Hi guys, see that car down there?
Some guy owns this Jeep and he decided to lend it to TellTale Games for the promotion of their new, Jurassic Park theme game.
Here’s the story:
“Earlier this summer I was contacted by a representative from TellTale Games.They informed me that they were developing a Jurassic Park adventure title for multiple platforms and were looking for a JP Jeep that they could use in a promotional booth at a Seattle gaming convention called PAX in August.
Last year they had produced a Back to the Future game and used the DeLorean that belongs to a acquaintance of mine. As I was unsure how to respond, I contacted my DeLorean owner friend and asked him what kind of deal they approached him with. He said he asked TellTale for insured, enclosed transport -both ways- for his car, airfare, hotel, con passes, and daily per diem plus a car insurance broker for the car. He also received several grand from them for the use of the car alone.
So I was all like “That sounds terrific! If you provide enclosed, insured shipping both ways, airfare, badges for the con, hotel, and per diem then you’ve got yourself a deal!”
They were pretty appreciative of me providing the Jeep to them for free, so they booked transport for my Jeep and we were on our way.
The morning of the pickup I walked aaaaaaall the way around my Jeep and took quite a few pictures of the condition I gave it to them in. Like these:
Then I was off to meet the enclosed transport! Except the transport showed up and was NOT enclosed! I could have been a dick and said, “No dice, friends” and not given them the Jeep. But unfortunately I’m not a dick.
The Jeep goes on it’s way and I fly out a week later. The Jeep was delivered that morning and signed for by one TellTale’s employees, a self-professed “person who doesn’t know anything about cars and in fact does not even own a car!”
Here’s what I saw during my walkaround:
After the walkaround, and before the convention, I talk to the guys at TellTale, among them Kevin Bruner, the company’s CEO. I tell them, “Look I could be “that guy” and throw a fit, threatening to take my Jeep out of here tonight unless you cut me a check right now, but I know this is a huge fuckinging weekend for you guys, that you need to promote your game and you’ve gone a ton of shit to worry about. So, we can but this on a back burner until the expo is over, but I’d like your word that you’ll take care of this immediately afterwards.” They were pretty appreciative, and even though I received no per diem or additional badges, I decided to not be a dick about things.
Then the Jeep came home, I didn’t hear from TellTale. A week later I reached out to them, and it was a few more days before they got back to me, telling me that I’d have to file a claim with the auto transport company (Advance Car Carrier Corp.). I told them that I did not arrange for the transportation, and that I should not have to be the middleman. They insist that they are not responsible for the damage in any way, and that only the car owner can file a claim.
So I send all my claim information (scanned receipts and delivery invoices, before and after photos) to the car carrier, and they reply with:
“We have completed our assessment of the above loss and have determined that this is not car carrier damage. After carefully reviewing the damage pictures that you have sent to us, we found that all the damages was noted on the Bill of Lading before transporting your vehicle. Also please note that vehicle was inspected in rain and possible that not all the damages were visible. For that reason the box, where it says that vehicle going ASIS was marked.
Enclosed with this letter is a copy of the Bill of Lading signed by “xxxx” on August 30, 2011 in where was noted that vehicle had pre-existing damages before transporting from WA to CO.”
Now, the damage was done on the way TO Seattle, not FROM. And here’s a photo of it “raining” while they loaded up my Jeep. [fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][12] http://i.imgur.com/IQLaK.jpg
Sure is hard to see stuff with all that rain!
So TellTale hired the sketchiest-possible carrier company, and then one of TellTale’s employees(who admitted she doesn’t know the first thing about cars) signed the bill of lading upon delivery without inspecting the Jeep for damage, thereby releasing the car carrier from responsibility.
I’m disputing their decision, but I have the sinking feeling that I am going to be one of those cases that is just ignored until I go away. Bullshit man.
I guess my lesson is “next time get stuff in writing and be a big dick about everything.”
I haven’t heard from TellTale in months regarding this issue, it seems to be resolved as far as they are concerned. Now, the Jurassic Park game is set to be launched this week. I don’t really know if there’s anything I can do, but it seems like if there was ever a time for visibility on this problem, it’s now.”
So if you’re touched by the story and feel like talking to TellTale Games you can do it here:
http://www.facebook.com/telltalegames
and here:
Source: reddit
Update: TellTale Games replied http://www.reddit.com/r/gaming/comments/mceic/about_that_jurassic_park_jeep/
“Kevin Bruner from Telltale here. Today there has been quite the buzz about how Telltale reportedly damaged the Jurassic Park Jeep lent to us at PAX. Telltale has in fact been in regular contact with the owner of the Jeep and the last we heard, he was in the process of completing an insurance claim.
The Jeep was damaged on the way to Seattle, before anyone from Telltale every saw or touched it. Telltale used the shipping company that the owner asked us to use. When it arrived we just saw an awesome, well loved, but also well used, Jeep. We had no way of knowing that anything had happened to the Jeep in transport, as it appeared in reasonable condition. Anyone who came by the show and took a picture with the Jeep can attest that the Jeep looked pretty damn cool, and not obviously damaged.
The fact that the Jeep was damaged before we had access to it, and some dispute over the amount of damage caused in transport vs. existing damage has complicated the claim, which has made the process take a long time.
But, today I wake up to find that there is a campaign the day before our game launch to discredit Telltale. Since Telltale didn’t actually do anything negligent, we’ve been using the insurance we purchased to cover this, but it has been time consuming. Apparently too time consuming. To expedite this, I’ll be writing a personal check to cover what we understand the damages to be – this way we won’t need to hash this out publicly any longer.
Some people seem to think that Telltale has grown into some giant corporation that doesn’t care about people anymore. Nothing could be further from the truth. We started the company to make games that are about writing, acting and atmosphere and not about blowing shit up. Since we’ve gone out on this limb, we’ve had some successes (and failures) and earned the chance to work with great licenses like Monkey Island, Back to the Future, Jurassic Park and Walking Dead. All of our games are super faithful to the licenses, and lovingly crafted to make the best fan experience possible. Fans seem to enjoy them, which makes us super proud. We hate that most licensed games are a driver or a shooter with a license slapped on it, which we’ve never been about.
So I’ll fast track getting the Jeep fixed by paying for it personally, even though I don’t like the circumstances this is going down in. Perhaps some of you who are hating on Telltale might be inclined to check out Jurassic Park tomorrow and give us a chance to change your mind.”
[/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]
Leave a Reply