My 360 Died! [UPDATE]
Well, after having a minor issue with the three Red Lights of Death (error 0102 for you techies out there) less than two weeks ago. The lights (once more error 0102) have cast their deadly gaze upon me, yet again. ...and this time, nothing can be done. Actually, something can be done, and that something is sending MS $139.00 to repair my 360 (a launch system, mind you), plus a 30-day warranty. However, past that, I'd be screwed again if the system pooped out on me in the future. It does startup on me every now and again, but I just don't trust it. At any rate, when it does startup, I cannot run a single thing without having it freeze.
So I'm writing to ask you, the gaming public at large, "What should Timsy do?" Should I pay the money, grin and bear it? Hold out for the Elite model and trade in my defunct system to go towards that? ...or continue to throw a temper tantrum on the castle floor while Fruit Brute tries to calm me with a cup of warm chai and Tiny prepares a bubble bath? This is not how I wanted to spend my Good Friday off!
UPDATE: After giving my sob story to a supervisor, she got the cost of the repair down by %50. Now it'll only cost my $70 rather than $140. They were very friendly and such, so that made it a little better. Now begins the epic journey that my 360 must make. I'll be sure to document the goings on here so that you too may bear witness to this process!
Super Timsy
Posted to Video Games on 6 April 2007
· Comments (16)
Other stuff like this: Microsoft, Red Lights of Death, Xbox 360
The latter part sounds hot...
But seriously, if you could actually get a good chunk of money for trading in the defunct system, I'd say wait for the Elite.
If not, pay to get it fixed or somethin =/.
Wow. I'm beginning to feel lucky mine even functions. I really don't know how they get away this this amount of shoddy quality control. If any other game company had this bad a track record, they'd be laughed out of the market.
Microsoft actually changed their policy again. If you send in the console for repair, you'll get a new 1 year warranty on it.
It is ridiculous that there is such a high incidence of failure on the 360s. It's practically the reason I won't buy one.
Sorry to hear of your sad news! Nice of them to give you a break on the repair cost -- kinda unexpected!
Sorry for your loss, Timsy. I'm feelin' what Spaz is saying; I'm glad mine still works... for now. Still love it though. 'Til the red ring of death do us part...
I will be interested to hear what happens; I have not heard anything about how good Microsoft's service is, but at least it seems like you're off to a good start with your discount. Buenos suerte.
My Wii wasn't backwards compatible and Nintendo replaced the thing, but other than that I think they just repair the old one.
I'm not sure what Sony's service is like... has anyone had to repair their PS3 yet?
I gave my friend Noah a year old PSP for his birthday that I had and it died the next day because of a corrupt firmware upgrade that bricked the system. He had to blow $90 on Sony's tech support to fix it. It was SONY's DAMN SOFTWARE UPDATE that bricked it.
Don't even think of wasting your money on the "Elite"
Get this repaired, I'd say
Best wishes
T
First of all eff MS for not making this a general recall, even though it is quite obvious that this is a design error. Somebody ought to sue them.
Cutting the price to half shows you only that they were trying to make a monster profit on this repair.
Why, however, you try to contact them as private person Timsy Timson is beyond me. Just say you're writing for technical blog gaygamer.com and your 360 died on you. See if they won't fix it for free then...
where is MS cutting him a deal here? MY understanding was that $139 was the standard repair gouge I mean cost for their consoles.
as Seion says, there has been a change to the warrenty policy that covers your repaired console for 1 year after the repair.
this is why when I shell out for an Elite using my tax return, I'll buy the replacement plan from Micro Center with it. 3 years, no questions asked, we give you a refund if it breaks. that's my kinda deal.
Sorry to hear of your woes Timsy
I'm in the UK and seem to be one of the very few that have had a great service from MS......my 360 (bought in launch month) gave up the ghost in Febuary.....I was getting the "please place an Xbox360 disc in machine" error....first with a couple of titles....then all of em......called MS customer service the lady was very apologetic and helpful my 360 was pick up by UPS and replaced free of any shipping or repair charge.....my replacement arrived two days later too...I was well impressed and chuffed...
Death is just a temporary transition to a better place. Remember your 360 is much happier now...LOL....just kiddin...THAT SUCKS! (I say that as I glace at mine still working perfectly ... it is.... I HOPE!)
Hang in there...
What's the Manufacter date on your 360?
If RTX mainboard in Xbox360.....
You know, I had a similar incident-- then I realized that the XBoxCircle throws the ring if the A/V cables aren't plugged into the back properly.
This isn't so if the A/C cord is unplugged, but that's another story :3
Sorry about the loss, though I must mention that I did have my PS2 repaired 4 times before proceeding to buy an entirely new one. On modest summer jobs, that's an expensive piece of ass, and truly a story of tough love~
Here's to years with consoles that break our banks and NOT our hearts. (PS3, you're a cashmongering whore, a shame to your family, and you've let yourself go. I've seen smaller curves on the Autobahn.)
My two cents...
I've found that any gaming system that can be turned sideways, usually breaks down faster if you set the console on its side...
I've had better luck if system is set flat.