MS to spend a billion dollars on XBox repairs

[lord of the mark]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070706/ap_on_hi_te/microsoft_xbox_warranty_15

[lord of the mark]

Re: MS to spend a billion dollars on XBox repairs

Originally posted by lord of the mark
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070706/...ox_warranty_15

also admits sales of the console have fallen short of expectations.

[snoopy369]

I have to say that $1b seems rather high... I mean, that's what, 3 million xbox360s? I can't imagine the QA process would've missed THAT many.

[lord of the mark]

Originally posted by snoopy369
I have to say that $1b seems rather high... I mean, that's what, 3 million xbox360s? I can't imagine the QA process would've missed THAT many.

theyre extending the warranties, so its the total installed base times the actuarial value of the warranty extensions, i guess.

[Nostromo]

I already posted this in the tech forum. But since its pretty much dead, posting it here was a good idea.

Microsoft did what they had to do. The situation was getting ridiculous and was about to get out of hand. Man the people responsible for this mess are so fired...

Here's the letter Peter Moore wrote to Xbox customers.

To our Xbox Community:

You've spoken, and we’ve heard you. Good service and a good customer experience are areas of the business that we care deeply about. And frankly, we've not been doing a good enough job.

Some of you have expressed frustration with the customer experiences you have had with Xbox 360; frustration with having to return your console for service after receiving the general hardware error message on the console.

The majority of customers who own Xbox 360 consoles have had a terrific experience from their first day, and continue to, day in and day out. But when anyone questions the reliability of our product, or our commitment to our customers, it's something I take very seriously.

We have been following this issue closely, and with on-going testing have identified several factors that can cause a general hardware failure indicated by three flashing red lights on the console. To address this issue, and as part of our ongoing work, we have already made certain improvements to the console.

We are also implementing some important policy changes intended to keep you in the game, worry-free.

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. In doing so, Microsoft stands behind its products and takes responsibility to ensure that every Xbox 360 console owner continues to have a fantastic gaming experience.

If we have let any of you down in the experience you have had with your Xbox 360, we sincerely apologize. We are taking responsibility and are making these changes to ensure that every Xbox 360 owner continues to have a great experience.

This will take a few days to roll out globally, and I appreciate your continued patience as we launch this program. I've posted an FAQ that should address some additional questions, and we'll update it over the next few days.

I want to thank you, on behalf of all us at Microsoft, for your loyalty.

[Kloreep]

Originally posted by snoopy369
I have to say that $1b seems rather high... I mean, that's what, 3 million xbox360s? I can't imagine the QA process would've missed THAT many.

A lot of estimates of XBox failure (most of which are the variety signalled by the Red Rings of Death) seem to fall around a whopping rate of 1/3, and they have sold well over 10 million 360s now...

Re: QA, keep in mind that, so far as I've read (& seen), pretty much all 360s work fine out of the box. It's the longevity - whether they're still working six months or a year after first being plugged in - that seems to be of questionable quality.

At first I figured the 33% figure was a bit much. But with MS making successive steps up in its warranties while refusing to make any statements that could quell the rumors, I'm starting to wonder. Even if their data shows, say, a 20% failure rate, that's well under where the rumor mill is currently placing it at, and one would think they would go public with that figure given some of the bad press they've had lately.

[gjramsey]

My first one died with the red ring of death right after the 6 month mark.

What MS is doing now is going to make things more confusing, I believe. The 3 year extended warranty is only for the 3 Red Rings of Death. Any other failures still have only 1 year coverage. So my extended warranty is either 3 years or 5 years (I think), depending on what the next failure is.

[ZargonX]

This is also an excellent way of staving off any potentially annoying and costly class-action lawsuits down the road.

[DrSpike]

I cannot wait to see Asher's excuse.

[Kuciwalker]

Don't hold your breath.

[asleepathewheel]

3 year warranty is nice.

I'd rather have a reliable machine.

This is all over the news, we'll see how it carries over through H3 and the holidays. I think a lot of parents, if they remember this, will be quite leary of the purchase.

[LordShiva]

Originally posted by asleepathewheel
H3

[asleepathewheel]

halo3?

I her its gunna be big

[LordShiva]

Oh. Yeah.

[DrSpike]

Originally posted by DrSpike
I cannot wait to see Asher's excuse.

Posted before I visited A/C yesterday.