Opinion :: Microsoft u-turn on charging for Xbox 360 repairs

[Nick]

Now, whilst we thoroughly welcome this move and applaud Microsoft for offering to reimburse all those who have paid in the past, we do have to ask whether this goodwill gesture is in fact goodwill or perhaps a pre-emptive move to avoid a consumer backlash.

Read more in this HEXUS.gaming Opinion.

[Lee H]

No Nick your not cynical at all.

I think the votes in the poll I started the other day reflect the fact that there is a fundimental problem with the first batches of xboxes.

First of all they denied all knowledge, but as more and more people with xbox360's which were 16-18 months old ALL started to get the same error codes I think they took a good look at the hardware coming back and found a common problem with them all.

Now, with more and more people being vocal about this on websites and forums such as hexus it was all bad publicity and many people who were looking to purchase an xbox360 started to question the quality of the systems and this is not what microsoft wanted.

As such they had to combat this threat and giving a 3 year warranty as opposed to a 1 year one was probably the best option overall.

[Nick]

The thing is, and this is applies to ANY goods you buy, the reasonable use and life of a product compared to its value goes beyond any 'warranty' the manufacturer offers.

So, a £50 microwave breaking down after 12 months might be a grey area but a £400 console failing within 18 months most certainly isn't reasonable.

I think this is why MS have changed their minds... that and very likely the recognition, as you say, of some inherent fault with early batches.

But I would like to point out that all credit should be given to MS for not trying to turn this into some kind of "aren't we marvellous?" PR stunt.

[clearlyolly]

ANother point, this extended warranty only applies to xboxes that suffer the 3 red light problem. Say, if your dvd drive breaks or your power brick goes. You're still screwed.

[Carlh]

The thing is, and this is applies to ANY goods you buy, the reasonable use and life of a product compared to its value goes beyond any 'warranty' the manufacturer offers.

So, a £50 microwave breaking down after 12 months might be a grey area but a £400 console failing within 18 months most certainly isn't reasonable.

I think this is why MS have changed their minds... that and very likely the recognition, as you say, of some inherent fault with early batches.

But I would like to point out that all credit should be given to MS for not trying to turn this into some kind of "aren't we marvellous?" PR stunt.

Nick

I spoke to one of the "supervisors" at the Microsoft call centre last month when my 360 failed with the 3 red lights error, and I quoted them the Sale of goods act and that the goods have to be of suitable use for a period of time and a £300 console failing after 16 months isnt reasonable blah blah......

In the end they still wouldnt budge and still requested the £85.00 repair fee

Call me cynical - MS are aware that there is a problem with consoles manufacturered before a certain date - or with certain serials - subject to which plant they were manufactured at and which components are inside (such as DVD drive as there are 3 different oem manufacturers for the drive alone at the moment), I think this is a PR exercise to try and smooth things over - why only give the 3 red lights warranty for 3 years what about 2 red lights?? (Overheating) as technically both the overheating and 3 red lights - Hardware failure can be caused by the same issues internally in the console where the heat in the system over a period of time causes the board to bend and force the clamps slightly resulting in the gpu and memory overheating or slightly coming away from the pcb

Dont get me wrong I welcome the longer warranty period - think however it is naive of Microsoft to limit it to only the 3 red lights error code....

On another note this could be the signal that Microsoft finally recognise that there is a fault with some of the 360s with the error codes as previously reported, I am guessing that with the new cooling that Microsoft are now repairing the console with they are happy that this resolves the issues, therefore if this is the cause I would imagine that all new 360's that have been manufactured recently will have the improved cooling inside the console.

[Nick]

Office of Fair Trading will be your friend there...

We've already spoken to them about this issue and they agree that it is not reasonable.

But, before threatening MS you should politely mention that you've spoken to the Fair Trading guys who concur that it is not reasonable.

However, noen of this matters now as you can get the machine repaired for free or, if you've already paid, you can get a refund for the repair.

Here's betting that we'll now start to hear tales of customers not being refunded because their Xbox 360's fault isn't one covered by the refund policy.

[Carlh]

However, noen of this matters now as you can get the machine repaired for free or, if you've already paid, you can get a refund for the repair.

Not really, I spoke to Microsoft on 3 occasions - on each occasion I was told no we would need the £85.00 fee.

In the end I ended up cracking open the case myself and repairing the console by replacing the clamps and adding better thermal compound.

Doubt if I get the error again MS will fix it next time for me

[greektony]

This is good news for me as my second replacement xbox has now decided to crap out this morning. The disk drive isnt reading any game discs and just keeps asking me to close and open th tray.

So since last Novemenber I will now be on my THIRD 360. At least the first one lasted 6 months. The second one hasnt even lasted 2!!!!

Does anyone know what a good manufacture date would be from? As last time I asked for the newest one they had and that was dated Nov-06. Incidentally the first one I had that died was from Jun-06

EDIT: Although now re-reading about this it would appear my 360 isnt covered which is a joke as the first on I had didnt display 3 red lights either, it just crashed every 10 or so minutes

[Steven W]

Office of Fair trading said to write a letter, registered post, quoting the sales of goods act. Mind you, we don't need to now.

[YorkieBen]

This is good news for me as my second replacement xbox has now decided to crap out this morning. The disk drive isnt reading any game discs and just keeps asking me to close and open th tray.

So since last Novemenber I will now be on my THIRD 360. At least the first one lasted 6 months. The second one hasnt even lasted 2!!!!

Does anyone know what a good manufacture date would be from? As last time I asked for the newest one they had and that was dated Nov-06. Incidentally the first one I had that died was from Jun-06

EDIT: Although now re-reading about this it would appear my 360 isnt covered which is a joke as the first on I had didnt display 3 red lights either, it just crashed every 10 or so minutes

it will still be covered under the 12 month warrenty? (As you had the 1st console for 6 months and the 2nd for 2 months).



People quoting the Sales of Goods act etc are missing the point that this is a worldwide thing - in the USA for example people initially didnt have a 1 years warrenty afaik. So frankly MS didnt have to do this anyway - and Joe Bloggs in the street has little or no idea about any techical problems with the 360.

we do have to ask whether this goodwill gesture is in fact goodwill or perhaps a pre-emptive move to avoid a consumer backlash.

to me they are the same thing - they are keeping customers happy and loyal, thus maintaining goodwill between the parties (i.e. MS and us)

People are a bit harsh, compare this to apple's attitude with knackered ipod nanos (for example) - this is pretty rare for such a large company and large product when it is not a health and safety issue

[j.o.s.h.1408]

ANother point, this extended warranty only applies to xboxes that suffer the 3 red light problem. Say, if your dvd drive breaks or your power brick goes. You're still screwed.

so whats gunna happen to people who's 360 messes up without the 3 red lights? mine diddnt break because of the 3 red ligths but had graphics problems

[Nick]

Yorkie, quoting the Sales of Goods act if MS hadn't done this would have likely gotten you somewhere....

The point you're missing is that for MS to do this possibly means that they've identified a problem somewhere... either with the hardware or, possibly, with a concern over the number of users already complaining of having to pay to get their 360 fixed.

Either way, I find it hard to believe that Peter Moore woke up one morning and decided to repair Xbox 360s for free and reimburse those who had already paid... something has driven MS to do this.

Like I said before, I whole heartedly applaud MS for doing it but the cynical journo in me can't help but wonder why.

And no, this isn't bashing... I'm not an anti-MS fanboi, just curious as to what business decision is behind this.

[Stoo]

Small claims court might be the answer for the non 3 lights?

[Stoo]

Either way, I find it hard to believe that Peter Moore woke up one morning and decided to repair Xbox 360s for free and reimburse those who had already paid... something has driven MS to do this.

I wonder if they caught a whiff of some sort of civil lawsuit, which would possibly have opened the floodgates for people with any sort of fault to get a new console or free repair?