Microsoft repairs Xbox 360 five times, refuses to replace it
By Jonathan Schlaffer
This has got to be a record. A certain Xbox 360 owner has had his Xbox 360 repaired five times by Microsoft and it is still not working properly. The company is supposed to replace any Xbox 360 after the fourth repair attempt but that did not happen. This is the story of “Greg” and his attempts to get his Xbox 360 repaired.
After the fifth repair which occurred on January 2nd, the unit lasted for 11 days and has been out of service for a total of 12 weeks. He would like a refurbished unit, new unit or just a plain refund but Microsoft is happy enough keeping him in the repair cycle.
He says that his family can’t play video games or watch DVDs. What’s worse is that he purchased the HD-DVD add-on and “dozens” of HD-DVD titles as well as some Live content, all of which is now useless to him.
While the HD-DVD titles and Live content is now worthless to him but where playing DVDs is concerned, it’s a little hard to believe that his family doesn’t have a cheap $35 DVD player lying around, somewhere. If not, it won’t break the bank to buy a DVD player to fill the interim.
The Consumerist has a timeline of events which goes like this,
1. He bought an Xbox 360 and an extended warranty in early 2007.
2. It was defective, so he called 800-4-MY-XBOX and arranged to have it repaired.
3. Three weeks later the console was returned in working order.
4. It broke down again.
5. Repeat steps 2 & 3.
6. He bought the HD DVD player add-on and began buying HD DVD movies.
7. It broke down a third time.
8. Repeat steps 2 & 3.
9. On November 28th 2007 it broke down a fourth time.
10. “Paul” at Microsoft says, “that since this is my fourth broken xbox that a supervisor needs to talk to me so that I can get a new console instead of another refurbished one. Paul promised a callback between 5-8pm on the 29th. He recorded my new phone number and address.”
11. Nobody calls.
12. Greg calls Microsoft and talks to a woman who says Paul must have been from a different country, “perhaps Canada she thought,” and they do things differently there. She says her supervisor says no deal on the new Xbox. Greg discovers that his account has no record of his conversation with Paul or his new contact info. She says someone will call him back.
13. Nobody calls him back.
14. Greg calls again and speaks to “Kim,” who says a supervisor tried to call but Greg’s phone number was disconnected. There’s no record of his call from the day before or his new contact info.
15. “Eventually” someone named “Jessica” contacts him and arranges for the fourth repair. He receives his Xbox 360 in working order “a few days before Christmas.”
16. On January 2nd, it breaks down for the fifth time.
Certainly at this point it is cheaper for Microsoft to just replace the console than to keep attempting a “repair.” It’s also not clear what series of Xbox 360 this was but clearly whatever “repairs” that have been done, have not worked. Do the right thing, Microsoft, just replace it. If the company continues to refuse there’s always the law.
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January 23rd, 2008
Ack, poor guy, they should have a program in place for those who want a brand new console, instead of a refurbished one. I really wanted one with a HDMI port back when all models were confirmed to have one, but they gave me a refurbished original! Mabye if they had a program set up where you send in your console along with $20 to have a HDMI port installed…
January 23rd, 2008
Just get a ps3 dude
January 23rd, 2008
sad………..very sad that a company won’t do a recall on 360’s but i guess they really only care about screwing people out of more money and time. glad i got a %^+ that seems flawless. just to beat sony to the market is what really saddens me about this whole fiasco.ms is also claiming the new versions have the most reliable hardware of all time, i find that hard to believe and if don’t, you are fncking blind to the facts. don’t buy american cars, don’t buy american computers,don’t buy american consoles,don’t buy american toys,don’t buy american. here’s a small list of things that are alright= american cigarettes,american lighters(zippo),american guns,american clothes,american hot dogs,american soda pop,american homes,american bicycles,american motorcycles,american flags. i can’t think of any more but please add to the list. that’s what we get outsourcing to poor countrys that have no quality control just to save a buck and see profits. and that makes me sad as well. and i’m in north carolina,USA
January 23rd, 2008
wow.it seems no fanboys want to touch this one. maybe their out buying a wii or a ps3…………….or buying a new 360 which is exactly what ms wants you to do=buy another updated system because they aren’t satisfied with the ones they launched or released a year ago. now xbox ultimate w/blaw blaw blaw,then a year from then, new xbox hardcore and then a year from then they kill off all support and release the 720. i hope for their sake they learned a little lesson about quality over quantity. i prefer quality like i eat good,slow,perfected food, you eat taco bell. i’ll pay a little more for quality,i smoke cush, you smoke new town brown. and i’m happy with my choice, you might be too, but “we all get what we pay for”. i would love to play mass effect and bioshock but will probably never because i don’t like to throw money and time away on anything i even remotely think is gonna break in a year.i learned my lesson buying a lasertag set that kept breaking after i returned it and got another,that was it me.
January 23rd, 2008
true my xbox 360 broke still waiting for it. its not even a year old. my ps3 and wii never have a problem. ps3 had a broken power cord dont know how but nothing major. microsoft dosnt care about the loss of money they are not a true gameing company and will never learn
January 23rd, 2008
This entire situation could have been avioded if he had purchased a protection plan from BestBuy when he bought the unit. He would have been playing on a 360 weeks ago. They honor all defects and have never given me a hard time. In fact they are used to it by know. Mircosoft and their business practices is a whole other situation.
January 24th, 2008
yeah i had my xbox repaired 6 times..
January 24th, 2008
I know EXACTLY where Greg is coming from.
The list that is written in the article is the exact same thing i have gone through.
Unlike Greg, however, i am actually on my 9th xbox 360.
Microsoft refuses to replace my console with a new one, and have only sent me dusty refurbished units.
Like, i need to send the one i have in now, but i am just really sick of it. This current one i have freezes frequently, the eject disc button on the console doesnt always work as well as multiple other issues.
I have even contact the BBB regarding this, and nothing has come forth from that either.
Hopefully Microsoft can get their stuff together and send me a console that works.
Hang in there Greg!
January 24th, 2008
How could he buy a cheap dvd player to play hd-dvd exactly? Maybe my vcr will play mp3s now? Ignoranance…
January 24th, 2008
Did you maybe miss the part where I said “the HD-DVD titles and Live content is now worthless.” I realize the wording isn’t the best but obviously a DVD player doesn’t play HD-DVDs…
Or was it where you missed the part he was using the Xbox 360 as a DVD player? To which I suggested that a $35 DVD player would fill the interim…
I suggest, Mike, you read more carefully and don’t infer things that aren’t explicitly stated.
January 24th, 2008
I know your covering your statement now but it reads the way it reads:
While the HD-DVD titles and Live content is now worthless, it’s a little hard to believe that his family doesn’t have a cheap $35 DVD player lying around, somewhere.
Does he own regular dvds?
Im not sure cause he bought all those hddvds and its hooked up to a useless xbox which is useless even if it worked.
January 29th, 2008
I’m disgusted with Microsoft. How does this kind of customer service encourage would be buyers?
So far my 360 has only suffered freezes (bad enough in the middle of a game) but if I had been through what Greg has, I’d be inclined to give up on Microsoft and get a PS3!
February 13th, 2008
everyone gets what deserves…
you choose buy microsoft products, live with the consequences…
if you jump to a pool, dont expect to stay dry… duhh
if you buy a xbox 360, dont expect to keep working… duhh
February 20th, 2008
OMG Just a get PLAYSTATION 3 and stop the pain and begin healing. Wow lucky me i sold my Xbox 360 Pro to my brother for $220 and a got my third PSP the slim one.
March 8th, 2008
Same thing happening to me, man. They want me to send in my box for a fourth time. The last supervisor I talked to gave me his personal guarantee that they would now spend more time in thoroughly diagnosing the problem and fixing it. If it can not be fixed, which obviously it cannot, he said it would be replaced. Well, I get mine back again, and now have a guy who personally handles by case, and tells me that I need to set up another repair order. He also tells me that he can not request the newer upgraded parts for the refurbished replacement I might be getting. He tells me he cannot get me a brand new xbox because it is considered an upgrade, even though all pro models are the same now. My question is why should I trust this guys guarantee when I’ve already been let down once, how is it an upgrade when an xbox pro costs fifty bucks less than what I paid for mine. It isn’t like I am trying to scam an elite out of them, I just want one up to par with the new standard, so i never have to talk to their customer service reps again. He keeps trying to offer me games and accessories, but without a working xbox they don’t do me a lot of good. He says there is no one else I can talk to, which further irritates me. I am fed up with these guys, who don’t actually have any authority to do anything or get anything accomplished. Their entire job is just to keep me preoccupied and believe that they are actually helping me out. Microsoft knows they made a shitty product and the influx of broken consoles into their repair centers has caused them to fortify their replacement policies. I just want to know how another Frankenstein console, with mixed new and old parts, like the non-functioning one I have now, is really supposed to make me feel compensated. Thank you so much Microsoft for all the help…not.
April 10th, 2008
I am currently on my 3rd repair and waiting for the red ring to appear once again. Was promised that I would have my Xbox replaced with a new one on the phone and received the same exact one I sent in back today. So nothing I can do but send in and play for a week then send it in again.
June 8th, 2008
dude my xbox 360 is 1.5 years old, as soon as my warranty was up, it started acting up…same with the original xbox. Now would you believe that…also everyone I know has to send i there xbox, at some point…my 8bit nintendo had less problems…
Microsoft has shitty customer service rep…
shitty supervisors, and max is a stupid AI.
FUCK MICROSOFT