X-Box 360 woes

[chknltl]

I bought my X-Box 360 about 3 months ago. The warranty is good for 3 months. Yesterday the 360 froze up. I called the provided service number and the gang at X-Box has offered to repair it for $130! (I am just past the warranty). Upon looking on-line I see that this is a very common problem:
http://answers.yahoo.com/search/search_result;_ylt=Av.3iF3BYgSvmERB9rMcX5kjzKIX?p=xbox+360+freezes+up&cp=1&tp=3

Should I be contacting the Better Business Bureau? Any advice?

[bullimiami]

1. 3 month warranty? that is such a scam.

[LibraLiz1973]

2. Holy Shit.

Guess what?? My 360 just took a shit TONIGHT. I was just sitting here wondering what the hell I can do.

It will work for a bit and then completely lock up. Cant reboot to make it work for hours

[bbinacan]

3. This happened to my brother

and he took it back to the retailer and they replaced it. Try that instead of calling some number. Good luck.

[chknltl]

7. Lost the damned receipt...

...the place I bought it, "Gamestop" are quite the sticklers on having the receipt.
Thanks though.
c

[bbinacan]

11. How did you pay for it?

If check or credit/debit card, you can show the purchase date. I don't know if that will help, but maybe. My brother bought his from a Mom and Pop game store. That's probably why they replaced it.

[chknltl]

12. Paid cash

Actually I am resigned to the fate that I am going to end up sending the unit in for repair and getting ripped off for the additional $130. I hope that there are a lot of X-Mas shoppers reading this post.

[ConservativeDemocrat]

4. Have you tried the most common solution?

Most XBOX 360 crashes have nothing to do with the box; they're due to inadaquate airflow around the power supply. If you put the power supply on something to insure airflow underneath it, the problem may go away.

- C.D. Proud Member of the Reality Based Community

[chknltl]

8. Actually yes.

I called the provided service # and that was one of their early suggestions. That power supply is sitting on a table with nothing around it for a good 3-4 inches and it aint even warm. The 360 is sitting on a DVD player in the upright position with nothing else around it. Plenty of fresh air to all. The service guy had me run through some "programming" which resolved the problem for about 6 hours. This latest crash has totally shut the 360 down from communicating with my TV and it has stayed that way for the last 12 hours.

[itsrobert]

5. 3 month?

Did you buy a refurb unit? If you used a credit card, some of them double the warranty.

[chknltl]

9. Too bad I paid cash.

Wish I would have used a card....hindsight, but then who would expect a $400+ electronics purchase to crap out after 3 months and then be asked for another $130?
c

[chknltl]

13. New 360 (not Refurb) n/t

[jessicazi]

6. Where did you buy it?

Some retailers are much better than others when it comes to problems such as these.

[chknltl]

10. Gamestop

Those guys get a bit militaristic about the receipt.
I think I will call the BBB. I do not expect them to give me any greater satisfaction other than being adding to a list which I suspect has been growing since the 360s inception about 1 year ago.

[yankeeinlouisiana]

15. See if the store can print out a new receipt

for you. If you remember the date you bought it, they should be able to print it out for you.

Good luck!

[chknltl]

18. Just got off the phone with Gamestop

They are WELL AWARE of the 360's problem. They wish that everyone would buy their "extended warranty"
which they try to hard-sell folks on. As it is over 30 days and as I did NOT buy that extended warranty I there is nothing that they can do. The poor store clerk was in agreement with me though: The problem is VERY common and the whole mess seems quite unfair!
Next stop: Better Business Bureau!
c

[itsrobert]

19. Gamestop return policy is 30 days

So it might not help anyways.

[ret5hd]

14. Now i bet you wish that you...

sat in line for 2 days in the rain and cold to get the new PS2, huh?

[chknltl]

16. PS-3?

Actually waited 6 months after 360 came, (no lines at all). I will likely get a PS3 next summer....this time I will be sure to keep an eye out for glitches that early buyers come across.

[ret5hd]

22. Uh, yeah, 3, if you say so...shows how much i pay attention. (nt)

[itsrobert]

17. Buy a new one

return the old one in the new box.

[chknltl]

20. You just became my best bud

Great idea.... and quite a fair deal too, although I wonder if they check serial #s? While on the phone with the 360 service folks they took down my serial# and address. I might get hit with a fraud charge. Still I might try this anyway.
c

[itsrobert]

23. Might now work anyways

Sometimes they put the serial number on the Box and the Hardware. Might not be worth the risk.

[chknltl]

28. You are right:

I just checked the box, (note to self: double check that receipt into box next time), there is a serial # inspection flap on the top, It is open and I did NOT open it. Looks like "turnabout" won't be "fair play" after all. We can still be best buds though, I like the way you think!
c

[LeftyMom]

25. Stores scan in the serial number to fix that. It's a common scheme and the reason open electronics

are generally only permitted to be exchanged for the same item.

[chknltl]

30. Drats!

I now know that you are right... I can see on my 360's box where the inspection flap to the serial # was opened, I did not do this so I can only surmise that the store,(Gamestop), did it. (Not to mention that the service rep on the phone took down that number first thing and knew that my warranty was expired from his own database). Like most folks, my life of crime fizzled out before it got started, although I was entertaining the notion briefly.

[Fox Mulder]

21. I hope I won't have this problem.

I just bought an XBox 360 about three weeks ago at Wal-Mart. The only problem I've had with it thus far is that sometimes it takes awhile for Oblivion to load, but it can be fixed if I defrag the harddrive.

:shrug:

[chknltl]

26. Oblivion ROCKS!!! Defragged System?

When I was on the phone with the service rep he walked me through something that may have been a defragging of sorts: We shut of 360, removed Hard-Drive, turned it back on, went to system set up page, reset the date and time, (The date had shifted to 2005 and the time had shifted to AM instead of PM), replaced the hard-drive, installed Oblivion, and viola: all fixed, for about 6 hours. Now I can not get the 360 to even fire up enough to get me a picture on my TV.
As far as Oblivion: That has to be the best RPG bar none. I miss my level 45 Female Dark Elf and all her cool stuff which took me 3 months to collect. Hell I even miss standing on the edge of the "Diving Board" high up in the mountains and watching the sunset over Cyrodil! Waa :cry: Waa
(btw: the service guy was playing Halo3 on his 360 while I was talking to him...lucky bastard!)

[katamaran]

24. If you have a Sam's Club membership, they'll exchange it if you whine enough

If you have a Sam's Club membership, they'll exchange it if you whine enough. My boyfriend is a Sam's manager, and they're more interested in the customer being happy (more like shutting them up). You can take it in, say you got it as a gift, that it conked out on you, and you want a replacement. They may bitch and moan, but they should exchange it.

My Xbox would suddenly turn on in the middle of the night, spin up its drive, and flash the red Cylon blinking light of death at me. I ended up erasing my old saves (Oblivion saves took up half the HD!) and clearing the cache (hold down the A button during startup). Worked fine since.

[chknltl]

27. No card but whining anyway.

I already know that I am gonna have to shell out the $140 to get the problem resolved...eventually.
It just sucks that microsoft would stoop to such shadiness after all of it's other issues.

[mainegreen]

29. Doesn't look like your state has good implied warrantee laws either.

Just checked your states AG consumer site. Nothing. That blows.

Here in Maine every product has to work for 3 years of normal use, or the store must take it back for free to fix/replace/refund it. I'm a *big* fan of consumer protection laws.

[chknltl]

31. AG consumer sites? Consumer protection laws?

I see I have some further research to do. I was only planning on submitting a complaint with the BBB, if there are other agencies to complain to I want to do so. Having a $400+ electronic item crap out after 3 months and expecting the consumer to pay an additional $140 is bad enough, the fact that this is a VERY COMMON problem...well there is just something wrong with that!

[mainegreen]

32. Don't bother with the BBB. They're just a corporate lobby giving airs of being on the peoples side.

[chknltl]

33. mailed off problems to:

Local ABC; NBC; CBS consumer investigators.
Even if the BBB is a wasted effort I will contact them anyway.
If there are others to contact please let me know.
The $140 repair bill is less an issue, compared to the feeling of being ripped off by a company whose parent company is Microsoft.....