Microsoft offering free repairs for all 2005 Xbox 360s

Those Redmond folks are sure on a good news streak. After announcing 1080p upscaling and a delightfully low-priced HD DVD drive for their 360, they're offering a helping hand to early adopters who haven't had quite as much fun with the console. Microsoft is offering free fixes to all problematic Xbox 360s built in 2005, and is sending out refunds to users who paid for repairs to that "three red lights of death" problem or other quirks before this dealio went into effect. Of course, one could argue that Microsoft should've been doing these repairs for free from the outset, and it seems like 2006 Xbox buyers are just SOL, but this is at least an improvement to the situation.

[Via DailyTech]

[Ian @ Sep 21st 2006 6:22PM]

w00t that covers mine! Of course mine hasn't broken at all or anything and no red lights other then when I forgot to plug the A/V cables in (I swear it was just once!). But I bought mine on Jan. 1st 2006 :p So I would've been SOL if it was those bought in 2006 instead of built :)

[DukeEagle @ Sep 21st 2006 6:25PM]

Got mine in 2006, so I just hope it doesn't break now.

[Jorge Asch @ Sep 21st 2006 6:53PM]

The original post says XBOX BUILT ON 2005, not XBOX purchased on 2005.

[Jesse Poole @ Sep 22nd 2006 7:17PM]

It happend to me last year while playing Madden 06 and I sent it to microsoft they paid for everything the customer service was great I sent it on wednesday and had a brand new on with a apoligy letter on monday.

[Cecil Helton @ Sep 21st 2006 6:28PM]

Knock on wood - but no problems out of either of my 360s yet.

[Robert @ Sep 21st 2006 6:33PM]

mines good then :)

[Casey @ Sep 21st 2006 6:35PM]

Sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet!!

[Mrfreezie @ Sep 21st 2006 6:38PM]

Wow, I love microsoft. They really are, as you said it, on a streak. A good streak. +10000

[Matt @ Sep 21st 2006 6:38PM]

I bought my 360 at Costco, so technically I already was covered by Costco's generous return/exchange policy, which allows people to return any broken item as long as they are still members and have the receipt. If I get a PS3, it'll also be at Costco for the same reason.

[Brendon @ Sep 21st 2006 6:38PM]

Wow maybe I have a refund coming.

[Mrfreezie @ Sep 21st 2006 6:39PM]

Now we wait. We wait for the sony fanboys screaming "they should have done it earlier and with all 360. But they probably fix all the xboxs, since they suck so bad."

[Andir3.0 @ Sep 21st 2006 10:12PM]

@Mrfreezie: No, the Sony fans no that this happens to the best of us. We also tend to be a little more civilized and laid back than most 360 fans I've met at least. (That's just my bias opinion)

[brockmajaro @ Sep 21st 2006 6:46PM]

Mine just broke the other day, I got it in March so I'm pretty sure it was made in 2006. Good to see a step forward though, a qucik visit over to the forums on xbox.com showed me how widespread my problem was.

[anthony @ Sep 21st 2006 6:46PM]

Well its about time microsoft owned up to their mistakes. That takes courage after all this time to finally do it.

[Patrick @ Sep 21st 2006 6:50PM]

so does that mean i get my $130 back?

it better!

*waits for check*

[danthemanhan @ Sep 21st 2006 6:51PM]

this really sucks. I sent mine in for repair about 3 months ago, and all i got was 50% off the repair cost. i'm gonna call them and complain a lot. I'll get my money back if it's the last thing i do.

[Jorge Asch @ Sep 21st 2006 6:54PM]

So if the manufacture date of your XBOX is 2005, even tough you purchased it in 2006, you might get lucky.

[Darvoid @ Jun 29th 2007 10:46AM]

NOT TRUE!!!!
My xbox 360 was manufactured 12/01/2005
They will not repair iT unless I PAY 139.99
i referenced this statement in my call

As part of our standard and ongoing process of analyzing repair data, we recently noticed a higher than usual number of units coming in for repair. Upon further investigation, it was further discovered that the bulk of the units were isolated to a group that was part of the initial manufacturing run of the console. Returns for repair are coming in for a variety reasons and it's a higher rate than we are satisfied with. We've made the decision to comp repairs for consoles manufactured before January 1, 2006, and provide refunds to the small group of customers who have already paid for repairs.

They were unphased.
sorry sir...no free repair, no discounted repair. PERIOD

[Nodnetni @ Sep 21st 2006 6:59PM]

OK this might have just made my day... I have been holding off for the last 2 months to get it fixed, because i didnt feel like paying for it. i mean come on I have spent a lot on that thing already why should it break so fast and I have to pay more.... THIS IS GREAT.

[BlessedBullet @ Sep 21st 2006 7:02PM]

"Of course, one could argue that Microsoft should've been doing these repairs for free from the outset"

They repaired mine for free... Only needed to worry about shipping

[Nodnetni @ Sep 21st 2006 7:14PM]

i am on the phone with them right now and they are still charging..

[Nodnetni @ Sep 21st 2006 7:30PM]

Ok, so after a 23 min call, it was free. The guy I was talking to was really nice, he was not awear of the change. He asked me if if the 140 was alot of money and was going to try to help me get it down, so he contacted his supervisor. then came back and told me that they changed all the pre january 1, 2006 machines to a 1 year warrenty, rather then a 3 month.... Very nice.

[emmzee @ Sep 21st 2006 7:33PM]

Does this mean Microsoft is also going to refund the money to people like my brother who paid for extended warranties? Cuz if not, seems like those who shelled out the extra $$$ for those warranties are getting ripped off ...

[Nodnetni @ Sep 21st 2006 7:40PM]

probably just tack their warrenty on to the end of the year.

[taco shlong @ Sep 21st 2006 7:49PM]

How ironic considering I just got my unit back from them today. Of course - judging by the quality of the work, eating the $140 charge should be the least they could do. My unit has a rattle, the HD drive is scraped up and it has gooey shit all over it like they covered it in duct tape for a weak and then took it off.

[Ryan @ Sep 21st 2006 8:28PM]

"How ironic considering I just got my unit back from them today. Of course - judging by the quality of the work, eating the $140 charge should be the least they could do. My unit has a rattle, the HD drive is scraped up and it has gooey shit all over it like they covered it in duct tape for a weak and then took it off."

Just an FYI all 360 should have a slight rattle. It's the mechanism that determines whether the system is verticle or horizontal and adjusts the ring of light accordingly.


Also I will have to call them to see what the deal is on the extended warranty purchases. I bought one and would very much like to see it added to the end of this full 1 year included warranty now.

[JD @ Sep 21st 2006 7:55PM]

Sucks for everyone who sold theirs cheap since they were busted and couldn't afford (or didn't want to afford) to have them repaired, or who tore theirs apart trying to fix it since the warranty was up.

[AndrewEdwards @ Sep 21st 2006 7:55PM]

My Xbox died earlier this year and when I first talked to them it was going to cost the $130 dollars. I couldn't do it because money was tight at the time but two weeks later when I called to set up the payment Microsoft told me it was free. I really have to hand it to MS they have some good tech support working on the xbox team. Too bad it took them this long to admit there are issues with the first batch of 360s.

[Chris Epler @ Sep 21st 2006 8:37PM]

Son of a bitch. I just sent mine in for repair ( http://www.epler.net/ )and got it back, at least I'll get the refund I suppose....*SNARL* I was so pissed off to have it die a thermal death like that in 8 months, very very annoying and an obvious flaw in the design.

[Brian Sexton @ Sep 21st 2006 8:52PM]

Don't get too excited; if Microsoft's Xbox 360 service behavior thus far is any indication, this probably sounds better than it actually is. I had a sporadically red-lighted and otherwise defective Xbox 360 that I bought earlier this year and instead of repairing it or replacing it with a new one (an acceptable alternative to repair since I did, after all, pay the new price expecting a new, non-defective unit and I never received one) Microsoft replaced it with a filthy used one. When I objected to the replacement, they replaced the filthy used one with a different, less-filthy--merely dirty, one might say--used one.

[Sahil @ Sep 21st 2006 9:16PM]

thank you Microsoft. I actually had a huge argument with Xbox 360 support supervisors about gettting my 360 repaired for free like a few weeks ago. I eventually ended up paying the steep price of $139.95 to get it fixed. Finally, all my complaints have been answered.

[nickdrj @ Sep 21st 2006 9:23PM]

just got mine two days ago and it broke the second day! I don't even have any games yet, just demos. But M$ is going to repair it for free too.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/nickdrj/248687736/

[mike @ Sep 21st 2006 10:21PM]

Wow I just got my xbox back from the repair center 2 freakin days ago...I bought mine back in dec. so hopefully they'll refund me.....msft, i applaud you in this effort, i had lost all hope in you just 3 weeks ago, maybe your not so bad after ....

[Geoff @ Sep 21st 2006 10:35PM]

"My unit has a rattle, the HD drive is scraped up and it has gooey shit all over it"

There is a sensor inside with a ball bearing that rolls to indicate whether the 360 is horizontal or vertical and adjusts the system accordingly. It's SUPPOSED to rattle.

Also, the hard drive was originally covered in a protective plastic film that easily leaves residue behind when removed. If you didn't remove the film yourself, someone else pulled it off before you got it. Sucks, but not too hard to get the gunk off. Get some Goo-Gone and you're in business.

[Sam @ Sep 21st 2006 11:00PM]

In April I bought a 2006 Xbox (made in Jan 2006) that broke last month. It wouldn't turn on and when you plugged in the power supply light turned red. They paid for shipping both ways and fixed it for free. The whole process took less than 2 weeks. It works great now.

[CENTRALSIDEXV3STRIDERZCLICK @ Jul 4th 2007 8:43PM]

could i still get my 360 fixed for free if i dont have the warranty or do i have to pay for it to get fixed???
mine is 2005-11-26

[BAMF @ Sep 22nd 2006 12:48AM]

Well this really blows for me! I just cashed out my $70 extended warranty on mine literally two weeks ago. Figures, the only reason I bought the warranty is because I had read about problems with early units.

Thanks a lot Microsoft.

[niz @ Sep 22nd 2006 3:35AM]

Here in Europe Xbox 360 has automatically 24 month warranty from Microsoft. Don't know about the repair times, though.

[Tobias @ Sep 22nd 2006 5:05AM]

Well its actually not 24 months in europe.
Most countries have a law about 12 months of warranty which any company selling products must conform with.
Then you have the right to claim period which is different for each country, sweden is 3 years now, norway has 5 years, denmark has 2 years, ireland has 6 years, uk has 6 years also.
This however only covers manufacturing faults.
But its good to have :D

[bbxboy @ Sep 22nd 2006 9:04AM]

Considering that I myself have gone through 3 separate incidents of the '3-red-lights-of-death' (a launch unit DOA, the second lasted a full 7 months before Dead Rising killed it, the third was DOA, the fourth is still alive for now), it's about time MS admitted that there's something fundamentally flawed about the 360 architecture. There's simply no way the failure rate is as low as they're telling us it is. The consensus in the 360 gaming community seems to be 'enjoy it while you can, because you WILL see those 3 red lights eventually'. It's sad that even the biggest supporters of the 360 platform have had no choice but to accept their eventual f*cking in the ass by Microsoft.

[Al @ Sep 22nd 2006 9:31AM]

I think i have everyone here beat on complaints about the xbox360. I received my xbox September 08, 2006. I was waiting for a price cut and hoping that the xbox360 I purchased would be a later production and not have any problems. I ended up buying the 360 from overstock.com at a 12% discount that was posted on xbox360fanboy.

So I receive it on September 08, 2006 and start plugging it into my TV. The 360 downloads a couple of things and I put in BF2:MC to play, which I also puchased from overstock.com. I go through the intro, and I'm parachuting in and BAM, it happens, the game freezes. I download the demo for Dead Rising, hoping that it's only BF2:MC that the problem, and I play the game for 2 minutes, and BAM, it freezes up again. I try playing Halo 2, which I manage to play for 5 minutes, only to have it freeze yet again.

So, I have basically bought a $400.00 brick. I call up microsoft support and they run me through the usual song and dance of wiggling this and unplugging that.....to no avail does the 360 work for more than 2 minutes without freezing up. CAN I TELL EVERYONE OUT HERE THAT THIS SUCKS!

It takes microsoft a week to get me a box to ship it back to them to check out. I send it out on Saturday, so as it stands now, it will probably be a month from the date that I purchased it and I will not have a 360 to play.

Mind you this is a brand new 360, not a used or refurbished one. So it really really really really sucks! I just had to vent, especially after reading this post about the problems. At least Microsoft is recognizing their mistake. But I'm still a tad bit pissed that I buy something brand new, only to basically use it as a $400.00 paperweight!

[microsofthater @ Sep 22nd 2006 1:09PM]

MY son's two xbox's both did the red rings of death on Labor Day Weekend! Within one day of each other. Both had the extended warranty and have been sent back to Microsoft. One came back yesterday. A different unit with a different serial number.

And the most amazing thing is, back in January/06 I bought an xbox as backup for them. It sat unopened in the closet until I needed it Labor Day weekend. I opened it up and set it up for them. The I called xbox support to buy the extended warranty for this unit too. They told me I can't buy the extended warranty because the unit was bought past the 90 days of factory warranty!!! After arguing and explaining that this is a brand new unit, never registered or connedcted, but bought for the very premonition of every Microsoft manufactured product/software is unreliable, they still refused to let me purchase the extended warranty.

Micorosft is a pig company. And everyone of their totally unintelligible, non-English understanding or speaking Indian accented support reps should just KMA.

[hitman619 @ Sep 22nd 2006 1:23PM]

DAMN! I just returned my lauch console LAST WEEK! I bought it 2 weeks after launch w/ a extended warrenty agreement and a couple of weeks ago it started to lock up on every game. I returned it last week and got a brand new console in box and another new warrenty (29.95). This one was make on 5-2006.

This is awesome for those people who paid and are having problems

[Joseph DeMasi @ Sep 22nd 2006 5:40PM]

i was minutes late on this tip

[t.r. @ Sep 22nd 2006 5:47PM]

just spent 45 minutes on support, they told me it would not cover my jan. built xbox with this same problem i spent $129.00 to get fixed by microsoft because it was 20 days out of warranty. i am so disappointed i cannot believe their unprofessionalism, and the fact that i was treated like a child. i was such a microsoft supporter, and now i am selling my 360, and waiting for a PS3. at least their systems don't overheat.

[betsy @ Aug 1st 2007 10:46AM]

Jesse,

Where did you send your xbox? I can't get a human being on customer support line - I've stayed on hold for hours, all told. By email, they tell me to call the support line. I would appreciate an address.

Thanks,

Betsy

[veos232 @ Sep 23rd 2006 12:38AM]

It's about time they did this! A couple of months ago mine got the "ring of death" for no reason. I called and argued until I was blue in the face about how I should not have to pay for a hardware defect. I even spoke to a manager and they still didn't get it. This news made my day today and I called right away. They are sending me the box to repair it for free. Again, about time!

[MalignantKid @ Sep 23rd 2006 2:25PM]

This is a nice move for Microsoft... I bought the first rev. of the original xbox, the one that could catch on fire, and well, mine did. It arched on the power supply input and started a little fire from the dust and animal hair that had collected inside. I contacted Microsoft and they wanted $150 to repair it.. I wasn't about to pay that so I opened it up and got a little creative with solder and patched it up. It's nice to see they wont make you pay for a design flaw now..

[Torrey S. @ Sep 24th 2006 11:27AM]

This reminds me of the problems Sony had with the early PS2s, fortunately I waited until the later units came out to get one...no problems.

I think I'll stick to waiting at least another 6 months beroe I decide on either the 360 or PS3.

You just have to wait out the bugs and gremlins.

[Dalrint @ Sep 24th 2006 3:43PM]

How can I tell when my Xbox was manufactured, anyway?