Microsoft abuses Xbox 360 failure victims more than new customers
By Triston McIntyre
Microsoft has kept a relatively low profile on the Xbox 360 front since last summer when it began “rewarding” victims of the disturbingly frequent “red ring of death” failures, excluding the rather underhanded way Microsoft surreptitiously slid the whole Xbox Live outage ordeal that occurred in the months of December and January under the table. Though free Xbox Live games and embellished warranty extensions might seem like acceptable penances to most people, Microsoft is doing whatever it can to alienate its quickly diminishing number of loyal 360 owners with underhanded business practices.
For those readers who haven’t had to endure the rather painful process of getting an Xbox 360 repaired, here’s how it goes: you spend an undetermined amount of time on the phone with a customer service representative who has worked really hard to sound “American,” who is genuinely sorry for any and every problem you might have, and who will “work hard” to resolve your problems.
If you were fortunate enough to have experienced the “red ring of death,” then voila, your problems are all solved. You’ll get a box containing packing materials and stupid-proof instructions; after a few weeks of repairs, you will most likely get a “new” console back from Microsoft.
For some folks, that’s where the story ends — new console, 1 month of free Xbox Live for your inconvenience, and indefinite happy gaming. For more than a few others, it gets a bit more hairy.
Let’s assume, for the sake of argument, that the “new” console Microsoft sends you, stuffed to the brim with all the newest functional hardware elements that differentiate them from the older faulty consoles, starts experiencing problems. That, in many cases, is another red ring of death — for others, their Xboxs might be eating your game discs. Regardless, it is time for another fun-filled call to the Xbox support staff.
Again, a lucky red ring of death means you receive a package from the Xbox stork — however, if you are suffering from any other problem, instead of a 3 year warranty, you’ll be working on the original warranty of your first Xbox, the one that crapped out. In other words (words that your Xbox rep will try to make seem a little less painful), when you receive your replacement Xbox, which should, by all means, be fixed in entirety and without problem, you are working on the 1 year warranty that came with your original Xbox — Microsoft won’t stand behind their replacement consoles.
At this point, customers are presented 1 single option: pay Microsoft $100 to have their consoles repaired. When asked what parts will be replaced in this very blanket $100 fee, customer service representatives as well as their supervisors can’t document the replacements that will be made. Obviously, that would be very difficult; they don’t know what needs to be fixed, so how can they tell you what is going to be replaced, right?
Not quite. Let’s make a comparison: you wouldn’t call your car dealership, tell them you’re having car problems, and have them quote you $5,000, right? Why, then, is Microsoft charging customers a blanket fee for repairs of problems that aren’t documented at the time they charge you? Beyond that, why isn’t a list of repairs sent back with each console?
In reality, Microsoft could simply be receiving consoles for “repairs,” reboxing them and sending them to their owners, no repairs made. After all, if you didn’t have a red ring, it could be user error — at the rate that red rings pop up, users could have their consoles stop functioning before they ever know Microsoft didn’t make a single repair.
Here’s the real kicker: when you send your 360 in for “broad” repairs (that can’t be listed, but can certainly be charged for), you are given a 1 year warranty — the warranty you should have received when you get a replacement console.
At the very best, some friendly supervisor might be willing to knock 25%, even 50%, off your repair costs — in the end, you’ll be paying for the assumed repair of your console without any real guarantee that you’ll get what you’re really willing to pay for: peace of mind.
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April 6th, 2008
To be fair, Its the same with playstation.
April 6th, 2008
In Microsoft’s defense, they didn’t have to give customers anything, but customers did get the extended 3 year warranty free of charge.
However, it would be nice if the system was more reliable. I’ve had two 360s break, one near launch and the replacement about one year later. The second replacement has worked fine without hitches for awhile.
From my perspective, it seems that MS has finally gotten the 360s reliability under control.
Maybe they’re warranty policies are returning to normal, but maybe the failure rates are returning to normal also.
April 6th, 2008
To be fair? When I called sony and told them my system was freezing everytime it tried to sign onto the PSN, what did they do? They apologised, and sent a box for FREE repair or replacement. i chose to head over to gamestop for a replacement since i bought the warrenty. up and running same day. Satisfied customer here.
April 6th, 2008
As far as I know, once the console is repaired, there is a new one year warranty on the repair.
April 6th, 2008
“To be fair, Its the same with playstation.”
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA-LMAO!!!!
I have owned my PS3 since launch and even when Im not playing it I leave it on so Folding@home can do its thing and geuss what - it still works perfectly fine!!!
I turn it off only a couple of times a month and I don’t use an intercooler. My sheep freinds on the other hand that own XBOX360’s have all had RROD at least once, most of them twice. Out of the dozens of people I know w/ the 360 only one has not had theirs breakdown, my bro in law, and thats because he never uses the damn thing.
April 6th, 2008
ummm no it is not the same with playstation. does playstation have a huge failure rate like 360 that causes thousands of people to go through this? luckily i havent had problems with my 360 or PS3….will i be surprised if i eventually get the rrod? not in the least. will i be surprised if my ps3 shits out on me? you bet your ass i would.
April 6th, 2008
“In Microsoft’s defense”, They can blow me. My first Xbox 360 overheated, exchanged it for another, that one and the following next three all scratched discs and gave read errors. I’m on my fifth system and it’s behaving normally for the most part, but the DVD-ROM is making unusual noises now, and I’ve only had it back for about a month and a half. Personally I’m sick of the customer abuse, I’m getting a PS3, I will make it my lead console. Microsoft should accept its faults and make it right with the customer, but instead they deny the issues of disc scratching on a massive scale. This is consumer abuse on a mass scale.
April 6th, 2008
This article is rubbish! Now mind you, I am not boasting about this, but I have sent my two 360’s in for repair a total of four times SINCE LAUNCH - November 22nd, 2005. The last time was in February, 2008. I should also mention I have sent in my 120GB hard drive 3 times.
How many times have I been asked by Xbox Customer Service to pay for ANY of these repairs? “None-point-none” times. Ziltcho!
The internet tubes are surely filled with crap - including this post.
April 6th, 2008
Charles,
Here’s a tip: do not move your console when it’s on - especially with a disc in it.
I know you’re going to reply saying that you NEVER touch your console when it is on. Yeah, right.
As I have stated in my other post, I have sent my 2 360’s in for repairs a total of 4 times. That is what - 5 or 6 different consoles? NOT one of my consoles has ever scratched a disc - EXCEPT for the ONE TIME I moved the console when it was on with a disc in it - clearly user error on my part.
April 6th, 2008
Here’s a tip malbert
Don’t lay the consoles KNOWN issues at the feet of a user, who most assuredly didnt move the console.
After two downed consoles, one of which ATE games I gave up on the 360. You should too. I cannot believe what the user base is willing to endure.
April 6th, 2008
i have owned a xbox 360 since launch and have had no problems with it .. i leave it on for weeks and no issues … i never use fans as i do not want a melted piece of shit … take care of what u buy and it will last … treat it like a toy and it will break .. if it was a home computer or a car u would not be complaining … the 360 has a failure rate the same as anyother electronic .. oh ya i bought a PS3 for the blue ray and the blue ray did not work .. i was over my 3 month warranty and so sony would not cover the issue and blamed me .. i will buy there tvs and watch there movies .. but not buy there consoles any more …
thank u
April 6th, 2008
Mine died with the RROD. The time it took from the time I called to was no longer than nine days..
Customer service was awesome, the guy at the other end was apologetic and made me feel my call was important.
The way they dealt with my problem was A+ and because of that they will keep me as a customer.
I have had Sony products before and they have treated me poorly.
Customer service can be bad with any company, it’s just luck or bad luck who you get on the phone.
Yeah I have both a 360 and a PS3 and like both machines.
This article is nothing more than a bias view by a PS3 fanboy.
April 6th, 2008
i very much sdoubt the blu ray did not wok, as the console is centered around the blu ray hard drive, threfore… your playstation would not have worked full stop… other than switching the thing on. i was in a gaming store my mate owns the other day….he has an xbox on a big screen to show off new releases, he went to put on dark sector so i could have a quick play, guess what happend? RROD. hes had to send 7back….. the stores only been open 6months…. hes a hard core xbox fan, but even he admits… when the playstation gets a few more good games…. hell switch over. the bottom line is, even if microsoft didnt charge, gave me a lifetime guarantee, polished my bollocks and gave mea 70inch HDTV free of charge, i would not swap my reliable ps3 for the 360. the gameplays smoother, especially on COD4…. and above all else, its really reliable….
April 6th, 2008
To drackonous:
Wow! what a fucking liar you are! 3 month warranty!? Are you stupid or something? If you’re gonna lie, at least know what you’re talking about. The PS3 has a 1-year warranty dumbass, not a 3-month. And i know that the rest of your story is bullshit. I see that you must be part of the Microsoft Defense Force. That’s right keep defending this shit, so you’ll keep receiving what you deserve!
April 6th, 2008
100% truth my 360 Arcade stopped reading disks…Put in my 1 800 4my xbox. at 9am 2 days later the box showed up…4 days later my NEW 360 was in my hands… Less than a week from call to new 360. They have upped their game in a big way. Short of machines that never break down this is the best your gonna get…Im surprised and happy that it did’nt take 4 to 6 weeks. Microsoft support has you covered :)
April 6th, 2008
to whoever is under the impression that I just created this “rubbish,” this is from multiple experiences…I have contact information and case numbers as proof if your microsoft bubble is feeling a little burst right now :0
April 6th, 2008
StarWars the Force Unleashed the must have title this September…. you guessed it….only on the Xbox 360!
All you Sony retards can play Drakes Fortune for the 7th time while us 360 loosers are ripping the universe a new butt hole as Darth Vaders side kick! Sweeeet
April 6th, 2008
i have every console ive ever purchased including 2 atari 2600 ’s and they all still work beautifully except my 360 which after my 2nd one crapped out i was smart enough to bow out of microsoft’s game it doesn’t matter how good the customer service is if youve had to send it back 4 times that’s 3 times too many
April 6th, 2008
Force Unleashed is multiplatform moron, get your facts straight before u make urself look like a complete fool on forums.
April 6th, 2008
“who haven’t had to endure the rather painful process of getting an Xbox 360 repaired, here’s how it goes: you spend an undetermined amount of time on the phone with a customer service representative ” Ha, obvioulsy you have problems using a touch phone, when mine was repaired, i went on the website, selected the problem, had an email sent back confirming with a pre-paid UPS service, phoned them up and they came and collected it, a week later a fixed xbox. 3 months free on xbox live. whats so hard about that? i know it shoudlnt happen with a new console, but playstation is not pefect, may i remind people of the ps2 disc problems when that came out. Oh hang on and the disc problems with the ps3. disc getting stuck in its drive. there is always teething problems. whooptee doo,
April 6th, 2008
hahaha you think i wanna play star wars unleased when i can play metal gears solid and GTA 4 and resistance 2 and little big planet and killzone? your an idiot i would rather play all those games than that crappy game. xbox suxs if u have to send it away more then once the company has failed to give you a good product
April 6th, 2008
hahahaha “microsoft defense force” your a f!@#ing retard the force unleashed is comming out on the PS3, 360, Wii, DS and PSP. and currently on EB games its set for a simultanious release on all systems, so its not even a timed exclusive. Why dont you grow up and do your research before saying bulls4!7 like that
April 6th, 2008
Have you all not read Triston’s blogs in the past? It’s apparent this author has an ax to grind with M$. “I have case numbers……” the post states, so apparently everyone who has had a simple and painless exchange is lieing. I think Triston is on Sony’s payroll - all of these anti-M$ articles are pathetic!
April 6th, 2008
i dont think its ahit at microsoft, its just a pi$$ed gamer voicing his dissatisfaction, we all know gamesw consoles have initial teething problems… but not at the same strike rate as the 360…. and it cant be a teething problem now… its been what 3.5 years since its realease? with an average console life of 5years before its out-of-date, its like saying an 80year old woman is having puberty problems! i love the way as soon as the xbox is dissed all the xbox ‘were not fan boys’ fan boys, come in an say its ps3 fanboys making it up, when its a known problem, admit it, you backed the wrog horse, the same as MS has backed the wrong horse in DLC…. please… you think film makers are going to let you download their films for less than a £10 ($20) a go? plus the cost of storage…. and a high end pc that can hold the data and play it HD to store it on…. then all the extra hard drive space youll need….. blu-ray will triumph as you can already buy blu-ray disks for 10-15 pounds…..?? microsoft will mess up like they have with vista…. sony have made all the right movres selling the ps3 as a bluray player mainly…..
April 6th, 2008
In my opinion, the article above is a little bias. In my experience with phone service for Xbox 360, It wasn’t too long, only about a three to five minute wait time with MUCH better music than other customer service calls (Halo 2 music vs Comcast’s repeating elevator music… your choice). Of course, mentioning that the guy worked hard for English and was ‘very sorry’ that my Xbox 360 was broken, it didn’t matter. At least I am getting this for free now.
Sent console in mail with weird packaging (some foam on the top of the console). Waited two weeks, and it was here.
I have experienced, though, a dirty disc error and I think it scratched my Halo 3 disk. Still runs, however, I might have to send it back for another one.
Quote:
“If you were fortunate enough to have experienced the “red ring of death,”…”
This is not about being fortunate. Most Xboxs that have problems display a red ring of death. Overheating doesn’t count since that means people do not leave it in a proper area or have fans that do not work, which would trigger a hardware failure anyway.
I also don’t think they would send a broken console back to you. They look over the console, see if anything is wrong, and correct it. Simple. However, looking for improper soldering or bad disc drives is hard enough to find, let alone fix.
April 6th, 2008
i wonder what all this s##t world sound like in the 80s..
My a400 calculates .00003 times faster than your b205.. HUHAA.
##
SHUT UP NERD!. MY 205 BEATS YOUR a400 HANDS DOWN!!
April 6th, 2008
you could lie and say you got three red lights, thats what I did when I got 1 red light
April 7th, 2008
i move my wii when it’s on and with a disc in it all the time and once the ps3 fell off the couch while it was on and neither system scratched the discs. the 360 shouldn’t scratch discs AT ALL even if it’s the user causing it because they touched” the system while it was on.
and the 360 fanboys are stupid…. “i’ve repaired my xbox 360 4-5 times and they’ve NEVER EVER charged me a fee not even once so this this post is a lie HA the joke is on you guys!!!”
you guys are making yourself look BAD because you shouldn’t have to repair it not even once let alone 3-5 times!!!
April 7th, 2008
Actually xbox did not get thier system under control. Three weeks agao a frind i play with sent hers in for the second time. She got her 3rd xbox last monday March 31 and two days ago April 5th it got rrod again. SO really what the f is microsoft doing except killing themselves. Heres a new article from overseas thats interesting btw.
http://www.itwire.com/content/view/17494/1092/
!According to a report, if some Australian retailers had their way, the Xbox 360 would be dumped from their shelves.
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Lifestyle website Smarthouse is reporting on a recent survey of Australian retail chains covering more than 2,000 stores and outlets.
As a consensus they report that the majority of their marketing efforts are aimed at the Nintendo Wii as well as the rising popularity of the Sony PlayStation 3.
The “Ring of Death” issue has hurt Microsoft’s stance in the market, whilst the Wii appeals the “Women and Kids” and with Blu-ray having won the high-definition disc war, the PS3 is rising not so much on the back of its gaming capabilities, but as a Blu-ray player. This in turn encourages retailers to bush Blu-ray content.
One comment from the report: “The Xbox 360 is dead. We are stocking it because of our relationship with Microsoft however all our energy and marketing is going into the PS3 and the Nintendo Wii unless Microsoft come up with something new or additional marketing dollars. Halo 3 was big on the Xbox but that was about it. They have tried discounting and value add offers and even that is not working. We are even thinking of dumping the console all together”.
Personally, I find this an interesting take on the market; I can understand the push from retailers in the Blu-ray department – I believe the high-definition disc format will be a short-lived era compared to the CD and DVD time frames. Retailers are wise to cram as many transactions into this period as they possibly can.
April 7th, 2008
“To be fair, Its the same with playstation.”
How???
I bought a Toshiba HDTV last July that kept dropping my PS3 signal over HDMI. I contacted both companies to determine which devise was causing the issue. Sony diagnosed the issue and determined the PS3 was likely not at fault. BUT they said word for word at my request they would replace my unit free of charge and no questions asked. The problem turned out to be with my TV and unfortunately Toshiba’s customer service wasn’t so great. It took six weeks for them to replace my TV which had a bad video board that overheated when using HDMI.
Sony’s customer service was great to me.
April 7th, 2008
If it make’s the 360 owners happy you’ll be gald to know that even the PS3 has some issues.for the last week i have occasionally been receiving an error code when i try and play any blu-ray discs on sunday it finally decied to stop playing them all together. this includes games and movies. After this error code the console will not recognise any blu-ray disc, the console will however still read dvd’s. just what i want on my hdtv standard definition. One big plus for sony has been their customer care. I phoned Sony yesterday (6/4/08) had the phone answered by somone in the uk (big plus in my opinion) after explaining the problem i was informed that on thursday 10/04/08 there would be a replacment console delivered to my home address and could i please have my broken console ready to swap on the doorstep. they also asked me to have a try at reinstalling the system to see if that cured it (it didn’t) and if it did to let them know and they cancel the exchange. despite my console being broke it was an extremely pain free experience. a good friend was with me when this happened and he has a 360 which has rrod, since phoning microsoft he has been given a false link to shipping label, been told they’re in the post and nothing arrives etc, he is now green with envy over the customer service i have received. Let me assure i am not lying and that even the geatest console ever made can run into some issues. my heart goes out to all those having to deal with Microsoft.
April 7th, 2008
Xbox 360 is still useless I got a 60GB PLAYSTATION 3 and i sold my Xbox 360 Pro to my brother for $230 to get my third PSP.
April 7th, 2008
it’s funny that the only one’s whining about the 360’s is Australia. when has Australia EVER mattered to the success of a console? hint: never. deal with it. it’s even funnier that the ps3 zealouts forget the ps2 broke down more than the 360’s did, but that’s somehow forgiveable.
April 7th, 2008
tristan - your hate for MS is incredibly transparent. get a life, hack. *waits for “i don’t hate MS” b.s.*
April 7th, 2008
I cant believe ps3 got so much hate for having few games “at launch” ,when no console ever launched with AAA titles , and microsoft is getting away with a faliure rate anywhere from 15-35% and people are buying it! I dont know who is crazier microsoft or the people who buy the 360
April 8th, 2008
I think some people are missing the point of this article. The author acknowledges that Microsoft’s Customer Service is great when it comes to dealing with the RRoD. However, he’s asserting that it is inadequate if you have any other problem with the console.
I’m surprised at these comments, actually. The anti-Microsoft sentiment seems to be the majority, which is unusual. Either the colossal screw-up known as the 360 is actually causing backlash, or the majority of the Microsoft Faithful are ignoring this article.
April 9th, 2008
Arvis - you can’t debate a stupid opinion which this article clearly is. that’s why 360 owners aren’t posting. they know it’s b.s. and the author has a perpetual hardon against ms. bobzilla - the original xbox launched with halo, AAA rated.
April 9th, 2008
For the record, I don’t have Microsoft. I am a staunch supporter of the 360. Xbox just doesn’t give fantastic support. And I’m writing from Maryland…not Australia. At least be original and creative with your comments.
April 10th, 2008
triston - define “fantastic support”… so far it has 1,000 games available, an online infrastructure unmatched by anyone, most “AAA” rated games, and the highest attach ratio. what kind of “support”are you talking about? it’s comments like yours that lead us to believe you simply have a blind hatred for ms. i’m wondering where your article is reporting the mass ps3 errors that are popping up worldwide, that sony (once again) refuses to acknowledge is happening. no kidding; google “ps3 error” and see what happens. so, we’ll wait for your “ps3 has crappy hardware” article now. thanks.
April 24th, 2008
That’s not what happened to me. I sent in my non-RROD’d Xbox 360 for repair, and completely expected to have to pay the $100 repair fee. Not only did Microsoft not charge me the hundred bucks, they sent me a free month of Live Gold, and the whole turnaround time was ten days. Yes. Ten days. And I didn’t even have to call customer support. I just went online, typed in my problem, and they sent me a box in the mail. I didn’t have to sit on the phone *at all*.
I’d be more willing to listen to people’s gripes about Microsoft if they didn’t exaggerate all the time.
Anyway, about the 1 year warranty - it’s industry standard. EVERY industry. Not just consoles. If I send in a blender to get fixed and it’s got a ninety-day warranty, I don’t get a new ninety-day warranty when I get it back. No one re-ups the warranty when it’s repaired. To complain about this with Microsoft and no one else just makes me think you’re trying too hard to come up with something to gripe about.
May 5th, 2008
Everyone needs to learn how to read and understand what point this post is supposed to establish. First of all this article is for people who have surpassed their 1 year warranty and have more or less already received a replacement because of the “rings of death.” The author is mainly stating that Microsoft removes all of your original hardware and replaces it in the event of the “rings of death” occur, and they don’t give a shit if the hardware that they replace it with malfunctions. I have personally experienced this. After 4 months of barely even playing my replacement, my DVD drive started eating disks and stopped working completely, but this has nothing to do with the flashing rings. So, without the flashing rings and without being within the 1-year warranty, you’re fucked. Microsoft should ABSOLUTELY give a warranty for hardware that they install into your XBOX to return it to full working capabilities, but they do not and they will not replace it without $100. So, if you are not over your 1 year warranty and you do not have the “rings of death”, then stop replying to this post and saying that you had no problems with support because you have no fucking clue how to read or make intelligent comments on a completely true and completely well written article.
May 19th, 2008
We won our xbox through mountain dew before its launch in 2005 and didn’t have a single problem until two days ago, when a power outage seems to have shorted the system. We got lights in the 1st and 3rd quadrants, what is known as overheating, while the console was well ventilated and not over-used. Not overheating in the slightest. Our first call, we talked to a guy who, for lack of a better term, was borderline retarded. He asked for the $100, we said we’d call back. We did a couple minutes later, and a new (and not nearly as retarded) tech walked us through how to lie about the rrod to get our repair free (pretty sure he was doing it on purpose, but it was all very subtle). Wish us luck. I absolutely agree microsoft should be ashamed of themselves. The irony comes in our having not payed for the system in the first place, yet still being outraged at a $100 repair service. With a 33% failure rate, you would think they might try harder in the customer satisfaction arena. It appears to me their service, and their system, are very hit and miss. If I were microsoft, *especially* in light of other recent failures, I would be actively trying to maintain my fanbase, instead of fleecing my customers for repairs on my crappy system.
July 11th, 2008
i say we push all the broken xboxes up steve balmers ass then maybe he will give 2 shits
July 23rd, 2008
Ok, I read every single post here and I have to say some of you guys are so fucking ignorant its disgusting! I bought my first 360 only a month ago after all this time because too many people (some I actually know) kept getting those red rings. I figured, “hey lemme wait awhile. maybe microsoft will get their shit together and eventually fix the problem”. WRONG! Yes, if you get 4 rings microsoft will cover you but if your an unlucky fuck like me with one red ring your fucked cuz your only option is to pay greedy ass microsoft $100 to repair it. why the hell should I pay for a fucked up system I only bought a month ago?! One I was very careful with as much as I am with all my other game consoles! And like i just said, I am very careful with my consoles and have quite a few of them going all the way back to the 8 bit nes. why is it that my 360 is the ONLY one dat crapped out on me?? I am definatly NOT buying or repairing another 360 and will be moving on to the ps3. Kiss my ass and Phuck you very much microsoft! You have definitely lost me as a loyal customer!