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Cool! Keep calling them.
Tell them to fix it and ship it back. When they can't find it, they'll have to send you a new one.
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@Murph1908: That's what I'm thinking. Play it their way. The next call should be \"I'm calling to check on the status of my XBOX.\"
Let them decide where it is and what they should do about it. If they think he's demanding one they'll probably figure out they sent it back, and then he can start talking about getting it fixed again.
![\"user-pic\"](\"/mt-static/support/assets_c/userpics/userpic-159178-100x100.png\")
They once sent me an e-mail telling me they were shipping back my Xbox and that all repairs had been completed. Of course this e-mail was sent 4 months after I had already received my repaired Xbox back.
Baffling stuff, but I am grateful they got the thing to work.
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@failurate:
I had an interesting, albeit opposite, experience. I recieved multiple emails saying that they had not yet recieved my xbox. I continued to recieve these emails after I already was holding my 360 in my arms.
I called and informed them of the issue and they promptly closed the ticket. The few people I had to talk to were all pretty helpful and nice.
![\"user-pic\"](\"/mt-static/support/assets_c/userpics/userpic-363287-100x100.png\")
Meanwhile, somewhere in Asia a Nintendo marketing exec cackles while wringing his hands.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-253568-100x100.png\")
I don't know what's wrong with that department. I figured most of the red-ringed XBOX's had already gone through the system.
My brother's XBOX red-ringed just about 2 months ago, and although it took my brother a month to finally call tech support, it took 2 calls trying to get a shipping label emailed to him, and then another phone call assuring that he'd get a box with a label because the initial order (for the labels) was DELETED for some reason! Anyway, they eventually sent the box + shipping label, but they still have the XBOX...and it's been about 3-4 weeks now. :(
My friend had tons of trouble trying to get his fixed. He said he was frustrated at the whole process and the csr ended up offering him some free stuff. Ended up getting a wireless controler out of it.
When a beastly, cobbled-together system like Xbox's repair division gets outsourced, you're only asking for trouble. Don't bother \"escalating\" your concerns through their robotic call centers; 9/10 times their resources are limited, and access to higher levels of the support food chain is restricted. If you can't beat the lvl 1 drones, you're unlikely to get anywhere. Go around the problem, write in, call executive support, or in the rare instance it works, file a BBB complaint.
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@blackmage439: Or fill your Xbox with shit, burn it, spraypaint \"fuck you\" on it and send it to microsoft headquarters.
You think that's bad? I've been trying for nine months to get them to remove my credit card details from my Live account. I posted the details here - [slashdot.org] - and since I posted that, it still hasn't been done. What has happened more recently is that I've emailed asking for an update. To which they reply - sorry, you have to call us, we can't discuss this over email.
I can honestly say that Microsoft's customer service is the worst I've ever encountered. All you get is empty promises from the supervisors.
@Zombini:
If you want to to invalidate your card info, just call your credit card company and report your card lost. They'll send you a replacement card with new number. The info on Xbox Live would then be useless.
@Zombini: There actually is a way to remove the credit card, it's hidden for some reason but I found a few months ago, I'll go dig it up for you and then post how to do it.
I had the same trouble removing a credit card and would recommend people just not do it to avoid the mind-numbing aggravation. Buy the prepaid cards from an internet dealer, it'll be cheaper and far less stressful.
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I'm going along with Murph1908. If they have it, have them fix it and ship it back.
\"Uh, yeah, so when do you think it'll be fixed and returned to me?\" is a good place to start.
have you checked the serial numbers? maybe they really do have yours. i wouldn't put it past them sending back the wrong one.
Ahhh...Xbox 360 problems. My husband got his hard drive back after 9 months of calls and promises. They sent him back a fixed one but the wrong one. How does he know? It had someone else's saved games. He said, \"I am taking this hard drive and running.\"
What is everyone complaining about? This outsourcing to India is to provide you \"better\" customer service. Microsoft doesn't have time to deal with their customers and their trite complaints. They have Vista to sell!
@DarianNimrah: No no, they have vista to advertise and promote. They can't worry about fixing things when they can be signing actors to sell their software!
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-532329-100x100.png\")
Blue screen. Red ring. What's next, Microsoft? Yellow 'splodey?
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@BrawlerBarbie:
They'll eventually run out of colors, and will just have to have \"owned.\" appear on the screen.
since you got it back rather quickly, ms usually issues refurbished xboxes. they probably have your old serial number on file somehow and they claim they have your xbox. make sure you're specifying to them your new serial number on the xbox and that it is the one that ms sent you earlier. tell them it red ringed again, send a label to get it serviced. if they help you or don't help you say \"please let me talk to you supervisor / let me talk to someone that can help me.\" keep taking notes of names, locations, badge numbers one by one and continue pressing that \"someone getting back to me in 24 to 48 hours is not an answer i want to hear.\" once you have that growing list of names, they'll move mountains for you. no one wants their name mentioned to a manager that they're not doing their job for you.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-7550-100x100.png\")
I have a friend who lives overseas who had his system RROD on him. Rather than send it back to me for repairs with MS, he opted to save the $100 each way (here and back to Japan) shipping charge and just repair it himself. Needless to say, it's a little bit time consuming and you'll definitely sweat it out while voiding your warranty, but it was easy enough to do after watching him do it via webcam that I'd feel competent enough to try it on my own should my own 360 decide to RROD again (3 so far for me...)
I think that everyone needs a little light shed on what exactly happens for a RROD. The most common problem is that the clamp holding everything on the GPU gets bent out of shape and when the heatsink stops distributing all that heat out, it makes part of the GPU separate from the motherboard. All very technical, yes, but it's thankfully very serviceable on your part.
The servers weren't down. They were just too embarrassed to tell him that they are too busy reinstalling their OS due to constant BSOD.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-631841-100x100.png\")
Is it so wrong that all I can think of after reading this is, \"SWEET - Free Xbox hard drive!\"
I mean, the Xbox you have doesn't work. But the one that Microsoft has will once they send it back to you!
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-159466-100x100.png\")
It baffles me why people continue(d) to support Microsoft after using/dealing with Windows by buying an Xbox 360, especially after the first one was so terrible, and ESPECIALLY after like 33% of all 360s end up with RROD. It's like half of the computer/video gaming population are masochists.
That being said, I'm waiting for another slickdeal to come up like that one Dell had a while ago so I can get me one.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-131723-100x100.png\")
@trujunglist: It's because they go into withdrawls if they can't run around calling one another fags on XBox Live while playing Halo.
i'm currently on my 5th 360, the last time it broke i emailed Steve Ballmer directly and was put into contact with the \"executive response unit\" and was able to get another refurb unit in about 2 weeks rather than waiting the normal 4 weeks or whatever, but the guy that was \"helping\" me was a condescending asshole who told me, and I quote here, \"Stop barking up the wrong tree...\" when i pressed for a new system rather than for yet another refurb. i emailed all of this correspondance to Consumerist when it happened but they didnt take any interest i guess. :(
I hope someone from Microsoft reads this cause it needs to be said...
\"Your gaming console is one of the best developer platforms ever created, and Your console is one of the worst pieces of gaming hardware ever created. I'm never buying one.\"
The \"system is updating\" is the same bull they gave me when i called in about mine. I do technical support for a living. What company would be doing a system update that shuts down a key piece of software required for providing service during business hours? I got that excuse twice, 6 days apart. It has to be a lie and a stalling tactic. I find it hard to believe even Microsoft is that inept. You would think they would be getting service done well on accident by now.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-188304-100x100.png\")
@QueridaAsclepius: Considering the service dept runs 24/7 sooner or later they are gonna have to update something which will bring it down for a while.
You probably were talking to someone in India and its possible they were having issues.
I did what undeadsac did. I was on my 3rd xbox which died after 3 hrs of use. After arguing with the supervisor they would not budge so I email donm@microsoft.com - Don Mattrick- SVP, INTERACTIVE ENT. BUSINESS and got a rep in 2 day who called me back. Again you have to be careful you cant ask for everything and you cant get a new xbox either at least not right away, explain you situation and give them what you exactly want, a shipping label, a new repair order open and that just want your xbox repair. Its up to you to ask for free stuff, I got 2 wireless controllers and a HD for my troubles but I had a long history. If your lucky and you get a supervisor who may know 3rd level support, if he wont contact them, you could try to call back and hope you get a better supervisor or call try the exec email or try calling 3rd level support right away but you need a ticket numb er. Good luck.
maybe if they had unix / bsd servers they wouldnt be down.
Though the price of the Xbox 360 is tempting -- Sony has mismarketed PS3 since day 1 -- these horror stories keep me from getting one.
What a piece of junk!
Who ever heard of an electronic product in this day and age having a failure rate approaching 50% or whatever it is currently?
It's really pathetic, and the fact that their customer support is so lousy on top of it all -- yikes.
I am just going to hunker down with my first-gen PSP and wait out this round of the console war. With any luck, Nintendo will come up with a console featuring next-gen graphics and a DVD player, or Sony will sell a console designed to play games, not serve as a Trojan horse getting people to buy more overpriced \"content\".
Phooey...
Geez, from everything I have read so far, it makes me want to open the darn thing myself and fidget with it. Forget all that waiting and bullcrap excuses from the antichrist of computers, I want my system to work again!
I doubt anybody from Microsoft will read this, and if they did, maybe it would spark some change in their ways of dealing with customers. Yea, customers...the ones buying their crap. Maybe it's time I joined the Apple movement?
Here's what I did and I swear on my life that it worked. After about 2 weeks of b.s. from Microsoft I called the Attorney General. When I told Microsoft that I contacted him they gave me the usual b.s., 2 days later I received not only my new xbox 360, but also a personal apology letter, a copy of gears of war, and a new controller. Try it, it really works.
![\"user-pic\"](\"/mt-static/support/assets_c/userpics/userpic-255368-100x100.png\")
Ha. The worlds largest computer software developer can't get their computers fixed... That inspires confidence in their products...
It's a sad state of affairs when a company has this kind of trouble providing customer service. It seems like a fairly common problem with big companies: With so many people spread out in big offices, the problems can get lost in the system, and in some cases, there's always someone else you can pass the problem onto, and the customer gets the runaround. If a big company can figure out how to provide good customer service consistently, then I'd be pleasantly surprised.
![\"user-pic\"](\"/mt-static/support/assets_c/userpics/userpic-350350-100x100.png\")
This is the result of call center robo- er, CSRs, who simply blindly follow what their system tells them without applying any logic to the situation.
Hmmm, I received the same 'our system is down so we can't process your repair order at this time please call back' and when I did get the repair order processed I was surprised that I am responsible for finding my own coffin box to ship it in -- is the xBox division going broke from all of these red ring repairs?
If you live near a Play N Trade video game store they should be able to fix it. I work for one in Tucson AZ and have personally fixed 12 in the last 4 or 5 months. Having the store do it will void your warrenty, but it sounds like you wont be getting help from Microsoft anyway.
\"Our systems are updating\" is call-center-speak for \"Major system outage\". These are not really planned updates - those happen at night - but \"our computer systems are down\" or \"our servers crashed\" or \"someone took out our T1 with a backhoe\" (that last one is based on an actual event), is not something call-center managers will allow customer service reps to say to customers. Only if a rep has a higher-than-average QA score can they get away with it, and then only on that rare call from a customer that they like who seems knowledgeable and understanding about such things.
I love you so much, Microsoft.
Oh wait.
No I don't.
This is classic Microsoft, I had a very similar experience with 3 returned xbox's that went RROD within a week. Eventually I got fed up and fix it myself with a penny trick (wrap 12 cents of penny's in 4 stack with electric tape then tape it to the RAM chips to maintain presure)
My xbox has been working for over 10 months... If you want it done right, you have to do it yourself.
Luckily for me im a computer tech, and I have never seen a Microsoft product that I didn't have to fix so I sort of knew what to expect.
I'm sorry but it's so hit and miss. I see all you people that have had bad customer service/support and the problems of the poster. Then you have to remember their is some of us that have had nothing but great service from them. My 360 red ringed about a year after I got it on release day the replacement one they have sent which is now two years old has not had a problem yet. When I called I got the box a few days after the call and sent it right away and the replacement was delivered in three weeks.
Step 1: Unplug your Xbox
Step 2: Throw it into the nearest large body of water
Step 3: Walk outside and an breathe deep. This is what a real life feels like
Step 5: Talk to a real, flesh & blood human. Face to face. with a pulse.
Geez....
My 360 red ringed like a month or 2 ago. In the course of 11 days I called, got a label, shipped my Xbox and got my Xbox back.
It was pretty simple.
The solution is simple. If they claim to already have your X-box, tell them to SEND it to you. Maybe you will get a brand new X-Box, that is already repaired.
Come to think of it . . .
Maybe ALL OF US should call and ask for an X-Box! You never know. If Microsoft really is that dense - maybe we would ALL get a free X-Box.
You never know until you try. :)
What's RROD?? (I own a PS3...think i'll play some Fallout 3, then pop in the Dark Knight blu-ray...)
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-43906-100x100.png\")
@LandonGalopagus: Not to mention the new $75 Seagate 320GB drive I plopped in my PS3 in 5 minutes. Newegg was having a sale. What's the best $75 upgrade you can make on an Xbox360?
My XBOX is currently in TX being repaired. It took me 4 phone calls just to set up the repair. Like other folks here, I was told their system was down and to call back to finish it. Rediculous! Hopefully they'll actually fix the thing.
I don't know how much this will help, but I have a suggestion.
If you have the UPS shipping label or the tracking number from either your original shipment to Microsoft or from when they sent it back to you, give it to them(It starts with 1Z... and is at the bottom of the barcode on your shipping label). Either you or the CSR can track it and it should show exactly when the package was shipped and delivered. If you have a corresponding order number or RA number, this might help you further, since their internal system should have that info.
This is exactly why I own a PS3, I had a 360, tried playing Bioshock on it and it froze up numerous times, I finally just gave the thing away, waited for Bioshock on the PS3 and it never froze once and I'm almost done with my second playthrough. (first time harvesting the little sisters, this time rescuing them)
My wife suggested that if MS claims to have your xbox then say fine, ship it back to me when it gets repair and when they dont complain asking where is my xbox. If they do ship it back now you have two so open a new ticket for the busted one. LOL.
![\"user-pic\"](\"/mt-static/support/assets_c/userpics/userpic-430750-100x100.png\")
I had an interesting issue with an Xbox repair earlier this year.
Picture it, Valentine's Day, 2008. There I stood in front of my Xbox 360 with Lost Odyssey in hand. I hit the power button, ready to experience some JRPG awesomeness, and see the Red Ring of Death.
I call MS, the girl on the other end has me try some things (securing connectors, checking the color of the LED on the power brick, etc) and she concludes my 360 is dead and I need a new power brick.
Two days later a box arrives with instructions on how to package the 360 console with power brick and after doing so I drop it off at FedEx Kinko's.
The day before St. Patrick's Day there's a package waiting for me at my apartment complex's office. I rush over there, pick it up, rush back home, open the box, and am shocked to see the console. No power brick, just the console!
Confused, I call 1-800-4-My-Xbox and the guy on the other end apologizes, explains that the Texas repair center ran out of power bricks, and says the repair center will ship me one as soon as their stock is replenished. I asked him how long it would take and he said I should have it within a week.
Two weeks go by, no power brick. I call the 1-800 number again and get a very rude girl who questions my story! Gritting my teeth, I offer to e-mail her photos of the instructions which clearly state how to package the 360 console with power brick, give her the date and time of the original phone call, and make it very clear to her that my patience concerning this matter has run out, considering it had been nearly six weeks since my 360 died.
She puts me on hold for a minute or so, comes back, and tells me she'll have a power brick sent but in the future I shouldn't send in my power brick unless I'm told to do so. I reiterate that the first girl I talked to told me to send it, the box had instructions on how to package it, and I rightfully assumed that they wanted the defective power brick and would send me a new one.
She then hung up on me but two days later I got my power brick. The replacement unit has worked perfectly since, which makes me very happy.
Like another commenter said, the 360 has excellent software but crappy hardware and lackluster customer service.
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try to make a repair order on xbox.com and go to support-check repair status. Check to make sure that they have updated your account with the new serial number, as the box you get back is rarely the box you sent in. If you do it via xbox.com they should email you a usp tag, at least that is what they did for me.
@full.tang.halo: I recently had the same problem with my xbox. SAME EXACT CRAP! After getting the run around I asked to speak with a higher up. After explaining the situation. They overnighted me a pre-lableled shipping box. Got my Xbox back 7 days later.
HOpe this helps.