The Great Xbox 360 Repair Debacle

[Parm]

I've done a little article for my we play Xbox website as I've been without my Xbox 360 for over a month. I know I know, we've all heard this story before and most of us have experienced it before.

However, though the hardware failure rate has always been high, the time taken for repairs had always been generally good. Recently, that repair time has become increasingly appalling and I've documented my experience over the past month and published them in an article. If you fancy it, you can read it here: http://www.weplayxbox.com/2007/06/26...-your-console/

If you don't fancy reading it, the key points are that Microsoft used to state up to 10-15 days for repairs. They're now stating up to 25 working days, that's a whole 5 weeks. I've put a few potential reasons in the article and why I think we customers are being treated unfairly.

Anyhow, I hope you find it an interesting read. If anybody else has a similar experience, it'd be good to hear about it.

[beanbandit]

Good read for all the wrong reasons really. With MS knowing that there is a major issue with the failure rate, and yet they still deny there's any real problems. My first console lasted 2 hours on the release date, the replacement service was good, less than a week to get a brand new unit in my hands. But i still worry that one of these days its not going to boot up, i just don't trust MS or GAME to be able to resolve any problems i'm likely to face.

Have you contacted Trading Standards or the place where you bought the console from? it may be worth having a chat with them.

On a side note, you've got your months mixed up, July instead of June.

[steve threlfall]

Good article Parm. I had no idea this was going on. The hardware clearly hasnt been up to scratch since day one and this is a more serious problem now, with the slow service provided by the repair centre.

I was also sent a refurb which hacked me off at the time because, like you, i kept mine in pristine condition. Luckily, the refurb was in fairly good condition itself. If mine croaks again then i wont be paying £70 for a repair and i cant see myself shelling out for a brand new one.

I have never used such a shoddy gaming platform. My Mega Drive, SNES, N64, Dremcast, PS2, PSP and numerous Gameboys were all bulletproof. The excuse that its more of a high end pc than a games console doesnt really wash either, my gaming rig is rock solid.

[Parm]

Thanks guys. The worst thing is, I really enjoy the console...when it works. It's even surpassed the SNES as my most enjoyed console of all time but the hardware and support situation just isn't good enough.

I'm annoyed with the service I've received myself but I can't even imagine how those who've been through numerous consoles must feel. I have a friend who is on his 6th console now, it's just completely unacceptable. I've no idea how they're getting away with it. At first when I'd had no problems with my original console for so long, I thought perhaps others weren't handling their consoles properly. Perhaps they weren't giving them sufficient room for cooling etc. I however had my console on the top of an AV Rack in a cool room, perfectly ventillated and rarely moved. Yet one day, it decided to pack in.

I'll be sure to keep you all updated on the progress of my machine and I'll let you know if Microsoft do decide to give me anymore info on the current delays.

[j.o.s.h.1408]

damm and i just sent my console back last week for repair and its been nearly two weeks now. so your saying that i have to wait another 3 weeks before recieving it? dispite them telling me 10-15 days?

damm it if it wasnt for the shoddy hardware the x360 would be such an amazing console! i may be forced to buy a ps3 if mine breaks again!

whats wrong with MICROSOFT?? they give us such a breath taking console that breaks every 10 minutes. its a joke. why couldnt they invest in water cooling the 360? or make the console bigger to enable better air flow?

btw when i sent mine it was over its warranty but they did not ask me to pay for the repair Is it a fact that the consoles made this year are more reliable due to a new heatsink? how much is a core system going for nowadays because if my new one breaks and they ask me to pay for repair i might just buy a core system if the price is not that much different then the repair price.

[Lee H]

Oh for gawd sakes.

Mines gone as well just the other day. 1/2 way through texas hold 'em - 4 aces in my hand and just as I went to go 'all in' I got grey and black vertical bars on the TV and thought oh yeah nice.... reboot time.

Once rebooted it came up with 3 red lights - 1,3,4 to be precise.

Mine is out of warranty and I am not willing to pay for repairs. As such I am going to see if I can revive the dead console by improving the cooling system and making some homebrew coolers for it.

[j.o.s.h.1408]

Oh for gawd sakes.

Mines gone as well just the other day. 1/2 way through texas hold 'em - 4 aces in my hand and just as I went to go 'all in' I got grey and black vertical bars on the TV and thought oh yeah nice.... reboot time.

Once reboot it came up with 3 red lights - 1,3,4 to be precise.

Mine is out of warranty and I am not willing to pay for repairs. As such I am going to see if I can revive the dead console by improving the cooling system and making some homebrew coolers for it.

try and ask MS to repair it for you. they may do it for you for free!

[Parm]

Sorry to say Josh but it's highly likely that your console will take up to 25 working days to get back to you, that's the actual timescale that MS reps are now quoting.

Lee! 4 Aces! Ouch! That puts all my sorrows in perspective hehehe, at least mine died during a single player game of GoW.

It's truly an astonishing situation. I would have thought that if the failure rate was as high as rumoured, a mass recall would be in order. Perhaps that's why Microsoft are so insistent on not releasing actual figures.

[Lee H]

Perhaps that's why Microsoft are so insistent on not releasing actual figures.

Yeah I whole heartly agree.

They should put their hands up and say " alright - we've got a failure rate of x% in the first batches. However, we have responded by improving the cooling and ensuring that this will not happen on the newer consoles due to improvements etc"

More people are scared of buying one now due to the sheer amount of failures in the first batches, but ALL it takes it a bloody press release to say the above and most peoples fears will be aliviated.

I'm going to try and ring Microsoft tonight and see what they reckon and if I'll be charged for a fix they should be doing for free.

[Odc]

It's a shame really that this process seems to have become so bad. I couldn't have asked for anything more from their customer service department. Epecially with them agreeing to give me a free repair which turned out to be a new console anyway.

[Clarky]

I'm not sure on this warranty thing .. If the console gets the old red ring of death can't i just take it back to the place of purchase and 'swop' it for a new one? Or is that just totally ridiculous?

[Agent]

If you have no luck Lee, gimmie a shout, I fixed mine last week with the heatgun method

Working 100% now
Once the solder has gone, no matter how much you improve your cooling, it wont fix it.

[Bluecube]

That's pretty bad. I got the three red lights myself but had a refurbished one in my hands within a week. This was about 2 months ago though so maybe things haved changed...

[Parm]

Just a quick update for you all. Major Nelson himself (Xbox Live Director of Programming) has taken the time to get in touch with me. He's now escalating the matter and I hope to hear back from him soon. I will of course keep you all posted on developments and hope to have some solid information regarding the delays and poor support.

I've added a comment to my article to reflect the update and will update the article itself when I have more information.

[j.o.s.h.1408]

wtf: check out this email sent to me TODAY almost a week and a half ago since i sent my xbox to!

English
We have received your Xbox at our service center. It is our priority to process your Xbox in a timely manner and to get it back to you as good as new. We will contact you as soon as we are finished so you can get ready to get back into the game!


So your telling me they JUST recieved it NOW? WTF??????????

[PenguinJim]

They probably process the in-warranty ones first.