Game is Over

After 2 years, Nathaniel, a lucky kid who was the proud owner of a launch unit xbox 360 booted up only to find the dreaded 3 red rings illuminating his room. Normally its no more that some frustration and inconvience to have to send our xbox 360s in to the repair center to fix this plague but Nathaniel’s Xbox 360 was not just an ordinary console. Nathaniel’s xbox displayed an impressive collection of signatures of key Microsoft, Bungie, and Rooster Teeth Production as well as custom Master Chief artwork drawn by Luke McKay acquired over time since he purchased the console on launch day.

It was his prized possession but what to do with such a treasure that is now broken bringing the defect rate of the xbox 360 now up to somewhere around 121%(give or take)? After talking to repair center reps and being assured that his precious 360 would not be swapped for a new unit nor would it be harmed. Nathaniel with the assurance of the always trustworthy Microsoft boxed his xbox 360 and shipped it off to the repair center with some peace of mind and a letter reading:”

To whom it may concern:Enclosed in this package you will find one Xbox 360 console, serial number 610537654806. I pre-ordered this machine months before the Xbox 360 launched, and I’ve been a proud owner ever since it arrived. Although the original warranty for my machine has expired some time ago, I still keep the sales receipt and original retail box.I have taken this unit along with me on some of my travels over the past two years, and during that time I have acquired a number of signatures from notable members of the gaming community.Among those signatures are several members of the Rooster Teeth Productions staff, certain members of the Xbox 360 team, and some of the staff from Bungie Studios. Those signatures are also joined by custom artwork by Rooster Teeth Comics artist and Halo fan artist Luke McKay. This console represents some special memories—of which I am quite fond—from the past two years of my life. As you can imagine, this particular unit has a great deal of sentimental value to me and is quite possibly of reasonable monetary value as well.I am well aware that in many cases new replacement units have been returned to those who have sent their consoles for repairs. I would be displeased if this were to happen to me. When I put in the service request for my unit, the agent that took my call assured me that the same unit I have sent to you would be shipped back to me. If you must send a different unit back, please put my original case on the replacement unit. Having put the above information forward, it is logical to conclude that I would be most disappointed should I receive a different console with a plain white case in return.Please take care in handling the case, as despite the fact that the ink is permanent and has had plenty of time to set, the possibility yet remains that it may be smudged.Thank you for your time and consideration.”

Well the repair center only made good on half of those promises, yes Nathaniel received this exact xbox back but to his horror all the signatures and artwork that held such sentimental value had been scrubbed clean off the case leaving only a few small smudges of sharpie.

    For me this just further makes me believe that, although I can’t seem to stop using their products on a daily basis, Microsoft is a truly evil and soulless company. How can anyone be so cruel to a kid that was such a loyal customer and fan of the xbox and its software? Maybe it was the “360? More like shitsty!” comment written on the console that made the repair tech freak… still a cold hearted act to say the least.

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