I have a call for help if *anyone* reading the lounge has some pull or a friend that has some pull at Microsoft's customer support. Here's the story: Bought a Xbox360 a year and a half ago. About mid-june this year, I get the RROD. I thought its not a big deal, thats why they increased the warranty to 3 years right? So I send it back to get a replacement. Long story short, there were some problems (on their side) and it took about 2 weeks to get a replacement back. I open the box and I see a white console. Uh? I had sent them a gray elite and they sent back a white Core or Pro I dont know, but the power wire doesnt match and theres no hdmi on it, so its useless to me. I call them and they say send it back, well send you the correct one right away. Before I can do that, the next day, I get a call from a "resolution specialist" telling me to wait for a "specially labeled" box because if I send it back to the repair center they'll just send me another core. Fine, I play nice, wait a week and a half for the box, and send the incorrect console right away. By then its been almost a month since I first called them about my RROD. But then I wait and wait and get no news. I call them, they tell me they've received the incorrect console and will send my Elite "soon". Why not "now" or "yesterday" I ask them, and they tell me they have to wait for some "updates" and follow the "process". And its been going on for an additional 3 weeks. So to sum it up, Microsoft acknowledge that they own me a replacement elite, but refuse to send it to me. I seem to be stuck in some hellish administrative loop at Microsoft and its been going on since mid-june. Im a game developer, I have 3 released xbox360 titles with more on the way, but I can't even play them at home. And I dont know what to do anymore. I could deposit a complaint at the provincial Customer Protection Bureau, but these things takes forever to be treated. So Im trying my luck with the community. If *anyone* can offer any help or counsel, I would be most grateful. Gaming season is coming up and its really sad to be the only one at work who hasn't played the latest games. I can't even watch DVDs... Anyhow, thanks for reading!

microsofts support for the xbox is as poor as anything i have ever seen. I had an xbox and it broke about 3 times in a year and on the last time i had trouble getting it back from them. It turns out the last time they sent it back they gave me a 1 month warranty and guess what my xbox breaks again within the 1 month and i register it as broken and they say its out of warranty and they want me to pay £100 for a repair which is total b.s For a big company i would expect alot better. And because my xbox broke so many times some of my disks got damaged. They became unplayable because of rings on the disk. so i phone microsoft to ask for replacements and they say phone the individual publishers who say to phone microsoft. So basically it went on like this and they did nothing to correct the issue. So:

morale of the story... buy a PS3.

Call them back, offer that they can keep your Elite, and tell them you'll send them the bill for the one you are about to go buy from your local store that has them in stock?

The law is different for different countries involving warranties but seeing as emforce is in the UK.

Quote: Original post by emforce
microsofts support for the xbox is as poor as anything i have ever seen. I had an xbox and it broke about 3 times in a year and on the last time i had trouble getting it back from them.

Who is "them"? Microsoft? If so why did you send it to them and not deal with the retailer directly?

Quote: It turns out the last time they sent it back they gave me a 1 month warranty and guess what my xbox breaks again within the 1 month and i register it as broken and they say its out of warranty and they want me to pay £100 for a repair which is total b.s For a big company i would expect alot better.

All electrical goods are covered by a two year warranty from the retailer, added to this that it is a known fault of the device (RRD) and you can prove it was not fit for the purpose it was sold for. The manufacturer does not have to give a warranty this is why you deal with the retailer.

Quote: And because my xbox broke so many times some of my disks got damaged. They became unplayable because of rings on the disk. so i phone microsoft to ask for replacements and they say phone the individual publishers who say to phone microsoft.

It has been a while since I last read the small print that comes with a game but IIRC the publisher states they will replace broken or faulty discs.

well this was about 3 years ago and we sent it to microsoft because the store told us that it would cost 80-90 pounds to repair it. whereas we only had a warranty from microsoft and not the store. the disk - we phoned each publisher and was told we would need to pay or phone microsoft. and at that time it was 1 year warranty from microsoft only not the store

Quote: Original post by Talroth
Call them back, offer that they can keep your Elite, and tell them you'll send them the bill for the one you are about to go buy from your local store that has them in stock?

If only it was that simple. DLC is locked per-console. The replacement theyre *supposed* to send you allow you to unlock the DLC on your harddrive a single time. I like my rockband songs and I paid for them, so I'ld rather keep them.

Even then, I doubt they'ld pay the bill without a court order.

Quote: Original post by emforce
well this was about 3 years ago and we sent it to microsoft because the store told us that it would cost 80-90 pounds to repair it.

Well the store here lied to you, which is nothing unusual as they play on the fact people do not know what they are entitled to.

Quote: whereas we only had a warranty from microsoft and not the store.

No you automatically have a two year period in which you can claim a repair, replacement or a refund from the seller. This is nothing new the UK has had this for a long time, it is even an EU law now.

Quote: the disk - we phoned each publisher and was told we would need to pay or phone microsoft.

I am not 100% sure but check the game box or manual there is something in there about instances like this.

I did a buddy a favor once, and for his birthday, bought him a Live subscription. BIG MISTAKE. I told him he could either take over the account after 3 months, or I'd cancel. The hell of getting the account deleted, despite the fact I held the credit card, was insane. 1) No one spoke good English. 2) They wanted me to remember HIS email and HIS username, and refused to cancel unless I could provide that information. After arguing back and forth about 3 times, they canceled. Whew. Except my buddies little brother re-opened the account. The charges were sent back to my credit card. Apparently, they had decided to keep my billing info on file, just in case. I had to start all over. So, good luck.

I had to send in my Xbox 360 recently too. Got an RROD, and sent it in. When we got it back, we didn't have the right AC Adapter/PSU because they had given us an older motherboard, I think. So we got a newer one. But now our network isn't working for the Xbox. Probably gonna have to send it in again. :|

I had to send in my Xbox last summer, which sucked, but I seemed to have had better luck than you guys... the only trouble I had was that it took forever for some of my DLC licenses to migrate over to the replacement they sent me.

It was, however, both funny and sad when the 50+ yr-old post office employee asked "Oh, Xbox?" [Suprised look] "Yeah..."