NOTE: I just added some other people's shipping stories to the bottom of this post.

The Seattle Times describes the nightmare of a Nome mother trying to get Microsoft to acknowledge that she can, in fact, receive shipping.

At issue: Trying to get the company to replace her son's broken Xbox 360 after it died from the infamous "red ring of death." (I just had to do the same thing this winter.)

From the Times:

"Here comes the apparent insurmountable obstacle that's facing Microsoft," Galleher (the mother) wrote. She explained Nome's post-office-box-only practice for postal mail. To which, she was told the service center can't send to post-office boxes.

After a reporter called the company, Microsoft fixed the problem.

Anyone have similar tales of shipping woes to the Bush? E-mail me: khopkins@adn.com

OK, here's the update. I'm getting lots of e-mails, including many from people having the same Xbox problem described in the Seattle Times story. For those of you who aren't familiar, Xbox 360s tend to crap out at some point and you have to send them in to the company. They fix it and send it back. I'm on my second and it's already flashing red every once in awhile.

Here are excerpts from a few of your e-mails about how tough it is to deal with shipping:

Wow, my family has the same problem with this and we are on our third console. It took about 6 months of fighting and trying to get someone to ship a box here, but we just kept being told our address could not be verified. Finally I contacted the Better Business Bureau in Washington and reported them and got a very quick response and finally they shipped out box through fed-ex and we finally received the empty box. I am just glad to know that my family is not the only ones here having problems with x-box.
-- Kristen Pettit

When I lived in Bethel I encountered a company that would ship to my PO box but wanted my street address as well. My address was Trailer 58. They didn't get it. They kept asking for a street. I said there isn't one. I am in the trailer park, number 58. I had to speak to a manager before they would agree to ship to me.
-- Rebecca Luczycki

My Son shipped his out yesterday due to the same problem with his an they had recieved it an they had called here to let us know that they do not ship to post office boxes. That is crazy!
-- Dolly Patterson

I ordered a Singing Machine for my daughter for Christmas. It did not work when it arrived. I e-mailed them several times and they have said countless times that they will send a shipping label to me through e-mail and through regular mail and up to this day since January 2009 I have not received anything. They also said they would send a new singing machine and I have not received it yet. I am very careful with my e-mail and my mail. I finally told them I do not have confidence in their companies. This problem has frustrated me. I live in Kotzebue, Alaska.
-- Wynona Wilson

Since moving to Nome several years ago, my family and I have had a variety of "shipping woes" with companies who can't seem to find Alaska on the map. Some companies -- even companies that have stores or locations in Alaska -- can't figure out how to mail something to Nome; for example, I tried to order some boxes and other supplies from U-Haul some years back, and they couldn't send to Nome, even though they have locations in Fairbanks and Anchorage. Other companies won't send via the postal service, and will only send via UPS, FedEx, etc. So a 10 dollar item may cost $50 by the time shipping is added. I'm not talking about heavy items either; The Company Store wanted $20-25 to ship a pillow. A childs pillow. It weighs maybe half a pound, if that.
-- Rick P.