Here’s the situation: On June 14, 2007 I purchased a refurbished Xbox 360 on eBay. The system came with a two-year extended warranty, which extended into the summer of 2009. Immediately after purchasing the system, I called Microsoft to transfer the information of ownership to my name.
The system needed a small repair, as the system would not sync with any wireless controllers or devices. The first time I sent the system in for repair, the problem was not fixed, even though the paperwork said it was. I decided to hold off on sending the system back for a while and play with a wired controller instead.
Around late January to early February I sent the console back to have this defect repaired. Microsoft had the console for approximately three weeks, and then returned the console to me. I hooked the system up, and much to my happiness everything seemed to be working fine. Sadly, that did not last long. Within a week, I began receiving an error message (error E64) when powering on the console. This error was accompanied by a red flashing light in the 4th quadrant of the “Ring of Light”. Naturally, I called Microsoft back at 1-800-4-MY-XBOX, and setup the process of having my system sent in for repair again.
This time however, I received the system back unusually quick—within just a week—accompanied by a letter stating that my console was not repaired due to “damage excluded from that covered by the Xbox Limited Warranty.” Immediately I called the Xbox call center to find out what the reasoning was that excluded my system from coverage. After discussing the issue with a customer service representative, and waiting a week for a return phone call with the results of the investigation, I was told that my system was rejected due to tampering.
As you can imagine, this came as quite a surprise to me. Namely, who tampered with the system? Over the previous month and a half, the system was in the possession of Microsoft, and only in my possession for merely a week of that time. After a day’s worth of contemplation and discussion with fellow Xbox owners, I decided to call Microsoft back and request a more thorough explanation, along with requesting that Microsoft honor the Extended Warranty and repair the console. After speaking with multiple representatives, I was told by a supervisor named Joseph that the system has been “tagged” as tampered, and thus any attempts to send in the console for repair would result in the system being immediately returned to me unrepaired. When I asked Joseph how the system had been allegedly tampered with, he told me two areas were documented as tampered: the sticker under the front faceplate had been ripped, and the serial number plate had been defaced and scratched.
After examining the system, I’m left at a loss. The front sticker, as you can see in photograph A, is in perfect shape. There are no signs of wearing, tearing, ripping, or any other damage to this sticker. On the rear plate that contains the system serial number and information, there is a slight vertical scratch that does not disfigure the serial number at all, as can be seen in photograph B. In fact, the large serial number and barcode remains untouched. It is my understanding that the front sticker would be ripped if the system was opened, and the sticker is clearly in one piece. It is also my understanding tampering with the serial number is a matter of protection from stolen items—in which case a thief would scratch out the entire serial number, not merely put a slight, razor-thin vertical scratch on the plate. The only possibility in my mind for any blemishes to the system would stem from the previous repair, in which the repair technician would have had to open the front of the system (near the sticker) in order to replace the wireless sensor. There were no previous problems with tampering when the system was sent in for earlier repairs—including the repair that was returned just a week before the system was sent back.
Lastly, there is no logical reason for me to have opened the system on my own. To purchase an Extended Warranty—which guarantees free repair of the system—and then open the system myself, thus voiding the warranty, would be foolish.
but that's what they said...
