Microsoft cleans autographs off Xbox 360

The fact that he included that letter, and kept tried to double verify he would get the same case back, just indicates he already knew he had a high likelihood of getting screwed. Self fulfilling prophecy right there. I am not really sympathetic towards him, anytime you mail out customized hardware for warranty service, its a big risk. For all we know the person who did the repair can not speak English very well and just tossed that letter and did his/her job on the repair. Or the person who did the repair could have take a quick swipe at it with a cleaning cloth, smeared the whole pic of Master Chief, then just decided to finish the job. Sharpie on gloss wipe is not very permanent depending on the cleaner you use.
 
That is bastardly. What would possess them to even wipe it clean anyways? Its not like that would serve any purpose other than to just be bastardly. Makes you wonder if they could search through all their records and follow where the console was handled to find who fucked with it.
 
rgratto2 said:
That is bastardly. What would possess them to even wipe it clean anyways? Its not like that would serve any purpose other than to just be bastardly.
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Umm, what would possess them to send a console back DIRTY?!? Probably just one of the last steps is to clean the outside real quick. And if its part of your job to wipe down each console with a MS approved cleaning wipe after each fix, you do it. Now if that cleaning wipe happens to partially destroy that pretty pic of Master Chief, you might as well wipe is the rest of the way.
 
Well, I guess i could see your point, but that was pretty clearly not dirty but very intentionally decorated. Maybe just lack of judgment by said employee?
 
Wow thats fucked up right there.

I know that guy was devastated when he recieved it back and all the autographics and handrawn art were gone.

I'd have taken a kick to the balls by a pair of steel toe boots than have that happen to me.
 
ocellaris said:
Umm, what would possess them to send a console back DIRTY?!? Probably just one of the last steps is to clean the outside real quick. And if its part of your job to wipe down each console with a MS approved cleaning wipe after each fix, you do it. Now if that cleaning wipe happens to partially destroy that pretty pic of Master Chief, you might as well wipe is the rest of the way.
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No........ if that guy did his job properly, there shouldn't be any marks left, while on the second pictures, he circled 2 places with marking still on there. The guys were just being "bastardly."
 
I think the real question is: Why would you use and/or send in a one-of-a-kind autographed console? It seems more like a collectible item to me.
 
deception`` said:
I think the real question is: Why would you use and/or send in a one-of-a-kind autographed console? It seems more like a collectible item to me.
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Lets say you have tinted windows on your car, decals, bumper stickers, or rims or something. You still drive that car, you don't make it a show car just because you put on aesthetic touches on it. Anyway, you drop it off at the mechanics for an inspection and one of those parts is missing or is reverted back to stock. Wouldn't you be a little pissed? I know I would be
 
Seriously is anyone surprised? Its his own fault, MS is under NO obligation to go out of their way for a single person out of the thousands they deal with everyday. Part of the standard procedure is cleaning the case when they get sent it. The fact that it wasnt done properly indicates just how much the service people take pride in their work. So if they cant be bothered to do the job they are paid for well, what the hell makes you think they will do somthing extra.

How many differant people come in contact with a box in the repair cycle, who knows but I do know that its not policy to send you the same console. They just arnt set up that way, honestly I would be pissed but not surprised.
 
I saw that on engadget, I would be off my rocker with rage. How could MS be so careless after the guy not only called but also had a letter in the box about how much it meant to him? :confused::eek:
 
Honestly, if I was in that situation there is no way in hell I would have sent that box in for repair. I would have just bought another one. M$ probably has a protocol (checklist) they have to follow, strict to QA standards. Someone probably thought they might loose their job if they allowed it to be returned without checking off the last box on their checklist "Make sure the case is cleaned and looks good before sending back to customer"

I dunno, feel bad for the guy.. but jeesh.. use some common sense if it means that much to you. :rolleyes:
 
pothb said:
No........ if that guy did his job properly, there shouldn't be any marks left, while on the second pictures, he circled 2 places with marking still on there. The guys were just being "bastardly."
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True, maybe those were just being stubborn and the repair person did not want to waste anymore time on it :D
 
Some of the posters here say it's part of the cleaning process. Here's the thing, if the repair guy got something with signatures, 4 of them, and a picture of Master Chief IN MARKER, wouldn't he/she go, "Jeez, 4 different signatures... plus a Master Chief drawing... something's here... gotta... make... connection..."

I believe even a cleaning lady at Microsoft would have some sort of common sense to not wipe something like that clean. The guy who sent it in with a letter obviously knew how oblivious the employees at Microsoft are so he was sending up a just in case letter. Double checking PLUS a letter and this still happened? It's like getting raped by 50 monkeys. Not pleasant.
 
The fact is, Microsoft assured him that his artwork would be intact. If you are a company, and someone asks you to do something that isnt possible, you tell them that it will not be possible. That simple. I dont care if you are a one man business on the side of the street or a huge corporation like Microsoft, you tell a customer that you are going to do something and then you do the complete opposite, you are in the wrong, no exception. Microsoft fucked up.
 
trick_m0nkey said:
The fact is, Microsoft assured him that his artwork would be intact. If you are a company, and someone asks you to do something that isnt possible, you tell them that it will not be possible. That simple. I dont care if you are a one man business on the side of the street or a huge corporation like Microsoft, you tell a customer that you are going to do something and then you do the complete opposite, you are in the wrong, no exception. Microsoft fucked up.
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yeah it would be one thing if the phone support guys said "no fuck off," but they told him not to worry. the kid did worry and sent the letter just to be safe, and even that didn't work. this is microsoft's fault and they really need to make it up to the kid.
 
Unfortunately, when dealing with customer support and servicing, you always have instances of being told one thing on the phone, by one person, and then having the exact opposite done but another, who actually does the "grunt work." That being said it'd be nice, and in my opinion, the right thing to do by Microsoft, if they remedy the situation by getting the kid new autographs or something.
 
ocellaris said:
True, maybe those were just being stubborn and the repair person did not want to waste anymore time on it :D
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Which means ... he wasn't doing his job properly.

In anycase, its not just his fault for sending it in, since he did get assurance.... but then again..... I've had assurance from BBY, and that didn't go well either,.... hell I got assurance from like 5 people from best buy and it didn't help any.
 
ocellaris said:
I am not really sympathetic towards him, anytime you mail out customized hardware for warranty service, its a big risk.
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Hell I'd be pissed, that would be like if you took my car to the dealership to get warranty work done on the transmission, spoke to the service manager, and then the service tech decided to remove a custom paint job and paint it the origional factory color.
 
trick_m0nkey said:
The fact is, Microsoft assured him that his artwork would be intact. If you are a company, and someone asks you to do something that isnt possible, you tell them that it will not be possible. That simple. I dont care if you are a one man business on the side of the street or a huge corporation like Microsoft, you tell a customer that you are going to do something and then you do the complete opposite, you are in the wrong, no exception. Microsoft fucked up.
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This is the key factor. If you're an official MS phone rep and you tell a customer that it will be okay, then that's the word of the whole company right there. Even after he got the official assurance he sent a letter in the box just to make doubly sure, and he was still screwed over.

The guy deserves an Elite sent to him, with signatures from MS/Bungie/Mistwalker or any of the other studios associated with Microsoft as an apology.
 
MS doesnt even see these boxes, let alone repair them it is done by some poor non english speaking foreinger who never even saw the letter, did their job as they were told (if not likely risk getting fired)along with the, i am sure, hundreds of other xbox that pass by them, whipe it clean, pass it to the next person, done.

the person who said it would be okay - yes they should be fired, period, for lying to the person.
 
russnuck said:
Hell I'd be pissed, that would be like if you took my car to the dealership to get warranty work done on the transmission, spoke to the service manager, and then the service tech decided to remove a custom paint job and paint it the origional factory color.
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Thats a poor analogy for this. Its very likely part of the marker came off in whatever standard cleaning MS did. Its not very likely that when a dealership vacuums out your car before you pick it up, the vacuum would suck all of the custom paint off AND repaint the car :eek:

Everything that gets repaired and leaves the company I work for smells like Simple Green, no matter how dirty or clean it was when it showed up :D
 
well guess what. ide imagine hes gonna have even more on his new one because of this.
 
I sure as heck would want my 360 wiped down clean after having it repaired, who knows what chum-scrubbing idiot touched my 360 with his dirty bear paws.... :eek:
 
fodder0 said:
I sure as heck would want my 360 wiped down clean after having it repaired, who knows what chum-scrubbing idiot touched my 360 with his dirty bear paws.... :eek:
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But not when you specifically asked for that artwork and autographs to remain intact. I personally think it was done out of spite. "You want the same 360 back? Fine, but I'm going to get all that marker off just because you said you wanted it left alone. Fuck your requests and fuck you."

You would be surprised how spiteful some people can be...
 
my question is why didn't this guy get his xbox case sealed or protected prior to shipping it to MS? It would just be basic insurance for anything happening to it. I would almost bet that one of two things happened. Firts it could have gotten to the last stage of QC and that stage is a cleaning of all units. The unit was wiped and something was smudged so the decision was made to clean the case entirely. This could have easily happened as the empolyee might have assumed that something so important to this person would be protected, and a mild soap solution smeared it all.
second perhpas the case had been smudged during the shipping process, either through rubbing of packing materials or other instances.
Either way MS had an obligation to notify the customer before proceeding to clean it all off. this company represents MS in this instance and should have notified the customer. On the other hand MS did send him the same unit back, which is what he asked for in the letter. I think while his letter did get the point across and obvious this was something special to him, he used semi-vague terms and didn't specify the case. he kept calling it "unit". To the workers perhaps unit only meant the same basic parts, replacing anything malfunctioning and returning everything that is working properly. He did afterall get the same unit returned to him, just not in the altered state he sent it in. You also have to look at who the workers are doing this sort of stuff. They are in a factory and probably making $10 an hour, if they are lucky and probably more around $8. They aren't into making decisions, they are into doing their job as they've been trained and chances are no supervisors even saw the letter or even knew the situation.
There were mistakes by all involved. Hopefully this can get resolved for this guy and lessons learned by others through his experience.
 
I can see it now...

"I"m soooo sorry sir, here's a months free service to XBL Gold"


:p
 
Here is my theory.

Most people think that permanent markers are permanent, they aren't. I remove sharpie and all sorts of other permanent marker with rubbing alcohol from laptops and other plastic items all the time. Most alcohol based cleaners will easily remove it. So my theory is that the cleanup person saw that it was drawn on the 360 with Sharpie and it was therefore permanent and could be safely cleaned. They then wiped down the 360 and smeared up the marker. Probably then just said screw it and rubbed it all off.

If it was really that important to him he should have thrown some clear coat over the top of it to actually make it permanent.
 
Clear coat?....... see I don't have a clue on what that is.... and the guy who sent it in might not either. And as you said, most people think that sharpies are permanent, though I know they aren't, so they don't think it.

I however, doubt the guy cleaning cared either way, I'm sure thats not the first one that came around with some sharpie written on it.
 
The odds that the letter would be read by someone who had any grasp of the significance of the contents is about zero.

On top of that I can imagine the repair depot has procedures as strict as the crappy scripts their telephone support are forced to use. Variation would not be allowed, and if sending it back "clean" is part of the rules then there you go.

That letter was probably thrown out as soon as his box was opened.
 
10 to 1 whoever did it couldn't even speak english and couldn't give 2 shits about some homo's autographed xbox because he is going home to his shanty with its dirt floors and is eating boiled roots for dinner...

Get some perspective
 
Clear coat?....... see I don't have a clue on what that is....
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a clear coat is a clear coating of paint that is used to seal whatever is underneath it. It would have protected the artwork. At the very least he could have went and bought a $5 can of spray fixative which is used by artists to seal chalk drawings. I agree most people believe that permenant markers are much tougher than they are. I have seen a mild soap solution atleast smear a sharpie.
I'm not saying this is all the guys fault, he did afterall contact people and try to do what he thought would protect it. I just know if it was mine I would have went the little extra bit just to make sure.
 
bigbadgreen said:
a clear coat is a clear coating of paint that is used to seal whatever is underneath it. It would have protected the artwork. At the very least he could have went and bought a $5 can of spray fixative which is used by artists to seal chalk drawings. I agree most people believe that permenant markers are much tougher than they are. I have seen a mild soap solution atleast smear a sharpie.
I'm not saying this is all the guys fault, he did afterall contact people and try to do what he thought would protect it. I just know if it was mine I would have went the little extra bit just to make sure.
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He probably planned on getting more people to sign it.

Honestly, I think he did all that he could, short of buying a new one. I would hope that Microsoft passes around a new Xbox 360 to a bunch of developers to get it signed. They wouldn't be out of much money and would generate some good Internet press, but we'll see if they do anything.
 
Mr. Bluntman said:
But not when you specifically asked for that artwork and autographs to remain intact. I personally think it was done out of spite. "You want the same 360 back? Fine, but I'm going to get all that marker off just because you said you wanted it left alone. Fuck your requests and fuck you."

You would be surprised how spiteful some people can be...
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Do you reall think who ever got the 360 to fix EVER saw or HEARD of some letter requesting the stuff stays on?

No, the person who got it to fix is probably down in mexico on a factor line pumping these things out as fast as they can so he can get enough beans for his family, while the person the guy spoke too was probably in india or something saying "yes, yes, why you kick my dog, yes okay"
 
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