You're mildly screwed, but we'll help you out...

Sk8erlink7

Sk8erlink7

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I camp outside in the cold for twelve hours to get my hands on an Xbox 360, only to see it break in two weeks. After a month of hassling with Microsoft and DHL to get my 360 fixed, I finally get a replacement system. All seems well for a week, until massive freezing occurs. So I send my system back in to Microsoft a second time, only to get royally screwed in the end.

I received my third system last night. I opened up the box and saw a tattered 360 inside. I could tell this was a refurbished system based on the few brown scratches in certain areas of the system and the fact that it was manufactured on November 15, 2005. But as long as it played well, I was fine with it.

I boot up the system, everything seems fine. For some odd reason, however, the system fails to log me onto XBL automatically. So I try to manually log on, but it says that I fail to connect to XBL. It says something about being connected locally but I can't play on Live. I keep trying, and keep trying. Maybe it's just my connection, I thought to myself. After testing my connection multiple times, my hopes of connecting to XBL turn out fruitless. I try and consol my fears of having to ship off my 360 for a third time by saying to myself "maybe it will work tomorrow."

Unfortunately, it was still doing the same thing today. I eventually call Microsoft and talk to a customer service rep. Once I tell him my problem, he immediately gives me a solution. "All you have to do is recover your Gamertag." All right, this might just work! Wait... the problem is connecting to XBL... how can I recover my Gamertag if I can't even sign on to XBL in the first place? Nevertheless, I attempt it. Just as I thought, it doesn't work.

So I call back. This time I talk to someone who gives me a far worse answer to my problem. The customer service woman tells me that this is a known problem in refurbished systems, one they are working to try and fix. She said they haven't discovered how to fix it yet, so I need to just wait until they do. WTF?!!!! I'm usually a pretty calm guy, but this just pushed me over the limit. So I'm supposed to just sit here with a practically unplayable piece of crap you call an Xbox 360 and wait until you dumbasses figure out how to fix your mistakes? I'm supposed to just let my Xbox Live subscription go to waste because you made the mistake of sending me a system that contains a known defect? I'm sorry, but this pisses me off to no end.

Once I borrow my friend's memory card so I can transfer all my saves to my second HDD, I'm taking this thing back to Best Buy and getting my money back. I'll buy another 360 once I hear the bugs have been fixed. Until then, I just want to say fuck you Microsoft.

Please note that this is coming from a guy who absolutely loves the Xbox 360. The Xbox 360 would absolutely kick ass were it not for these problems. Just a warning for all of you who sent in their systems and got a refurb back. If you did and you're having problems, I'll go ahead and take the liberty to say what Microsoft will say: "Thanks for your money, now screw you."

***EDIT: Although it seemed as if Microsoft was unwilling to help me at first (or at least one lazy employee), they pulled through in the end and got me a working system, along with a free wireless controller and 1000 Marketplace points. It took a bit of time, but that's really no problem since I got a perfectly working system. As far as taking it back to Best Buy goes, I've officially exceeded my 90-day manufacturer warranty, meaning that if I have any problems from here on out I'll have to deal with Best Buy directly.
 
You're a jerk for taking it back to Best Buy when it's refurbished.

Unfortunate situation? Absolutely. But you don't have to be a dick to some other guy who's going to try to get a 360.. who knows what they do with returned 360s. I'd be willing to bet that they'll try to resell it based on demand.
 
[quote name='Scorch']You're a jerk for taking it back to Best Buy when it's refurbished.

Unfortunate situation? Absolutely. But you don't have to be a dick to some other guy who's going to try to get a 360.. who knows what they do with returned 360s. I'd be willing to bet that they'll try to resell it based on demand.[/QUOTE]
They get sent back to MS.

He's perfectly within his rights to get his money back. He's dissatisfied with the product. They might not take it back, if they check to see if the serial number matches the one he bought, but they should.

I'm glad I haven't had any problems with mine. You could try sending it back again to MS.
 
That blows. But atleast MS attempted to fix most of your problems. They should give you a refund for a new live subscription and carry on with a new gamertag.
 
Oh, well if they're sending it back to MS, yeah, that's fine. I thought he was going to try to take it back and pull a fast one, like he got it for a gift and already had one and wanted money back or something.

Okay, OP's not a jerk.
 
[quote name='dafoomie']They get sent back to MS.

He's perfectly within his rights to get his money back. He's dissatisfied with the product. They might not take it back, if they check to see if the serial number matches the one he bought, but they should.

I'm glad I haven't had any problems with mine. You could try sending it back again to MS.[/QUOTE] I tried to get another repair order, but the customer service rep. just told me to wait it out. I'll call back tomorrow and talk to a supervisor.
 
MS screwed me over Royal with my Xbox live subscription. I had mine set to monthly in the dash because CC has the buy a xbox live kit get a free game sale every once in a while. So anyway when I bought my 360 the system changed my settings to yearly and charged me the $50 that day. I called ,they acted dumb and sent me to another guy who knew it was a problem and told me "I can TRY to get you a prorated amount back but I cant promise anything". 2 months later NO refund at all.
 
Might you have trouble returning it to Best Buy since the serial number on the console won't match the one on the receipt?
 
[quote name='nwaugh']Might you have trouble returning it to Best Buy since the serial number on the console won't match the one on the receipt?[/QUOTE]
That's what I was thinking. I really doubt they will let you return it OP. Your best bet would be to call up Microsoft again.
 
I had a similar problem with not being able to connect to xbox live. Recovering my gamertag worked for me, but I had to jump through a few hoops before I did it. It says it will delete saved games if you recover your gamertag, so I went out and bought a memory card. I tried transferring my PDZ save onto the memory card, but it wouldn't let me. I just said screw it and recovered it without doing anything and my saved games and everything was still there afterwards. Waist of buying a memory card. I even called MS and they were all like, yeah yeah that is the only way it will work.
 
[quote name='Scorch']You're a jerk for taking it back to Best Buy when it's refurbished.[/quote]

What's the difference between returning the first or this one? Neither were his fault.
 
[quote name='dafoomie']They get sent back to MS.

He's perfectly within his rights to get his money back. He's dissatisfied with the product. They might not take it back, if they check to see if the serial number matches the one he bought, but they should.

[/QUOTE]

Why should they take it back exactly? The reason they take the serial numbers and only allow that one to be returned is pretty obvious I thought. Do you think no one has ever tried to buy something and then swap out that product with a broken one for a full refund? Think about it, all they are getting back is a broken 360 that WASN'T the one they sold him and now he wants a refund. If he was dissatisfied with THAT one then he should've taken THAT one back to them. Now all he takes them is a broken 360 that isn't the one he bought there, they don't know where it came from. What would you do if you sold something on ebay and then somebody wanted a refund because he says it's broke, but it's not really the same one you sold him? See what I'm getting at? I'm not trying to paint anyone as a criminal here obviously and the OP probably didn't even think of it this way, but I dunno if he's within his rights at all (in fact swapping out a product for a defective one could even be illegal, even if you sent it back because the first was defective). Now they maybe foolish to never check or even be kind enough to confirm something with MS that that particurly 360 had been sent back and then refund it, if so that's cool, but to be honest I don't see this as something they should do.
 
I went through (sort of) the same thing myself. Just yesterday I got my 3rd 360 (second replacement) back. So far so good, but I'm waiting until my next batch of Gamefly games comes through to be sure. The Mfg. date on this one is 12-23-05 so I think I'm safe this time.

I agree it's a totally shit situation, and I myself really thought about taking my 360 back and getting my money back until it seemed the problems were over. But when I called Circuit City to inquire, they basically told me that 30 days after the purchase date, they won't take it back no matter what, and if it's broken, to consult the manufacturer's warranty and talk to them about getting a replacement.

So after I knew I couldn't do it, it became a little easier to accept. The good news is until at least Feb. 22nd, I can keep sending 'em back if need be to get a replacement that works. And when you think about it, that's basically the same outcome you'd get if you got your money back and then bought a new 360 later. It just happens a lot quicker, although it's a big pain in the ass.

That and I just purchased the extended warranty....

What can ya do?
 
[quote name='The Truth']One of these posts is doing its own thing...... One of these posts just doesn't belong....[/QUOTE] :D





Good luck with Worst Buy man. Your gonna need it.
 
Well, I get mine back for the first time today...hopefully everything is ok. I know overheating was not my problem. I d/l the update and it fried my system...hopefully they fixed that.
 
I'm still waiting to get my Fed ex box from microsoft to send my xbox back to them. Called on Friday and they said should be here by Monday. Looks likes its going to be weeks beof
 
At least there shipping was fast....

When was the update a Monday? I got my box Wednesday, shipped it Thursday then I got it back on a Tuesday (but was not there to sign it)

So, a week turnaround is not HORRIBLY bad, but still frustrating that it died.
 
[quote name='alonzomourning23']What's the difference between returning the first or this one? Neither were his fault.[/QUOTE]

I think that the problem is that he would need to prove the situation. Otherwise, what's to stop him from buying a broken 360 on the market for say $150 then return it for a full refund of $400?
 
[quote name='Ecofreak']I think that the problem is that he would need to prove the situation. Otherwise, what's to stop him from buying a broken 360 on the market for say $150 then return it for a full refund of $400?[/QUOTE]

Nothing.. but who's Best Buy to say that his Xbox 360 didn't break within the first 3 months (or whatever) the warrenty period is? I get where you're coming from though, Best Buy has been full of sh*t recently.
 
Well, it sounds like almost ALL refurbs that are shipping out recently have this problem. Not sure if it had something to do with the update or not. A HUGE thread growing on this at XBOX.com. What a joke....sounds like we might have to send them back again.
 
Sounds like a firmware issue, They have to be flashing these units with a newer then ship bios trying to fix A:a fan problem B:a buggy bios from the getgo.
 
She said they haven't discovered how to fix it yet, so I need to just wait until they do. WTF?!!!! I'm usually a pretty calm guy, but this just pushed me over the limit. So I'm supposed to just sit here with a practically unplayable piece of crap you call an Xbox 360 and wait until you dumbasses figure out how to fix your mistakes?
Click to expand...

at least they're trying to fix it. What do you want them to do? wave magic wand? hire magical elves? can't see this as more than whining.

now if MS refused to find a fix..... that's another story.
 
[quote name='Zoglog']at least they're trying to fix it. What do you want them to do? wave magic wand? hire magical elves? can't see this as more than whining.

now if MS refused to find a fix..... that's another story.[/QUOTE]

he sent it in many times already, if it wasnt fixed the first time they should not have sent it back in that condition, but rather a new unit should have been sent to him.
 
[quote name='Beana Blasta']thank god i didnt buy a xbox 360[/QUOTE]

Happens to all launch systems, DC use to overheat as well,PS2 had bad drives,Nintendo does pretty well for making sure their stuff works(pat on the back for Nintendo) Sure some DS owners got some dead pixels but atleast they replaced those systems, unlike Sony who told PSP people too bad so sad I got your money!
 
[quote name='Michaellvortega']Happens to all launch systems, DC use to overheat as well,PS2 had bad drives,Nintendo does pretty well for making sure their stuff works(pat on the back for Nintendo) Sure some DS owners got some dead pixels but atleast they replaced those systems, unlike Sony who told PSP people too bad so sad I got your money![/QUOTE]

i dont recall ps2 launching with a hard drive
 
Sorry to hear about your problems, but shipping incomplete products is microsoft's standard M.O. - look at their operating system and applications.
 
The final word from MS is that it will need to be sent back to MS to be repaired. All the recent refurb systems are like this.

Good luck returning the system to Best Buy. They track the serial number and when it doesn't match, you will have a lot of explaining to do.
 
[quote name='Zing']The final word from MS is that it will need to be sent back to MS to be repaired. All the recent refurb systems are like this.

Good luck returning the system to Best Buy. They track the serial number and when it doesn't match, you will have a lot of explaining to do.[/QUOTE] All I want is a system that works and doesn't look like someone took a piece of sandpaper to it. If Microsoft will send me yet another box, I guess I'll send it in. Although I have this sinking feeling that if I send it in, they will somehow send me back another refurb system that has the same problem.

I guess the reason why I want to take it to Best Buy is because I just don't trust taking it to Microsoft directly anymore. I have the 2 year extended warranty on my system at Best Buy, and it's really beginning to frighten me that Best Buy might not take my system back because I decided to go straight through Microsoft and they sent me a system with a different serial number. If they refuse to accept it, I guess I pretty much paid $50 for the warranty for no reason at all.

I really would rather not have to hassle with Best Buy, but the customer service rep. made it sound like the option of sending the system back to McAllen was simply out of the question.
 
[quote name='Sk8erlink7']All I want is a system that works and doesn't look like someone took a piece of sandpaper to it. If Microsoft will send me yet another box, I guess I'll send it in. Although I have this sinking feeling that if I send it in, they will somehow send me back another refurb system that has the same problem.

I guess the reason why I want to take it to Best Buy is because I just don't trust taking it to Microsoft directly anymore. I have the 2 year extended warranty on my system at Best Buy, and it's really beginning to frighten me that Best Buy might not take my system back because I decided to go straight through Microsoft and they sent me a system with a different serial number. If they refuse to accept it, I guess I pretty much paid $50 for the warranty for no reason at all.

I really would rather not have to hassle with Best Buy, but the customer service rep. made it sound like the option of sending the system back to McAllen was simply out of the question.[/QUOTE]

You "HAD" a two year agreement on the system you bought from best buy not the refurb you got back from MS. Yea you can get a profrated refund so do that right away man. Call the number on the yellow pamplet they gave you and they will send you a check. Good luck.
 
The letter I got back with my 360 said if you have an extended warranty with the retailer you bought it from, to call them and update them with the serial number of the new console. Not sure that means they'll definitely do it and then let you return it or give you a replacement, but it's worth a shot.
 
You people really scare me. I have a launch day system, and haven't had any major problems yet. Some freezing, had the profile problem, little stuff like that. Although the profile problem did totally fuck my acheivements and cost me my PDZ save, but it could have been a LOT worse. I'm just hoping it continues to not blow up/melt down. As to the OP, honestly, at this point, I would try taking it back to best buy, get your money, wait a couple of months for a new one, and be done with it. Yes, it totally sucks to be without one for a month or two, but it's better than having a refurbed piece of shit that doesn't work.
 
[quote name='Stuka']The letter I got back with my 360 said if you have an extended warranty with the retailer you bought it from, to call them and update them with the serial number of the new console. Not sure that means they'll definitely do it and then let you return it or give you a replacement, but it's worth a shot.[/QUOTE]

Very nice move on Microsoft's part. I hope that's standard for most companies! Should be.
 
After a month of hasseling around, I finally got my refurbished system back today. I am really hoping i won't have the same problems as you...but who knows. I also waited 13 hours outside in 0 degree weather (in wisconsin) to get mine and it reported dirty disk errors the second day i had it and it kept on freezing on me. I hope everything works out for ya man.
 
well, if I have to send it back again....I'll be pissed. I feel your pain OP. I'm sure I can bitch enough to get a free year of LIVE or free controller or free game....people are reporting they got that.
 
Wow that really sucks OP.........

I'm glad I spent the money and bought the extended warranty from Microsoft. I've never done that before for anything but I got the system free from Mt Dew and had to buy a replacement Xbox so I figured $60 was easily worth it for peace of mind. Now all these horror stories are filling the net..... LUCKILY mine is still running strong and it's been used alot.

*gotta find some wood to knock, BANG, on....*
 
[quote name='Mookyjooky']
If this one breaks, I'm pretty much done with gaming altogether. Just sell off everything I have and walk away. I love this hobby, but its a complete waste of time. People are going to college, playing music, and doing art... and I play video games. In the game of life, I'm losing as is.
[/QUOTE]


Alot of the people who post here go to college, play music, do art, have good jobs, loving women and a normal life. There is nothing wrong with unwinding and playing for a couple hours here and there. Moderation my dear boy.......
 
Yeah, I feel this thread may take a turn to the worse soon....but I have a GOOD job, I'm 26 and I still play video games. I realize that MS has some issues now that my 360 broke and they do NOT know how to fix the LIVE issue, but soon enough they will.
 
don't see why you're so suprised. my IBM drives died quite often and I had to send it back multiple times because they kept on sending back drives that died in 1 week or so. Everyone only sends back refurbs typically when it comes to large companies.
 
Well, I called Microsoft again today and they are overnighting me yet another box. I'll just mess with sending my 360 in for repairs until my 90 days is up. That way I can postpone messing with Best Buy for a bit.

I also managed to raise hell about not being able to play Xbox Live for so long and they put 1000 marketplace points in my account to compensate me.
 
So, you have to send it in AGAIN for this problem? I sure hope I don't have to send it back...if so, I will get MORE than 1000 points, I want a free controller like others are getting.
 
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