As pointed out by another reply, if this user had gotten his withdrawal processed, it would show that you more or less have to fly to Japan in person to get you

As pointed out by another reply, if this user had gotten his withdrawal processed, it would show that you more or less have to fly to Japan in person to get your money. If that precedent were set I believe that would negatively impact MtGox's PR in a pretty substantial way. I'm not disagreeing with what you're saying. It would show that they at least 'have funds' to pay out, rather than what looks like them not having anything (or enough) to cover the coins. I just think that the realization that you need to fly to Japan would also cause a lot of negative PR for them.