Microsoft sued over scratched 360 discs

360 News | There goes the bandwagon - care to jump on?

Microsoft just can't get a break with alleged 360 reliability problems. Even though they've dropped a cool billion through extending the warranty to three years globally, it's still not enough. Their latest issue is a class-action lawsuit on the grounds that the 360 damages game discs.

The Washington Post reports that approval was given early this week on Monday for a suit in the District Court of southern Florida. Jorge Brouwer, the plaintiff in the case, alleges that two of his games (Gears of War and Madden NFL 07) stopped working shortly after buying his brand new Xbox 360. Microsoft customer support allegedly would not acknowledge any potential issue with the console itself.

Being rather unhappy with the situation, he's now asking for $5 million in damages.

The suit also alleges that the problem is not isolated to the US - it references a Dutch television program earlier in the year that demonstrated scratched 360 discs through lab tests. Apparently he found the results on Wikipedia, but hasn't had a chance yet to verify them.

Microsoft's response was pretty direct, with spokesman Jack Evans saying, "Out of the millions of Xbox consoles in use, Microsoft has not received any widespread reports of Xbox 360s scratching discs." He also added that Microsoft would replace any first party games for US$20 and that Microsoft was more than willing to examine any Xbox 360 console for any manufacturing issues that may lead to scratched discs.

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36 Comments

Gtpod

4 years ago

A few of my 360 discs are scratched up actually, but only light surface scratches, they don't seem to affect gameplay at all.

Suing for $5m is **** ridiculous though, it's so cheap, I don't see how they can even put such a case forwards - as if <$100 worth of physical damages to items in sheer abundance in any gaming shop you walk into is worth such an inanely high damages claim.

Itachi

4 years ago

This case reminds me off that dry cleaner lossing a suit for a judge and that judge sued the dry cleaners for millions hahah and winning nothing hahah the system works

Passa

4 years ago

GTPod wrote

Suing for $5m is f*** ridiculous though, it's so cheap, I don't see how they can even put such a case forwards - as if <$100 worth of physical damages to items in sheer abundance in any gaming shop you walk into is worth such an inanely high damages claim.

Its like that guy who sued a club for something like 50 grand because he was refused entry and claimed psychological damage. Except this is 100 times more ridiculous

.. like, what are his damages? The value of the games and something extra for the trouble he has gone through, but that doesn't equal $5 million.

That said.. this was news several days ago..

DrTim

4 years ago

Bout time someone other than Sony got some moronic lawsuits.

ittekimasu

4 years ago

yes victim hand microsoft the console so they can dispose of the evidence +___+

there's nothing wrong with our consoles, everyone loves our consoles... even you.

iorkara

4 years ago

I hope they get sued for Millions and Billions!!! They deserve it, people pay so much money for a product and they get screwed. typical Microsoft product! *cough* windows *cough*
Actually i cannot believe people buy a console by a company who released windows.... i do not get it.

tootie_kicks

4 years ago

Didn't something like this happen with the original Xbox, and it got pulled off shelves in Japan for a while... or is my mind making things up again... *shifty eyes*

jecht_raiden

4 years ago

The reason for the high damages is because you dont sue for the $200 you payed for the games that got wrecked but you sue them big to win big. If you think you can win then aim high, and get the opposition to know you're serious. That much money to Microsoft is how much money their higher-ups have under their couch cushions though.

Still a big win for the guy and if the Xbox is directly responsible for the damages and it doesnt come under any warnings in the manual etc. does that mean this guy walks away with a pathetically earned $5M? Damn

Rob_Jedi

4 years ago

There was an issue around launch of discs getting scratched if you tilted your console from horizontal to vertical while it was playing a disc. Honestly can't think of a good reason to be shuffling the console around while it is on but obviously some people thought it was a great idea. Since then haven't heard of any consistant problems.

Guess this guy didn't spend the extra $5 at EB for the scratch disc warranty. 5 million is pretty ridiculous for $100 damages though.

iorkara please try and keep your fanboyism in check. Reason people buy a M$ console is simple: it has great games on it, that's the reason you buy any console.

ittekimasu

4 years ago

have they fixed the hardware in the elite at least? it would make a gigantic come back if they did if its good hardware and good software

Passa

4 years ago

ittekimasu wrote

have they fixed the hardware in the elite at least? it would make a gigantic come back if they did if its good hardware and good software

Nope, I'm pretty sure that when they did a Elite roundup on Xbox Scene they concluded that it had the exact same optical drive as the Pro console, so obviously it was still as loud as hell as well.

SMASHED

4 years ago

My $800 worth of merchandise won't work ,so now Im demanding 5 million! I see, he seems like a pretty down to earth bloke.

Eyce

4 years ago

ittekimasu wrote

have they fixed the hardware in the elite at least? it would make a gigantic come back if they did if its good hardware and good software

The last two words is absolutely a hilarious case of Fanboy Irony.

Infested Jibbs

4 years ago

Where's ugh?He'd get a kick out of this.Didn't his 360 go vietcong on his gow dvd?

GroovySamurai

4 years ago

Happened to me too, absolutely owned my GoW disc. I think it was because I had a defective console because after I got it back last year I haven't had any problems since.

Good on the guy for suing though, Microsoft shouldn't be selling such faulty consoles.

Crestfallen

4 years ago

Eyce wrote

ittekimasu wrote

have they fixed the hardware in the elite at least? it would make a gigantic come back if they did if its good hardware and good software

The last two words is absolutely a hilarious case of Fanboy Irony.

He means that since the 360 already has good software, then it will be a gigantic competitior if its hardware is just as good (reliablility wise).

So maybe hold back the dreaded "fanboy" accusations.

B3NBO

4 years ago

I have very light scratches which dont effect gameplay at all.. not sure if its the console or just the amount of use or where i store them. But my 360 has not had a problem since launch so..hmm.

wwe_westy

4 years ago

Only in America would someone sue for 5 million dollars for a bloody scratched disc. It's Microsoft! You should expect to see your discs get scratched.

ittekimasu

4 years ago

crestfallen wrote

Eyce wrote

ittekimasu wrote

have they fixed the hardware in the elite at least? it would make a gigantic come back if they did if its good hardware and good software

The last two words is absolutely a hilarious case of Fanboy Irony.

lol thanks for clearing that up, since i'm a sony supporter as well >.>

Gamesta

4 years ago

Rob_Jedi wrote

That might be so, but because of the problems with console I won't buy one no matter how many great games there are.

The Brett

4 years ago

I work at EB- this is an absolute, incessant problem. We get back countless 360 games with a clear "laser burn" concentric circle on the disc, and not for any other console. I've had about 2 games go this way personally, and it's ruined a disc in a DVD box set I've got, rendering it useless, especially considering its massive rarity.

genxevo

4 years ago

another thing not covered by xbox 3 year warranty

$5M is excessive but after waiting probably at least 15 minutes to get to someone at xbox support and then been told there was no issue, i'd be pissed off too.

and microsoft saying that IF there is an issue they can get their disc replaced for $20USD has got to be one giant scam.. i can see 10 months from now microsoft announcing refunds to the people who bought replacement discs

While he has no chance of getting that money, he is making noise and if enough people help him microsoft is not going to get away with screwing consumers around in future

slapshakle

4 years ago

Jibbs wrote

Where's ugh?He'd get a kick out of this.Didn't his 360 go vietcong on his gow dvd?

That was me. It split the disc almost in half

ugh the boot

4 years ago

My 360 actually scratched up 3 of my games discs, Gears of War, Lost Planet and the awesome copy of Test Drive Unlimited I won from here. The machine scratched them up quite badly so that I wasn't able to play the games again without it atleast crashing in the same spot it did last time and in the case of Test Drive Unlimited it wouldn't get past the title screen. It's definately an issue because i've never once moved my console when it's on (you'd have to be a moron)...infact I don't even touch my console except when i'm dusting it, I always turn it on with the remote or the controller, plus I always check when i'm putting discs in the machine that it's always flush with the tray....so I take extra care with my stuff. I ended up borrowing some silvo off Zarnoss and buffed the scratches out but now those 3 discs of mine look like they've been through a cd buffer and I don't expect them to work perfectly forever (even though they've been fine since i've had the disc drive replaced). Personally I don't really wanna go through the hassel of getting Microsoft to replace those discs when i've got them working ok now but I do feel Microsoft should take these problems seriously cuz quite honestly their machine's a piece of sh!t!

I personally don't think 5 million is excessive because Microsoft tried to deny the problem exists when they know perfectly well it's a problem. They tried to sidestep the issue and they should pay for it....severely cuz it's underhanded and they can very easily replace the goods for a minimum cost compared to the much higher cost that a consumer has to wear.

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