August 3, 2007 10:00 AM PDT
Xbox repair process leaves gamers in a fix
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Complaints regarding Xbox repairs and service aren't hard to find. Visit, for instance, Microsoft's official Xbox Live forums. Customers have a range of gripes: customer service reps failing to follow up as promised, receiving broken consoles from the repair center, losing money on prepaid Xbox Live subscriptions and longer-than-expected fix times.
Microsoft, for its part, said the raft of service requests since the announcement of the new three-year warranty has increased the turnaround time for repairs. "We have been and continue to build out our repair teams to help reduce turnaround times," the company said in an e-mailed statement.
Reports of problems with the popular game console surfaced almost immediately after its 2005 launch. The complaints didn't seem to deter buyers, however. Since the product came out, Microsoft has sold 5.8 million next-generation game consoles in the U.S. alone through June, according to the NPD Group. The Nintendo Wii and Sony PlayStation 3, both launched last November, have moved 3.2 million and 1.5 million units in the U.S. through June, respectively.
Xbox 360 owner
The warranty extension hasn't satisfied everyone for other reasons as well. That's because the extension is limited to consoles that display three blinking lights, or the "Red Ring of Death," as it is known to the gaming community. The three red lights indicate a "general hardware failure," according to Microsoft.
Of all the complaints from Xbox warranty repair customers, the most common one is excessive wait times of four weeks to eight weeks, in some cases.
"My Xbox took almost two months to come back," Greg Mcullen, 21, of New York, wrote in an e-mail to CNET News.com, "which was very aggravating since I was told I'd have it back in 10 days."
The return process goes something like this: an Xbox owner calls customer service and describes the problem. If the console can be serviced, a box is sent to the customer with prepaid shipping. The customer then uses the box to send the console to the repair center. The console is then either fixed or replaced and sent to the customer.
Microsoft said the standard repair time runs from two weeks to four weeks. "As we are rolling the new policy out, we expect an increased number of calls and repairs so turnaround times may be longer in the interim," the company said in an e-mail.
Some Xbox 360 customers acknowledge more despair than anger at separation from their prized device.
"I really miss my Xbox 360," one person using the handle "mbmstein" wrote in a thread titled "How Long Was Your 360 Away for Repair?" on the Xbox Live Forums. "I hope the service center sends it back someday. Or sends me a (refurbished console) someday. Or maybe even a new one someday...I don't like doing without my next-gen console for months on end."
Being without one's Xbox can also cost people money. Many Xbox 360 users subscribe to Xbox Live, a service that lets players connect with other Xbox users online via their game consoles and play against one other. The service is often paid for in advance, so an unusable console means an unused subscription.
Microsoft has apparently recognized the problem and is compensating some of its customers with a free month of Xbox Live with the repaired or replaced console. But a number of customers have been without their console for longer, thus missing more Xbox Live time. Microsoft declined to say how those customers are being compensated and would only say that it "will take care of customers as appropriate should they experience problems with their consoles."
Other complaints revolve around cases in which the consoles are not actually fixed, just replaced with older, refurbished consoles.
See more CNET content tagged:
Microsoft Xbox,
Xbox Live,
console,
customer service,
game console
I guess it will cost another billion to fix the problems that this new effort is causing.
This should seem familiar to MS fans. A patch to fix the patch that fixed the patch ... to fix the original problem.
I wonder how many chairs are lodged into walls now.
What obvious flame bait is this. I pegged Cnet as totally unprofessional unbalanced and unfair wherever MS is concerned but this is a little blatant even for them. MS has bent over backwards and backed their product more than any other company I can remember. The Fan boys masquerading as journalist at Cnet and elsewhere can't stand that they cannot make or break someone's reputation with the power of their forum so they resort to tabloid tactics.
How is anyone supposed to trust your opinion when you are so obviously biased?
This sentence -- "I Wonder how many chairs are lodged into the walls now." -- is, in fact, a statement. This is due to the "I wonder" at the beginning. If you were to subtract the "I wonder" from the beginning, then it would be a question. But it is a declarative sentence: "I" being the subject; "wonder..." being the preticate. The author is stating that he/she is wondering. There is no question.
For my second mod I did a few cooling mods. I replaced the thermal paste on the GPU and CPU, with a type of Artic Silver, then I cut out the back plastic and metal where the fans are to encourage more airflow and because I didn't feel like doing much more I covered the newly created hole with an intercooler. I also removed some of the excess sound insulation I thought was causing heat issues.
Problem then of course becomes apparent that it's now too loud again. I can't win....
Why should people who bought it be required to fix it themselves?
created and don't even think about replacing the thermal paste
to reduce system heat or cutting holes in the thing.
There is a much simpler and more cost effective solution to this.
To whit:
To reduce the fan noise and to reduce system heat I find that the
only long term mod-solution is to take the unit and turn it off,
place it back in the box and take it back to Wal-Mart for a full
refund.
Since I've done that I haven't had a single probem with the noise
or with excessive heat. What's more, the PS3 I bought has none
of those problems as experienced by you, me, and millions of
others.
And I'm not complaining. I'm perfectly happy with the PS3.
Purchased in 1/06 died in 5/07 with red ring of death, sent in for repair
Xbox #2
Recieved replacment unit with noisy dvd drive, and would not play region 1 dvd's, called support sent in for replacment.
Xbox #2 returned with exact same problems as before noisy dvd and won't play region 1 dvd's, called support, sent to supervisor whom said someone would call me 4pm the next day.
recieved call and all the person could do was tell me that ALL systems are "Near NEW" and fully tested, but could not explain why my unit was returned with the same flaw it was sent in for in the first place, and would only send me another box to do another repair, no other compensation what so ever, not even over night shipping and I was told Iw ould have to wait 4-8 weeks for a new unit (even though they sent me a broken one)
I have now been without a fully functional 360 since mid-may and have recieved only 2 months of live as compensation. (which does not even allow me to break even on my lost live time)
also, my local UPS store says they get between 15-30 a week sent to texas, knows the box on sight.
No wonder MS can get away with producing crap, its customers have low expectations.
If your experience was the norm, then this article wouldn't have been necessary.
Of course, if MS didn't drop the ball at the beginning and then spent months ignoring it, it might have been better.
Perhaps talking about defective iPods will make readers angry, while talking about Microsoft defects will make readers happy.
Keep on dreaming MS shoeshiner.
I'm now on 360 #5 since launch, and have been through the repair process four times. My fourth 360 arrived DOA from the service center in June after a six week wait. That console was "repaired" in July by replacing the motherboard while keeping the same case and serial number.
For those who haven't yet experienced the joy of DRM, you don't know what you're missing! Every time Microsoft replaces my 360, my wife and kids get locked out of *all* of our Xbox Live Marketplace content (games, themes, pictures, movies, tv shows, etc.) That's "by design" according to Microsoft.
Their policy, until recently, was to have you create a new Xbox Live Silver (free) account, wait some arbitrary amount of time for them to credit Microsoft Points to that account, with which you could then repurchase the content. Marketplace content is unlocked for every account only on the console on which it was purchased. If you move the content (or your console is replaced), only the purchasing account can access the content, and only if they're logged into Xbox Live. If Xbox Live goes down, your connection drops, or you move to an area without broadband connectivity, you lose access to *everything*. If you're playing an Xbox Live Arcade game and you lose your connection, you're immediately thrown out of the game as it, by design, reverts to trial mode.
That policy was recently changed because the service center is now supposed to change your console ID to match your original/previous console ID for DRM purposes. Re-downloading the contnet unlocks it on the replacement console.
Unfortunately, like much of the Xbox "support" process, it's very unevenly applied. The last two consoles I received, both after the new policy was put into place, did not have the console ID changed. We're now locked out of our almost $200 worth of content again. Microsoft refuses to provide Points to repurchase our content because the ID swap process "should work".
Mind you, this is in spite of the fact that I still have an open BBB case regarding the matter. Microsoft no longer seems to care about their BBB rating.
I have a running log about this round of 360-roulette if anyone at CNET's interested in reading it. Microsoft doesn't...
(And before the fanbois start, I own all three next-gen consoles. We get much more use out of the 360, whenever it's working.)
Sorry but when dealing with a company you normally go on its track record. Even the original Xbox wasn't without its own problems - albeit much fewer, but just as fatal. Having them spontaneously set living rooms on fire or deciding to self destruct hard disks should have been a bit of a warning sign. After all if they can't put off the shelf PC hardware together without it going badly wrong, what do you expect when they try something a bit more complex.
But ok, you wanted one and I know the feeling - we all make mistakes, mine was a PS3. I should have considered their inability to produce a battery that didn't maim notebook users, before spending a few hundred dollars on something with no real gaming support.
That one I can't be blamed for though - after all who could have known that the company with the best gaming support would produce a product with essentially two titles.
Personally I've had my fill of both Microsoft and Sony. Microsoft trash runs the computers I'm forced to support at work, Sony trash installs rootkits on the computers I own at home.
At least Nintendo are able to release a game that isn't basically the same thing as the millions of alts released on every console since 1990.
Shooters, car racing and fighting.. woopdeefekkingdo. Oh look another hack and slash rpg.. that'll while away the minutes before I get bored and go out and by a Wii.
The second time I had to send it in for repairs I had just bought a game, and I didn't want to wait for it's return. So I sent it in, but that day went to Best Buy and bought a new XBOX. When the XBOX came back I returned the new one back to Best Buy for a full refund. Keeping my old XBOX.
The third time I had to send it in, I bought a new xbox from Best Buy, put my old XBOX in the box and returned it to Best Buy and told them it was broken and I wanted my money back.
Haven't had to do it again, but I imagine I will think of a new way to get my xbox fixed next time.
number on the box or even the unit. If you return a unit with a
different serial, they won't let you return it.
But then again, not all customer service reps have a backbone and
will just give it to you anyways. Or they might not be smart enough
to follow a simple procedure like that.
I guess it would have to be a hit or miss affair.
how long is it gonna take before you learn that jumping on some new technology immediately after it comes out means you are the ones that are gonna have to deal with the initial problems. these companies are throwing garbage onto the market and you're paying for it... twice
This is not a case of 'jumping on a new technology when it first comes out'.... actually, NOTHING that comes to the US is that because Japan has already had it for better than 6 months to a year before us!
I have known about the heat problems with the XBox since it came out but I couldn't fathom being without the console for that long and then in some of the cited cases, receiving a problematic system back in it's place or even worse and older console.
MS needs to get their act together.
Sure, people shouldn't play it everyday or all day. but it should be there whenever the person who bought it want to use it.
People complain to complain. How many units were sold? MILLIONS. How many people have had bad experiences? Somehow I don't think it's the same MILLIONS of owners.
There will always be a noisy few regardless what the hardware or problem is.
Nevermind that we're talking about a toy here... the fact still remains that he shelled out a lot of money for that toy, and demanding proportionate response and service isn't really too much to ask (well, not building such a bug-ridden pile of crap in the first place would prolly be reasonable, but...)
Personally, I have exactly one console at home - an ancient N64 bought second-hand, that sees occasional use. I prefer to put my toy money where it actually does some good (like the top-end Macs I actually do far more on, ferinstance). Spending half a G on a toy that requires a television and doesn't do anything more than what some vidgame publishers allow me to do on it isn't exactly what I would call an investment, y'know?
That said, if I spend that much cash on a new console, and it died? You bet your arse I'd be demanding something at least approaching decent turnaround service (and a loaner for the interim) from the vendor.
/P
- You all need a life
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by Jackalop3
August 6, 2007 9:29 AM PDT
- I have an Xbox 360 and had to replace it twice. But seriously the Xbox isn't my main source of entertainment. Of course I was mad but was it the end of the world that it broke down and un-useable for 4 weeks each time?? NO. It wasn't like I was gonna die if I didn't play Gears of War or Rainbow Six and it didn't make me want to go buy another 360 like someone else posted earlier.
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Reply to this comment
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- wow, wow
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by brandoshido
August 6, 2007 9:49 AM PDT
- you know people that really like video games get upset when their console breaks. It's because it's what they like to do, not because they need a life. If a fisherman had his stuff broken and be able to fish for weeks, he too would be angry. Not everybody who plays a lot of games have no life. Quite the contrary. Leave judgements to yourself.
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See all 115 Comments >>Go out for a walk and get off your lazy butts. Go out and let the sun hit your pale skin. Todays youth are getting lazier and lazier that is what is pathetic and not Microsoft cuztomer support.