Sometimes, a simple mistake during a warranted repair might cost more than the repaired device itself. Unfortunately for Xbox 360 fan, Nathanial, he had to find this out the hard way.
Nathanial is a passionate gamer who used to take his precious Xbox 360 console to various events and collect signatures and artworks from gaming icons. Until one day his console met the inevitable fate of most Xbox 360s: RROD.
After collecting that much signatures over the course of two years, it is understandable that Nathanial was worried about sending his Xbox 360 for repair, so he called Microsoft's technical support who assured him that the console's case will be kept intact and that no harm would come to his precious artworks.
Still worried, Nathanial opted to attach a letter with his console stating that he has " 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."
Guess what? When Nathanial received his console back, he didn't find a single signature on its case. Nathanial checked both the front and back serial numbers, and they matched the ones associated with the unit he sent. In spite of the phone call and the included letter, somebody at Microsoft's repair center took it upon himself to clean the precious signatures off.
Traces of permanent ink are still visible where the signatures used to be.
Microsoft has confirmed Nathanial's story and stated that they are "looking into the issue and working to correct the situation."
