Better than expected: Xbox customer support
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Like lots and lots and lots and lots and lots of other people I’m experiencing Xbox 360 freezes after updating my dashboard with the 2007 Spring Update (I know we’re in Autumn but the US is in Spring) from Microsoft. Last night I received the RROD for the first time.
This morning I logged a service call with Xbox customer support and surprise, surprise I was talking to an Indian lady at the call centre. To be fair, the experience was much less painful than I expected and it makes complete sense to have the cheap labour on the frontlines, especially when all they’re doing is initiating console returns.
… and that’s what’s happening to me. I registered my console with her and explained the problem and how I thought it was clearly linked to the recent Spring Update. She took my details and said I’d have a postage slip emailed to me within 48 hours. I’m always nervous when I have to give my email address over the phone: “emm, ell, aigh, emm, bee, aii, ee, at, ell, aigh, emm, bee, aii, ee, dot, org” – what a hassle.
So less than 24 hours away from the Halo 3 beta and I have to box my console up and send it in to get repaired. Great.
I’m going to be certain that I tape an A4 sheet to the console clearly explaining that I only received the RROD once and that the console locks up hard after 2-10 minutes of activity otherwise I know that it’ll be powered on and because it boots OK the techie will determine that it works fine and return it. It’s not fine; it’s very sick. Please make it well again.
How long have you had your Xbox 360 for? I’ve been trough the process… twice. Don’t expect to see your console again for at least a month.
I’ve had it since mid-September so it’s about 8 months old. Did your warranty get “reset” when you sent your in for repair, and is it the same Xbox returned to you or did you get a whole new one?
Their standards are disgusting.
I got mine a couple weeks before you got yours. It first died (RROD) around mid November. The same console I sent was repaired (I’d still like to know what they “fixed”) and I received it a few days before Christmas. Then, less than three weeks later, the DVD drive started refusing to recognise discs. I.e. I’d load a disc and the dashboard would tell me the tray was empty.
After explaining to the Indian on the other end of the phone that the console was less than 6 months old -and- it had just come back from the service centre, they still refused to issue me with a new unit. I ended up going back to the place of purchase (Target) and demanding a new console under their “100% happy” policy. Usually they just perform the same Xbox customer service procedure on behalf of the customer. I even managed to keep my original hard drive containing downloaded content and, more importantly, game saves. They issued a new reciept with the new console, so I consider that to be a warranty reset. Fortunately I have yet to test that claim.
Now that the hard drive is connected to different console, all of my XBLM content purchased on the original console will only work when I’m signed into Live. But that’s a different story.
I could write pages about my experience with customer “service”, but I’ll spare you the rant. Needless to say it was below expectation.
Jason: If you returned a broken console for a new console and new receipt (at Target), why would you be uncertain about it having a new warranty?
Matt: I think it was more work typing out your email address as you would pronounce it, rather than actually saying it ;)
I am selling my second xbox tomorrow, so you can’t have that one anymore ;)
The reciept is clearly marked as one issued for a return/replacement. It has no indication of the original purchase date, so I suppose that works in its favour.
Given the amount of rigmorol I went through to get them to swap the broken one for a new one in the first place, plus previous run-ins with the Target returns counter, it wouldn’t surprise me if they made it difficult again.