Microsoft Extends Xbox 360 Warranty Coverage

360 News | Dropping over US$1 billion to deal with hardware failures.

After months of denials that there was ever any issue, Microsoft has finally admitted there are systemic hardware problems with its Xbox 360 consoles, and they have taken the dramatic step of extending the console's warranty yet again. Originally coming with a three month warranty in the US, in the face of problems with launch systems, the official warranty was extended to one whole year. And now, due to continuing widespread hardware problems, Microsoft has extended the warranty again, to a full three years for all Xbox 360 consoles worldwide.

In a press release issued on the Microsoft website, the company states that "Any Xbox 360 customer who experiences a general hardware failure indicated by three flashing red lights will now be covered by a three year warranty from date of purchase. All other existing Xbox 360 warranty policies remain in place...For any customer who has previously paid for repair expenses related to the three flashing lights error message on the Xbox 360 console, Microsoft will retroactively reimburse them".

Even in the face of such a massive about-face on the issue, there is still some company line touting, with current Xbox head man Robbie Bach saying the usual “The majority of Xbox 360 owners are having a great experience with their console and have from day one", though he continues "this problem has caused frustration for some of our customers and for that, we sincerely apologize.”

The program is expected to cost Microsoft more then a billion US dollars, which may eat into Bach's optimistic plans to achieve some sort of profitability for the Xbox division by 2008 (although this $1 billion charge has been stealthily applied to the 2007 financial year to keep 2008 clean and sparkling for investors). To date, the Xbox and Xbox 360 have made a net loss of more then six billion US dollars for Microsoft, including a $US315 million loss for the quarter ending March 31st 2007.

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28 Comments

ugh the boot

2 years ago

Yea good on Microsoft, I know it's a huge hit to the whole project (another billion dollars spent/unrecovered) but imo an essential step to keeping customer's happy. It's only very recently Microsoft have actually managed to put a dent in Sony's plans but it's also the time when the 360 hardware debacle has really cost them....so really to keep these customer's happy and confident in their investment it's imperitive Microsoft do this. I actually forgive them for their hardware mistakes now and I think a lot of people will too because 3 years is ages to have a console under warranty.....hell i'll be glad if my Ps3 actually lasts that long.

Awesome Microsoft and you've regained my faith in your console and business strategies.

One thing I would like to know is does this '3 year warranty' only cover the 3 red-rings? Because my console never had that problem it just had a disc drive which would not recognise games discs and would sometimes scratch them up so technically still a hardware fault but nothing to do with the 3 red rings, so i'm wondering if consumer's will still have their machine fixed for free if these problems are still hardware related but don't display the 3 red rings? I sure hope so (even though mine has already been fixed free of charge).

SMASHED

2 years ago

Good on you Microsoft, I didn't think that they would do this.

Jellyfish

2 years ago

SMASHED wrote

Good on you Microsoft, I didn't think that they would do this.

They were always going to do this. It was just a question of when. There is a class-action lawsuit in America pending against them, and after that monopoly business. Microsoft aren't too popular in courts

realitybites

2 years ago

It is good news for XBox 360 fans.

Also you have to give MS credit for taking the hit. Yes, they pretty much had too with the publicity mounting but conceivably it could of been curtains for them not only this generation but any future generation if they had not.

Seriously, I expected sales of 360s to dry up and hence developer support too.

MS engineers still need to address the noisy drive in my honest opinion. Its way too noisy and so was the the original PS2 as well so I'm not just picking on MS.

Brendo

2 years ago

that's awesome. i just bought a 360 yesterday and was going to pay EB an extra $80 to extend the warranty an extra year. phew!

Infested Jibbs

2 years ago

Man i hate when this happens, soemone starts a thread about soemthing, gets about 10-15 posts, then palgn posts the same news artircle later on, all official like, and then the conversation starts again, it's a **** having two running commentaries in two different threads about the one topic.

/rant

Luke

2 years ago

^ Possible Solution:
Don't write anything?

bradc1988

2 years ago

Merge threads idk

I'm just a little pissed I got mine about a month ago and got the extended warranty after hearing about all these problems.

$80 wasted perhaps.

bluejay

2 years ago

on the plus side - your warranty can be used to get an instant replacement from EB - right? we'll probably still have to wait 2-6 weeks to get a replacement/repair.

Mojo

2 years ago

ugh the boot wrote

One thing I would like to know is does this '3 year warranty' only cover the 3 red-rings? Because my console never had that problem it just had a disc drive which would not recognise games discs and would sometimes scratch them up so technically still a hardware fault but nothing to do with the 3 red rings, so i'm wondering if consumer's will still have their machine fixed for free if these problems are still hardware related but don't display the 3 red rings? I sure hope so (even though mine has already been fixed free of charge).

It's only on the 3 red lights. Everything else is still just 1 year.

Newbie

2 years ago

Jibbs wrote

Man i hate when this happens, soemone starts a thread about soemthing, gets about 10-15 posts, then PALGN posts the same news artircle later on, all official like, and then the conversation starts again, it's a s*** having two running commentaries in two different threads about the one topic.

/rant

I like this topic better coz no one has pulled the old "M$" chestnut yet.

But on topic this is great news, personally had my 360 since Aus launch and never had any issues luckily, but always been worried about it after all the threads ive seen on the net. Now I can sleep easier so to speak!

bradc1988

2 years ago

bluejay wrote

on the plus side - your warranty can be used to get an instant replacement from EB - right? we'll probably still have to wait 2-6 weeks to get a replacement/repair.

I think that's how it works.

Denny

2 years ago

Now I feel safe with my 360.

bluejay

2 years ago

just don't get any Idea's, and try to get too safe with it (vague reference to the duct taped PS3 thread...)

Denny

2 years ago

bluejay wrote

just don't get any Idea's, and try to get too safe with it (vague reference to the duct taped PS3 thread...)

Nah duct tape is weak. Masking tape I've found more effective.

killer1500

2 years ago

I hope they extend this to Australia. I would be kinda annoyed if I had shelled out for an extended warranty now though.

Andrew Cathie

2 years ago

killer1500 wrote

I hope they extend this to Australia. I would be kinda annoyed if I had shelled out for an extended warranty now though.

It's already been confirmed as worldwide in the article and also further up in the comments.

2 years ago

I am so pleased to hear this as I really believe this is the right thing to do. It's better in the long run to come clean and take responsibility as it removes any clouds of doubt. Continued denial would only have lead to loss in reputation & consumer trust in the brand as well as messy class actions - an avenue taken in two separate instances over PS2 DVD problems..I have no issue with a vendor being frank about a technical problem so long as they identify it openly & mean to take care of the fault.

Personally I'd like to see three year warranties become the norm for consoles as the total investment in proprietary hardware, accessories & software is considerable. My clock radio came with a 5 year warranty & my TV, HiFi, PC, refrigerator & microwave all came with 3 year warranties so why shouldn't my expensive PS3, X360, & Wii console?

Good on you Microsoft - I like the Xbox 360 quite a bit more now!

Echo

2 years ago

Damn. I, for one, think of this as bad news, as the problems people have been having with the 360 have been a major factor in convincing myself not to buy one. (I need the cash for other stuff)

But all the same good on Microsoft for this...

DancesInUnderwear

2 years ago

So what happens with my extended warranty at EB? Does this overlap with it, or will it be pushed back?

Qbert

2 years ago

Awesome news, definatly getting a 360 by years end now.

brad_sickness

2 years ago

DancesInUnderwear wrote

So what happens with my extended warranty at EB? Does this overlap with it, or will it be pushed back?

I don't know but I for one, think they should give you extra time... it's what you bloody-well paid for.

Does the EB extended warranty say "x amount of years extended on top of MS warranty" or does it actually say "x amount of years from date of purchase"?

I'm sure that could be used against them in your favour if it's the first option.

bradc1988

2 years ago

Oh yeah I didn't even think of that.

But M$ original warranty was a year, so if anything EB's would only be a year on top of M$ warranty, not two.

Someone go to EB and find out! I wouldn't mind that $80 meaning I get a 4 or 5 year warranty.

tbh I agree with that poster who was saying that white goods and appliances and such get 3-5 year manufacturer warranties, why don't consoles?

DancesInUnderwear

2 years ago

If I'm reading the right thing, the EB warranty says "...shall begin on the date of equipment purchase and will end on the sixth, twelfth, or tewnty-fourth (sic) month anniversary of that purchase". So it looks like, at least based on that, that it won't be added to the end, and will instead 'double up', but I don't know enough about this kind of stuff to say for sure.

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