Microsoft intros more Xbox 360 warranty changes

It seems that Microsoft has found yet more room for improvement with its Xbox 360 warranty, following up last December's extension with a new round of changes today The big news this time 'round is that the company's now offering free shipping on all consoles sent in for repair, with Microsoft also sending a pre-paid shipping container to you after you put in your request for service. For consoles repaired within the original warranty period, Microsoft will now either kick back the balance of your warranty onto the repaired console, or give you an extra 90 days, whichever is longer. Those sending their console in for repair outside of the warranty will still have to pay for the repairs, of course, although Microsoft will give you a full one year warranty on the repaired console. While we're all for better service, we just hope they aren't doing this in anticipation of a rash of Elite returns.

[Via Daily Tech]

[Natredde @ Apr 3rd 2007 11:08AM]

How about not having them break all the time in the first place?!?!

[Andrew Clarke @ Apr 3rd 2007 11:14AM]

ive got 2, had both for over a year, no issues, no breakages and no broken games. I must be lucky or something

[Darren @ Apr 3rd 2007 11:45AM]

I own a 360 from the second launch shipment and I've never had a problem with it. I did have a few freezes in Gears of War, but I fixed that by moving the console closer to the ground (it was up on a shelf) and since then zero freezes.

[Tomahawk @ Apr 15th 2007 5:32PM]

Just got off the phone with MS cuz my launch 360 died this weekend. Used a cheatsheet from www.xbox360defective.com and got 25% off my repairs($100 cost to me).

I would just go buy a new one but not with the elite coming out in a couple...

[MegaMan @ Apr 3rd 2007 11:13AM]

Are these things like the biggest piece of crap ever built? WTF??

Ring of death, crappy warranties, terrible customer service...who the hell wants to deal with that?

[TheCash @ Apr 7th 2007 4:31AM]

I had a problem with my system ever since the much hated 'gears of war' update installed, and I have been putting off sending it back in until a few days ago. I hadn't heard of their previous policy, for which you had to pay for shipping, so when they informed me of this I got pretty edgy right damn quick. I live in Alaska, see, and sending anything via UPS or FedEx costs an arm and a leg. After putting me on hold for 15 minutes, 'Wilbur' cleared it with his supervisor and told me he'd be sending me out a prepaid shipping box. I was thankful at the time, but now I am thinking the sup knew this announcement was on the way, and figured I would raise high holy hell when I found out about it after paying my 40 bucks to ship my broken but still under warranty xbox to them.

In any case, it's on the way now, and as long as it's returned in working order all in all the whole thing wasn't that big of a deal. I know that the defect in manufacturing rate is like 2 percent or something, and as long as they take care of that 2 percent, what do we care?

[robby1051 @ Apr 3rd 2007 11:18AM]

This appears to be a admission thatthere is something wrong and there is a unusually high return rate of failing xboxes....
I myself am on my 3rd one...

[guilt+1 @ Apr 3rd 2007 11:21AM]

I'm still on my original launch day unit with no trouble whatsoever.

[andy @ Apr 3rd 2007 11:21AM]

I don't see why they're not in a HUGE hurry to get a revision out on the 65nm process that reduces power consumption and consequently the heat related issues (which probably causes a lot of the breakage). Not to mention the simple fact that the move would save them production money.

I can't understand making the Elite and not shrinking the die size to address these issues on the front end, instead of throwing more money down the toilet fixing them on the back end.

[SmilingAssassin @ Apr 3rd 2007 11:21AM]

I am on my third one as well. Got it back less than a month ago and I had t pay for shipping. Had to buy an extended warranty because the repaired console only has a 90 day. And the best part, the DVD tray won't open with the aid of a paperclip now. Thanx MS - The Zero Hour party was a blast but the hangover is killing me.

[Manuel @ Apr 3rd 2007 1:14PM]

Mine wont open unless it has already a dvd inside, the problem is vertical orientation, in horizontal i have no problem at all

[pimpdee976 @ Apr 3rd 2007 11:22AM]

how about bringing that new ratchet and clank to the 360 the one thats coming out on the ps3 http://www.PetitionOnline.com/55live/petition.html

[waters.jon @ Apr 3rd 2007 11:27AM]

Anyone ever get back their repair money for a launch console that died within a year of launch date? Its been over 10 weeks and I'm still waiting on mine.

[Ben @ Apr 3rd 2007 11:53AM]

waters.jon I have heard of some people getting the money back, maybe you should try hassling the support number?

[Brendon @ Apr 3rd 2007 12:14PM]

I received my refund for repairing my 360 about two months ago. I did not have to call in or anything. My name was completely butchered on the check though, I guess the tech support in India isn't too familiar with western names.

[Gain_Bijou @ Apr 3rd 2007 11:33AM]

Nintendo sends out a shipping call tag, but not a box fir shipping.

[Raymie @ Apr 3rd 2007 11:34AM]

i was on my launch system until it died last week....but yea its out of warranty, why bother paying $170 to get it repaired when the elite is right around the corner

[Ben Rust @ Apr 3rd 2007 11:39AM]

I've been praying they wouldn't extend the warranty again. I bought an extended warranty from the store I purchased mine from (Microcenter) but it won't kick in until microsoft's expires. It's broken twice in 4 months. I just want to be able to take it to the store and grab a new one instead of the month long debacle microsoft puts you through.

[hoosrdady @ Apr 3rd 2007 11:41AM]

Mine finally started freezing on me pretty regularly so I called MS and after an eternity with what has to be the worst support operator I was told to ship it to them and that I was to pay the shipping to them using UPS, FedEX or DHL... anyone that does signature/tracking basically... and they would fix it and ship it back to me on their dime. I sent it in ($30 Shipping)and 2 days after I did a prepaid postage shipping box arrived at my door instructing me to put my 360 in it and put it in the mail. I was F*ing livid! I called up MS screaming WTF?! and they told me that it was a mistake on their part and I was not supposed to get the prepaid box. 1 day later I had my new 360 sitting at my door. Fast service... but damn... now they are doing prepaid.... F*ckers! >:(

[jason @ Apr 3rd 2007 11:42AM]

These are crappy consoles. BUT at least Microsoft is stepping it up. Sony on the other hand...with their uber crappy PS2s and PSones when they came out. I don't remember Sony offering SH*T. I'm not a MS fanboy, nor am I a Sony one. Just thought I'd point that out...

[Derrick @ Apr 3rd 2007 11:45AM]

Apple has offered this on iPods as far back as I can remember. I believe the 90 days or remainder of warranty is required by law in some states. I just got my iPod replaced. I put in a ticket on their website, the next day DHL showed up with a package, I put it in the box, dropped it off and two days later I had a new iPod.

[Mike @ Apr 3rd 2007 11:51AM]

I had a hardware failure on mine in Feb, they sent me a box with 3 day shipping back to the repair facility.I boxed it up, sent it in and got it back 6 days later.

[Jon @ Apr 3rd 2007 11:53AM]

I also have a 360 I bought on Launch day that is still working great with no problems. I never bought any warranty either. I'm hoping I can get another two years out of it. I had 2 original Xboxes as the first one died and had to be returned to Best Buy for replacement.

[C. T. @ Apr 3rd 2007 11:57AM]

Why is it that when Microsoft steps up their customer service, many initially respond by criticizing their hardware?

I think it's awfully cynical to view Microsoft's attempt to placate customers as a recognition of a faulty product. Would you prefer they offer no help to those with problems as a symbolic statement of faith in their product?

I would in fact say that this move is a vote of confidence as they express a willingness to subsidize the correction of their mistakes, meaning they must expect few mistakes to have to pay for. And either way, why complain about an offer that is now less expensive than it used to be - a move in the right direction.

[Chappy @ Apr 3rd 2007 12:12PM]

I gotta agree; this seems like a very customer-friendly move by the XBox team. Free shipping, fast turnaround time, free repairs in the first year and extending the warranty a year if you're outside of warranty all sound great to me. I just wish they'd fix the problem with purchased Live Arcade titles locking themselves on the repaired/replacement consoles unless you're logged into live with the original gamertag.

[sacdiggler @ Apr 3rd 2007 12:23PM]

off the topic, but since this is the newest elite 360 post i guess i'll try here. obviously the elite has HDMI output. does this enable the internal DVD player to upconvert DVDs to 720 or 1080 or something?? curious cause i want DVDs to look better than my standard DVD player now, i don't want to have to buy an upconverting player and i plan on getting an elite; so hopefully i'll kill 2 birds with 1 stone. thanks for the help.

[brian @ Apr 3rd 2007 12:23PM]

LOL!!! I just paid to have mine shipped last Friday.

Thanks Microsoft!!!

Can I just get a refund? Oh, and can you buy back all of my accessories and games?

It would be better it they would just fix the problem instead of trying to cover it up with extended warranties and free shipping. Then I would be a happy consumer again and they could save a ton of money in shipping and repairs.

Perhaps a recall would be a better idea.
http://www.petitiononline.com/360recal/petition.html (please sign it if you haven't already)

[kakoschris @ Apr 3rd 2007 12:29PM]

This is some good news, I've had mine since launch and had no problems (cross fingers, although after a power spike it gave me an error and the Ring of Death, but rebooted okay and fine since) yet, although all (about 8) the friends that have/had xbox 360's have had them break within a couple months of owning their boxes...

[bob cobb @ Apr 3rd 2007 12:32PM]

I wish they would fix launch units for free. Im not paying $140 to get mine fixed when I can spend $300 and actually get another year of warranty. Im waiting for now to see if they come out with an hdmi adapter, because I really want hdmi.

[kingofwale @ Apr 3rd 2007 12:34PM]

>Why is it that when Microsoft steps up their customer service, many initially respond by criticizing their hardware?


It's pretty much the same thing with Sony giving out free HD-TV during launch.

The problem is, Microsoft is FULLY aware of their quality built-quality but refuse to change the CORE of the problem... which is the core of the system. Bring in that 65nm and there won't be need for this extending of warranty.

instead, Microsoft gives you free-shipping. and user will be out of their gaming system for at least 2 weeks..

[J @ Apr 3rd 2007 12:49PM]

From the website: Return of Original Console
In either an in warranty or out of warranty situation, most customers will now receive their original console back from Microsoft.

Does this mean that in the past, they were giving people back refurbed or new consoles, not always the same console they sent in?

[J @ Apr 3rd 2007 12:54PM]

By the way, this is definitely needed, as I just had to send my console in and had to drop $30 on shipping. Not like that was a ton of money, but it's just a pain when I'm still in warranty and I have to spend money to fix the thing. If I had waited a week I would have saved 30 bucks, damn!

[pimpdee976 @ Apr 3rd 2007 1:05PM]

we want ratchet and clank on the xbox 360
http://www.PetitionOnline.com/55live/petition.html

[sugErspun @ Apr 3rd 2007 1:35PM]

If you read any of the forums..all you have had to do since they extended the warranty (12/06) was ask for a prepaid shipping box - then they send one to you. I do agree that their customer service is terrible and I even filed a BBB complaint because I spent more than 4 hours total trying to get technical details of the hardware failure (which they refuse to provide) and I wanted 1600 marketplace points, which they refuse to give out as well..

They responded pretty quick when the BBB complaint was filed.

[wako @ Apr 3rd 2007 1:14PM]

The shipping is no way in hell a 'improvement' it was originally that Microsoft paid for shipping both ways. Last year they changed the shipping policy where you had to pay. They are only changing it back due to outcry of the public for this policy change.

It is a damn shame that they changed it back though. www.bigboxproject.com was a person who was so furious at them that he decided to mail them a shipping CONTAINER (yes those big ones on ships) to Microsoft since he had to pay the shipping and the box and was guaranteed his box would return. So much for that project :(

[Brandson @ Apr 3rd 2007 1:20PM]

The thing about moving to 65nm is that you can't just flip a switch and shrink everything. Intel's been doing 65nm for a while but it took AMD a long time to go to get its 65nm fabrication process working with its cpus, and I believe it's still having trouble manufacturing ATI's new R600 gpus in 65nm which may have contributed to the long delays in releasing R600 consumer products. ATI (now AMD) also made the 360 gpu. Since AMD has been having so much trouble moving to 65nm with other chips, those problems likely apply to the 360 gpu as well. While manufacturing a chip at 65nm will allow you to produce more at a time and thus reduce cost, it's not worth doing if the yield is so much lower at 65nm than with a larger process that you have to throw out way more chips because they don't work. I don't know if there are similar problems manufacturing the 360 cpu at 65nm as well, but it's possible.

That said, AMD is now saying that its 65nm R600 products will be out in May, so maybe we'll see 65nm appear in the 360 this summer.

[Kellsworth @ Apr 3rd 2007 1:29PM]

I've had mine for less than 3 months and it already broke. Not only is their customer service horrible, it is taking forever to get my xbox back! I opened the issue on March 15th and send it out as soon as i got the box (5 days later) and I still haven't gotten it back yet.

Whats worse is I can't even get an update on it because I need the serial number which is on the xbox. I have the case number which gets me nowhere. Those jerks never even told me "hey, hold on to the serial number for any updates!"

[why not the LS2LS7? @ Apr 3rd 2007 1:54PM]

Forget the vote of confidence. The best warranty is one you never use. My 360 was covered under warranty, but it was also out for a month. I didn't have it on Emergency Day. A warranty won't fix this.

Why do people act like 65nm is going to fix this? It is perfectly possible to make a reliable device with 90nm chips. MS failed to do so. Is there some kind of "goof-proofness" of 65nm chips that will make it so MS can't screw up again? No.

[tiuk @ Apr 3rd 2007 2:53PM]

Those who are saying the problems are caused by overheating aren't 100% correct. The problem is the large x-shaped clamps that hold the heat sinks in place. These put pressure on the board, causing it to flex. This flexing *combined* with the heat is enough to cause solder beads to fail, thus leading to the 3RLOD (three red lights of death).

65nm may very well help this, if it keeps the console sufficiently cool, but the fact that the clamps put too much pressure on the board is the real issue. People have swapped them for some screws, nuts, and washers and have had great results. What we really need is to see MS replace these clamps with something that doesn't kill the system.

As for the warranty changes, awesome. My girlfriend bought my 360 from Walmart, and they don't offer in-store extended warranties. I'm glad MS is at least trying to improve their warranty.

[dantes @ Apr 3rd 2007 3:08PM]

I use to love xbox until, 2nd rma. Now I name the console Xsucks. I got both ps3 and Xsucks. At game play both are great consoles. In my opinion ps3 display better graphics and crispier. "I'm a graphic lover". Xsucks have much darker graphics but motion blur fx are better.

[scott @ Apr 3rd 2007 3:37PM]

So this guy doesn't need a shipping container anymore?

http://www.thebigboxproject.com

[Mark Gillespie @ Apr 3rd 2007 6:52PM]

It's likely the Elite will be equally as unreliable as the regular hunk of junk 360.

Both built on the same 90nm process CPU, I doubt the design of the elite has undergon any major revisions, and is just as rushed to market as the original 360, the HDMI 1.2 implies this.

[Ben @ Apr 3rd 2007 7:29PM]

Jon, I'm not so sure you'll get those two years out of the console unless you've been babying it like no-one should have to do for 400 dollars, I mean its a gaming machine first and as such it should be able to handle basic wear. I haven't had a console since March, and while the machine has had the least amount of abuse (Zero, never been dropped, been careful to make sure its cooled properly, and its been off for weeks and months on end). I only single you out Jon because I don't want anyone getting the idea that they can/should buy a Xbox 360 without some sort of warranty. I mean thats at least 900 dollars for just the console and six games themselves, this is a rather large investment and as such you would want more than a year out of the damn machine. Anyway, if your console does last that long be sure to post it because I'm sure it'll be a rare thing indeed.

[Timmay! @ Apr 3rd 2007 8:59PM]

I'm still on my first 360, and have only had 1 problem, a bad power supply, which I had replaced quite quickly, no charge for shipping.

[Shamma Banks @ Apr 3rd 2007 9:51PM]

I bought a launch console it broke in august '06 I think and it was repaired for free and free shipping. It broke again two weeks ago and they gave me 50% off the repair price and I had to pay shipping( 69.99 plus 19.99 to ship) Does this mean that I should have had a year warranty on the first repair and I will be getting a refund for the second repair?

I would also like to know what the failure rate of the launch consoles was. Not the failure rate of all the 360's produced. Because Microsoft loves to say that they are within normal failure rates for electronics, but they are adding in all consoles produced, even the ones produced today to figure the %. So they are skewing the the % in their favor. And they will add the consoles produced tommorow to further lower that failure rate. ASSHOLES! Everyone I know that bought a launch console has had at least one failure. And for you people who say it hasn't happened to you, it will just be patient.

I love the 360 but I am about one repair away from buying a freakin PS3 or better yet a Wii

[venom5ah @ Apr 3rd 2007 11:47PM]

No you wont Microsoft Likes to Give it to people in the ***. you got a 90 day on th new one. Good luck.

[venom5ah @ Apr 3rd 2007 11:44PM]

I have a launch 360 that died (ring o death) on me 1 month after the year warranty and they made me pay 70 and gave me free shipping. They sent me the console after supposedly fixing it and this one freezes after running for like 5 minutes or less. This is bs because I have been without my 360 for like a month or more. I bet I wont get the year warranty on my new one for the paid repair because Microsoft like to screw around with these kinda things.

[venom5ah @ Apr 3rd 2007 11:47PM]

I posted earlier but I just received my 3rd xbox 360 which again is broken. this time it's fedex's fault, the box is messed up and the faceplate is busted as well as there are loose parts inside the 360. I called them up today and they offered me 1 month XBlive subcription and a free gam (either PGR3 or Kameo, I already own pgr3 and kameo sucks) I just told the dude I want my $70 refunded and he said we will send it to the "Escalation Team". I then asked do I qualify for the 1 year warranty since I had an out of warranty repair. The Supervisor said no since your issue didnt start after April 01 2007. I am flippin LIVID since I am about to send back my 3rd console and receive my 4th, this is especially messed up since they screwed up and I have to send in another console every 2 weeks or more. It's their fault in the first place and they wont even give me more of a warranty after all of this bs, especially when they screw up after sending me 2 new console's after having the original screwing up. I really dont expect the fourth console I recieve to work after all of the BS they have dealt me!!!

[Matthew Hillman @ Apr 4th 2007 4:08AM]

I will be on my second xbox once I get one back.I was lucky that my xbox was about a month inside of the warranty. The next day after ringing xbox customer support the courier came to pick it up, which I wasn't expecting so quick. I'm hoping they will send me a new one, with the new Samsung drives and not try and fix my old one and send it back to me. Would be cool if they give me 90 days of warranty but would be nicer if had a years!

[Ken Avery @ Apr 5th 2007 5:50PM]

My 360 started to freeze screens about 6 weeks ago. I called the support line and they were really helpful. It was decided that I needed to send the console in for repair. I asked about shipping and was told that it was my responsibility to pay for it. I paid $55 to ship it to Texas and got it back reasonably soon. When i read about the free shipping now offered, I called and was told that they would do nothing towards reimbursement toward shipping. Has anyone else had any luck with a situation like this? I figure that Microsoft can absorb the shipping price better than I can.