Buying a refurbished/open-box 360...is it safe to do?

orko60

orko60

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Hello everyone. I am looking to pick up a 360 soon, but I want to get it as cheaply as possible. I have a few options; one would be to buy it from a local pawn shop where I can get it for about 200 bucks, or I could get one of the premiums that are being sold on ebay or amazon. Any of these options wouldn't get me any kind of official receipt, I'd imagine, so what if the thing were to red-ring on me? Would I be able to send it back to M-soft? Is the only way to be safe buying one, to get it through a regular retailer new, or am I okay buying a used one?

Also, where do you guys think is the cheapest place to get one?
 
[quote name='orko60']Hello everyone. I am looking to pick up a 360 soon, but I want to get it as cheaply as possible. I have a few options; one would be to buy it from a local pawn shop where I can get it for about 200 bucks, or I could get one of the premiums that are being sold on ebay or amazon. Any of these options wouldn't get me any kind of official receipt, I'd imagine, so what if the thing were to red-ring on me? Would I be able to send it back to M-soft? Is the only way to be safe buying one, to get it through a regular retailer new, or am I okay buying a used one?

Also, where do you guys think is the cheapest place to get one?[/QUOTE]


I bought my Premium refurbed from Microcenter last month for 249.99. It had a 2 year unlimited exchange promo with it as long as it was defective. Everything was pretty good until 28 days later when I got both the E79 (hard drive died), and RRoD. It was manufactured 6/06. I returned it and exchanged it for another unit. This was was made 7/06 and making a clanking noise when it boots, but other than that it is working good. I am not sure how long this one will last, but it's a safe bet that whatever happens, I can exchange it for another one when it dies up to two years. The Pre- 7/07's 360's will die eventually, question is when.
 
Well, I bought mine from EB Games a few weeks ago for 189.99 (for a console + wired controller - they have the HDD for 59.99 used as well). And maybe it was bad luck or who-knows-what, but mine broke within the first hour of playing it (not even in a game - the blade menu killed it). Luckily my repair process went fast as all hell and I got it back the day of Halo 3's release, so I couldn't be happier (hell, I wasn't gonna play it until then anyway, and it's like I got a month of Live for free for basically nothing)

I'd suggest getting it from them in all honesty. I know mine only actually cost me (and this is including the hard drive and a voice communicator as well as the console) about 80 bucks out of pocket, thanks to the various trade in deals they had going on a few weeks ago (10 extra on PS3/Wii games, 10 extra on 2 PSP/DS games, etc...). Even without using trade fodder like I did to bring down the cost (thank you Kmart and local mom-and-pop shops for that), 189.99 is a good price on it - and I think they have a year-extension on the warranty for like 19.99 or so.
 
[quote name='JJSP']If it red-rings, Microsoft doesn't ask for a receipt. They ask for the serial numbers.[/quote]

Yep, and on top of that, it isn't a problem if it was registered by the previous owner already. When I called about mine needing to be repaired, they just asked if I had bought it pre-owned, I told em yes and they changed the registration on it hassle-free.
 
I bought my 360 used from a friend to upgraded to an elite. It red ringed one day playing Bioshock and I had to call Microsoft. They asked for the serial number and sent me the return box, no problems.

So if you want a 360 for cheap, go for the pawnshop find. The worst that can happen is you have to call Microsoft and send it in. I dont regret getting mine on the cheap at all.
 
As long as you have a good warrantee that can last you as long as it takes for MS to fix their failure rate.

Also a warrantee that is extendable when you replace your Xbox is a good idea.
 
Yep, go for it. I'd recommend that the store offer at least a 30-day exchange policy so if it red-rings, turns out to have been modded, etc you don't have to go through MS or be stuck with a console that won't work on XBL.
 
Thanks for the advice, guys! I will probably go with the used or refurb one, considering it uses the serial number, rather than any kind of receipt.
 
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