Posted on 01/09/2013 7:52:58 AM PST by Altariel
Seven-year-old Luka Apps spent his Christmas money on the LEGO Ninjago Ultra Sonic Raider set. A sound investment, if you ask us. But the thing about LEGOs -- those small pieces are easy to lose. They don't call 'em minifigures for nothing.
Against his father's recommendation, young Luka took his newly procured Jay ZX shopping. And then, wouldn't you know it, the figure went missing, never to be seen again.
Luka, not one to admit defeat, decided to write a letter to the good people at LEGO seeking a replacement.
(Excerpt) Read more at games.yahoo.com ...
Odd, that she is willing to support Lego, after this act of charity since she disagrees with them so strongly.
If she truly believes Lego was in the wrong in their response to the boy, to be consistent, she can refuse to buy Legos again.
Furthermore, I find it rather ironic that, on this thread (with its theme of “entitlement”), you feel that you are “entitled” to a 10% discount on Lego products if only Lego does as you ask.
As I mentioned earlier . . . this is an outrage, and no one should ever buy Legos again. /facepalm
LOL!! Gosh sorry to burst your bubble of warm fuzzy feelings but the truth is the Lego is in business to provide jobs and make a profit. Obviously you were reeled in by this sweet little story but the truth is that Luka’s father just trained him that companies are in business to provide “charity” to disobedient little kids. Take a look at what companies are facing who dare to admit they are in business to make money and not provide a “charity” God forbid that a politician actually dares to confront this attitude. You want 60 billion?? Scream about mean politicians who don’t care and within 24hrs they will write a check.
“Odd, that she is willing to support Lego, after this act of charity since she disagrees with them so strongly.”
What other choice did Lego have? Refuse the kid? Lego has worked in a huge profit margin to cover these acts of “charity” but what about all the companies that are running on razor thin margins? If society now expects that all companies need to choose “charity” over profit how long to you think the will be able to exist and employee workers?
More comments from your peeps Rudeboy...
“Well done Parents you are training Luka to be a great human being and great thinker; kudos to you both!!!!!”
Yes Luka is going to be a great American due to his parents training! Disobey your parents and then immediately use you cute youth to shake down a company to make your loss whole at no cost.
Lego had a choice; it is not a victim.
Whether or not you choose to purchase Legos in the future, you are not a victim of their generosity.
Other companies who do not have Lego’s profit margin are not victims.
You have a very well-developed victim mentality for an alleged conservative.
From this point of view, the kid was essentially rewarded for disobeying his dad and losing his toy, as much as he was for writing a note, admitting his mistake and asking for a second chance/second toy.
However, the company, not acting in the parental role, was acting in its own best interest and intelligently took advantage of the PR opportunity to put the company in a very favorable light for its current and potential customers.
I can't say for sure what the ultimate lesson for the kid might be as a result or what he really learned from the experience. However, he did a fair job of turning a bad situation around and working it to get a better result.
This is a life skill of great value, being able to turn a mistake around and working to get a better result, especially at a young age.
It wasn't the lesson I would have received as a kid, but this might be a life changing lesson for the better. We'll just have to wait and see.
He ignored his father’s advice and was then rewarded for his carelessness. I don’t see that as a good thing. If he suffers due to his carelessness he will learn not to be so careless. Of course, I’ve been making the same dumb mistakes over and over
for 30 years so I could be wrong. :-)
How unfortunate that you review a polite request as a “shakedown”.
Slang Extortion of money, as by blackmail.
I certainly hope that you don’t teach your children that polite requests are the equivalent of monetary extortion.
I don’t understand why you feel the need to attribute the comments (or arguments) of others to me, while simultaneously failing to address the argument I’m making. Sorry, there’s no “Easy Button” on FR.
He admitted his mistake and was cautioned, in the reply, to take care of his possessions. ( “Just remember, what Sensei Wu said: keep your minifigures protected like the Weapons of Spinjitzu! And of course, always listen to your dad.” )
We’re discussing a seven year old. They lose things. They make bad choices. They disobey. This one owned up to it. It is perfectly legitimate for a company to choose to be generous when they believe it appropriate to do so.
LEGO is being generous with LEGO’s money. That is LEGO’s prerogative.
I admire your tenacity to not give up on the whole idea that this was some new year heartwarming story but I am no victim. My family serves God and his principles and one of them is not rewarding a disobedient child or encouraging them to look to be made whole through other people’s goods or money due to that disobedience. I look at my children as gifts from God and with that precious gift comes the responsibility to raise them up in God’s Word. I must admit is is a bit disconcerting to see freepers who obviously have no problem with what this dad did by encouraging his child to ask for a free replacement of his toy.
Do you really think a 7 yr old sent this email to Lego contritely “admitting to his “mistake” and politely asking Lego for a replacement that he will keep safe forever and ever? Do you have kids? Don’t you find it weird that a Dad’s first impulse when his kid loses his toy is to tell him to compose an email to the company looking for a free replacement? Every man in my life would have told the kid that they should have listened and now they are going to have to go without JayZX until they have money to replace him.
How many lashes would your child have received for disobedience? /s
Called the factory to see how much a replacement would cost and they sent me two gratis.
They make an exceptional product, and with customer service like that, I recommend them every opportunity I get.
The child’s moral education is the responsibility of his father, not LEGO’s responsibility.
I’m still waiting to see if “happyhomemaker” has dared to write the father yet to inform him of his parental shortcomings.
And to that end, the canny folks at Lego obviously understand the concept of a loss leader far better than you. Betcha decades from now, the kid is buying Legos for his grandchildren.
Listen, FRiend . . . don’t you understand that you came dangerously close to becoming an Obama voter?
“They rarely break”
Someone did a study of what it takes to break a Lego block.
You would literally have to stack them MILES high before the bottom one was stressed enough to deform.
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