Sentimental Xbox 360 ruined after being sent in for repairs

Yet another gamer relates his story of how Microsoft ruined his Xbox 360 after he sent it in for repairs. Oh, the console was fine. But – probably through some communication breakdown – they ruined the console’s sentimental (not to mention monetary) values. You see, the console had signatures and custom artwork from notable members of the gaming community, all of which were erased when the console was sent in for repairs despite the steps the gamer took to assure it won’t happen. Read the story in the full article.

Microsoft‘s had a lot of complaints from gamers after dealing with their customer services or repair centers, but these stories were mostly of gamers who’ve had bad experiences. However, this story may have struck at something closer to the heart.

Gamer bs angel relates the story of a friend, Nathaniel, whose Xbox 360 broke down after two years of use. While that part of the story isn’t exactly new, it’s the circumstances of his situation that made it a little different from the others.

You see, Nathaniel’s console has acquired quite a collection of signatures and artwork from notable members of the gaming community, all written and drawn on the console with a permanent black ink marker.

This included signatures from members of the Rooster Teeth Productions, the Xbox 360 team, and even the staff of Bungie Studios. The console also had custom artwork from Roster Teeth Comics artists and Halo fan artist Luke McKay.

So naturally, he had apprehensions in sending the unit in for repairs, since Microsoft sometimes replaces broken consoles. He also couldn’t take the console apart since this would void the warranty.

He then took some safety measures. He called Xbox support and got an assurance that he will not get a replacement, and will get back the same console. After which, he also wrote a rather detailed letter which he shipped along with the console.

However, it seems these steps didn’t help. The console that was sent back was indeed his very own console, except that the casing was scrubbed clean, erased of all of the signatures and artwork, save for a few smudges.

Nathaniel tried to contact Microsoft to discuss the situation with them, and to ask them for an acknowledgment of the mistake and for an apology. It was not until later that Microsoft called him to say they are “looking into the issue and are working to correct the situation”.

The incident was probably due to some communication breakdown. Surely an unfortunate incident, but hopefully Microsoft will be able to make it up to Nathaniel. We’ll update you as soon as we hear of developments.

The pictures above show the console before it was shipped off for repairs (warning, slight foul language). The last image shows the console after it was returned. You can see where the permanent ink was scrubbed off by the smudges.

Via Hawty McBloggy