You can count me among the people who got a Slave I without the missle in Fett's jetpack as well. However, even after going through the entire email contact thing with Hasbro, I'm in an even worse spot than I was when I started. Here's the story:
-Two weeks ago this Friday, I walked into my local Target and they had finally stocked the Slave I, eight total. Since Hasbro had given their statement that only a "small number" had made it out without the missle, the "correct" version would be in relative abundance with the next shipment, I assumed that this would be the correct version. My Target had not gotten their shipment until that day (the employees at this Target were friendly enough to check in the back during the print ad a week or so prior and said, with confusion, that they didn't have any back there yet), so when I checked all eight Slave I's, I was a little surprised to see that none of them had the missle. I went ahead and bought one, figuring I could contact the fine people at Hasbro to get a replacement part.
-So, immediately upon getting home, I went to Hasbro's website. Before I go on, the thing is horribly difficult to navigate, and requires you sign up for an account before you can even send a question/complaint/etc, which I'm not too fond of at all. But, I went ahead and did so, and sent my email, which was professionally worded and I received a reply the following Monday that said:
Thank you for taking the time to let us know that a piece was missing when you received your Hasbro product.
Please allow us to apologize for any inconvenience you experienced because the part was not included.
Your satisfaction is of paramount importance to us. We will be happy to ship the part to you at no additional charge. It will be sent, under separate cover, to the address you provided. Shipping will be done as quickly as possible.
Thank you for taking the time to bring this to our attention. We hope you and your family will enjoy our products for many years to come.
-So, this Monday, my mother called me to let me know that I had gotten a letter from Hasbro. While I don't have the letter in front of me, she read it word for word to me, and this is pretty much what they said (paraphrased):
We regret to inform you that the replacement piece you requested is no longer available. Our apologies and we hope that you will continue to enjoy our products for many years to come.
So, translating that into Hasbro Rep at SDCC type-speak:
We're Hasbro, we don't make mistakes. **** you and deal with it.
So yeah, with the widespread reports that nobody has really found an OTC Slave I that actually had the jetpack missle, and the fact that Hasbro is now denying that they even have the replacement part to send out, I am doubting that I'm even going to see the thing without going to the secondary market and hopefully finding a loose piece cheap somewhere.
I'd also like to point out that this is not an isolated incident either. I called them in January of 2000 when my AAT had two left guns and no right guns. They said that they no longer had any parts for that item (it had just come out at retail and shipped for at least another two months, albeit sparingly) and to check back later. When it was announced for the CW line, I called back and they said they had no idea what item I was talking about and that if I wanted a replacement gun, I would have to buy a completely new tank in the CW package since the old one was out of production. When I mentioned that it was the exact same toy in a new box, the person just kind of did a verbal shrug (the "idunno" noise, if that makes sense) and said "is there anything else?" and hung up.
So yeah, thanks a lot Hasbro. Way to keep your loyal customers happy.
