Microsoft ends Xbox 360 RROD "coffin" program, still paying for shipping
By Nilay Patel 
posted June 9th 2009 2:32PM
posted June 9th 2009 2:32PM
posted June 9th 2009 2:32PM
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Would the warranty still be valid if it became damaged in transit, due to being poorly packaged?
Nope and they're probably counting on that to a degree.
good thing I saved back my previous coffin. I'm sure I'll be using it a year from now since all the 360s I've ever owned live for exactly one year.
Why wouldn't you buy the insurance for a couple dollars?
How sad is this? Out of the 20 million 360s' sold. I wonder what percentage of those machine actually lasted its lifetime without suffering the RROD or any such failure. I owned pretty much all Nintendo and Sony consoles and none of them ever crap out on me.
My 360 got the code 6 months after I bought it. Since then, not a single problem. Been about 2 years problem free.
I got mine 2 or 3 weeks after launch and it still runs, no repairs.
Ive had two xboxes die on me and microsoft made the process relatively easy for me to get them fixed. However, i wish i could say the same about Nintendo because my Wii just wouldnt turn on one morning and they refuse to admit it was a manufacturing defect that caused the problem.
They've been making consumers pay for their own shipping and packaging at least back to a year ago when I had to pay to send back my own RROD 360.
My Wii just cost $90 to repair - having to send it back to Nintendo to fix the DVD Drive. My brothers just crapped out as well. Both of our Wii's are a little over a year old.
The goal of this move isn't to save money. They probably won't save that much not sending you a box. The point is that you can ship your dead Xbox360 right after you called instead of having to wait for a box.
Two RRoDs ago - yeah, I know; had three total across two 360s - they were supposed to send a coffin and I waited several days and it never showed. Call 'em back and they suddenly needed my serial # again. Call 'em the next day after I got it and they tell me they could either send a coffin or a printable pre-paid shipping label. WTF didn't you offer that the first time?!?!?
With the latest RRoD, I went to the Xbox.com site instead of calling and they just offered the pre-paid label option. I printed it out and my g/f boxed it up in a box the exact size of the Xbox, but without any padding. They fixed it and sent it back without a comment. Funny thing though, it's suddenly gotten picky about DVDs it plays. Hmmmmm....uh-oh.
My launch 360 never got a RROD, but the disk drive did start scratching disks so I sent it in for a dvd drive replacement. Great service, and the only other problem I have had is the button on the front of the console sometimes doesn't retract the disk tray, but this is only an intermittent problem that I could probably fix myself.
I have 2 360 elites, and I've had to do probably 5 replacements, counting 1 that was DOA.
Compared to my track record with the PS2 (a dead one every 6 mos), this shows about the same longevity. I find it amusing that my Sega Genesis and N64 are still running perfectly after FAR more years of use.
Is this a moving parts vs solid state kind of thing, or just a complexity thing?
Woohoo!! This is actually good!! That means the xbox can be sent in more 'broken' than before because they have to give leiaway for packaging damage. The 'cofin' they sent before didn't even look like it cost much anyways.
This is why I'm a PC gamer.
Yeah? Never had to RMA anything?
Never RMA'd any computer part. By the time a part did die, I was already upgrading it.
In any case, a benefit with PC is the ability to fix it yourself w/o the "warranty issue" in opening up your own PC if it was self-built.
I've already sent my PS3 once and am sending it again after 2 weeks.
Yet to do it with my 360 though, I haven't touched it in a couple months.
That's why I'm a PS3 gamer. Never had a problem + I get better games.
The one silver lining is that the costs MS is incurring over this issue will motivate them to get it right on the next console. No more cost-cutting during hardware development.
"by the time a part did die, I'm replacing it"
errrm yeah, I bet that PC gaming habit cost a lot more than a console gaming habit would, if you're replacing parts frequently enough..
nice! now where did i last see my xbox???
i have only had to pay for one xbox, and my 2006 model worked for about 3 years, now my 2nd one is running perfect.
but i cant tell you how many video cards and ram sticks ive been through, thats why i gave up on pc gaming i got tired of having to upgrade my system just to keep up.
but whatever to each his own, i wasted enough hours playing half life and quake 2 back in the day lol
Same here, have never had a bad part. I also don't replace parts piecemeal. I keep it for a few years and either give it to a family member, or use if for something else.
Exactly. What, 3 years later and this stench lingers like a bad cloud of pig gas hovering over a South Carolina Farm. MS will inevitable hold fast to their typical pattern:
Windows 3.1 = Xbox (the beginning)
Windows 95, ME, Vista = Xbox 360 (first release - bad)
Windows 98, XP, 7 = Xbox 720 (second release - good)
They never get it right the first time or when its rushed. Xbox 720 WILL BE AWESOME, Watch!
@Frankenstein Black
I for one have grown to appreciate your allegorical lists that so often frequent the engadget comments.
PC Gaming made my wallet RROD. However my 360 is still RROD free, but my PS3 does kick the fans on pretty hard halfway through about any BR movie. Its kind of an annoying sound for a BR player to make.
If you have a good PC, you have no need for an Xbox 360. All of its titles are multiplatform/available for PC.
Except for Halo 3, Halo Wars, Halo 3: ODST, and whatever Halo's they're trying to shove down your throat.
I'm a PC gamer too... And I've had to RMA a 750watt Corsair PSU last summer, and an x850pro a long time ago...
I have had PC hardware die on me before but it lasted a lot longer than any of the XBOX consoles people I know have owned. And in some cases the PC hardware dieing was because I made stupid mistakes (like using the heat-sink and fan from a Pentium 166 MMX on a 300MHz Cyrix part, last time I did that and last time I bought anything other than Intel) or because of external factors like lightning or surges.
Nearly every piece of PC hardware I have owned (with a few exceptions like the Cyrix CPU and a really old crappy sound card with a CD-ROM connected via a proprietary connector) has been rock solid.
it's 'dying' jonwil2002, although maybe dieing exist to describe a colouring process, though I think they might use 'dying' there too, I'm unsure.
"Except for Halo 3, Halo Wars, Halo 3: ODST, and whatever Halo's they're trying to shove down your throat."
Isn't that really the only reason most people get an XBOX? And I know when you try to talk about XBOX games, every gamer points to that and says it's the only reason the XBOX is on top (or so they think)...
They haven't for a while.
Yeah, I had done a warranty repair about 7 months ago and they required that I send the xbox in my own packaging. They just emailed the shipping label to me.
Likewise..about 6 months ago I had to pack it myself. They sent a prepaid label and picked it up though. About a year and a half ago, on the first RROD, I got a coffin.
When I returned mine about 3 months ago they gave me the option of sending it in my own box or having them send me the coffin. I did this through their website.
I thought they were letting people keep their pro and sending a new xbox360... should'nt quit binge drinking...
Oh f@ck! I bet MS now will say "Oh, it is damaged in transit, so no free repair for you." This is bull, just bull, especially for a company as big as MS.
This is how most companies do it. Welcome to the real world; enjoy your short stay.
Shipping insurance. Buy it. Don't be cheap.
I just got my xbox back from repairs,I spent less than £5 spent on a box/bubble wrap, don't be cheap.
1) Wrap with aluminum foil
2) Put in a Ziplock bag
3) Label it
4) Ship it out...
5) Go meet the Unibomber for tea.
6) ???????
Over 9000) Profit!
7) Repeat
I can't believe MS didn't retreat from the game industry in shame after the awesome failure that the 360 hardware was.
Actually I'd consider it to be more of a success than anything.
They should just package one in with brand new 360's.
But then they would charge you for it as an extra accessory.
MS has been doing this for a while. My 360 RROD'd about 3 months ago and they made me send it back with my own box. Luckily I still had the original box so I sent it in that. They do say that the customer is responsible for any damage sustained in transit to MS however. I thought it was pretty $h!tty. But I got a working 360 for nothing so I'm happy with it.