26 December 2023 , 18:58
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A family was left heartbroken and crying on Christmas Day when their little boy opened his main present only to find a box of rubbish.
Nathan Watters' son Peter, 4, was left in tears after rushing to open his Hot Wheels box which he'd been waiting weeks for. But upon ripping open the packaging, the youngster instead was met with coat hangers and bits of picture frames.
Nathan had bought what he thought was the race track set from a B&M store in Neath, Wales, for Christmas. The box looked fine and wasn't opened before.
But when they did open it on the big day, the family said it was instead full of junk. Nathan claims he thought maybe someone had taken the toy back to the shop without the toy inside, but B&M has told him it was a mistake with manufacturing.
The mix-up made Peter ask "why has Santa done this" and started crying believing he had been put on the naughty list, says heartbroken dad Nathan. He told WalesOnline: "The box itself was completely sealed off which we had made sure of from previous experiences where there's been missing parts etc.
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"It was bought as our four-year-old son's main gift as he's been asking for it for months. We're currently going through testing for autism with him which already runs in both sides of the family. When he unwrapped it he was super excited and his face lit up.
"He asked me to help him and open it for him. I opened the box which had no sign at all of tampering and as I opened the flap and saw what was in it, my heart sank. There was no way I could avoid tipping it out. As I did I could see the disappointment and Christmas being ripped out of him.
Nathan had bought what he thought was the race track set from a B&M store in Neath, Wales, for Christmas (Nathan Watters)"He along with my wife immediately burst into tears quickly followed by myself and our three-year-old daughter. The first thing he said was 'My Hot Wheels, why has Santa done this? Is it because I've been naughty?'"
"We blamed it on a naughty elf who had tricked Santa. It made me feel like the worst dad ever, disappointing my son and there was nothing I could do about it. He was really upset all day, crying, asking why Santa left it, and couldn't understand why it had happened.
"When we put him to bed, the wife told him that Santa had called us and to take it to a shop to get it replaced and that Santa had put the naughty elf responsible on to the naughty step to think about what he had done." There's a mystery about how the wrong items got into a toy box instead of the proper Hot Wheels set.
B&M and Mattel, who make Hot Wheels, has told the family they were looking into the incident. Nathan was told by the Neath store that it was made wrong and they always check things when they come back.
The family went back to the shop the day after Christmas to swap the toy. Nathan said the staff were very sorry and kind. He added: "We returned to B&M this morning where the manager had already seen it on Facebook and made staff aware of the situation and instructed that we were either to have an exchange or a refund."
"We exchanged it for a different track to what it was supposed to be and they also gave two packs of Hot Wheels cars to my son as a sorry gift. The manager was also upset and stated that they checked all returns and that it was a manufacturing issue. We just want to make sure it doesn't happen to anybody else as it has already, according to a comment on my Facebook post."
Upon discovering the box's contents, Nathan shared photos on Facebook. One comment suggested this wasn't the first time such an incident had occurred.
Nathan added: "The look on my son's face is something that will stick with me forever and with him being four (years old) now I fear this year will be the first (Christmas) he properly remembers and will be one of disappointment. I just hope he forgets and continues his fascination of Hot Wheels and dinosaurs." Both B&M and Mattel have been approached for a response to this incident.
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