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HIGHWORTH, England — A 7-year-old boy who was heartbroken over a lost toy has a reason to celebrate after LEGO came to the rescue.
Luka Apps of Highworth, Wiltshire, spent his Christmas money on the LEGO Ninjago Ultra Sonic Raider set. His father warned him not to take the minifigures out when they went shopping, but the boy did anyway. By the time he got home, the toy was gone.
Instead of just giving up, Luka decided to write to LEGO, telling the company his situation and that his dad had told him that maybe an email would help him find a new one.
"My Daddy just took me to Sainsburys and told me to leave the people at home but I took them and I lost Jay ZX at the shop as it fell out of my coat," he said. "I am really upset I have lost him. Daddy said to send you a email to see if you will send me another one. I promise I won't take him to the shop again if you can."
LEGO did more than just replace Luka's missing minifigure. Shortly after Luka sent the email, he received a reply from Richard, a LEGO customer service representative who said he had spoken with Sensei Wu, a master from the Ninjago line.
"Luka, I told Sensei Wu that losing your Jay minifigure was purely an accident and that you would never ever ever let it happen ever again," he said. "He told me to tell you, ‘Luka, your father seems like a very wise man. You must always protect your Ninjago minifigures like the dragons protect the Weapons of Spinjitzu!'"
Richard said Sensei Wu told him it would be OK to send Luka a new minifigure, as well as something extra, "because anyone that saves their Christmas money to buy the Ultrasonic Raider must be a really big Ninjago fan."
Just remember, Richard told Luka, to "always listen to your dad."
Luka's dad, Simon Apps, reported on Twitter that Luka "was literally jumping up and down when he read the reply." He said "Many businesses could and indeed, should, learn from the great example Richard has set."
This isn't the first time in recent months LEGO has gotten attention for tracking down an item after receiving a letter from a child. In November, the company sent a discontinued set to an 11-year-old Massachusetts boy with Asperger's Syndrome after the boy wrote to tell LEGO he had saved for two years for the set.
LEGO isn't the only company to go out of its way to make a customer happy, though: in August, Samsung sent a Canadian man a personalized phone case after the customer sent the company a drawing of a dragon.
