Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Monday, October 29, 2007
I hope I'm not this guy
Wow, clearly microsoft didn't fix the xbox that they sent to this guy.
At least I'm not the only one out there with this problem. When I first started to read these stories abour the RRoD, I thought it was minor, vocal minority who just didn't know how to care for electronics. After it happened to me, and a guy at slashgear.com...? Just more evidence that this is a widespread problem.
At least I'm not the only one out there with this problem. When I first started to read these stories abour the RRoD, I thought it was minor, vocal minority who just didn't know how to care for electronics. After it happened to me, and a guy at slashgear.com...? Just more evidence that this is a widespread problem.
More Evidence That This is A Major Problem
Ouch, it appears one of the companies that Microsoft used to fix Xboxes have now stopped doing so. They state that "This problem is endemic on the XBox 360 console and the volume has made this repair non-viable."
When will the 360 just be recalled? It seems like the entire repair/refurbish system that Microsoft has put into place is broken itself.
Anyway, I'm just waiting for my the cardboard box to arrive so that I can send my second console back to Microsoft. On a side note: I wonder where my xbox360 console is...I hope it's repaired and providing someone some joy...
When will the 360 just be recalled? It seems like the entire repair/refurbish system that Microsoft has put into place is broken itself.
Anyway, I'm just waiting for my the cardboard box to arrive so that I can send my second console back to Microsoft. On a side note: I wonder where my xbox360 console is...I hope it's repaired and providing someone some joy...
Manufacture Date
Ugh...after reading around the web, I realized that each Xbox360 is stamped with a date of manufacture. I was curious, so I took a look a look at the date of manufacture for my "replacement" xbox: December 5th, 2005! Come on!
I bought (actually it was given to me as a X-mas gift) my original xbox at the end of December, 2006. Unfortunately, I no longer have my original xbox, so I don't know the exact date of manufacture. However, it's extremely unlikely that an xbox sold, in a gaming store, in December 2006 was manufactured a year prior to that sale. I wish I did know my original xbox manufacture date, but I had no idea that I would not be getting my xbox360 console back.
So this is how it works?: My Xbox is flawed, so I send it off for repairs, and I get back an Xbox that is an entire year older! WTF?
Again, imagine if any other company tried this. Imagine a recall on your vehicle, so you drop it off at the dealer and you return the next day (or a month if you're dealing with Microsoft repairs) only to find that your vehicle has be 'replaced' by a model that is year older.
Original car:
"My" car after MS "fixes" it:
I bought (actually it was given to me as a X-mas gift) my original xbox at the end of December, 2006. Unfortunately, I no longer have my original xbox, so I don't know the exact date of manufacture. However, it's extremely unlikely that an xbox sold, in a gaming store, in December 2006 was manufactured a year prior to that sale. I wish I did know my original xbox manufacture date, but I had no idea that I would not be getting my xbox360 console back.
So this is how it works?: My Xbox is flawed, so I send it off for repairs, and I get back an Xbox that is an entire year older! WTF?
Again, imagine if any other company tried this. Imagine a recall on your vehicle, so you drop it off at the dealer and you return the next day (or a month if you're dealing with Microsoft repairs) only to find that your vehicle has be 'replaced' by a model that is year older.
Original car:
"My" car after MS "fixes" it:
Sunday, October 28, 2007
The Reason For This Blog
On September 24, 2007, my Xbox360 developed the dreaded three red-flashing lights. I searched the web, only to find that this is a common problem with the 360s. So, I called 1-800-4my-xbox. The customer support quickly diagnosed that my xbox needed a repair. I was relieved to discover that this problem is covered by a new, extended, 3 year warranty.
The good news: all costs were to be covered by xbox. They shipped a box with a pre-paid UPS shipping label (took >1 week for the box to arrive).
The bad news: the expected turn around time was 3-5 weeks. Ouch.
On October 19th, I got "my" xbox360 console back. I opened the shipping box, only to find that xbox had sent me a different, supposedly refurbished, xbox. Whoa, I didn't agree to this? (I guess I did, somewhere, in some fine print). But I didn't buy a used xbox360. I bought a new one, and I treated my console with care. I have no idea who's xbox I just received and how it was treated in the past. Is this xbox from some 10 year old, who kicked it when losing a game of Halo? Imagine dropping off your car for repair, only to return the next day and have the mechanic give you someone else's car! So, needless to say, I was skeptical. But, I plugged in the "fixed" xbox, and things weren't quite right:
-Games would suddenly freeze. This was independant of game type, or amount of time played. Sometimes it would freeze jsut after starting up, sometimes, it would freeze after 30 minutes of playing. I tried to diagnose the problem. Nothing seemed to work...until:
October 28, 2007
I turned on my xbox this morning, only to be greeted by the three red flashing lights, again. That's right, in about 1 week, my "fixed", replacement xbox broke again.
After searching the web and even the xbox forums, it appears I'm not alone. Microsoft has admitted that the 360 is flawed. But it appears their repair process is flawed as well. After a quick read of the xbox.com forums, you'll quickly see that people complain of having to ship their "refurbished" xboxes back multiple times. Keep in mind, each time you ship, you're without your ~$300 electronics entertainment for ~1 month! Therefore, 3 returns=1/4 of the year! If this were a TV, a DVD player, a computer, this would not be acceptable.
So, after this experience, I've realized that I'm probably in for a frustrating experience. How long will this last until xbox/microsoft can resolve this problem and give me an xbox that won't break? I've decided to document my experience, through this blog, for everyone to see. There will be no hyperbole here. Just the facts, as I experience them. So sit back, relax and enjoy the xbox.com/support experience as I go for the ride!
The good news: all costs were to be covered by xbox. They shipped a box with a pre-paid UPS shipping label (took >1 week for the box to arrive).
The bad news: the expected turn around time was 3-5 weeks. Ouch.
On October 19th, I got "my" xbox360 console back. I opened the shipping box, only to find that xbox had sent me a different, supposedly refurbished, xbox. Whoa, I didn't agree to this? (I guess I did, somewhere, in some fine print). But I didn't buy a used xbox360. I bought a new one, and I treated my console with care. I have no idea who's xbox I just received and how it was treated in the past. Is this xbox from some 10 year old, who kicked it when losing a game of Halo? Imagine dropping off your car for repair, only to return the next day and have the mechanic give you someone else's car! So, needless to say, I was skeptical. But, I plugged in the "fixed" xbox, and things weren't quite right:
-Games would suddenly freeze. This was independant of game type, or amount of time played. Sometimes it would freeze jsut after starting up, sometimes, it would freeze after 30 minutes of playing. I tried to diagnose the problem. Nothing seemed to work...until:
October 28, 2007
I turned on my xbox this morning, only to be greeted by the three red flashing lights, again. That's right, in about 1 week, my "fixed", replacement xbox broke again.
After searching the web and even the xbox forums, it appears I'm not alone. Microsoft has admitted that the 360 is flawed. But it appears their repair process is flawed as well. After a quick read of the xbox.com forums, you'll quickly see that people complain of having to ship their "refurbished" xboxes back multiple times. Keep in mind, each time you ship, you're without your ~$300 electronics entertainment for ~1 month! Therefore, 3 returns=1/4 of the year! If this were a TV, a DVD player, a computer, this would not be acceptable.
So, after this experience, I've realized that I'm probably in for a frustrating experience. How long will this last until xbox/microsoft can resolve this problem and give me an xbox that won't break? I've decided to document my experience, through this blog, for everyone to see. There will be no hyperbole here. Just the facts, as I experience them. So sit back, relax and enjoy the xbox.com/support experience as I go for the ride!
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