You could hit their Twitter with a link to this thread, and copy @nzherald, @stuff, and @newshub :)

It makes me angry every time I hear about stuff like this. Sales people in big box stores (and their supervisors/managers) who claim to be ignorant of the CGA are just plain lying.

networkn:

 

It's an hour, you could potentially do it in your lunch break. Ours took 1.5 hours but it was considerably more complicated. It's somewhat unlikely you'd even need to go, they will fold when they get a notification as it's open and shut. Especially as it's a known issue. You can reference that in your application.

 

Exactly this, it's possible you may have to go although but considering the value of an Xbox I'd agree they're more likely to fix / replace yours at no cost when they see that you're taking it to court. Given the details of your situtation, I'd honestly be shocked if the court date actually happened.

Something I've thought about but not needed to do so far.... reply to your existing email thread with them and ask them who the Disputes Tribunal paperwork should be addressed to, including this link.  That might be enough for them to change their position.

https://disputestribunal.govt.nz/how-to-make-a-claim/what-you-need/#respondent-details