Well, there’s absolutely no data to prove that… But honestly I don’t see people laying out $200 for what is essentially an extended warranty.
I do agree that MS needs to address this issue head on. Welcome to the business of electronics boys. It ain’t just mice and keyboards anymore…
Realistically, MS did pretty much the reasonable thing:
They’ve done both of these. Admitting hardware problems publicly is the wrong response - it turns a forum topic that only a few people read into something that actually shows up in your local newspaper, and that really would affect sales.
Believe me, as annoying as it is to be without your 360 for a few weeks, the hardware failures are hurting Microsoft even more, as processing replacements costs real money. They’re definitely motivated to resolve this - it’s not like they’re selling the 360 at a profit.
Edit:
Really? Is there some implied warranty that Microsoft is violating? Why do you think there’s grounds for a lawsuit? I’m not a lawyer, so I’m asking out of curiosity more than anything else.
Really? Is there some implied warranty that Microsoft is violating? Why do you think there’s grounds for a lawsuit? I’m not a lawyer, so I’m asking out of curiosity more than anything else.
Isn’t there an implied agreement that if I give you money for a product, it will work as advertised?
Welcome to the business of electronics boys. It ain’t just mice and keyboards anymore…
But the thing is, they KNOW that. The first XBox had nowhere near this level of failure - in fact, my original one from launch day still works great.
Isn’t there an implied agreement that if I give you money for a product, it will work as advertised?
Absolutely - does a 12 month warranty not discharge their responsibilities?
I’m not saying that the hardware doesn’t suck - there’s clearly a problem and as a consumer, a console with a life expectancy of less than 3 years is unacceptable. I’m just wondering what kind of quality bar they are legally obligated to hit.
Apart from those shitty Thomson DVD drives.
No, there isn’t. But that’s the impression people have.
You sir, suck at statistics. It doesn’t take too high of a failure rate before some unlucky outliers creep in. Randomness is not evenly distributed.
I wonder if Microsoft has known about this all along, and made a conscious decision to cut corners to keep the 360’s price low enough to undercut PS3? Seems to be working pretty out that way so far, regardless of whether it was the original plan. I’m certainly not in a rush to buy one, but probably would if they were reliable.
Both of my 360s that failed were as ventilated as they could’ve possibly been. Both failed in exactly the same way. There’s not a single thing I could’ve done better to keep them from failing, short of opening them up and resoldering and reseating everything.
They’re obligated to hit whatever quality bar a bunch of highly motivated class action plaintiff’s attorneys can convince a judge is the norm in the consumer electronics industry.
Guaranteed, it’s a higher quality bar than they’ve hit so far.
The class action clock will start ticking once a lot of 360s go out of warranty and red-ring. That’s when people will start comparing notes about how much money Microsoft is demanding they spend to fix their hardware. Couple that with the records many of those people will have about how many warranty repairs were needed, and it’d be a slam dunk case.
Microsoft is probably going to ultimately have to keep almost all first-generation 360s in warranty until they can be replaced with the improved design, otherwise it’s class action city. I am positive there are already lawyers sniffing around this.
Exagerate much? Even if this made it to class action, beyond a new 360 or a refund what other damages can you claim? Pain and suffering?
Well, you do that unless you’re Nintendo…
In July 1983, Nintendo released their Famicom (Family Computer) system in Japan, which was their first attempt at a cartridge-based video game console. The system was a booming success, selling over 500,000 units within two months. The console was also technically superior and inexpensive when compared to its competitors, priced at about $100 USD. However, after a few months of the consoles selling well, Nintendo received complaints that some Famicom consoles would freeze when the player attempted to play certain games. The fault was found in a malfunctioning chip and Nintendo decided to recall all Famicom units currently on store shelves, which cost them almost half a million USD.
Plenty of other cites are available if you google “Famicom recall”.
Yamauchi is often cited as being a ruthless businessman, maybe one of the most ruthless in the history of this industry, and even he decided to recall his faulty product and repair/replace it free of charge to consumers.
So, does this give you the right to sue for any defective product?
Yeah, because it’s better for them to have to pay for all the warranty processing than to try to sell a product that is more reliable…
I uh…Perhaps you misquoted me?
The only time I used the word recall was in the usage of remembering…recalling something from memory. I’m not pressing for a recall because it’s not like we’re driving a car. I’m just saying…this was really crappy QA by MS.
I put it in a TV Stand (confined space) with a closed glass front door. Even though the manual expressely says not to do this. I chalk that up to user error or lack of sleep from having small children. Your choice.
Though I guess I should stop slathering gravy all over my newest 360, now that you mention it. I only do it because when the unit gets all hot, the smell of hot gravy fills my house. Delicious.
yeah im also still surprised at how such a devastating defect made it out the door. but then again virtually all consoles have a fairly serious flaw (ps2 disc read error, xbox drives/bricks, ps1 overheats, terrible NES loading tray) its all a matter of how debilitating/inconvenient the defect is. Obviously on the 360 its a dealbreaker.
There will eventually be a class-action (heck there may be several attempts at one floating around as it is). If Nintendo got nailed for price fixing on the original NES (anyone else remember getting their $5 check?) you can bet this has a lot more people far more upset. At least MS’s effort to extend warranties and provide replacements will go a long way into helping their case.
I think that’s all it would take to make Bill cry. If every 360 owner to date needed a refund or replacement? That’s essentially tripling or quadrupling their losses on the 360 thus far. And the longer it goes on, the bigger the liability is. Pain and suffering… probably not, but it depends on how bad the situation gets a year from now if MS lets warranties expire.
They’d sure as hell better get the hardware redesign right.
The fact that there hasn’t been a hardware redesign at this point is what scares me.
At best they just started making improvements this month though. And from what I’ve heard you still can’t get a 360 new with the upgraded heatsinks, you only get them after sending in your bricked system.
Who knows for sure though? I wouldn’t open up a new 360 to check.