Microsoft review: a david and goliath story! 71

After Microsoft replaced/repaired? first xbox free of charge, just inside of one year it lasted 10 days before same problem, now told i have to pay to ship and repair. Not happy as this cost is about the same as a second hand unit, pissed off and will look at ps3 now.

I ordered my xbox 360 on march 30, 2007. The expected delivery dates between June 7 and June 21. It still hasn't arrived. I know that the address is correct because I did receive another package ordered on the same day not a week later. This is over 300 dollars that I don't have anything for. I either need to get my money back soon or need my xbox 360. I'm very disappointed with Amazon, with whom I have been doing business with for the past 3 years.

I have had the same thing happen to me... I am Livid... i do not understand knowing that i know that i have not tampered with my xbox 360.

I have had bad things happen, my xbox360 have scratched discs, which caused me to buy another copy of said game. My system continues to freeze up when played for any length of time, even after i bought a cooling fan unit, a waste of money. So here i am stuck with 10 xbox 360 games at 60 dollars a pop and i can not play the damn things. I am now wondering was this a calculated staged rip off?.

I purchased my first xbox on the uk launch date. For 6 months everything was fine, then the screen froze. I sent it back and they replaced it within a week. 3 months later the same happened again, and again, and again. On one occasion i received a console that wouldnt even turn on! And now on my 5th xbox360 the same has happened. But this time they have had it for 3 weeks. And i cant seem to get through to anyone who knows where it is. Not sure what to do. Would prefer my money back than have to go through all this again.

I am on my fourth system and now my warranty has run out. This has been a on going problem for just over a year since I bought the first system and it crashed right out of the box. The unit I have now freezes in the middle of a game whether I am on xbox-live or not. I don't understand why I should have pay for something that Mircosoft screwed up in the first place. I have spent alot of money on this system buying the games and other items (about $2,000 all together), so why shouldn't Microsoft pay to fix the system. I am in the process of trying to find somewhere I can fill a complaint against them.

My sons xbox which is not even 1 year old is broken. He has had 3 red lights appear and when i called the helpline they told me the problem was the power pack. 2 weeks later i received the wrong power pack . I phoned to complain and was told they would send the right one, at which time i asked the advisor if she knew exactly what part i was referring to as i did not want the same mistake made, she went for advice and then told me yes she was sending the right part... Lo and behold this time due to the postal strike it was at least 3 weeks later and they sent me a plug and not a power pack. I then called again to complain and asked to speak to a supervisor, who i was informed you cannot be put straight through to, and would call me back within 48 hours. After speaking to the supervisor and expressing my disgust at the service and the length of time it has taken, i was offered a complimentary gift, which i have since received, but still no power pack. I then called again on thursday 1 november and spoke to an adivsor but this time i wanted to be put straight through to the supervisor. Once again i had to wait for the supervisor to call me back. 120 hours later and i have still not heard form the supervisor. I am breaking point as my son has not been able to play his xbox for more than 2 months and i am paying for xbox live and cannot use it. My son is having difficulty understanding that something can take so long.

Yours

very unhappy mother who cannot get any joy
Angela Curtis

This does not surprise me. I had my 360 for 6 months before I got the red ring of death. I had a similar experience when I place the initial call to the service center. The lady barely spoke english, and the call took forever. So, it has been over 3 months since I sent it back for repair. I even faxed them my proof of purchase, which they did not tell me they were waiting on until over 2 months into the process. I keep getting the run-a-round, and they keep promissing me calls from supervisors that I never get. I've caught them in a few lies already and don't know what to do. Their "customer service" is the worst I've ever experienced.

I have had the same issue throughout the past three months. I contacted my lawyer an he said I can sue them through the Attorney General of Vermont (where I live). That way I wouldn't have to pay for the suit and it would be the state sueing them. But yes Microsoft BLOWS.

My Xbox 360 stopped working entirely. After speaking to Xbox Customer Service I was told that I would have to mail my console in for repairs (This is the Second time in approx. 1.5yrs this has happened). After mailing it in I recieved it back UNREPAIRED and was told to call for more info. I was then informed that I had TAMPERED with the console and therefore the warranty is void! I have no way to prove that I didn't, but I KNOW that I DID NOT! Had it even crossed my mind that Microsoft was an un-trustworthy company I would have had photographs of the unit prior to mailing! I am a nurse and as honest and fair as one could expect form another, and am infuriated beyong belief that I am accused of tampering with said product! I might not have any hope here but others need to know about this insanity! PS- Upon recieving my Xbox back, it is dirty and there ARE minor pry-marks where you would open the consoles case! I ame not convinced that this is truly MY Xbox (no record of Serial Number prior to mailing it in other than what Xbox tells me it is).

I sent my xbox back in January! It's now May and i'm no further forward. I'm at a point now where i'm so angry that if the service centre were near by i'd be on a mission to hunt down a few of there least helpful minnions! Anyway, the story so far...

Xbox (nr. 2/3)

So i sent my console away in January as the tray was jigged, i had the red ring and it was scratching my games, good piece of hardware! So I waited, and waited, a month passed and nothing, I rang the service centre to be told it had gone out via UPS (Useless Piece S@#t) There's an 'of' missing in there! Turns out those flutes had been out to deliver it, couldn't find my house, took it back to the depot and lost it! So months pass by, Xbox tell me it's nothing to do with them, they'd done there bit, so... time passes and after a 3 WEEK investigation by UPS they admit liabilty... A month passes and numerous calls to UPS and xbox and i'm still no further forward. I'm now told by xbox every week that they're investigating, there's nothing they can do, it'll be 72 hours! I've been told this for the last 6 weeks, the customer care staff are apaulling and if i could find out where Bill Gates lived so help me i'd skin the pr1ck alive. So here I am, no xbox, games i got for birthday, unplayed and now on the shelves for pennies!
Now the icing on the cake, I go on the xbox website to try and get somewhere, i post a message to them saying i can't get anywhere, your customer support won't help me blah blah blah... I get an e:mail back saying 'as your problem is quite detailed please contact our customer support'

Kill me, kill me now!

Playstation 4 for me next time round!

I totally agree with all of this.. I bought my Xbox for a b-day present for my Boyfriend on 11/23/06 ( I still have the reciept) with warranty of $17.88 .. it's not even been the 2yr warranty yet. but anyways we had it not even 2mths and the darn thing brought the "Red Ring of death lights" and from there it has not worked since. Feb we have called and called them and they said they would send out a box for us to send of the console well we waited til like may-june until the dang box came.. we shipped it off and it took them forever to ship it back we got the console back around sug-sept '07 and right when we took it out the "Red Ring of Death" appeared again.. i was furious and upset thinking that they had sent the same console. well we had moved and forgot all about it and it still runs in with the 2yr warranty range and we finally called them 5/13/08 9pm and was hung up on 12x not a good idea when (I work in a call center of 4 yrs +). well we kept calling them and calling them when finally we just said get a supervisor on the phone well the rep said the only thing we can do is repair it.. after the supervisor stated that as well and said microsoft is not allowing us to reinburse there money back anymore from there i was outragiously mad and told them that my boyfriend has a lawyer and you will be hearing him really soon. It's rediculous having to PAY for repairs (but i had not paid for repairs) when you have bought a $400 piece of equipment that is a piece of crap now and have over $1000 worth of games sitting on the shelf not playing and then if you decide to sale them there not worth a dang thing.. Microsoft is ripping ppl off about this i do think that i would rather have playstation instead.. i still have the original one the very first playstation that came out, the little gray one, it's been out 12yrs now and it is still in GREAT shape and works very great.. Playstation last longer than Microsoft.. I have never had so much stress or so many problems out of anyone or any company over a specific item except for Microsoft. This ir a RIP OFF!

I returned my son's xbox 360 to MS and paid 99 for the repair because games simply stopped working on it. The console would no longer read any of his games.
They returned it to me saying that it has been tampered with. I called customer support and requested talking to the supervisor as well. Did no good whatsoever.

This is absolute nonsense as I wouldn't even know how to tamper with it if I wanted to. My guess is they just label "tampered with" to anything that they don't want to fix. I agree this is a total scam and I will never ever buy another Microsoft product.

Your right any system they don't want to fix they just lable it tampered and send it back WHAT A SCAM .Over 20 games all the accessories and they won't honor the warranty.They just want me to buy another system.

I do not understand why only some of the xbox originals are playable on xbox 360. Two examples of this are Prince of persia and Destroy all humans. The first game is available but the second is not. I truely do not unde stand why. If any thing the original should not have an update and the second should.

Wow, I'm glad to see I'm not alone (although I don't wish this upon anybody else). This is my FOURTH system problem. One problem I didn't send in for repairs because it was a 2nd system I purchased as an extra and it stopped working within 2 weeks of when I bought it so I just returned it to the store. The 2 times prior I sent in my system I had no problems (other than it breaking on me again). However, this time they sent it back UNREPAIRED and said I tampered with the system. I never opened it, but the last time it was sent back from the repair center there were pry marks as well. They opened the system when it was in for repairs, not me.

SOMEBODY NEEDS TO START A CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT. IF THERE IS ALREADY ONE STARTED, PLEASE POINT ME IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION TO GET INVOLVED.

So my wife calls and tells me the XBOX came back in the mail today - a week after I sent it out. I was excited - finally i could get back to my gaming. She says wait, there is a letter attached. Says something about how it is being returned "as-is" and they did not repair it. I blew a fuse and said that i needed to hang up with her to call the 800.4MY.XBOX number which should really be called "India Support Center - We Speak, You look Confused". I was on the phone for 15 minutes, finally got someone, gave them my ref number and they said someone had tampered with the unit. Well, duh, you guys did! So I asked for a manager - waited another 15 and just hung up (which I am sure is what they were waiting for me to do anyway). What a joke... This is my 3rd Xbox. I told the guy I honestly don't even know what the "faceplate" is and even if I did, I don't know how to remove it. Now after reading this, I see that others have experienced the same thing. My next call is down to the repair center in Texas to find out what their process is. If I see it has marks on it like some of yours do I will just let them know I took pictures of the unit before it went out.

I used to love this console - PS3, you have a future customer. So long XBOX - you tried and failed badly.

Sent away with 3 red lights got back worked for a week games freezing new clean games getting disk reading errors sent away again got back unchanged acused of tampering. Now sending away again getting box within 3-5 working days of Monday 28th july then send away and get back 7-10 working days of the day I send away phone calls after tracking progress of Xbox wellbeing. it helps to know someone on the inside also they seem to be working on this recuring problem now and if you raise this or send thm a link to maybe this page then they will probably relise whats happend with you consol and give you a new one that will work

I Completely agree with what everybody is saying about MS and their antics.

I had my 360 for about a year and a half and then appeared the ring of death.. I was bewildered to the fact and looked on the internet to see if anybody else has had the same problem. Obviously they had, so i start to do something about and i contact xbox in hope to get it repair. Anyways It got sent away and i was happy.. I then recieved an e-mail saying "Great news your xbox i being sent back and should be there in 7 working days" so im thinking great. Its fixed i then recieve it to the fact i had the same letter saying i had tampered with it.. When I had next even open it i wouldnt know how to.. Not Repaired.. They gave me some lame excuse saying have you put a fan to it.. Im like why the F**k wood i put a fan to it. Anyways i just asked them to get whoever it is who said they couldn't fix it to give me a reason why the thought it was tampered with. And Still no reply has anybody else had this problem ?

the same has happened to me as is happening to all of you. im tired of it. im trying to find where to file a class action lawsuit also. lets do this and show them something huh. microsoft treats customers like crap

I have had the same problem guys, just yesterday I got my Xbox back from repairs after I had experienced rrod, in the box was a letter from Microsoft saying the same crap about the console being tampered with, I have not touched the console in any way that would suggest it had been tampered with. According to the Xbox website if the seal beneath the faceplate looks to have been breached then Microsoft will not repair the console and the warranty will become void, apparently the overheating problem with the 360's can cause the seal to deteriorate, this would then basically allow Microsoft to refuse repair because the seal has been breached.

I really hope Microsoft get found out about this, they didn't even bother to send back the front plate for my Xbox. I even have contacted them and have said that I have never tampered with my console but they will not budge, due to this I have decided to purchase a PS3, as I can't be bothered to waste any more money on Microsoft crap.

quit your complaining and suck it people i got three 360 and only 2 were repaired by Microsoft and they even fixed it out of warranty they didn't have the ring of death i suggest not to write anything on the console cause that is just stupid just to see if it's the same console, i hear too to many pathetic story's like this one it almost want me to give u one of mine. don't worry the ps3 gonna have the same problem called the red blinking light of death they're already at 25 percent failing rate and going strong it's up to u guys pay 100 to microsoft or pay 200 for Sony jap crap for out of warrany system u decide goooood luck

Have you guys got anywhere with your complaints? Same things happened to me, i.e tampering! i am Livid!

I bought Microsoft points and for some reason they took my last 800 i had left talking about how i bought a whack ### arcade game then try to talk to like im stupid man i hate 360 it not like im crying over some 800 points it like wtf i paid for them so how yall going to take dem i paid 25$ dollar

no haven't had any complaints on tampering consoles i know my friend did but he called them back and they actually agree to fix it, but on the other hand i got lucky twice sending it in with two of my consoles they fixed them both and also i went and the bought a arcade edition with hdmi ports that one is very quiet with the benq drive...

I had the exact same thing happen! I completely agree with you. I recently sent my console in for repair due to a red ring of death within the warranty period. I got that same letter saying "An inspection of your console has revealed that damage excluded from that covered by the Xbox Limited Warranty, has occurred." and now they are accusing me of "tampering" with my system which is a flat out lie. You can find out more details here:

http://www.mattsmessyroom.com/2008/08/microsoft-repair-center-breaks-already.html

I'll be blogging about my daily calls to support until I get a new 360.

i have had the same problem. i took off the SHINEY sticker and they said that i tamperd with it. one manager said that there was conclusive evidence that i did not open my xbox but they arnt goin to repair it. i still paid for it.
my mum suggested that i talk to my trading standers rep for my city and im goin to call them tomorrow.
can u email me if any1 gets anywhere please

I could not connect to xbox live. I called customer support and they told me that i was banned from xbox live. I was pissed, what the hell is the reason i am banned. He told me that i tampered with my xbox. I NEVER opened my xbox. I even told them I would send in my xbox and they can look at it. They told me that I had to write a letter to Microsoft. I sent my first xbox 360 for repairs three times. I traded it in for an elite when it came out and sent that in once already.

I have bought 2 xbox 360's in one year and have had them both get system errors. Its getting a little ridiculous, i like the xbox 360 but this is driving me nuts my first xbox when in buggered up i didn't know you could send it away to get fix so i ditched it. Then i was told just before getting my 2nd xbox 360 that all those errors have been fixed so i went out a got a new one and then it buggered up today. So i rang Microsoft and they are sending me out the information about sending it away but i have 30 days from today to send it off and have it get to sydney. I am honestly thinking of totally boycotting Microsoft all together because i have spent at least $5000 to $6000 dollars on 2 xbox 360's games hardware etc. I do have alot of other microsoft stuff in my home like my computer but as of next month im am getting a mac and totally boycotting Mircosoft.

Thank you for reading

Had 3 Xbox 360s in two year, currently have three red lights. Not impressed Microsoft

basically same thing with me i sent off for repair they claimed free of charge and would definatley be fixed also got told to send my psu got 360 back not fixed and also no psu inside the box rang up blah blah blah got a new 1 sent (psu) no help why console wasnt fixed letter was on about some warranty or sum BS so i rang up tonight askign aload of rubbish and they said i have tampered with the console this is why it wasnt fixed but ive never touched the inside or attempted to open my console so how can it be tampered with BSers now they are waiting for a confermation of tampering what bums its really annoying 3 months with out my console wtf right idiots never going to by a micrsoft console again

also a good job i bought a ps3 well got a ps3 for my birthday otherwise id have nothing to do at all

My son Anthony ordered an XBox 360 on 8/10/2008 and has yet to receive it, he has an order number which is [protected]

I bought my Xbox and Xbox 360 a few years ago. Within six months it stop working. I got a message stating that it could not read this disc which was a Xbox game and said to put in an approved Xbox in the console. I contacted the customer services line to have my Xbox repaired but they were going to charge me $99.00 dollars. I said no way that this is a microsoft problem and you should fix it for free. I did not creat this problem! They never fixed it so I called again just recently because its just sitting there taking up space. I told myself either I fix it or through it away. So I contacted them again agreed to pay the $99.00 dollars but there was another problem they said their system would not take my address. They wanted me to send my very expensive Xbox 360 to an alternate address. I told them are you crazy! What happens if someone steals it. So at this point I have a very expensive top of the line 600.00 to 700.00 dollars Xbox 360 with a lot of games but can't play them at all. I really am looking to pursue legal action against Microsoft. It anyone has the same issue or is looking for a return on there Xbox console and game please e-mail me. jorrelljordan@yahoo.com. I Pretty much just wasted $600.00 to 700.00 and something dollars.

wtf.Sending in my xbox 360 for the ( hold on ran out of toes and fingers) for the sixth time and at this point its ridiculous.This time its not the 3 red rings(big surprise had it three times already) and it's not disc read error(2 times).This is a new one.This time its (drum role please) NO DISPLAY! that's right sound but no picture.So naturally I think it has to be either the cable or the t.v it can't be the system right?WRONG!Brought new cables.
Check. Tried it on a t.v.Check.Tried a different device on the same channel.Check.So the last thing to do is call the dreaded 800 number.After 15 minutes of talking to rep who doesn't know right from left they finally decided that it has to be sent in from repairs.Not surprised.You think after 3 years they would get ### right.Boy was i mistaken.I don't know why I expected better from microcrap .

I gave my boys the 360 fox-mas and ony 2 weeks later i get the three red rings. After getting it back i played for a week and now i get two red rings on the left, which says its hot, only that it has been sitting there for 12 hours (off). now, how did it get hot. Now i have to send it in for repairs. they have had the unit longer than i have. X-box is nice ( when it will work).. this has been a total waste of money and i dont reccomend the 360 to anybody.

Yo I love my 360 when I've have it, been through 5 xbox 360s in 3 years. That is a horrible service record, microsoft should've taken the hit and recalled all 360s soon after release to fix this problem, I've had one with the RRoD and the other 4 have been processor problems, this last one was a fan and processor problem. What other recourse do we have as gamers PS3 is nice for blu-ray but they have bugs to, I was thinking of joining class action law suit against microsoft but if we win what will we get. Just moaning out loud thanks for reading. Email me turnfire99@live.com wtf is right

just happen to me thought it was tv moved wii it worked fine, xbox #5 wtf

I am absoulutly disgusted with Microsoft! My kids got an xbox 360 from their grandfather for christmas in 07, one month after warranty ran out it stops working. Microsoft tells me that it will cost $150 to be repaired, why would I do that when we can buy a new one with games for $200? I asked to have my years membership credited to my card and they tell me that they cannot do that! AND the rep hung up on me! Disgusting product and even worse customer service. We will be going to Sony !

HI,
i also bought a xbox 360, after a couple of months it wouldn't load games and when it did they crashed after about 10 mins, but it would sometimes play dvd's, i sent it to xbox to get fixed because it was still in warrenty, after a couple of weeks they sent it back to me with a happy little note informing me that "i had tampered with it" and therefore they will not fix it, very nice i thought, not only that but when they sent it back to me its was now completely broken and wouldn't even start, ...

i never touched the f**cking thing! why would i, what a scam, someone is going to learn!

They tolk it, broke it, accused me of something i didn't do then hung up on me at their call centre when i complained, ...

Lieing cheating backstabing roundheads, take your money lie to your face, insult me and my intelegence and break my console, mother f**cking c**ts, i hate those f**ckers
F**K XBOX!

I have the same problem, RROD, just got the letter in the mail today with the un-repaired box. Not only is it unrepaired, I SWEAR it's not even the same XBox. I take care of my belongings, and this Xbox actually has a food like substance on it, PLUS you can see the difference in panel colors! It also has black finger marks on it. One of the little clips is floating around inside the grate. It's as if someone took the guts out and replaced the inside components so the same serial number would be on it. I called customer service, and they said they're going to have someone call me back in 3-10 days. I'm LIVID! I have spent a fortune with Microsoft over the years, and I'm seriously considering just going to PS and getting a MAC if they don't fix this.