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Microsoft's Peter Moore tells customers to look past broken consoles and focus on good service

Despite customer complaints of a greater-than-usual percentage of Xbox 360 consoles breaking down, Microsoft still maintains that its system’s failure rate is still within an acceptable range. In a Mercury News blog interview with Peter Moore, VP of Microsoft’s entertainment division, a reader who had experienced two defective Xbox 360 consoles within seven months requested a straight answer on the apparent issue of hardware quality. The reader suggested that the failure rate is perhaps two or three times greater than the three to five percent that Microsoft claims.

Moore responded, “I can’t comment on failure rates, because it’s just not something  – it’s a moving target. What this consumer should worry about is the way that we’ve treated him. Y’know, things break, and if we’ve treated him well and fixed his problem, that’s something that we’re focused on right now. I’m not going to comment on individual failure rates because I’m shipping in 36 countries and it’s a complex business.”

The issue of failing Xbox 360 consoles is an ongoing one. In response to an overwhelming defect rate of launch consoles, Microsoft agreed to repair all machines manufactured in 2005 free of charge, and issue a refund for those who already paid for repairs of launch units up until January 1, 2006.

“We’ve received a few isolated reports of consoles not working as expected,” Microsoft previously stated in reference to launch consoles. “The call rate is well below what you’d expect for a consumer electronics product of this complexity. As a percentage of the total number of Xbox 360 systems already in the field, these calls represent a very small fraction.”

In late 2006, Microsoft boosted the warranty of all Xbox 360 consoles to one year, up from the previous 90-days. Then in April 2007, Microsoft further enhanced its warranty services by reinstating free two-way shipping for console replacements, as well as giving paid-repair consoles a fresh one-year warranty. For gamers who are out of warranty, however, a replacement or repair will cost Xbox 360 customers $140 – a price that many gamers are not afraid to express much displeasure about.

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Come on.......
By spartan014 on 5/8/2007 10:45:14 PM , Rating: 5
“We’ve received a few isolated reports of consoles not working as expected,” Microsoft previously stated in reference to launch consoles.

Then why not give us the figures? This ain't about national security..




RE: Come on.......
By VIAN on 5/8/2007 10:49:21 PM , Rating: 3
He's obviously very worried about this. This is much bigger than expected as you can see when he BS's about how it is a very small percentage considering the complexity of the system. He's definitely not going to admit that there is a serious flaw or else everyone is going to want an exchange.

Hey. At least he isn't saying that the lights are supposed to go red after a specific period of time. :-)


RE: Come on.......
By VIAN on 5/8/2007 10:54:20 PM , Rating: 1
I don't know what I'd do if my 360 broke. The other day I was playing PGR3 and artifacts would flash every once in a while that meant the graphics memory was being pushed a little too much. And it was cool in my room. I've never experienced it before but it was scary.

I can't decide whether I'd buy a new 360, or just move to another console. Either way it would suck.


RE: Come on.......
By kilkennycat on 5/9/2007 12:41:44 AM , Rating: 2
quote:
The other day I was playing PGR3 and artifacts would flash every once in a while that meant the graphics memory was being pushed a little too much. And it was cool in my room. I've never experienced it before but it was scary.


Highly likely that your GPU and/or CPU heat-sinks are becoming clogged with lint and starting to overheat.. Just open up the Xbox360 and clean them out. Oh, I forgot, that needs special tools and breaks the warranty-seal..... Not designed to be user-serviceable. No doubt due to M$$'s paranoia about hacking the Xbox360. No filter, 2 fans pushing dust and crud will, in time, guarantee overheat failure, the red ring of death. Plus the clever hardware designers of the Xbox360 placed both of these heatsinks in immediate proximity to the DVD-drive, which being a critical electro-mechanical component does not like excessive heat at all. The designers of the Xbox360 circuit-board layout apparently were total novices in the area of high-reliability design. I have no details of the layout of the Xbox360 Elite, thus no idea whether these particular thermal issues have been addressed. The move to 65nm for the GPU and CPU ( Fall 2007 ?) will help a lot due to the heat-reduction, but the user-inaccessibility of the internal heat-sinks for periodic thorough cleaning will still be a long-term reliability concern.


RE: Come on.......
By marvdmartian on 5/9/2007 10:32:40 AM , Rating: 2
Well, there ya go. You just figured out how to make your first million. Design and market stick-on air filters, that a person can put on the air intakes for the xbox, that can be easily replaced/cleaned, and will extend the life of their precious game system. Put them on the market at ~$10 to $15 a set, and you'll be a millionaire, practically overnight!

Of course, when that happens, I'll expect you to kick back 10% of your earnings, for my coming up with the idea! ;)


RE: Come on.......
By techfuzz on 5/9/2007 1:18:07 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
Design and market stick-on air filters

Dryer sheet + scotch tape = Done

Please hand me my millions now :)


RE: Come on.......
By HVAC on 5/9/2007 6:52:12 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
Dryer sheet + scotch tape = Done


Congratulations....you have just managed to coat the insides of the 360 with a chemical designed to cause clothing to retain a small amount of moisture and possibly some perfume.

If you have ever seen what dryer sheet residue does to dryer filters over time, then you know that it will make any lint or dust that travels through the dryer sheet to stick mercilessly to whatever it contacts.

Perhaps you simply meant to recommend a densely packed open cell foam sheet and scotch tape?


RE: Come on.......
By mindless1 on 5/10/2007 11:20:22 PM , Rating: 2
Perhaps you're overstating things and the drying sheet or just about anything will be fine.


RE: Come on.......
By zsouthboy on 5/9/2007 10:52:18 AM , Rating: 3
Dude, it's a console.

And remember the intelligence of the average person.

Telling people it's okay to open it and remove dust would end up with things like, IDK, half sawed off video cards stuffed into heatsinks.


RE: Come on.......
By LatinMessiah on 5/9/2007 1:14:10 PM , Rating: 2
That's why I placed my 360 in a vacuum; free of dust and other airborne clog promoting particles.


RE: Come on.......
By HVAC on 5/9/2007 6:53:41 PM , Rating: 2
So, how is the radiant-cooling-only environment treating the box?


RE: Come on.......
By Devenish on 5/9/2007 1:52:32 AM , Rating: 2
I enjoy the 360 system very much and 1 out of 5 other people I know have had to replace their system. Only once has it acted strange over a year ago, but with a restart everything has been fine. If my 360 gave me the ROD in less then 3 years of ownership I wouldn’t purchase another, but move on to a competitor, and wait for a Class Action.


RE: Come on.......
By Samus on 5/9/2007 8:24:33 AM , Rating: 2
me and all my friends have had 360's since launch and we beat the hell outa them


RE: Come on.......
By encryptkeeper on 5/9/2007 10:48:34 AM , Rating: 3
You're supposed to PLAY the 360, not beat it.

Seriously, when Microsoft execs get blindsided with apparently real questions, this is how they react?

Moore responded, “I can’t comment on failure rates, because it’s just not something – it’s a moving target. What this consumer should worry about is the way that we’ve treated him. Y’know, things break...

So Moore just said, "Shit breaks, deal with it". And I'll give it to him he really tries to talk about how they handle repairs (which aren't 100 percent, my brother in law has had 4 or 5 360's so far because the power brick was bad and Microsoft refused to replace it until the very end) but when he does he just rambles. The best response would have been to say they are committed to quality units, games and the best technology blah blah blah and then start talking about Vista like everyone else at Microsoft does. These guys are usually completely filled with shit and BS answers for everything. I wonder why Moore had such troubles with this one?


RE: Come on.......
By LatinMessiah on 5/9/2007 1:15:52 PM , Rating: 2
If that's true, then what's you and your friend's gamer scores?


RE: Come on.......
By d0gb0y on 5/9/2007 11:29:45 AM , Rating: 3
I unfortunately was recently faced with the said scenario. I first thought "Screw MS for doing this to me!" So I bought a Wii. Games are too kiddie and the motion sensitive controller is too insensitive (I liken it to the difference between a mice and keyboard to a controller with analog sticks). I did enjoy Paper Mario and Zelda, but the rest was junk.

I then thought about buying a PS3, but did not read one review of a game worth spending over $600 (tax and the price of the game).

I missed the 360 games and then thought of buying the Elite, but spending $400 to play games I already own...

So I spent the $140. Cheapest option in my opinion. I'm glad MS has it available.

I think it sucks that MY 360 broke, but I did enjoy it over a year and if it did break within that year it would have been free (kinda wish it broke 4 months ago).


RE: Come on.......
By mars777 on 5/10/2007 1:15:40 AM , Rating: 2
quote:
So I spent the $140. Cheapest option in my opinion. I'm glad MS has it available.


Microsoft is glad too, they will make 140$ per year on you and you will be glad :)


RE: Come on.......
By OblivionMage on 5/9/2007 3:46:43 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
I don't know what I'd do if my 360 broke. The other day I was playing PGR3 and artifacts would flash every once in a while that meant the graphics memory was being pushed a little too much. And it was cool in my room. I've never experienced it before but it was scary.

You would get a new one from Microsoft for free if your old one broke...


RE: Come on.......
By dajeepster on 5/8/2007 11:03:29 PM , Rating: 5
it is not a national security, but it is considered a trade secret. And you do not want the competition knowing your trade secret. Sony would do the exact same thing.

If they knew each other's secrets it would definately make for some very interesting commercials on TV where they'll really start bashing each other.


RE: Come on.......
By Proteusza on 5/9/2007 4:43:22 AM , Rating: 1
Dude the number of hardware failures is hardly a trade secret. Of course, it is something Sony would love to get their hands on, but then again they dont need to - everyone already knows that XBox's arent reliable, the damage has been done due to bad design, and MS is doing their best to save face.