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Microsoft To Spend $1 Billion On Xbox Repairs

"Red Ring of Death" Hits Home

By Mark Huffman
ConsumerAffairs.com

July 6, 2007

Xbox • Microsoft To Spend $1 Billion On Xbox Repairs • Microsoft Extends Xbox 360 Warranty to One Year • Angry Xbox Owners Signing Recall Petition • Gamers Complain "Dead Rising" Fatal to Microsoft Xbox • Gamers Say Microsoft Understates Xbox Problems • Xbox Failures Irk Gamers • Class Action Charges Xbox Overheats • Problems Plague Xbox 360 Users • Xbox Midnight Madness Casualties • Consumer Complaints • Power Cord Recall

Video game enthusiasts call it the “red ring of death.” When they see the three red lights on the front of their Xbox 360 light up, it means “game over” – for good.

Now Microsoft, maker of the Xbox, says it will spend more than $1 billion to repair crashed Xboxes, and make sure the general hardware failures afflicting the game system are less frequent.

Last December, the company extended the warranty from 90 days to one year, but consumer protests and complaints continued.

Company officials say they have already made some production changes that they hope will eliminate many of the problems consumers have experienced, but declined to go into specifics about the problem, which has triggered thousands of complaints over the years.

ConsumerAffairs.com has received nearly 1,100 complaints about the recurring problems. Many consumers have experienced failures in two or even three units.

“I bought my XB360 last year and have been taking good care of it. A few months ago, out of nowhere, my XB360 starts freezing! Then a few months down the line I turn on my XB360 and get 3 red lights,” Luis, of Newark, N.J., told ConsumerAffairs.com last month.

“I called and they tell me that I have to pay $140 in order to get it fixed!”

Darryl, of Helotes, Texas, has had a similar experience. In fact, he told us he has purchased two Xbox 360 consoles.

“Both have malfunctioned on me. After the first, my warranty ran out so I used credit to but another since I could not afford to fix the first outright. After 4 months the second also malfunctioned. Although it is still under warranty I will still be without my product for 2-3 weeks,” he said.

Microsoft says it is extending the Xbox 360 warranty to three years but has expressed confidence its manufacturing changes will result in fewer hardware failures.

The Xbox 360 has been plagued with problems almost since its release, in November 2005. At the time, Microsoft spokespeople insisted there are no major bugs in the new console and claimed that problems have been reported with only a very small proportion of its machines.

The Xbox was Microsoft's first big foray into hardware, so some analysts say it's not surprising there were so many problems. But what about the Zune? Complaints about the little iPod-like device are piling up quickly.

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