Xbox owner sues Microsoft over defective drives

While our own Xbox died for entirely different reasons (we tried to get all mad scientist on it), an owner upset that his Xbox DVD drive failed in under one year of use has taken his ire to another level, and has filed a class-action lawsuit on behalf of all Xbox owners alleging defective parts. We've heard of plenty Xbox owners having their drives die on them—usually a new drive from eBay fixes things—so chime in if you've had any Xbox drive problems.

[TDavid @ Dec 19th 2005 1:47AM]

You mean PS2, not XBox, right? The PS2 has had all kinds of problems ... we're on our 2nd PS2 and probably should be on our 3rd as it fails sometimes.

[Trevor @ Dec 19th 2005 1:47AM]

People still use the DVD Drive? I thought we all just put HDD's in them and went from there. Man, am I out of the loop.

[Kivus @ Dec 19th 2005 1:47AM]

I got an Xbox around launch time and it failed within 10 months...I filed a complaint with the better business bureau of washington to get it replaced when they said it would cost around $100 to get it fixed.

[bc @ Dec 19th 2005 1:47AM]

Our XBox DVD drive recently bit the dust. One of the few items for which we've actually purchased an extended warranty/replacement plan... so it paid off.

[Colin Smith @ Dec 19th 2005 1:47AM]

My Xbox is less than a month old and it has a dead drive. Now, I have a very upset 7 yr old. Thanks Microsoft.

[Frank @ Dec 19th 2005 1:47AM]

Yep, my xbox dvd failed on me too. Had to buy a new one on ebay to fix it since it.

[Winston Baccus @ Dec 19th 2005 1:47AM]

I had that problem. Am currently trying to replace my Philips drive, I ended up buying another refurb Xbox.

My PS2 also has problems, but game still seem to load on it, just not movies.

[Mark @ Dec 19th 2005 1:47AM]

I bought an XBox a week after the launch, and the drive failed just after the warranty expired. I tried to replace the drive with a replacement of the same model (Thompson), but no luck. Finally I ordered a pre-modded Samsung drive off of Ebay, and now my Xbox is better than new. The games load over twice as fast. Hopefully Microsoft will put more reliable and faster drives in XBox2.

[MadTxn @ Dec 19th 2005 1:47AM]

My drive failed (games kept locking up). I called Xbox support, and they had me mail it in. They fixed it and sent it back for free. One weird thing... they changed the serial number on it.

[Dave Thomson @ Dec 19th 2005 1:47AM]

I've had my Xbox since 1 week after it was launched and it works great, never crashes or has hardware issues.

[mike sears @ Dec 19th 2005 1:47AM]

I'm on my second one in 3 years and its starting to fail all the time again. With some rope it will make a good boat anchor.

[Neal Gant @ Dec 19th 2005 1:47AM]

(After the first bad box) I always get the extended warranty. I get the one year instead of the two year because I haven't had a xbox last for a year yet! Microsoft is well aware of this problem (look on the Microsoft Xbox forums) yet they refuse to acknowledge that there is a problem. The last time I spoke to technical support, the tech sounded completely surprised that I had experienced drive failure twice already!
I will be going to pick up my !!!FOURTH!!! xbox soon but I am waiting for the Halo2 release so that in case the drive has an "issue" with Halo2 I can utilize the 30 day grace period instead of paying for yet another warranty from the gamestore.
I can't help but to wonder how many boxes I will have to try before I find one that will read ALL of my games (all the xboxes I have owned will read some games but not other games)

[Ricky @ Dec 19th 2005 1:47AM]

Yes I had mine for like 8 months and my DVD broke, I ended up having to buy a new xbox.

[Bobby Digital @ Dec 19th 2005 1:47AM]

Once Microsofat recognized that there was a problem with the drives in particualr units they should have done a recall or an incentive program to have the faulty drives replaced. These OEM drives probably cost MS less then 10 dollars I am sure most people would be willing to pay 20-30 oppossed to 149-199 for a new Xbox. Replacing the drives or offering incentives to have them replaced ensures brand suvival, People with non working Drives are no longer purchasing games and other Xbox accesories!

[Drew Jones @ Dec 19th 2005 1:47AM]

I bought my XBox right after the launch for my son for Christmas (wink). After about 6 months the DVD drive failed and would not recognize any discs (games, DVDs). I called MS XBox support. They asked if I had registered...I had not. The rep was able to get me registered over the phone. The next day a shipping box and prepaid label arrived at my door. I sent off the XBox the next day and had it back with a new drive working perfectly in less than 5 days. I was very impressed. I have not had any problems since.

[Brad Hitz @ Dec 19th 2005 1:47AM]

I could play for 2 minutes and it would quit.
I only used it to play Halo when it first came out for about 6 months so the use was minimal. It's been on a shelf ever since. I was told repair was about the same as buying a new box.
Never again will I buy anything from micro crap.

[John @ Dec 19th 2005 1:47AM]

I'm on my third XBOX. The one I got at launch fancied NOT reading disks correctly and crashing. I returned it a week later. The replacement took a fancy to not creating new files and erasing the ones on there. MS replaced it for free... well, aside from the hours it took me to shovel through the piles of "stuff" and the lost gaming time stored in those files and my soul... you get the picture. Free.

[treoo0 @ Dec 19th 2005 1:47AM]

Too bad for you.

[Mousefinger @ Dec 19th 2005 1:47AM]

My xBox is fine. Never has a problem with it (it's about a year old). My hamster died though. I wonder if I can sue MS for a defective hamster.

[Rachel Beverlin @ Dec 19th 2005 1:47AM]

Ok so I have been emailing Xbox all over the place and here is what it have come up with.

Here is the first email:
I am a first generation Xbox user. I have been having cannot read disk error that says disk is dirty or damaged. I have been researching and I see MANY others have this problem. I have tried to address this in a mature manner but I am not getting any help whatsoever from you. Look I have had this problem for 3 years... a little error here a little one there and then boom my new games won't play but for 2 minutes. I am not under warrenty anymore and my Xbox doesn't work anyways so I decided to open it up and clean it (I was also hearing something knocking around inside it). It works now that I got the hair off the lens (don't ask me how it got there), but barely. But while I was inside my Xbox I noticed something, that knocking I had heard was a broken plastic clip used to hold down what looked like a cooling unit. It had a clean break and was broken in half. Since this was the first time I opened this I wonder if this happened during manufacturing which means other parts could be faulty. I am not to blame for this. My father payed full price for this Xbox and I do not want to spend 80 dollars to get it fixed and even if I did I don't have the money because we just got hit by Hurricane Charley a few months ago. I am trying to address this problem in a mature manner I am just asking you as a loyal Xbox customer to at least talk to me with out giving me the standard blah blah blah your support does. Nothing works, my DVD drive is faulty and I think I deserve more then to pay money to fix something I got broken.
Thank you,
Rachel

This is there response to the first email:
Hello Rachel,
Thank you for writing to Xbox regarding your repair concerns.

We understand how important this is to you and we apologize for the inconvenience you have experienced. The limited warranty for the Xbox, which is found in the Xbox Instruction Manual, specifically excludes from the warranty those instances where the Xbox is modified or tampered with, or is repaired, modified or altered by other than Microsoft authorized repair centers. Therefore, Microsoft is unable to offer any repair services for your Xbox console.

We recommend that you do not open or attempt to open your Xbox console under any circumstances. Taking apart or modifying the Xbox will void your warranty.

In case you have other Xbox concerns, feel free to write back. We take feedback on Xbox and our Customer Service very seriously and review customer comments daily.

Sincerely,

Charissa
Xbox Customer Care Team

I tried to resond to the mail with this message but it did not go through:
But I had to open it. There was a piece knocking around in here
(plastic clip for the cooling unit) that could have hit something and caused
an electrical spark which I have been told would have totally fried my
Xbox (which had been broken In the first place but I didn't know until a
friend heard it in there and told me loose pieces could fry my Xbox)and
what if it had caused a fire? My warrenty was over anyways and I didn't
want that broken piece to cause anymore damage to my Xbox ( It did
anyways). I also had to clean my lens off which you give no easy access to. What am I supposed to pay an 80 dollar repair fee everytime I need my lense cleaned?

So I sent a second email:
This is the second half of my message I sent earlier. I believe I have a defective Xbox. I know I have a Thomson Dvd drive and that I also need a new processer heatsync (clip). I would like it replaced for free because I feel that I payed full price for an Xbox that is defective (after warrenty). I am a loyal customer and will continue to buy all your games and products if my Xbox would just work. Please email me and let me know what I can do because I really cannot afford nor want to pay the repair fee.

I got this response:
Hello Rachel,
Thank you for writing to Xbox regarding your inquiry on replacing your new processor for free.

We understand your concern and the importance of this matter to you.

With regard to your concern, we suggest that you contact our phone support team and verify if you can replace your processor for free or is it possible to be replaced. Phone support can be obtained by calling 1-800-4MY-XBOX (1-800-469-9269). They are available 5:00 A.M. to 10:00 P.M. Pacific Time, Monday through Friday and 5:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M. Pacific Time, Saturday and Sunday. The call is toll free in North America. Or International direct dial to the US for assistance is 425-635-7180.

In case you have other Xbox concerns, feel free to write back. We take feedback on Xbox and our Customer Service very seriously and review customer comments daily.

Sincerely,
Grace
Xbox Customer Care Team

Problem is.. I already opened it.. so now they probably won't fix it for free but If I would not have realized it was defective but they probably don't care, they will do anything to get out of paying for this.
So when does the lawsuit start if there is going to be one? Because I would really like to join. Xbox seems like they just hire robots to read lines out of there Xbox Instruction Manual don't you think?

[craig @ Dec 19th 2005 1:47AM]

my first xbox drive went bad, so i sold the system to a game store at the mall, and bought a new one with an extended service plan at Best Buy.

[Jason McLeod @ Dec 19th 2005 1:47AM]

My XBox started flashing red and green, and rebooting 3 times. Microsoft said I could pay $75 to send it to them plus parts. So I had to end up buying a used one. Worked out cheaper in the end.

[Blake @ Dec 19th 2005 1:47AM]

I bought my xbox about three weeks ago, the first one only lasted 6 days before the drive failed. And now my new one won't read CDR music for the custom soundtracks. MS needs to get there act together, noteveryone, including me, will buy multiple xboxes because they cant build a descent product.

[Tor Bjornrud @ Dec 19th 2005 1:47AM]

I and another friend both had the dvd-drive fail.

I followed the linktrail but couldn't find anything regarding becoming part of the lawsuit...

Anybody know how to do this?

[TF @ Dec 19th 2005 1:47AM]

I also had one of the thompson drives that eventually kicked the bucket 3 years after I have had my xbox. I called customer serivce told them that I knew I had a thompson drive and that there is a known problem with them and that I would like it fixed. They said they would fix it free of charge and that apparently it was still under warranty, now I have no idea why 3 years later it was still under warranty because I never bought any extended warranty. I shipped it out and got it back withing 1 weeks time and they replaced the drive with a samsung and everything now works perfectly. Only problem I had with customer service was that they wouldn't email me a tracking number and I had to right down that damned 21 digit number and write it in everytime I wanted to check it.

[Greg Gaub @ Dec 19th 2005 1:47AM]

Yeah, the PS2 dies just as much as the xBox does, apparently. I'm on my 3rd PS2. but guess what? Sony fixed or replaced them ALL for FREE. The first was LONG out of warranty. Disc Read Error? We're sorry, please send it in. All I had to pay was a few bucks to ship it to them. Subsequent ones died the same way, same deal, even after the warranty expired. It's too bad MS is acting like the drive dying is just a normal product life issue and making people pay $100 for repairs or DIY. I guess that's just one more reason I won't even take a look at an xbox 2, and will happily fork it out for a PS3.

[Mobilej @ Dec 19th 2005 1:47AM]

I am on my fourth xbox in just under 2 1/2 years from dvd related issues.

Sidenote I had trouble getting it to read NFL fever 2003 when it first came out so i called and they ended up sending me 3 copies of NFL fever 2002 before getting it right. They told me just to keep the extra copies!

[Scott Canoni @ Dec 19th 2005 1:47AM]

And Microsoft promptly called me and fixed my Xbox for free. All I had to pay was shipping to their facility.

[Jake Brown @ Dec 19th 2005 1:47AM]

Im On My Second Xbox, The First Xbox Had This Problem and my second one was starting to every once in awhile, so i got it modded and works great
System-mods.com Has Great Customer Support and have install service too

[Arthur Che @ Dec 19th 2005 1:47AM]

Cold Shot posted this link over at the Joystiq comments that details the Xbox optical drive problem:

http://sentientcreations.com/xboxIssues/index.php

[Jacob @ Dec 19th 2005 1:47AM]

My drive died about 3 months ago. I bought it at Launch in Nov 2001, called Xbox support and they sent me a box, and repaired and shipped it all back for free. Havn't had a problem since. I dont think it is really anything to sue over.

[Vanessa @ Dec 19th 2005 1:47AM]

My Xbox started severely scratching disks, rendering it useless two months after warranty expired. From my mechanical engineer's perspective, it looked as if the laser, or something else fixed in the drive, was rubbing against the disks. Initially there would be nothing, but after a while, a wear pattern would develop a specific distance from the hub. I could recreate the issue on other xbox discs - it happened a second time - AFTER I called them and they told me it must have been the game on one of the Xbox magazine trial discs.

Then their story changed to "you must have dropped it or something," nothing in the xbox could cause that. This was repeated unendingly even though the xbox was taken out of it's packaging and set on an entertainment center it's entire life (of six months!). No matter what, it was my fault, I even went up the chain as far as they'd let me, trying to see if I could get ANYONE to acknowledge that it wasn't something that I did. They steadfastly blamed me for their product's shortcomings.

Their "technical support" which I type laughingly, is abysmal and insulting to a knowledgeable user. Though I could refer them to pages upon pages of online complaints about the same issue, even a Microsoft page with a press release about the problem (in Japan), this was an "unknown" problem. After 3 weeks of calls (during which they never called back), eventually I sent it in for repair. Still cost me $45 to get them to fix it, and though they promised to replace the PGR2 game that was scratched beyond repair, they did not. I called back in about this and was basically told tough shit. There was no acknowledgement of any problem - they didn't even look at my unit, just sent another refurb.

It was the original Thompson dvd drive.

If there is a class action suit, I'd like more information - anybody know how to get in on this?

[randomguy @ Dec 19th 2005 1:47AM]

Too bad Microsoft sold them at a lost, now they can't even afford to fix the defective junk without incuring even more loss. Microsoft finally got in over their heads. How long do you think before we start hearing about missing internal emails that would have shed light on the problem before the release?

[Bob @ Dec 19th 2005 1:47AM]

I bought an Xbox the day it came out... and the dvd drive died last autumn. It still kind of works, but likes to freeze. I gave it to my girlfriend to watch movies on sporadically. I was very upset to say the least.

Luckily, I also won an Xbox through the Taco Bell promo. The Xbox I won still works, but I have not used it as much and it does not show the fact that I beat Halo on legendary with the other one!

[GCNXbox @ Dec 19th 2005 1:47AM]

My friend bought an Xbox when they first came out and recently it's hard drive has stared making very loud noises when you turn it on sometimes, but then they go away if you turn it off or wait a bit. hould he probably consider backing up his saves on a memory card? His DVD drive just failed a week ago and he had to order one on ebay and have me install it for him.

[HeliosTrick @ Dec 19th 2005 1:47AM]

I bought my first Xbox back in early December of 2001, and I have not had any major problems with it. The only discs it doesn't like to read so much are the Xbox Magazine demo discs. I play on it heavily. Maybe I just got lucky?

However, I am on my third PS2, so maybe I'm not that lucky.

[Doggstarr @ Dec 19th 2005 1:47AM]

My xbox died about 13 months after purchase, won't read anything not even a disc cleaner.

[Ty Ping @ Dec 19th 2005 1:47AM]

I just recently sent mine in for the same reason. I had a Phillips drive in mine. I sent it in and they sent me back a refurb with a wiped HDD. At least I got a renewed 1 year warranty with the deal, but it cost me about $90.

[Onecos @ Dec 19th 2005 1:47AM]

My Xbox has been crashing with the dirty or damaged disk message lately. Until I read this, I didn't know there was a problem with the drive. Guess I'll have to deal with MS also.

[Kyle @ Dec 19th 2005 1:47AM]

can i back up my saves on a memory card and then put them permentantly on another hard drive?

[Mike @ Dec 19th 2005 1:47AM]

Not just Thomson drives are bad!

My Phillips drive died after approx 2 years, I got the same message everyone else is getting (can't read errors)At first the errors were far inbetween, then eventually down to only 15 minutes of play, and now it won't work period. I ordered a cheap thomson drive off ebay. What have I got to lose? I can buy a new phillps for $60 or a new Samsung for $80 and have the same thing happen in 6 months? 1 year? 2 years? no thanks! Let's face it, Xbox is born with a cancer right out of the box! So you gotta ask yourself when you buy that brand new Xbox "How long will this one live?" What a shame!

[Mike C. @ Dec 19th 2005 1:47AM]

I just bought Halo 2 and experienced a dirty disk error on my brand new game! This is a 2 year old xbox and has has errors before, but always manages to work after a few reboots. I gave up and called xbox (1-800-469-9269) and they told me to go through and delete at least 25% of the saved games on my hard drive. (which I never even knew you could do). I will call them back if this does not remedy the sitch. Good luck all.

[Mike C. @ Dec 19th 2005 1:47AM]

Update. Deleting files was a waste of time. The dirty or dameged disk error still comes up. I called back to microsoft and they are willing to fix it for $79 plus shipping both ways. Right. I let them know I was aware of the issues with defective drives, but they do not seem to care. I will look for a replacement drive to install myself.
Caveat Emptor, beyatch!

[ZeroRacer @ Dec 19th 2005 1:47AM]

You guys think you have it bad im on the third xbox well actually the fourth if this one doesent come back from the repair shop living. Dumbass piece of crap decides it wants to packup on me 2 days after my warranty expires so being inquisitive now i had a look about on the net and found what was happening is called the Christmas Lights error and that means system failure thanks microsoft for making a console that basically blows up after a year.

[James @ Dec 19th 2005 1:47AM]

My warranty just went out and I have had hard drive failure. Makes me so mad, I have so many saved games and my drive goes out.

[jon bradley @ Dec 19th 2005 1:47AM]

I had some problems with my xbox's DVD too. I bout it right on the launch date. Once it got to the point that I almost gave up I took the time to take it apart carefully and clean the laser with a special lense cleaning cloth. It work's just like brand NEW now. As for my PS2, It is worthless. I got mine at the same time as my friends got theirs about a year ago. NONE of them work properly. Never liked it much anyways.

[nick burtnett @ Dec 19th 2005 1:47AM]

I didn't have a dvd drive die on me. My hdd died 3 days after i purchased Halo 2.

[Jeff @ Dec 19th 2005 1:47AM]

I am having the same can not read disc/damaged error message. This is my second XBOX. What a shame for such a prolific company to treat consumers so badly. I wish there was a platform to replace XBOX and I would be right in line to buy it.

[Adam @ Dec 19th 2005 1:47AM]

SOLUTION TO YOUR PROBLEMS?

So I had a first generation Xbox that began freezing and giving me dirty disk errors several months after I bought it. This hacked me off but I dealt with it for several years since customer service wanted me to pay 100 bucks to fix it. Recently I bought two new games that wouldn't load and gave me DDE all the time so I started calling Xbox to complain. Long story short, I finally got it out of the customer care representative that there is a way that they "code" your file (documenting your specific problem with check boxes and such) that will automatically show that your old box is still in warranty and will be fixed free of charge. From my expereince and from a post I read above I think the key ingredient is to tell them that you constantly get DDE messages on all media and you know that some of the early release thomson drives are defective and that there is a lawsuit that is underway concerning this defect. Badabing Badaboom! I've got a shipping box headed my way as we speak. Free Xbox fellas! Post if this works for you, too.

PS Don't tell them that you are involved in the lawsuit. Just say you know about it.

[Garrett @ Dec 19th 2005 1:47AM]

Sounds like what they did for me, Adam. My warranty was expired by about 2 years, and magically I had one when I called and complained. Some good it did, though, I'm on my fourth xbox in 3 months. It's a never ending cycle. Their tech guys are terrible.