Has Microsoft Dropped The Xbox Ball - Again?

May 28, 2008

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Has Microsoft Dropped The Xbox Ball - Again?
By Craig Wilson Platinum Quality Author

The ongoing saga of the faulty XBox consoles looks like it is going to rage for quite a while longer. Taking a look around the various forums that have become the voice of many unhappy buyers and it is easy to see that the 3 year extended warranty has far from pleased a lot of fans.

Even though Microsoft has admitted that over 11 million of the consoles are likely to be faulty they are exercising a number of conditions for these warranty repairs. How disturbing must it be to know that the number one problem with the console even has it’s own name - the "dreaded red ring of death" or RROD. Wouldn’t this be an indication that something is seriously wrong and as a company competing with a number of other high profile console manufacturers wouldn’t it be wise to do whatever you can to salvage a very tarnished reputation?

I came across a post that contained the dialogue from a call to the support center for XBox issues where the owner of the console didn’t quite have the full blown "ring of death" disease, the poor guy only had one flashing red light, not three. From all accounts this indicates a hardware failure, apparently a slightly different one to the "red ring of death" but a hardware failure none the less. The answer - "if we send a shipping box out the repair will cost you $119." A quick look around revealed many people looking for answers to the single red light so I assume this guy is far from alone.

Then there is the girl that was at work when the UPS guy turned up to drop off her re-furbished console. A call was made and it was arranged that the console would be dropped off at another time. Now this is where it gets weird, the console was sent back to the service center instead of the UPS depot and now a Microsoft employee is saying that the console is stolen and that she will have to take it up with the legal department even though she has the original purchase receipt. Obviously we are all only human and we all make mistakes but wouldn’t you think that these people would be bending over backwards to keep the customer happy?

Maybe the problem is that Microsoft is just that big that no one cares enough to give a damn about one or two million unhappy buyers? The ones that don’t have a problem probably make up the majority and that is all that matters but where does that leave our two subjects? Hopefully everyone comes to their senses and the ’stolen’ console makes it way back home shortly. As for old mate with only part of the "red ring" disease hopefully he realizes that there are ways that you can fix it yourself and doesn’t fork out the hundred odd dollars they want for the repair. Do you really think Bill Gates would miss that $119 anyway?

Struggling with a faulty XBox? The XBox 3 Red Light Repair Guide will have you back in business in next to no time and without the hassles that our two friends went through. Check it out at http://triedntested.info/archives/27