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Waaaaaaaaaitta minute... this is not my Xbox 360!

Letter informing me that this is a different Xbox 360 and that I get a free Xbox Live card, sans the card
After two weeks of waiting, I have an Xbox 360 again... except that this one wasn't mine to begin with

About two weeks ago, my Xbox 360 gave me the evil eye in the form of the Red Ring of Death. Just days later, Microsoft quickly dispatched me an empty box to transport the dead console to an outsourced ‘repair’ facility.

Unlike Brandon’s experience, however, I did not receive an email when my console was received nor did I get any update when the replacement would be sent out. I phoned customer service after a week of waiting, and they verified that Teleplan in Vaughn, ON had received my console, but was apparently backed up.

Out of curiosity, I asked the rep if he had any idea if the recent changes in Xbox 360 warranty policy applied to Canada as well. In particular, I was interested to know if I would be getting my original console back or a refurb. Interestingly, the rep told me that Canada is the only country where its under-warranty customers get new consoles as replacements instead of refurbs. From the commentsposted by readers from my last story, we know that this is not the case.

A week after the call, a package showed up at my door. It was an Xbox 360 alright, but it wasn’t mine – it was a refurb. I can’t say that I’m unhappy with the refurb, as it actually works and I can get back to Xbox Live gaming again, though I would rather have MY console back for a couple of reasons. One, all the Xbox Live Arcade games are now unplayable unless they are accessed through my specific account – a minor moan but it definitely takes a little usability away from my original experience. And two, this refurb has a bit of a noisy fan, sounding a little bit like my PC case fan just a few months before it died completely. For reference, the console I sent in was manufactured April 28, 2006 and the one I received in return is newer, from August 8, 2006. Both consoles have the Samsung drive.

I understand that in certain circumstances, an Xbox 360 may be so far beyond help that there may be no other alternative than to replace it, and if new consoles were used as replacements instead of refurbs, then the landfills would all too quickly get full with mountains of Red Ringed consoles.

I’m quite thankful that my console was still under warranty. When I bought my Xbox 360, I did so knowing full well that it came with only a 90-day warranty, and I also decided to take my chances without the in-store warranty ($90 for another year on-top of Microsoft’s factory warranty). If it weren’t for Microsoft coming to their senses and revising the 90-day warranty to a year, I would have been SOL.

My stance on extended warranties still hasn’t changed, though in the case of the fragile Xbox 360, I am considering the Microsoft offer of $24 (or $26 CAD) per year of extended coverage. I have until the end of my existing warranty to think about it, but I almost view an extended warranty as part of the Xbox 360 experience. Xbox Live Gold is a necessary $60 a year to enjoy the console to the fullest, and now in my books, another $24 is required as Xbox Insurance.

At least for all my troubles, Microsoft decided to give me a one-month free extension card for Xbox Live... except they forgot to include the card inside the box. Sigh.

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I finally got my unit back this week also
By OxBow on 4/26/2007 9:54:51 AM , Rating: 2
After a month of fussing with MS, I finally got my console back this week from McAllen, TX. It's my original unit, for which I'm somewhat thankful. I haven't had a chance to check it out yet to see if it works, since after a month without, I forgot where I stored the accesories (that power brick is big, you'd think it would be hard to misplace).

I thought they had forgotten the Xbox Live card also, it wasn't with the rest of the papers. Check your box, in mine the card slipped under one of the flaps of the box.




RE: I finally got my unit back this week also
By Marcus Yam on 4/26/2007 10:02:21 AM , Rating: 2
Glad you got your console back. Looks like you really deserved at least that free month of XBL.

I just had a Hotel Dusk 215 moment of searching the cardboard box, but unfortunately, I didn't find any such card. Sad panda. :(


RE: I finally got my unit back this week also
By Quiksel on 4/26/2007 11:35:13 AM , Rating: 2
Hey Marcus,

So what are you going to do about it? Honestly, I'm hoping to God you call them back with the complaint that the guy told you the wrong thing, your new fan is noisy as hell, and you didn't get your card in the box after getting your hopes up.

Seems like an incredibly bad customer service experience, and you best do something about to at least give them the chance to make it right.

As far as I am concerned, it sounds like you're getting screwed. So best take it up with em. :)


RE: I finally got my unit back this week also
By OxBow on 4/26/2007 11:45:22 AM , Rating: 2
Sorry that you couldn't find the card in your box.

I'd consider it a business expense to call them up and ask about it. Your blog should justify the use of your time and coverage, however the process turns out.

Good luck


RE: I finally got my unit back this week also
By Marcus Yam on 4/26/2007 5:01:14 PM , Rating: 2
I rang them up and the rep didn't seem that aware of the fact that they often give out free months of Live membership with the refurb/repair boxes, but didn't give me any hassle about it. Instead, he put me on hold to go talk to a supervisor, and after that I was instructed to FAX in my letter stating that I am entitled to a that Live card.

There's a bit of a runaround here, and I'd probably be mildly annoyed if I didn't have a fax machine in my home.


RE: I finally got my unit back this week also
By johnsonx on 4/26/2007 5:10:02 PM , Rating: 2
Hey Marcus, how come you don't have one of them new DT logos by your name? Are you not the REAL Marcus Yam?


RE: I finally got my unit back this week also
By Marcus Yam on 4/26/2007 5:25:40 PM , Rating: 2
Thanks for the reminder, apparently the DT sticker had fallen off my lapel.

Now I just need to find that red Swingline stapler around here to nail it back on.


By KristopherKubicki (blog) on 4/26/2007 5:28:59 PM , Rating: 2
amg. Doppleganger!


Extending the warranty?
By exanimas on 4/26/2007 7:12:36 AM , Rating: 2
quote:
I am considering the Microsoft offer of $24 (or $26 CAD) per year of extended coverage.


I'm pretty new to 360s since I just got mine about 3 weeks ago, so pardon the stupid question, but are you saying that you can pay $24 have Microsoft extend the warranty by a year for as many as you'll pay for? If so, how would I go about doing this for mine? Thanks for any reply.




RE: Extending the warranty?
By Marcus Yam on 4/26/2007 8:35:24 AM , Rating: 2
I'm not sure if it's as many years as you'll pay for, though they did offer me either a one or two year extension, giving you at least a three year warranty total.

It's hard to say at this point what Microsoft will do for those who want a longer than three year warranty, considering only now are people heading past their first year with the console.

It still sucks that you pretty much have to buy a warranty, but at least it's cheaper than the ones from retailers.


RE: Extending the warranty?
By Marcus Yam on 4/27/2007 8:03:04 AM , Rating: 2
I just read through the extended warranty documentation and it looks like Microsoft will cover you for as long as you are willing to pay for the warranty. I think that the max amount that you can purchase at once is two years, but you can extend it even further once that time is up.


RE: Extending the warranty?
By exanimas on 4/27/2007 6:20:06 PM , Rating: 2
Ah I see, that's interesting. So how do I go about extending it? I may add another year or 2 onto it. $50 to protect my $400 investment is nothing.


RE: Extending the warranty?
By Marcus Yam on 4/28/2007 2:43:17 AM , Rating: 2
If your console is still under warranty, you just call 1-800-MYXBOX up and say you want to give into their ransom demands.


RE: Extending the warranty?
By jadedeath on 4/29/2007 11:30:51 AM , Rating: 3
50 bucks, plus your Live membership, that's why Microsoft is making money.

Might as well have an add-on on the system that tells you to bend over in front of it and pull your pants down before you start playing.

Logan


RE: Extending the warranty?
By exanimas on 5/15/2007 1:57:09 AM , Rating: 1
Even though this topic is getting dated, you are correct. I just recently went out and purchased a 13 month (12 + 1 "bonus") live membership, an additional wireless controller, and Gears of War. All together I spent about $128, and if I didn't have my employee discount, it would've been more like $160+. Now with all this controversy over the RRoD, I may just have (along with about 10 million others) already bent over for Microsoft by spending so much money.


afraid to even play 360
By vitul on 4/26/2007 11:27:28 PM , Rating: 2
all these red rings of death really have me not even wanting to use my xbox360. people knock on the ps3 all the time but really red ring of deaths shouldnt even be part of the warrenty of a year it should just be a simple recall for the lifetime of the 360.

there bad design of the 360 which is causing this to keep happening or to happen in the first place shouldnt be the customers problem, nor should it be the customers dollar. if you bought a car and for as many stories as you hear about the 360 applied to cars and all that car did was overheat they would be fixing it for free even if the recall happened 3 years after the car was on the market.

I will say this if my 360 gets a red ring of death outside my warrenty (summer) then i will buy a ps3 and never buy a microsoft console again.




RE: afraid to even play 360
By MonkeyPaw on 4/27/2007 10:18:22 AM , Rating: 2
While you are right to be concerned about the questionable build quality of the 360, there's no real guarantee about the PS3's long term reliability either. It hasn't been out long enough to know how solid the early builds are. The 360 had early production issues and it appears that the early units are failing, but guess what? The PS3 had early production issues too. I wouldn't be surprised to hear about Blu-Ray drive failures in the future. It's just the nature of early production electronics.

Unfortunately, my 360 is starting to RROD. It's unusual, since I will start a game (Prey) and it will lock up in 5-10 minutes. Restarting the console is a gamble. It might RROD, it might get halfway through the intro screen and lock, or it might just start up just fine. If I go back into the game, I might have more problems, or it may just keep on playing. The strangest thing is that once the machine gets going for a while (30min), I can then play indefinitely without any more problems. However, the next time I cold start the machine, it's crash-city all over again.

Funniest part? The RROD problems started exactly 367 days after my original purchase date. Before that, it had never crashed once! Considering the cost of the console when I bought it, I opted for MS's $49 3-year warranty, so I'm still protected. I'm not sure when I'll call MS, either. I'm tempted to see if I can play the system until it won't startup anymore. I want my 360 to be displaying its bad behavior when I return it, so the techs can clearly see that it is broken. Like with car repairs, I fear that when I return my 360, it will act like nothing is wrong and nothing will get fixed. :|


RE: afraid to even play 360
By Marcus Yam on 4/28/2007 2:45:48 AM , Rating: 2
Is that $49 for a 2 year extension for a 3 year total warranty... or something else?


RE: afraid to even play 360
By MonkeyPaw on 4/28/2007 11:07:28 AM , Rating: 2
When I bought the unit, it came with an offer from MS to extend the warranty to 3 years for $49USD. I sent it in, and they sent back my warranty info. The warranty covers everything inside the console, and even promises to replace the unit with whatever is equal or better, it necessary. (It would be cool to get an elite for a replacement, but I seriously doubt that this will happen) This warranty expires in November of 2008.

Interestingly, I called the XBOX hotline yesterday and tried their recommended fix of unplugging the unit and removing the drive, then put it back together again. Since I've done this, it has worked without issue. Of course it has just been a day, but I played a considerable amount yesterday.