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Microsoft u-turn on charging for Xbox 360 repairs

by Nick Haywood on 6 July 2007, 10:49

Tags: Xbox 360, Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), Xbox 360

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Dontcha just LOVE consumer power?

In a welcome turnaround, just as a lot of Xbox 360s appear to be failing, Microsoft have announced their intention to waive the repair fee previously levied against their customers.

In an open letter on Xbox.com, Peter Moore says: “…As of today, all Xbox 360 consoles are covered by an enhanced warranty program to address specifically the general hardware failures indicated by the three flashing red lights on the console. This applies to new and previously-sold consoles. While we will still have a general one year console warranty (two years in some countries), we are announcing today a three-year warranty that covers any console that displays a three flashing red lights error message. If a customer has an issue indicated by the three flashing red lights, Microsoft will repair the console free of charge—including shipping—for three years from the console’s purchase date. We will also retroactively reimburse any of you who paid for repairs related to problems indicated by this error message in the past…”

Now, whilst we thoroughly welcome this move and applaud Microsoft for offering to reimburse all those who have paid in the past, we do have to ask whether this goodwill gesture is in fact goodwill or perhaps a pre-emptive move to avoid a consumer backlash.

The reason I ask this question is because I was in the process of writing an article investigating this latest wave of Xbox 360 failures, specifically the general hardware failure indicated by the three red rings of death. My particular interest was aroused when, in a call to Microsoft customer service, I was told that there would be a 105 Euro charge for repair as the machine was out of warranty.

Incredibly, when I challenged the charge saying that it was unreasonable and unfair, I was told, by a Microsoft customer service agent, that it wasn’t unreasonable who then asked me how many of my other electrical items had failed in the last twelve months… But that kind of argument backfires when the answer is ‘None’!!

Anyway, my point was to do with the Sale of Goods Act and Microsoft’s definition of ‘reasonable use’… For example, a £5 water-pistol breaking after three months is fair enough… but a £400 games console breaking after less than 18 months can’t be considered reasonable... so why should a repair have to be paid for. Now don’t forget that a warranty is a just an added extra… so all that ‘out of warranty’ gumph is just that… gumph.

So, I think it’s great that Microsoft are pulling the repair fee and refunding those they’ve charged but I can’t help but wonder if Microsoft saw a backlash coming and realised that the best way to avoid it was to sort out their repairs system… Or is it me just being a cynical git?



HEXUS Forums :: 13 Comments

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Posted by Lee H - Fri 06 Jul 2007 11:04
No Nick your not cynical at all.

I think the votes in the poll I started the other day reflect the fact that there is a fundimental problem with the first batches of xboxes.

First of all they denied all knowledge, but as more and more people with xbox360's which were 16-18 months old ALL started to get the same error codes I think they took a good look at the hardware coming back and found a common problem with them all.

Now, with more and more people being vocal about this on websites and forums such as hexus it was all bad publicity and many people who were looking to purchase an xbox360 started to question the quality of the systems and this is not what microsoft wanted.

As such they had to combat this threat and giving a 3 year warranty as opposed to a 1 year one was probably the best option overall.
Posted by Nick - Fri 06 Jul 2007 11:14
The thing is, and this is applies to ANY goods you buy, the reasonable use and life of a product compared to its value goes beyond any ‘warranty’ the manufacturer offers.

So, a £50 microwave breaking down after 12 months might be a grey area but a £400 console failing within 18 months most certainly isn't reasonable.

I think this is why MS have changed their minds… that and very likely the recognition, as you say, of some inherent fault with early batches.

But I would like to point out that all credit should be given to MS for not trying to turn this into some kind of “aren't we marvellous?” PR stunt.
Posted by clearlyolly - Fri 06 Jul 2007 11:19
ANother point, this extended warranty only applies to xboxes that suffer the 3 red light problem. Say, if your dvd drive breaks or your power brick goes. You're still screwed.
Posted by Carlh - Fri 06 Jul 2007 11:31
Nick
The thing is, and this is applies to ANY goods you buy, the reasonable use and life of a product compared to its value goes beyond any ‘warranty’ the manufacturer offers.

So, a £50 microwave breaking down after 12 months might be a grey area but a £400 console failing within 18 months most certainly isn't reasonable.

I think this is why MS have changed their minds… that and very likely the recognition, as you say, of some inherent fault with early batches.

But I would like to point out that all credit should be given to MS for not trying to turn this into some kind of “aren't we marvellous?” PR stunt.

Nick

I spoke to one of the “supervisors” at the Microsoft call centre last month when my 360 failed with the 3 red lights error, and I quoted them the Sale of goods act and that the goods have to be of suitable use for a period of time and a £300 console failing after 16 months isnt reasonable blah blah……

In the end they still wouldnt budge and still requested the £85.00 repair fee :angst:

Call me cynical - MS are aware that there is a problem with consoles manufacturered before a certain date - or with certain serials - subject to which plant they were manufactured at and which components are inside (such as DVD drive as there are 3 different oem manufacturers for the drive alone at the moment), I think this is a PR exercise to try and smooth things over - why only give the 3 red lights warranty for 3 years what about 2 red lights?? (Overheating) as technically both the overheating and 3 red lights - Hardware failure can be caused by the same issues internally in the console where the heat in the system over a period of time causes the board to bend and force the clamps slightly resulting in the gpu and memory overheating or slightly coming away from the pcb

Dont get me wrong I welcome the longer warranty period - think however it is naive of Microsoft to limit it to only the 3 red lights error code….

On another note this could be the signal that Microsoft finally recognise that there is a fault with some of the 360s with the error codes as previously reported, I am guessing that with the new cooling that Microsoft are now repairing the console with they are happy that this resolves the issues, therefore if this is the cause I would imagine that all new 360's that have been manufactured recently will have the improved cooling inside the console.
Posted by Nick - Fri 06 Jul 2007 11:44
Office of Fair Trading will be your friend there…

We've already spoken to them about this issue and they agree that it is not reasonable.

But, before threatening MS you should politely mention that you've spoken to the Fair Trading guys who concur that it is not reasonable.

However, noen of this matters now as you can get the machine repaired for free or, if you've already paid, you can get a refund for the repair.

Here's betting that we'll now start to hear tales of customers not being refunded because their Xbox 360's fault isn't one covered by the refund policy.

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