Microsoft admits hardware problems extends warranty to 3yrs

[jayd]

it will be very interesting to see the amount of people who have paid the £55 to a repair company rather than M$ £85 and how they handle it, refusing to cover the warranty will surely cancel out any hope they had of putting a positive spin on this.

Stop whinging. It's all you've done since the start of this thread. Who cares about spin or whatever at the end of the day the 360 is now covered for 3 years against the red light which means 2 things.

1) That newer consoles will have the problem rectified.
2) The biggest single reliability issue is now covered for 3 years giving many peace of mind.

 

[Bursar]

I've read on another forum that MS refused to repair a console that had already been opened (can't recall now if the user opened, or a third party repair centre). So I'd say your best bet would be to phone MS and ask them.

They'll know when they get your console if it's been tinkered with, so I can't see the point in trying to fool them over the phone.

I've just called MS as my console is currently in for repair. The automated message told me to expect a cheque within 10-12 weeks. I guess with the interest that they're getting on these repair bills, it's not actually going to cost them all that much!!

 

[NYPD]

My 360 had 3 red rings about 10 days ago after 16 months, but it still work's for short periods before freezing but its obvious its going to fail completly soon.
so on wednesday i decided to try to take it apart and have a look, its not under warranty what harm can it do i thought.
I did not get far before putting it back together but far enough to break the seals, then 24 hours later ms decides to extend the warranty on a console that had been out of warrany for 4 months

 

[G a f f e r]

Hi.

I'm currently deciding between the uber-expensive PS3 and the uber-unreliable 360 as my other console. I initially planned to wait until Xmas as I though MS would've sorted out the warranty issues by then and Sony may have had a price drop.

Anyway, this announcement by MS has kind of made it a more attractive offer as of now .

...but reading between the lines, I still have some reservations:

1) So only the 3lod are covered for 3 years? Every other fault still has 1 year warranty?

2) Is the "disc scratch" issue still an issue or will that be rectified too?

3) The biggest insult imo, is MS' insistence on sending out refurbs....ie someone elses second hand 360 back to you after you send in the one which you've looked after. I think that's a disgraceful attitude to take. Imagine if this was the same with your car? Would you accept it?
So finally, am I right in thinking that this behaviour is unchanged (i.e., you'll still get someone elses repaired "cast off" as a replacement)?

...because if that's not the case anymore then I'm sorely tempted to go out and get a 360 sooner rather than later .

 

[WelshBluebird]

Hi.

I'm currently deciding between the uber-expensive PS3 and the uber-unreliable 360 as my other console. I initially planned to wait until Xmas as I though MS would've sorted out the warranty issues by then and Sony may have had a price drop.

Anyway, this announcement by MS has kind of made it a more attractive offer as of now .

...but reading between the lines, I still have some reservations:

1) So only the 3lod are covered for 3 years? Every other fault still has 1 year warranty?

2) Is the "disc scratch" issue still an issue or will that be rectified too?

3) The biggest insult imo, is MS' insistence on sending out refurbs....ie someone elses second hand 360 back to you after you send in the one which you've looked after. I think that's a disgraceful attitude to take. Imagine if this was the same with your car? Would you accept it?
So finally, am I right in thinking that this behaviour is unchanged (i.e., you'll still get someone elses repaired "cast off" as a replacement)?

...because if that's not the case anymore then I'm sorely tempted to go out and get a 360 sooner rather than later .

1 - yep, only 3 red lights for now.
2 - never got this myself, so not really sure.
3 - last I read - their trying to repair consoles now before sending out a refurb. So from what I understand, you'll only get a refurb if your original console cannot be fixed

 

[Bursar]

I've just gone through my latest bank statement, and just seen that MS have deducted around £85 (they actually took 123.38 Eur) from my account from the repair. I was told over the phone it was £70. If the repair wasn't being refunded, I'd be straight on the phone to complain. Is this their normal tactic?

 

[Mr Quint]

Fellas can i just ask, i have paid £85 for my 360 to get fixed and it been back three times in 5 weeks, does this mean i will get the 3yr warranty? been two weeks and i am still waiting to get it back.

Sorry if this had been coverd, in a rush so i dont have the time to read everything.

Cheers,

 

[Spooksta]

Yes you will

 

[giz1495]

Can anyone advise me, about 4 mths ago i had the dreaded 3 red lights and as my console was out of warranty i shipped it off to microsoft.£85 later i got a refurbished replacement.
I now know that i am entitled to a refund of the £85. How to i go about getting this, is it something MS will do automatically, or will i somehow need to contact them, if i have to contact them does anyone know if there is a special website/phone number for this.
Thanks in advance
Giz1495

 

[Sporran]

its an automatic process though may take some time bearing in mind the potential volume of refunds

 

[Mad Jack]

I think the pressure's been building on MS over these reliability issues for quite some time. Let's face it, the more xbox's that left the shelves, the more ex-box's there would coming be back for repair.... Until eventually, they simply couldn't hope to deal with them all in a timely manner. Also it didn't exactly help MS's cause that - while MS themselves have always denied there were any systemic issues - third-party repair companies have increasingly been voicing their concerns about the console.

Anyway, I'm now happy that a). these reliability issues are finally out in the open and b). that my 360 is now under warranty again.

 

[Deleted member 39001]

Hi.
3) The biggest insult imo, is MS' insistence on sending out refurbs....ie someone elses second hand 360 back to you after you send in the one which you've looked after. I think that's a disgraceful attitude to take. Imagine if this was the same with your car? Would you accept it?
So finally, am I right in thinking that this behaviour is unchanged (i.e., you'll still get someone elses repaired "cast off" as a replacement)?

I too would say that MS will NOT send refurb consoles out now unless they have to. They have said they have identified the main cuases of the 3 red lights and have developed parts that fix them so I would think it's MUCH better financialy for them to repair your console with a new heatsink or DVD or even motherboard then send a whole new console out?

 

[AudioSlim]

I too would say that MS will NOT send refurb consoles out now unless they have to. They have said they have identified the main cuases of the 3 red lights and have developed parts that fix them so I would think it's MUCH better financialy for them to repair your console with a new heatsink or DVD or even motherboard then send a whole new console out?

Yep no refurbs from MS for a long time (ish, there will always be the odd exception). My 360 went back about 2-3 months ago, and they swapped the motherboard and dvd drive and now it's a lot lot quiter. Happy times no less , especially with an extra 18 months of warranty (it's 18 months old and I had to battle with MS to get it fixed for free the other month, which I did do succesfully).

Slim

 

[CeeJay775]

I have been reading through the thread and am suprised that some people feel this is still not good enough, I do feel this is good enough. For 1 my console was out of its warrenty and I worried if it broke I could not afford a new one, but now I am covered for another 20 odd months. I dont think alot of people realize the size of that announcement, do you think if PS3's had some issues sony would do the same, I doubt it. Even though M$ have mega money thats still a heel of alot of money to be losing, and quite frankly I feel lucky that its an M$ console because I couldn't see any other console maker taking a loss like that to try to fix a problem like that. If anything its maybe a little late, I am sure they never felt there was as big a problem with the 360 as there was now they have the proof the fix is in place, I take my hat off to them this time. I hope my console doesn't break down but if it does I am happy knowing I will not have to try to find repair or replacement money and if it breaks in 20 odd months when its out of it warrenty then i'll be happy knowing I got my moneys worth out of it.

 

[danaldinho7]

surely if you send them back for the scratching disk they should repair it for free since it's a hardware fault with the laser being pressed against the disk or something else similar?

 

[G a f f e r]

I too would say that MS will NOT send refurb consoles out now unless they have to. They have said they have identified the main cuases of the 3 red lights and have developed parts that fix them so I would think it's MUCH better financialy for them to repair your console with a new heatsink or DVD or even motherboard then send a whole new console out?

Yep no refurbs from MS for a long time (ish, there will always be the odd exception). My 360 went back about 2-3 months ago, and they swapped the motherboard and dvd drive and now it's a lot lot quiter. Happy times no less , especially with an extra 18 months of warranty (it's 18 months old and I had to battle with MS to get it fixed for free the other month, which I did do succesfully).

Slim

Thanx for the info, but can this be confirmed by looking at the serial number? I still read stories of people recieving refurbs , hence SN comes back different (although, yes, I know, it's the 'net and maybe a pinch of salt is needed with many of them). It may seem like a minor issue to some but I personally think it's the worst form of customer "care" I have ever heard of when you're not sent a new replacement in the case of an impossible repair as would be the case for most other electronic equipment within warranty. I'd rather be 100% sure first (call me cautious).

As an aside, I've seen the new replacement heatsinks they're retro-fitting and it looks like quite an ingenious solution and must be better at providing more cooling to repaired units (it's a pity the new stock doesn't come with it).

The chance of still recieving a refurb in case something does go "unrepairable" is the main thing holding me back at the mo' (that and the fact that we're still yet to see how it pans out and whether reliabilty does in fact improve the 30% failure rate at all). As it stands, it looks like I'll wait & won't get it yet then.

Cheers for the advice.

 

[SeeNoWeevil]

I really do not see the point extending the warranty for one specific issue alone??

If you're going to stand by your product, atleast stand by the whole thing.

 

[mx-revelation]

not sure if this has been posted guys havent got time to read as im out the door in a min so here it goes
http://www.smarthouse.com.au/Gaming/Console/L3R2T2S6?page=1

if true all i can say i *** how can they get away with this

 

[Spooksta]

Well this is why M$ have acted.
http://www.avforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=478800

The failure rate hit them hard. Strange thing is i thought peoples complaints were dying down. Glad my doomsday prediction turned out right and made M$ act

Would love to know the actual failure rate of launch day machines. Bet its 70%+

and....
for anyone who has opened up the 360, the DVD drive sits ontop of the heatsinks. So could this be related to the scratched disc problem if the DVD drive is getting temperatures from the heatsink going into it.
Still love my 360s

 

[DPT1976]

I have been reading through the thread and am suprised that some people feel this is still not good enough, I do feel this is good enough. For 1 my console was out of its warrenty and I worried if it broke I could not afford a new one, but now I am covered for another 20 odd months. I dont think alot of people realize the size of that announcement, do you think if PS3's had some issues sony would do the same, I doubt it. Even though M$ have mega money thats still a heel of alot of money to be losing, and quite frankly I feel lucky that its an M$ console because I couldn't see any other console maker taking a loss like that to try to fix a problem like that. If anything its maybe a little late, I am sure they never felt there was as big a problem with the 360 as there was now they have the proof the fix is in place, I take my hat off to them this time. I hope my console doesn't break down but if it does I am happy knowing I will not have to try to find repair or replacement money and if it breaks in 20 odd months when its out of it warrenty then i'll be happy knowing I got my moneys worth out of it.

It's great that MS have taken action but i can understand why some people are annoyed.

If you were in the situation where you 360 had broken out of warranty and then sold it on for scrap would you not feel a bit ****** off right now?

 

[JamieBee]

To save me reading through 12 pages here I wonder if I could ask one quick question:

I am only my 3rd 360 at the moment as had to exchange 2 due to the console freezing continually in the middle of games. I purchased an 1 yr extended warranty through MS in Dec 2006 (I bought my original one on launch day) - will I get the cost of this refunded by MS and have effectively a further 18 months left on my warranty OR I now have 2 and a half years left and receive no refund ?

Cheers

 

[avolee]

M$ are refunding the warranty, and you`ll be covered by the new 3 year warranty from date of purchase, but the extension only covers the R.O.D, any other failure is only covered by the original 12 month warranty.

 

[W1zz]

M$ are refunding the warranty, and you`ll be covered by the new 3 year warranty from date of purchase, but the extension only covers the R.O.D, any other failure is only covered by the original 12 month warranty.

MS aren't refunding extended warranties - They're refunding paid for repairs, relating to the 3 ROD error.

Your extended warranty covers all components of the Xbox360 - This new 3 year MS warranty announcement only covers the 3 ROD (overheating) problem.

 

[Monopot]

Scary! My 360 froze this morning after only being on Forza 2 for half a lap. Froze solid and then wouldn't power on without a black screen for 5 goes. Left it off for 10 mins and seems fine.

Now I'm scared

 

[avolee]

MS aren't refunding extended warranties - They're refunding paid for repairs, relating to the 3 ROD error.

Your extended warranty covers all components of the Xbox360 - This new 3 year MS warranty announcement only covers the 3 ROD (overheating) problem.

Sorry, i thought they had also given people the option of a refund if they had taken out the M$ extended warranty, or was that when they extended the american warranty from 3 months to 12.