Honestly this story alone has sealed it for me. I AM NEVER GOING TO BUY a 360. I was going to get one eventually when hardware problems were reduced significantly, but now? Fuck Microsoft

LittleBigPlaneteer

nypad5

Gonzodamus

Quine

FtGF

However, a note should have been sent back saying as to why they cleaned it off or replaced the case. I could see the ink getting smudged. Surprisingly, body oils seem to easily affect permanent marker when it's applied to plastic.

adinnieken

When you get a shipping box from Microsoft they include a letter specifically telling you to remove any customized bits you want to keep and only ship the console back.

In my case that involved removing the faceplate and hard drive.

When I got my new unit back it had a new serial number and a new manufacturing date along with a new white faceplate.

The only remnants I have from my launch machine are the original faceplate, controller, hard drive, power supply and video cables.

This guy can't complain about Microsoft not reading and honoring his letter because he clearly didn't read the warnings on the letter they sent him in the first place.

Jordan Lund

landonweber

"Some say the ducks went to Canada. Others say, Toronto."

Some even say the ducks went to Southern Ontario... but either way, we know *somone* North of the 49th parallel stole Joe's frickin' ducks.

So that pretty much narrows it down to the filthy Canucks, or one of those shifty Danes who lay claim to Hans island.

Sorry, what were we talking about here?

thebigsmoke

rawg

Fuck Microsoft Customer Support.

PissedPS3Fan

rodsky

Why thank you. It's nice to know I'm not the only one who thinks so. :) Haha.

It's also nice to know I'm not the only one who still believes in consumer rights.

doubtful

zlimness

Dominic0904

Tepoz

Tepoz

baked ham

and if stories like this turn you away from getting a 360 then you are probably prone to doing something stupid like this guy and expect tone treated like royalty when there's anti-MS dribble on the console

rodsky

Both are to blame.

Tepoz

acez2087

thedap

Scrapple

OftenNot

Isn't the RRoD something that's tied to excessive use? Just saying maybe there's more than one reason you're PS3 hasn't broke down yet.

TRT-X

baked ham

Yeah, because it's not like people like to make crap up to make one console look worse than another...

If it's true, this sucks. And if he has pictures to prove the condition it was in when he sent it...then there should be some sort of redemption.

TRT-X

You guys aren't listening. Microsoft does not repair the consoles themselves.

No, they do. I don't care if they subcontract it out, they are still legally and ethically responsible for the work of their subcontractors.

If you hire a contractor to renovate your bathroom and they in turn hire a subcontractor to do some plumbing, if anything goes wrong with that plumbing it is the primary contractor's responsibility and they are the entity you'd legally seek reparations from.

All you're repeating is an excuse to blame the victim here, a fellow gamer with a customized 360 that, like so many others ringed out. He just wanted it fixed, and people here are treating him like some sort of idiot because he sent it to the manufacturer it was warranted with.

Sigh.

doubtful

baked ham

the only one at fault here is the Microsoft employee who assured him his system would be fine

There we go. It's not the owner's fault for trusting the only official place to get your console repaired, who told him that it would be fine. It's also bullshit to say this man should've just saved up his money and bought a new 360. I don't condone giving more money to a company that can't be trusted and provides a faulty product.

baked ham

Microsoft is not the customer service rep that gave him false assurance.

Microsoft doesn't repair consoles, a third party does.

His console was no different than any other console aside from some doodlings, so it went to a repair facility same as the rest.

justhesh

Like my beloved PS3 that's still running nicely without a hitch as of today. Running smoothly, perfectly, flawless :)

Yeah.....

HobbaHobba

Like I said before, the only one at fault here is the person for sending in the 360 and the Microsoft employee who assured him his system would be fine"

It bears repeating.

justhesh

baked ham

TechnoPirate

Completely heartless.

crashlanding

If you have a fancy custom paint job on a vehicle and your engine breaks, the dealer is responsible, assuming there is a warranty for fixing that car. They are further responsible for any damage they do to your fancy paint job while it is in their care.

The engine of the Xbox was broken, so the dealer fixed it, and in the process ruined his fancy paint job. They are liable for the damages.

doubtful

Tepoz

danbellinger1

So you don't want to buy an Xbox 360 because this guy had his stuff erased off the case by accident? I don't really see the logic there, but ok. I'm guessing you just want to find an excuse to say you hate Microsoft.

NutManIV

Tw33kR

Tw33kR

ph15h HATES ph15h

This is the most ridiculous thing i have ever heard. He already bought one, why should he buy another one if his didn't work? That's what the whole warranty/repair service is for! He took precautions to ensure that it wouldn't be erased, and they did it anyways! What is he supposed to do, show up in person w/ the box and watch them repair it to verify that the case isn't erased or replaced?

maxx1223

rich8606

Like I said before, the only one at fault here is the person for sending in the 360 and the Microsoft employee who assured him his system would be fine.

DeviousOne

Part-Time-Viking

Master Saji

TheTog

Tepoz

Swarm19

But if the story is legitimate, he should get every gaming website and blog to run this story.

If the story is legitimate, MS owes him, by my damages calculation, a new Halo edition 360, a Legendary Edition of Halo 3, a ten year gold subscription to Live, and a written apology from the a-hole that did this.

seafisch

Lovely person, isn't he?

Old-school Sonic fanboy

Again, you buy a factory car, you get it customized by Von Dutch. You need extensive repairs, you steer away from the factory garages and go to a specialist that works on classic cars or custom cars. The local garage representative on the phone probably said that no damage would happen to your Von Dutch customized paintwork and detail, but you would not chance it as it's the artwork that makes the car valuable. You go to someone who specializes in keeping artwork and modifications intact.

Tepoz

toneroni

TrettOff

tsathoggua

@ the folk criticizing me for the service agreement issue, does the customer not know how to read? It's his duty as well as Microsofts to make sure that he understands the full gravity of sending his 360 to them for repair.

I don't believe that I have misplaced any of my feelings, I don't feel for either side of the situation. The customer should not have sent in his 360 if he valued it that much, and MS should be working repairing their ever-growing failure rate.

Part-Time-Viking

Candlejack

justhesh

heretrix

ALLoGISTIC1

It's true what the previous poster said about Darfur though. If people gave half as much of a $hit about the problems elsewhere than they do about Nathan's Xbox the world would truly be a better place.

jf04gli

However, owning a Von Dutch custom painted and detailed vehicle means you should be wary of having extensive repairs at a garage that does not specialize in working on classic cars or custom cars.

Your analogy doesn't hold because Microsoft is the specialized shop for repairing 360s.

doubtful

edb87