Microsoft sues DHL over 360s destroyed in train derailment

by Griffin McElroy on Oct 12th 2008 6:30PM

We all reacted similarly to the news of a DHL freight train derailment in which 21,600 Xbox 360s were lost due to "impact damage, wetting, pilfering and shortage" -- no, not by inquiring about the well-being of those who were on board at the time of the crash. That would be silly. We reacted, as anyone would, with general concern for the Redmond-based software juggernaut whose precious cargo was destroyed in the accident.

That's why we were so glad to hear that Microsoft recently filed a complaint against DHL in which they call for $2 million in damages to replace the missing consoles, stating that the shipping company "negligently breached its duties as a common carrier, handler, bailee, warehouseman, agent, or in other capabilities." We agree -- it was incredibly negligent of DHL to allow their train to crash like that. Really, terribly unprofessional.

Source

Tags: derail, dhl, microsoft, train, Xbox-360, xbox360

Reader Comments (52)

Not to be rude or anything but Engadget had this story up like days ago....

This is the case a lot of the time.

It's as if Joystiq doesn't have any communication with its sister sites.

Actually a day...

I wonder how you guys would react without the internet for a month. You're used to receiving information instantly and complain when its a day or two late.

My bet is that you'd go crazy.

you guys do realize that this article is linked to the engadget article, clearly showing that it is in reference to the article from engadget..

Something about this irked me as it felt really insensitive towards the metrolink train crash in Southern California. I guess that's just me though.

Premature ejaculation man You Win in so many levels.

not everyone reads the sister sites..... think about that....

It was the weekend, so only Griffin was working, and posts have to be checked etc.

Be grateful for what you've got.

The fact that Microsoft has the balls to sue another company due to losses that occurd in transit- I work for DHL(and not the pick up and delivery guys)but the Frieght side of it, They sign a bound contract and are given certain excemptions to in which if this would happen or any other thing to the frieght(cargo) Insurance would cover the damages and a full investigation would be put in motion. So for you nay sayers that blame DHL, Shame on Thee- if anything it is the Train-Company's fault

oh man what a train wreck.

HI YO!!!!

Isn't this something insurance tends to cover?

Chances are, DHL refused to compensate even if they did have insurance.

DHL is horrible.

You would think so but apparently Allstate doesn't have Train Insurance....Damn Loop holes

opps..... Someone said it already.......

Well, anyway, if a company like DHL "I'm assuming the lawyers would go to who ever it was that actually holds the money for the insurance" offers insurance and then refuse to pay you after the very reason you bought the insurance for "destruction of your shipment" that is kind of a-hole-ish thing to do in itself.

The way some people sound, is if Microsoft was suing the people who where on the train.

Wait, my lawyernese might be rusty, but I believe for ol' Billy to win this one, he has to prove that DHL caused their OWN TRAIN TO DERAIL ITSELF. If that is true, then something tells me MS will be the least of DHL's worries

Um, no. At my past job I did freight claims for years. Granted, they were truck claims, so there may very well be different laws/situations, and if there is, I hope someone who has a bit more knowledge of rail shipments pipes in. Now that the disclamer is over, unless it was considered an "Act of God", or a wartime/terrorist incident, they would (normally) be responsible. Really, the situation that they would not be liable for the damage, is if was due to improper/insufficent packaging. What I would suspect is also part of the lawsuit (which would not normally be covered, thus a lawsuit) is Microsoft trying to recover the cost of shipping, as the product never reached it's destination (yet another (possible) breach of contract). The other situation is that Microsoft may be charging DHL full retail price. If DHL believes that the goods were not being transported as part of a sale, then Microsoft would be in the wrong. You can only claim the actual value of the goods at time of shipping.

Umm... just to comment on the poster's tone - I believe the negligence referred to in the statement is the fact that DHL refused to reimburse Microsoft for damages that they had insured against.

If you buy insurance for shipping a product and it gets damaged in transit, you have a right to sue the carrier if they don't pay up. And I believe in this case you would be claiming that they were "negligently breaching their duties...".

Xbox 360's destroyed? More like stolen... with all these amazing games lol.

And the award for biggest dick move of the year is...

So if you insured something, sent it by post, which then got destroyed and didn't recieve the insurance money, you'd be fine with that?

DHL?

:(
I meant for this:
"[...]no, not by inquiring about the well-being of those who were on board at the time of the crash."

DHL Boss: If only there were some way to keep these Xbox 360s...

DHL Train Dude: You're asking me to crash another train, aren't you?

Who uses trains these days anyways? Everyone knows spaceships are much faster and safer.

Oh right, you can act as indignant as you like but MS is a company and they potentially lost a shit load of money there. They have every right and need to recoup those losses.

Seriously. We can always go to a sleazy motel and make more people, but in the next few years they'll stop making new Xbox 360s and you guys will be feeling pretty dumb.

what the hell are you talking about? Does microsoft owe some sort of obligation to those people? Are they comparing the value of an xbox to the people lost? No doubt they also think its very sad, but what on earth is so heartless about holding the company responsible for not keeping their finances covered?

Reply to WRE
Why should a company ignore lost money because of something they didn't cause.

Also, it was a freight train, I doubt there were any passengers and if there were probably none of them were seriously harmed. The train probably went off the rails and skidded on the dirt for a bit, or collapsed a small bridge, shook the 360s and the people. Alot of the 360s probably still worked just they couldn't ship them out knowing that there was a small percentage that could have broken fans or disc drives. Your imagining a huge collision with explosions and helicopters, the train on its side, carnage everywhere.

Sorry guys, I didn't see the "NO JOKES ALLOWED" sign. Why don't you two just go suck each other off for a little while and I'll practice my feel-bad-for-the-giant-corporation face.

If your going to make a joke at least make it relevant and without coming off like a complete jackass.

Whoa. Apparently all of Microsoft's train lawyers are on this thread and pissed as hell that the validity of their case is being impugned, even in ways that are obviously satirical.

"21,000 360s have been lost in a recent train derailment, I'm sorry for your losses" *hangs phone*

Microsoft Exec "DAMN YOU SOOONYYY!!"*shakes fist**closeup on face*

RRIIIGGGLLEESS!!

TRANS-EUROPE EXPRESS!

sorry i just wanted to have something in caps...
get that album!

DHL: Hey Microsoft. One of our trains crashed and we lost a bunch of your 360's.

Microsoft: That's ok, we opted for the insurance.

DHL: Yeah, about that...

Welllll.. they actually did not have to 'opt' for insurance unless it was considered a high-value shipment. Truck freight does not work the same way that small parcel does. They should have already been protected. Of course, it all depends on the contract, but even then.

Microsoft: "If anyone is gonna get away with destroying our consoles, it's going to be our own cheap hardware!"

I did the math. Lets say for fun these were all arcade consoles 2 million is actually half of what they are owed. That many consoles is roughly 4 million buck...

2 million? Doesn't Bill Gates wipe his ass with million dollar bills? Just take two tp sheets from his house and forget about it.

Don't they have insurance for things like this, or does it not ably for things over x amount of dollars?

"it was incredibly negligent of DHL to allow their train to crash like that. Really, terribly unprofessional."

Well, seriously how hard is it to drive a freakin train? All you have to do is basically know when to brake, so don't fall asleep and you'll be ok.

And they should have to pay for them. Why would they get out of that?

not really negligence on the part of dhl. one would assume that microsoft has insurance on such large shipments? maybe they didnt.

Should've used the pony express.

While all the systems were found to be inoperable, only 50% of the dead consoles were actually damaged in the crash.

Almost a page-worth of responses and no double indemnity jokes?

pssh.

Haha, nothing can stop the destruction of a 360 it seems.

Funniest. Post. Ever.

Quite honestly. I can't stand DHL. I ordered an Xbox 360 from them and it disappeared at my local distribution office. They lied and tap danced. They can burn.

DHL is the worst delivery company my company has ever dealt with. This company has left brand new Apple computers on the street in front of our building (we are on the third floor), and a previous delivery guy was angry at the size of a delivery we had, so he was throwing and kicking packages.

DHL has lost our orders, damaged our orders, and delivered almost everything we've ordered or sent later than it should have arrived.

No wonder they had to change their name from Airborn Exrpress. It would buy them another couple of years where they could take people's money for sub par service.

| 1 | 2 | Most Recent | Next 50 Comments

Sorry, you must be logged in to leave a comment.

Breaking News

The most popular posts
in the last 7 days

Vita 'UMD Passport' won't be offered in US 220 comments
Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning review: A tempting fate 153 comments
David Jaffe leaves Eat Sleep Play, layoffs hit developer [Update] 107 comments
Don't call it a remake: Final Fantasy X is a 'remaster,' to be clear 95 comments
Battleship movie adapted into FPS by Double Helix 93 comments

Microsoft sues DHL over 360s destroyed in train derailment

Reader Comments (52)

Posted: Oct 12th 2008 6:33PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Oct 12th 2008 6:39PM Colonel Falafel said

Posted: Oct 12th 2008 6:59PM Special Agent Steve said

Posted: Oct 12th 2008 7:27PM Premature ejaculation man said

Posted: Oct 12th 2008 9:17PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Oct 13th 2008 12:10AM Morisato13 said

Posted: Oct 13th 2008 12:47AM (Unverified) said

Posted: Oct 13th 2008 2:10AM (Unverified) said

Posted: Oct 13th 2008 2:55AM Haggard said

Posted: Oct 13th 2008 8:03AM gothikgamz13 said

Posted: Oct 12th 2008 6:38PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Oct 12th 2008 6:39PM SoulBlade said

Posted: Oct 12th 2008 7:08PM Ignatius said

Posted: Oct 12th 2008 7:30PM ExMcCloud said

Posted: Oct 12th 2008 9:15PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Oct 12th 2008 6:40PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Oct 13th 2008 8:44AM Rocketboy said

Posted: Oct 12th 2008 6:42PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Oct 12th 2008 6:54PM Special Agent Steve said

Posted: Oct 12th 2008 7:07PM OMGITSJAD said

Posted: Oct 12th 2008 7:32PM Snowblind said

Posted: Oct 12th 2008 8:15PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Oct 12th 2008 9:05PM OMGITSJAD said

Posted: Oct 12th 2008 7:08PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Oct 12th 2008 7:19PM PhaseDMA said

Posted: Oct 12th 2008 7:21PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Oct 12th 2008 7:34PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Oct 12th 2008 7:50PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Oct 12th 2008 7:59PM THEBLAH said

Posted: Oct 12th 2008 8:05PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Oct 12th 2008 8:13PM THEBLAH said

Posted: Oct 12th 2008 9:55PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Oct 12th 2008 7:30PM THEBLAH said

Posted: Oct 12th 2008 8:04PM OMGITSJAD said

Posted: Oct 12th 2008 8:43PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Oct 12th 2008 7:57PM Breakfastmachine said

Posted: Oct 13th 2008 8:48AM Rocketboy said

Posted: Oct 12th 2008 8:27PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Oct 12th 2008 8:58PM Goodeye said

Posted: Oct 12th 2008 9:00PM mezzaninex said

Posted: Oct 12th 2008 9:06PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Oct 12th 2008 9:15PM anoffday said

Posted: Oct 12th 2008 9:17PM NotCognizant said

Posted: Oct 13th 2008 12:03AM Negatron said

Posted: Oct 13th 2008 4:41PM ANeM said

Posted: Oct 13th 2008 2:12AM embassy said

Posted: Oct 13th 2008 8:13AM acefondu said

Posted: Oct 13th 2008 10:38AM (Unverified) said

Posted: Oct 13th 2008 10:37AM thenk83 said

Posted: Oct 13th 2008 2:50PM (Unverified) said

Info

Description

MSRP

Release Date

Genre

Developer

Publisher

Rating

Breaking News

Double Fine Kickstarter passes $1 million in under 24 hours, breaking yet another record

Featured Stories

The Joystiq Show - 024: Kingdoms of Double Fine

Shank 2 review: Refined brutality

Ghost Recon: Future Soldier brings information warfare to the front

The most popular postsin the last 7 days

Engadget

TUAW

Massively

WoW

The most popular posts
in the last 7 days