European commission investigates XBOX 360 failures
By Jonathan Schlaffer
It seems that Microsoft can’t catch a break these days what with Vista still failing miserably and apparently so are XBOX 360’s. Now don’t get me wrong, I own a XBOX 360 and I’ve had it for about a year with ZERO issues. There are those XBOX 360 owners that are perfectly happy (like me) and there are others who have gone through five or six units and even then all their issues are not fixed. We’ve talked about that before. And now, the Netherlands and the European Commissioner for Consumer affairs wants answers and wants them now.
I don’t know how widespread the problems mentioned in the US or other markets are but it seems the European market is having a problem with broken hard drives and scratched DVDs. The DVD scratching problem occurred briefly here in the US. Now this may be going out on a limb but could it be that Microsoft has pawned the flawed consoles off on other markets while at the same time fixing some of the issues in the US market?
There are upwards of 1,000 complaints from the Netherlands alone which is going up every day. The commissioner not only wants answers from Microsoft Europe but from other markets as well and a bulleted list of all issues and problems known in those markets.
Unfortunately for the commissioner she cannot order a forced recall on the XBOX 360 and I’m no expert on European laws or the Netherlands for that matter but surely if this is the case, something can be done besides going through broken XBOX 360 after broken XBOX 360.
The Inquirer found a mostly English interview with the commissioner which can be heard right here.
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June 1st, 2007
[...] Full article here: Source [...]
June 1st, 2007
it comes with great relief to see the media responding the fact that microsoft is cheating millions. after a year and three weeks of memorable music, movies and online gaming my beloved xbox 360 began to malfunction. i’ll spare you the grim details. what i will share was microsoft’s unapologetic lack of support and slap to the face. i was wondering if anyone is going to address the fact that microsoft is ripping off millions of gamers by selling faulty hardware with laughable warranties. i realize they have extended their warranties for one year but i dont feel that is enough. they are mass producing a faulty product. i think this is a crime and needs to be addressed. they have flexed their corporate muscles in the last console race and won the respect and trust of millions of gamers and an entire industry. they are abusing that trust daily and i dont feel that media is addressing it.
I am frustrated to no end that a company who’s vice president of entertainment refuses to release its system failure rates however claims that their customer service is top notch. Customer service is about a lot more than hiring representatives with broken English and making defective products with garbage warranties. if i wanted that id have stuck with sony this time around.
im not sure who to contact on this matter. i’ve been an avid gamer for years and im sure you’ve heard from thousands having the same issues. in fact im sure several members of your staff have had issues with the xbox 360 as well.
the bottom line is this. my opinion of microsoft has changed. it is an opinion of a large company who doesnt care. a company that took my money and sold me a product that failed a little into its first year. it is one of anger and frustration but most of all when i think about microsoft all i can think about is regret.
June 1st, 2007
Just get a PS3 and be done with it!!!!! I’m not running from you!!!
June 1st, 2007
any one got problems with thir ps3’s thought not
micro$oft couldn’t care about the quality of their goods or the consumers all they carn about is $$$$$$$$$$$$$$!!!!!!!!!
June 2nd, 2007
Derek, you would be right to say that some of us have had issues with our XBOX 360s but I have not been one of them (yet) but based on the way things are going I could easily be and it’s probably just a matter of time.
June 2nd, 2007
I got rid of my crashbox 360 long ago, picked up a launch ps3 with no problems, doesnt sound like a vacuum cleaner(360) either.
June 2nd, 2007
Look at the videos on the top of the PS3 website. They convinced me to forget about Microsoft. Microsoft have gotten better but they still don’t replace scratched game/cd/dvd discs.
All I have to say is wait until Fall 2007 and then choose your console. Thats when all the consoles are releasing their big games.
June 2nd, 2007
The website is http://www.us.playstation.com/PS3
The PS3 is going to come a happy second to the Wii. People forget that Microsoft is counting on Halo 3 and they don’t have much else planned after that.
June 3rd, 2007
m$ hav ALWAYS been about making huge profits for sub-standard soft/hardware, and once u own it it then becomes your problem if it breaks…not how customer service should be really.
as Andrew said, fall 07 is a good time to decide, but in my opinion m$ is out of question, they only have halo 3 coming, whereas sony has got games like mgs4, killzone 2 (possibly) and other big name games, the wii has got smash bro’s brawl and a couple of other big games.
IMHO leave m$ to do wat its done for years, steadily lose customers due to poor business modelling and leave the next-gen fight to nintendo and sony
June 11th, 2007
Microsoft refuses to fix the problems and refuses to take responsibility for all of the games that are scratched from the refurbished products they use to replace the products that are sent out when your xbox 360 is sent in for repair. If enough people call the FTC and complain at
1-877-FTC- HELP maybe something will be done to fix this problem
June 23rd, 2007
[...] “I am frustrated to no end with a company who’s vice president of entertainment refuses to release its system failure rates, however claims that their customer service is top notch,” commented Derek Rader on a recent post [...]
July 2nd, 2007
Microsoft will refuse to acknowledge the issue, however hand a 360 to any electrical expert and they will immediately find problem with the way components are secured to the board.
The problem is actually down to a severe design flaw, but of course why should they admit it, someone needs to use an independent body to check these units and take the findings back to the EC directly as Microsoft will never make this admission.