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Xbox 360 Warranty Extended

Madhavi Gokhlay, Jul 06, 2007 2113 hrs IST

Any Xbox 360 customer who experiences a general hardware failure indicated by 'three flashing red lights' will now be covered by a three-year warranty...

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Today, Microsoft announced extending it's global Xbox 360 warranty coverage to three years, effective immediately.

The company said that any Xbox 360 customer who experiences a general hardware failure indicated by 'three flashing red lights' will now be covered by a three-year warranty from the date of purchase.

A press release issued by Microsoft said that it has conducted extensive investigations into the problem. That the company stands behind its products, and takes responsibility to repair or replace any Xbox 360 console experiencing the 'three flashing red lights' error message within three years from the time of purchase free-of-charge, which includes shipping costs.

The change in warranty applies both to existing and new customers of Xbox 360. And, Microsoft will retroactively pay-back the out-of-warranty repair costs paid by customers who've experienced such problems with their consoles.

The release even states that Microsoft will take a hit of nearly $1.05 billion to $1.15 billion in pre-tax charges (for the quarter ended June '07) towards anticipated costs under current and enhanced Xbox 360 policies.

However, if reports are true, the buzz is that it is the high failure rate associated with the Xbox 360 (nearly 30 percent) that is the real reason for Microsoft's decision.

Back home, a reseller who's been selling Xbox 360 since launch said that the failure rate cannot be as bad. At the most, it may be around 10 percent.

He said so far they have sold nearly 50 Xbox 360 consoles, out of which only one had to be replaced. And, he was all praise for Microsoft, which he said, provided that customer -- incidentally based out of Lucknow -- with a doorstep replacement in just 4 days.

Apart from this, he said there have been five or six complaints regarding heating problems and games hanging because of which.

Another reseller who's been selling the console for maybe three or four months said they have sold about 15 consoles out of which one had a complaint regarding some game not working.

Mohit Anand, country manager for Microsoft India, refused to accept that there could be any talk about a 30 percent failure rate for the Xbox 360.

From an entirely Indian perspective, Anand said that customers would vouch for the kind of service warranty they provide, which remains unparalleled in the market.

Elaborating on this, Anand said, when a customer calls-in on their toll-free number, agents first try to trouble-shoot over the phone failing which they take a convenient time from the customer when a designated person provides a doorstep replacement for the faulty console.

Anand stressed that in an ecosystem where the customer is considered the ultimate beneficiary, the company is extending the warranty purely as a value proposition for its many customers. He expressed confidence that customers would welcome the move.

As regards speculation that a particular batch of consoles might have gone awry (globally), Anand refused comment.

All said, Xbox 360 is a complex console. Reportedly, it contains over 1,700 components, and nearly 500 million transistors. There could be a variety of scenarios causing general hardware failure -- yet the symptoms will always remain 'three flashing red lights'...

USER COMMENTS

my console broke couple of days ago,called the customer care n said that they wil respond in 48 hrs,so whtz the procedure like after this?

by kalyan, hyderabad, on Sep 07, 2007 09:39 PM, Report abuse Reply

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by Sameer, New Delhi, on Jul 19, 2007 12:23 PM, Report abuse Reply

mine has done the exact same with the three lights and im gutted but here the warranty ha gone up to three years ..... good! Also how long does a repair usually take and it scratched my game, will they replace it??? I have had my console since december 06 ang this is the first time it has happened to me, i dont play it all that often either

by Simon C, Blackpool, on Jul 16, 2007 06:22 PM, Report abuse Reply

what if you paid for an extended warrenty when purchased

by kenneth himes, wildwood crest nj, on Jul 09, 2007 06:26 PM, Report abuse Reply

I bought my 360 about a year and a half ago, 6 months in it malfunctioned. It would only display black and white. sent it in under warranty and they sent me a new one. about a month ago my 360 crapped out on me again this time with the 3 light. I'm glad MS came up to the plate cuz if they didn't add their warranty, i would never buy one of their gaming consoles ever again.

by Jonny Magnum, Fort Worth TX, on Jul 09, 2007 04:00 AM, Report abuse Reply

Where was the "world class service" on the original xbox when microsoft replaced the dvd drives 3 times, but offered no recall / free of charge fixing to the faulty drives??

by Jens Pulver, Uganda, on Jul 09, 2007 01:33 AM, Report abuse Reply

My xbox 360 just started having problems and i shipped it today. In the beginning, it was freezing with no lights. Then when i came back from vacation a few days later, I was getting all four red lights, not the three red lights. I'm not sure whats going on with it, and when i filed my complaint, I never mentioned anything about four red lights, because I wasn't getting them right away. I guess I'll see what they have to say when they see it.

by xxboneskillaxx, harrisburg, on Jul 08, 2007 08:08 AM, Report abuse Reply

*sigh* my 360 broke my friends are trying to get me to buy one of them PS3s =/

by daveyy, London, on Jul 07, 2007 05:29 PM, Report abuse Reply

I have a general hardware failure indicated by 'three flashing red lights in my xbox 360, where i ahve to go to repair my game

by Jesus Salazar, Kissimmee, Fl .34743, on Jul 06, 2007 10:27 PM, Report abuse Reply

jesus, have u checked ur power supply . one set of xbox 360 sold in the market had faulty p supplies which tend to overheat causing hardware failure . had a similar problem and got a new power supply much more robust .

by luzifer, mumbai, on Jul 07, 2007 01:39 PM, Report abuse

What if the xbox was opened up?

by anonymous, saginaw, on Jul 07, 2007 07:15 AM, Report abuse Reply

Generally for consoles this means you have voided your warranty. This is the risk you take if you mod your system. Tough luck!

by vebmetal, New Delhi, on Jul 07, 2007 11:31 AM, Report abuse

So do we know whether or not the 360 will now have a 3 year warranty in India?

by vebmetal, New Delhi, on Jul 07, 2007 11:30 AM, Report abuse Reply

Being in a business field dealing with warranty and customers, I was one of the customers that had the failure and in turn had to send my unit back to texas to be repaired. Instead, they sent me a new box with a full warranty and wowed me by enclosing a month of xbox live for my inconvenience. This is world class service. It would have different if I had to press this to happen. However they did in the interest of customer satisfaction. I just recently converted from being a plays station long time customer and i will tell i will never go back if this is the level of service that microsoft continues to provide. Excellent job Microsoft. :)

by Scott Kelford, Kansas City, on Jul 06, 2007 10:14 PM, Report abuse Reply

Hey Scott-you are bang on the button!! Being a global name ,microsoft does live up to its standards accross all continents,cultures & backgrounds. And thats what is called World Class comitment.

by Anonymous, New Delhi,India, on Jul 06, 2007 10:27 PM, Report abuse

Your one of the lucky few that had a good experience with the microsoft team. Most people (myself included) went without my xbox for an entire month and so them giving me a free month of live just put me back to where i was before the thing broke.. I had to speak to like 5 different people for them to compensate me at all for my 3rd 360 breaking 5 minutes after i received it.

by Karl, Pittsburgh, on Jul 07, 2007 06:35 AM, Report abuse

i have a question where do i ship my xbox 360 too and if microsoft what is the address and i do not have the waranty but i have the cereal # and the date is was purchased on the back actually i bought it in december of 06 please reply

by Lionel Wright, Union city, on Jul 07, 2007 04:34 AM, Report abuse Reply

We have had ours repaired 3 times, when we last called they wanted us to pay ?86 we refused and are glad we did as we are now able to send it back under warranty, we found staff un-helpful also.It's about time they done something, they knew it was faulty from the start.

by Gail, Gloucester UK, on Jul 07, 2007 03:33 AM, Report abuse Reply

i have had my 360 repaired three times the latest one has stratched my best game as well

by steven searle, harrow, on Jul 07, 2007 02:08 AM, Report abuse Reply

thank you microsoft. i too had my 360 fail but the repair was great and its been working just fine ever since.

by puma1ky, los angeles, on Jul 07, 2007 01:57 AM, Report abuse Reply

Hey Scott-you are bang on the button!! Being a global name ,microsoft does live up to its standards accross all continents,cultures & backgrounds. And thats what is called World Class comitment.

by Anonymous, New Delhi,India, on Jul 06, 2007 10:28 PM, Report abuse Reply