Microsoft Gripe

[DVC2004]

So we have an Xbox 360. My husband bought it January 2006. It is the upgraded model and I want to say when all was said and done it cost us $600. We did not purchase the extended warranty and it was under a 1 year warranty from Microsoft. Yesterday the thing stops working for no apparaent reason. Husband calls thier customer service. First person he talks to says it's out of warranty and it will cost us over $400 for us to send it to them for repairs. Also mentions there was a recall several months ago for a problem but since it's out of warranty we have to pay. Huh??? Isn't a recall thier cost to fix? And we were never notified of this recall (BTW they have all our info on file such as when it was bought, when our warranty ended so I can't understand why we weren't notified)
So he got very angry. He called back and talked to a second person who said they info the first person gave was incorrect but it was still $150 to fix plus shipping, but that they'd only charge us $70 because of the recall. I guess they are saying we did not send it in during the recall period therefor they can charge. Well, weren't ever notified. I think that is terrible too. I don't think we should be charged anything if there was a recall for the same problems. I can't believe they can do this. We have had Nitendo systems for years and have never had a problem.

[DizneyRox]

Micro$oft

Ei$ner

Di$ney

Regading the extended warranty, I remember a story told by a WorstBuy employee a few years ago. Maybe it's true, maybe it's not. Here it goes.

They were having a sales meeting before opening and the manager went to grab a box off the shelf and in the process dropped it. As he was picking it up, he said to the employees, "I hope they get the extended warranty!"

Personally I don't get extended warranty's on items. I haven't been burned yet, so at this point if something does happen, I've saved a ton more than I would have spent had I purchased the extended warranty on everything. I also don't shop at WorstBuy anymore either.

[Ian]

I've had a mixed bag with the extended warranties. 10 years ago I never bought them ... I thought they were a ripoff ... but in the past 5 years or so I've been buying them more and more because more and more products are made like garbage.

Since I started buying them I've returned two MP3 players and gotten new ones, a DVD player, and a digital camera. My other digital camera broke and I didn't have a service plan on it, but it was within the warranty period so I was able to get it fixed. It was a hassle, though. I had to mail it out (at my own expense), wait for it to come back, etc. Very annoying ...

Anyway, I've had my xBox for years (not a 360 obviously) and I've never had any issues with it, but the one time I had to contact Microsoft for support on my PC it was a disaster. They wanted to charge me like $40 just to let me talk to someone ...

[BrerGnat]

We have had Nitendo systems for years and have never had a problem.

This pretty much sums it all up, in my opinion.

The Xbox and Playstations may have "better" games, but the systems are garbage.

We are die hard Nintendo fans over here. We've had the Wii since day one and it has never had so much as a hiccup. When they recalled the wrist strap for the controller, a new one was in our mailbox within a week.

[DVC2004]

This pretty much sums it all up, in my opinion.

The Xbox and Playstations may have "better" games, but the systems are garbage.

We are die hard Nintendo fans over here. We've had the Wii since day one and it has never had so much as a hiccup. When they recalled the wrist strap for the controller, a new one was in our mailbox within a week.

I know! We have a Wii, too. The 360 is the husband's. I have been a Nintedo girl since way back in the 80's when the first NES came out. We've owned at one point or another every system Nintendo made (released in the U.S.) and never a problem. I can't believe we only have this thing 14 months (and it gets played probably 2 times a month) and it dies on us. And we take good care of our electronics so it was definitely by nothing we did.

[PirateLover]

My boyfriend has an XBOX 360 and had also had loads of problems with it. He purchased his at "Worst" Buy and got the extended warranty because of all the reported problems. They've been great about replacing it! He's had to take it back at least 3x times and they haven't given him any problems.

[JikoMarie]

It's too bad that this happened to you. I'm not sure but I don't think that Microsoft had to contact you when their was a recall, but I could be wrong. Usually recalls are reported by the media and the responsibility is up to the consumer to deal with. Think of how many people a recall like that affects! Let this be a lesson to you - always take the extended warranty (although if the recall period had ended it might not have helped in this case).

[Mufasa]

Sorry to hear about your problems with the Xbox 360, but Microsoft has some serious QA build problems with the 360 even though they continue to deny major problems in the media with it and say that the failure rates are below 3% of all units which they seem to be happy with. (I find it strange that they proudly boast a 3% failure rate which by some estimates is conservative based on the feedback and reports I've read and frankly sad that it's even that high)

They like to say that they're doing you a favor of quoting the repair at $70 (seems to be the current going rate for Xbox repairs) and if you push their customer (dis)service department on the issue they'll offer that price for the repair.

The major issue with the early 360 seem to be around system heat (I believe that the 360s may overheat and the internal PCB board may actually be warping) or can be attributed to problems with the internal DVD drives. Microsoft is moving to an updated processor (built using a 65nm process instead of the current 90nm process which means they should run cooler and actually cheaper to manufacture in the long run, but this swap isn't expected to take place until later this year).

See, early Xbox 360 units (prior to November 2006) used either a Toshiba-Samsung TS-H943 or a Hitachi-LG GDR-3120L that had some issues (first, they were obnoxiously loud and some units with the Toshiba-Samsung drives were known to sometimes cause disc scratching). They've since been replaced with a much quieter BenQ VAD6038 in the production line.

I would call up Microsoft and have it noted on your repair that you want them to assure you that you will get a post-November 2006 replacement unit (don't accept the explanation that they can't guarantee your replacement unit will have a particular build date). I know several people who have had to deal with 2 or 3 returns to Microsoft, sometimes with the replacement units being dead on arrival (you'd think that MS could actually test these replacements before they ship them out to customers).

Another option is to consider how you purchased your Xbox and if you bought it with a credit card, seeing whether the card will offer an extended warranty on the purchase and filing a claim through the card provider (for example, I believe AMEX gold cards will automatically extend a manufacturer's warranty but you'll want to review the terms of your card agreement).

Good luck and if you run into major issues dealing with their support department post an update here.

[jedigrrrl]

I know! We have a Wii, too. The 360 is the husband's. I have been a Nintedo girl since way back in the 80's when the first NES came out. We've owned at one point or another every system Nintendo made (released in the U.S.) and never a problem. I can't believe we only have this thing 14 months (and it gets played probably 2 times a month) and it dies on us. And we take good care of our electronics so it was definitely by nothing we did.

All our Nintendo systems still work: NES, SNES, N64, Gamecube, and now the Wii, which is the most fun yet.

and I used to work at "Worst" Buy and boxes fall all the time, whether or not its intentional. Things are packed well enough to withstand falls, if not they would never make it to any stores in one piece.

like someone else on here said, things these days are made like garbage. If i am buying something expensive and delicate like a Tivo, a Wii, or a PS3, or a Mac i always get the extended Warranty because they last 4 years and god-forbid something happens, it gets fixed or replaced for free. If you have to send something back to the manufacturer out-of-warranty, its always an arm and a leg to get it fixed or even talk to someone for support.