This crow tastes like crap

[Groundbeef]

Ok, Woochier,

I am sitting here eating a little bit of crow pie. My beloved XBOX 360 suffered the dreaded "freeze". I put it off for as long as I could but finally relented when it wouldn't work at all.

However, all is well that ends well. I called MS last Thursday.
The call went like this:

MS: Hello, how may I help you.
Me: My 360 keeps freezing up.
MS: (After the usual, turn it off, try again). Literally about 1 min into call she says, OK, we are going to get it fixed for you ASAP. We will send you a box to return yours in tomorrow. And as soon as we get it, and repair it, we send it back. No charge to you.
Me: Oh, ok.

Next day, DHL drops off return box. I filled it w/ 360 and hard drive, call DHL and request pickup that day.

Today I get an email from MS stating the repairs are finished and I will get it in 2-5 days.

At 10:30 AM UPS rings my doorbell and hands me a box from MS repair center.

I open it up, and it is a Brand New 360, minted on 1-18-06 according to the tag on the rear.

They even put my old Hard Drive on it, so my data wasn't lost!!

Runs like a champ, and I can't belive how fast the turn around was.

[Geoffcin]

Ok, Woochier,

I am sitting here eating a little bit of crow pie. My beloved XBOX 360 suffered the dreaded "freeze". I put it off for as long as I could but finally relented when it wouldn't work at all.

However, all is well that ends well. I called MS last Thursday.
The call went like this:

MS: Hello, how may I help you.
Me: My 360 keeps freezing up.
MS: (After the usual, turn it off, try again). Literally about 1 min into call she says, OK, we are going to get it fixed for you ASAP. We will send you a box to return yours in tomorrow. And as soon as we get it, and repair it, we send it back. No charge to you.
Me: Oh, ok.

Next day, DHL drops off return box. I filled it w/ 360 and hard drive, call DHL and request pickup that day.

Today I get an email from MS stating the repairs are finished and I will get it in 2-5 days.

At 10:30 AM UPS rings my doorbell and hands me a box from MS repair center.

I open it up, and it is a Brand New 360, minted on 1-18-06 according to the tag on the rear.

They even put my old Hard Drive on it, so my data wasn't lost!!

Runs like a champ, and I can't belive how fast the turn around was.

If they didn't make a bunch of toasters to start with?

[Resident Loser]

If they didn't make a bunch of toasters to start with?

...for a sufficient burn-in period...

jimHJJ(...in the traditional sense...)

[paul_pci]

And this is what drives me nuts about such matters. People such as I scream that Microsoft makes crap, sure they fix it, but it's still crap and there's no excuse, and then some fine gentleman such as yourself gets caught in this and becomes dazzles by the excellent customer service and turn around time that you completely forget that it was a failed product and there's no excuse for it. It's a classic bait and switch. Forget the failure and stand before this giant amazed at their return service. For someone like me, I focus on the failure. There's just no excuse. Get it right or leave us alone.

Addition: I simply don't know why people tolerate such business practices.

[Groundbeef]

Its not that the product was flawed on the whole. There were units that were defective, and MS is working to fix the problem.

With every product there are lemons. Thats why there are service stations everywhere for cars, and repair centers for appliances.

I was just pointing out that a 6 day turn-around is excellent. BTW the 360 is AWESOME. Just was playing Fight Night 3 today, and it is like watching a boxing match on TV. The resolution at 1080i on my plasma is unbelivable.

[topspeed]

Groundbeef,

It takes guts to admit your mistake, and you did it in pretty funny way.

However, as much as you're a MS fanboy, the bottom line is that so many of us have been burned by them that there's really nothing you can do or say that will change our opinion of the Evil Empire. They rushed a product to market before getting all the bugs out. Gee, that never happens with Microsoft :rolleyes: .

I've played with my neighbor's 360 and admit the graphics are stunning. I'm still waiting for the PS3 tho.

[Geoffcin]

there's really nothing you can do or say that will change our opinion of the Evil Empire. I'm still waiting for the PS3 tho.

If Microsoft is the Evil Empire, then SONY is the Fourth Reich.

I don't trust either of them. Especially after SONY put spyware into their CD's. I expect they will try something similar with the PS3.

[Woochifer]

Sorry to hear that your X360 went kaput. But, it is good to hear that you were able to get your X360 back in such a short turnaround ... and that the fault occurred within the warranty period. Now, if only MS can provide this kind of service with their software!

As topspeed mentioned, a lot of us have gotten burned by MS' persistent rush to get things to market in the past (my history with them goes all the way back to Word 3.0 for the Macintosh, which was more unstable and bug-ridden than most beta software I've used), so there's a lot of skepticism to overcome. QC is not their strongsuit, nor their priority. It's all about market share, and IMO the primary reason they're bending over backwards for X360 owners is because they don't hold a monopoly in the video game market. Somehow I get the impression that if MS attains a market share with console gaming similar to the ~90% levels that they command with desktop operating systems and business productivity software, they won't be nearly as accommodating.

[kexodusc]

Sorry to hear about the Xbox 360 woes...

The irony in the gaming console market is that the highest quality product is also the cheapest...Nintendo. But man, nobody would admit to owning one of those cube things because Nintendo is cute, made for kids, etc...

I've been burned by MS and Sony enough times that I hate both equally. I think the difference is when MS screws up, it usually costs people more time and money than when one of Sony's inventions bombs.

For some reason, I like my Xbox more than my PS2 though. I think it was Halo and the Star Wars games that did it for me...That and all the PS2 controllers I've owned seem to have usuable lifespans of 7 months. Grrrrrr.

I think I might end up buying both again, against my better judgement.

[Geoffcin]

Sorry to hear about the Xbox 360 woes...

The irony in the gaming console market is that the highest quality product is also the cheapest...Nintendo. But man, nobody would admit to owning one of those cube things because Nintendo is cute, made for kids, etc...

The unholy trinity of Xbox/PS2/GameCube.

The youngest one likes the GC a lot, but it's got the lowest rez graphics.

The best by far in both graphics, and sound is the Xbox. I have it configured to output 1080i via Component cables, and 5.1 audio via a toslink cable. I don't think many people have taken advantage of this capability in the original Xbox. My daughter also uses it as a mp3 jukebox, and it don't sound too bad.

[kexodusc]

The unholy trinity of Xbox/PS2/GameCube.

The youngest one likes the GC a lot, but it's got the lowest rez graphics.

The best by far in both graphics, and sound is the Xbox. I have it configured to output 1080i via Component cables, and 5.1 audio via a toslink cable. I don't think many people have taken advantage of this capability in the original Xbox. My daughter also uses it as a mp3 jukebox, and it don't sound too bad.

That's been my experience...w/component video cables and an optical cable, the games are just a better experience than my PS2.
I'm guessing the new consoles will be pretty much even in that regard. I haven't actually had time to check out the 360 yet. I'm always a late buyer when it comes to game consoles. I find myself with less time to play as I get older.
Hopefully when I have kids of my own I'll have more excuse to find the time.

[Geoffcin]

That's been my experience...w/component video cables and an optical cable, the games are just a better experience than my PS2.
I'm guessing the new consoles will be pretty much even in that regard .

In the graphics/sound dept. Although if the PS3 doesn't have a hard drive then it's going to be at a real disadvantage.

Already it's looking like the hardware is going to be a massive loss-leader for them, as it has been for MS.