Microsoft ruins boy's one-of-a-kind 360

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http://hawtymcbloggy.com/2008/02/28/another-gamer-screwed-by-microsoft/

Seems that the boy's 360 case had been signed by multiple gaming big-dogs, as well as inked up with some nice Halo art.

I notice that all the comments are raging against MS, but it seems to me that the individual employee could and probably did act alone and MS had nothing to do with it as a corporation.

Undoubtedly, the repair agent that opened the RRoD coffin is now the shameful owner of an autographed 360 casing.
 
Can the owner do anything? Sue Microsoft or anything like that? This is complete bullshit. I'm actually mad at you for posting this because it pretty much ruined my night. What a fucking joke. Poor kid.
 
They wiped it clean, they didn't just swap it out. I'm not really sure how to feel about this, yeah someone is a dick for doing it after the guy called and wrote a letter with it, but honestly I wouldn't have sent the thing in to begin with. Even a broke 360 with that many bigwig signatures on it is worth more then a working one. Actually the more I think about it the more i'm shocked they really didn't just swap the cases out, some bastard actually sat there with goo gone or something and wiped it clean, if that ain't great customer service I don't know what is!
 
fuckin stupid for sending it in, should have just kept it if it was that big a deal. People will do some shady shit and no matter how much the guy on the phone says it will be alright he can't say that a pissed off repair guy isn't going to cop his case. I dunno what they expected, like maybe they open the kid's box and some light shoots out like The Ark and everyone has to look away as it is brought into a sealed static-free room while Cliffy B and Bill Gates work on it with golden tools.

It's a fantasy, it goes into a big pile with the other ones and the guy that grabbed that one to fix thought "Hey, this is sweet and I would like to have it as my own. They'll prolly never catch me so, fuck this kid and even if they do find it was me they can fuck off too, I hate this job any how."

This is how the real world works. For the most part, people suck. So just try to find the ones that suck the least.
 
Oh wow. At first I figured they just switched the console... but actually wiping it down? I hope that at least it's some automated, industrial-strength cleaning process and not just some huge jerk with some rags.
 
Wow I'm really upset that happened, like wow. I wouldn't have even sent it in to be perfectly honest, something like that is priceless. It is really disheartening for that to happen as the employee really put some work into wiping that off, it had to be deliberate. I'm sure they can find out what employee it did it and possibly fire that guy, you can't let something like this just slide, not at all.
 
What a dumbass.

He should have bought a new 360, and swapped out the cases with each other.

Or just left the RRoD 360 around as mantle piece and just gamed on a different one.

[quote name='BackInBlack']Why would you trust such a thing with a complete stranger?[/QUOTE]

Exactly.
 
[quote name='BackInBlack']Why would you trust such a thing with a complete stranger?[/QUOTE]

Because... otherwise, you basically have an autographed brick.

I feel bad for the kid, obviously, that took a lot of time and effort to get all those people to sign it. And I doubt MS would to jack shit about it other than send him a free copy of Halo 3 (maybe).:roll:
 
[quote name='Vinny']Because... otherwise, you basically have an autographed brick.

I feel bad for the kid, obviously, that took a lot of time and effort to get all those people to sign it. And I doubt MS would to jack shit about it.[/quote]

Better safe than sorry, and as always, there is a chance that same 360 would have needed fixed again. He had a good run with it. Its a damn shame regardless.
 
I can't believe the kid was using the system in the first place. What, does he practice for little league with his dad's signed Mickey Mantle ball, too?
 
[quote name='Vinny']Because... otherwise, you basically have an autographed brick. [/QUOTE]

If he was thinking about fixing it himself, then he obviously knows how to take the 360 apart.

It would have been an easy case swap if he had just bought a new one himself.
 
I think the lesson the kid learned is far more valuable and will serve him better in life than that console ever would have, regardless of how much monetary value he thought it had.
 
No matter what he was told on the phone, I wouldn't have trusted them and sent in that system. I have been told one thing by a company/employee only to have the opposite happen (such as 1 Sears employee telling me another Sears will PM their price on an item only to go there and be refused the PM)

I feel really bad for him, but how could he not realize this was likely to happen? (or something else to happen that would ruin it)
 
Just out of curiosity, how old is this "boy?" It sounds much worse when you think it's actually a kid, but if the guy knows enough of the game industry names, and considered fixing it himself, then he probably wasn't just some kid.

A part of me thinks it's all staged, it's just written like a huge cry-baby drama. Sucks for the kid if that's actually the case, but maybe I'm just getting a little too internet-jaded.

Someone plug in an LOLcat and make this better...
 
Reading the comments, I think some of them said the owner was not a kid, but a registered nurse. That's besides the point however, he should have known better than to send something he considered priceless into get fixed by the company, despite what the Microsoft agent said.

Lets put it like this, you are an assembly worker in Mexico. You get a xbox to repair with a letter you can't read. You see some artwork that you assume the xbox owner had drawn on the case, and some signatures and other scribbles from people you never heard of all over it. Your standard policy is to clean the cases before and after the repair, so they look "new" and refurbished. Are you going to really question cleaning the case?

I suspect the first thing that happened was the information about preserving the case was never passed beyond the call center (wherever it is located), just a general note that the console should be returned to the original owner, with no mention about the artwork. The letter was never read by anyone, they probably see a letter included with almost every xbox with the owners name, serial number, and other info (incase the address is destroyed on the top of the shipping box) so they just toss them away.

I would be angry if I received a refurbished console after sending mine in and it had graffiti all over it. I would not recognize the artwork and signatures are "famous" people, and would be demanding a "clean" console. (I don't really think game programers signatures have any worth to the general public.)

Future lesson to anyone else who wants this type of stuff on their console and still get it serviced: Have them sign and draw on the removable faceplates, not the console itself.
 
[quote name='zewone']If he was thinking about fixing it himself, then he obviously knows how to take the 360 apart.

It would have been an easy case swap if he had just bought a new one himself.[/QUOTE]

Just because he was thinking about fixing it himself doesn't mean knew how to take it apart though that's not hard at all. He got the word from MS that it would be returned to him and he even wrote a letter expressing it's sentimental value to him- why risk screwing things up worse?

He had his doubts but in the end, he felt safe enough (after getting reassurance) to send it in. I would have... well, actually, no I wouldn't have because MS sent our 360 back with a jammed disc tray.

Damn, now I see what you mean...:whistle2:k

[quote name='kensterdotnet']Do they usually clean the machines before they send them back? Maybe I should write on mine then send it in.[/QUOTE]

They give it a wipe down after all the work is done to make sure it's clear of debris/dust/etc. But as to how and why they spent so much time cleaning up permanent marker from a case, I have no idea.
 
[quote name='coolsteel']BTW why is everyone calling him a boy? The guy is a registered nurse[/quote]

lool, oh man that just killed everything.
 
That's sad.

It's not his fault though for sending it in, he called and made sure that he'd get the same one back and even included a letter. Still, if that was my 360 I probably wouldn't have taken the risk.
 
priceless item destroyed.

bet he's thinking 'should have' just bought another one. regrets and mistakes.

always anticipate for the worst, especially when involving idiots.
 
[quote name='JimmieMac']After all this hubbub I'm sure he's going to get another 360 signed by even more people than the first one.[/QUOTE]

If he's lucky they may even throw in a HD-DVD player for free.

That aside, this story is awful for two reasons:

1. Microsoft's employees are dumb enough to erase the signatures. Aren't they there to repair the internal components and not give it a bath or a fresh coat of paint?

2. the owner was dumb enough to send it in for repair to begin with. Had that been my console it would have been sitting on a shelf, useless or not.
 
[quote name='JimmieMac']After all this hubbub I'm sure he's going to get another 360 signed by even more people than the first one.[/quote]

Yeah the guy who erased his console and that douche bag Max. That'll cheer him up.
 
wow that really sucks. I'd be really pissed. I don't understand why someone would actually wipe the signatures and artwork off.


Btw, getting permanent marker isn't hard just use nail polish remover it does the trick.
 
[quote name='zewone']What a dumbass.

He should have bought a new 360, and swapped out the cases with each other.

Or just left the RRoD 360 around as mantle piece and just gamed on a different one.



Exactly.[/QUOTE]

I'm with this guy. If the thing was really one of a kind he shouldn't consider it a game console anymore and consider it a collectible. Does that mean that it doesn't suck? No, it still sucks but really the guys should have been more careful.

If the signatures were really priceless then he sould have just shelled out the cash to get a Core system and keep the fancy one as a display item.

On the bright side it's nice to know MS will clean your RRoD console when you send it to him.
 
The guy was stupid to send it in. This is equally as stupid as if someone with a rare simpsons movie 360 sent their xbox in.

And sharpie isn't that hard to remove from plastic. Just use acetone free nail polish remover and you're done.
 
[quote name='whoknows']That's sad.

It's not his fault though for sending it in, he called and made sure that he'd get the same one back and even included a letter. [/QUOTE]

Actually what happened is exactly what they said. They DID send him back his own console. Maybe he forgot to say "without cleaning the exterior"? ;)
 
Two words:

Dumb ass.

Shouldn't have even crossed his mind to send his priceless item into a MS repair center. Should've just bought a new one and put the old 360 in a collector's case or something.
 
Ouch. It's probably SOP to clean the case and somebody just went ahead and did it w/o really caring what he was wiping away.

The link doesn't make it clear thathe told the call center dude why he wanted the same 360 back (the artwork) but I assume he did.

Call center should have said they'd do their best to preserve the artwork and return the same console but can't make any guarantees. Then he would know he's taking a bit of a risk and decide from there.

I can just imagine his reaction when he got it back clean. :fridge:

His letter is nice and all but much too long IMO. He includes too much ancillary crap and should have just been short and to the point.

"This 360 [serial number] has custom artwork and signatures of X on the case which I want very much to be preserved. I spoke with X at the MS call center and he assured me this would not be a problem. Thank you for your careful attention to this matter."

Perhaps this wouldn't have made a difference but I think a short and sweet note has a higher chance of being read than an essay.
 
wow, youve ruined my day.... now i wanna knock some teeth in, seriously!

its not that they just switched consoles, no, they actually WIPED IT CLEAN, talk about being a douche.... i'd like to meet that tech. asshole and knock his face in.
 
[quote name='Danil ACE']The guy was stupid to send it in. This is equally as stupid as if someone with a rare simpsons movie 360 sent their xbox in.

And sharpie isn't that hard to remove from plastic. Just use acetone free nail polish remover and you're done.[/QUOTE]

I have one of those Simpsons 360s and I think of it as a collectible. I don't use it and if I ever decide to use it and it dies, I would NEVER send it in!
 
[quote name='JimmieMac']After all this hubbub I'm sure he's going to get another 360 signed by even more people than the first one.[/quote]

That was, at least in part, my motivation for starting this thread. That guy (girl? nurse? Jackelope?) needs to get hooked up.

As far as what happened, I think it is far more likely that either:

A. The dick that received that particular coffin read the note, realized what he had in his hands, and switched cases to keep the signed one for himself. He then made a couple light Sharpie marks on the case to make our victim think that was his case post-cleaning.

or

B. The MS employee read the note, and just decided to be a complete shaft and wipe all that autographed goodness from the case on purpose. There are tons of disgruntled, overworked employees in all areas of business, and I'd wager that Microsoft's repair center employees are overworked indeed.

At any rate, this just sucks and I feel awful for the guy. I do agree though that he is a dumbass for sending it in, and he should've bought another 360 and just swapped the innards, and then sent in the 360 with the broken parts and un-signed case.
 
Wow. So now everyone has to assume that they'll be screwed over or treated like shit by those people who are *paid* to take care of things for us, even when assured that they will, or else they're a dumbass?

And here I thought *I* was a cynic.
 
It said the sigs were all from RT, Bungie, and Microsoft. As closely knit as they are to the gaming community, a little PR and this guy is going to get a brand new 360 that was initially passed around like a whore to collect tons of signatures before being sent his way.

You know it's going to happen, he's going to get a tricked out system in the coming weeks, you watch.

~HotShotX
 
Wow this kid is dumb ass! If he valued the signatures the shouldn't have been gaming on it. Rare items like this are not to be used everyday.
 
I also agree that the original case is sitting is some repair guys house now. They didn't clean it, they swapped cases.
 
[quote name='sasukekun']Wow, that sucks. I cant believe someone would actually take the time to wipe it clean.[/quote]

Some people just don't know art when they see it.
 
[quote name='zewone']What a dumbass.

He should have bought a new 360, and swapped out the cases with each other.

Or just left the RRoD 360 around as mantle piece and just gamed on a different one.



Exactly.[/quote]

This is how I feel, I would NEVER have sent something like that off.
 
[quote name='Ugamer_X']So you're saying we should call him a girl?


I said black marker, everyone knows that the silver markers are for outcasts.[/QUOTE]


I wouldn't call grown man "boy" or "kid", that is just some hick crap.



[quote name='bmsdaddy']I have one of those Simpsons 360s and I think of it as a collectible. I don't use it and if I ever decide to use it and it dies, I would NEVER send it in![/QUOTE]

This is the attitude I assume most if not all who scored that Simspons 360 are taking and I don't blame you one bit, I wouldn't even take it out of the box.
 
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