Many of you have heard of the issue which has plagued Xbox 360‘s for the past five years, it goes by many names: the Red Lights of Death, Red Rings of Death or the infamous E74 error. I had purchased my Xbox 360 console at launch and, though many of my friends may attest to the opposite, I was highly satisfied with the quality of my console; though I had a launch console I had never seen those dreaded red lights. A five year streak which ended last Wednesday.
After about an hour long session of Modern Warfare Two I was ready to call it quits; popping in an HD DVD (an obsolete technology I know), I was set to relax for the night. I will spare you the mundane details, but suffice to say that I was filled with dread when The Matrix froze mid-scene and the wall next to my Xbox had turned a reddish hue.
Putting it off for a couple of days, I finally decided to call Microsoft Customer Support. After an hour of waiting on the phone, I was finally greeted with a Customer Service Representative. Once I managed to get used to her heavy accent, it was down to business. After giving out nearly every personal detail I have, and some I didn’t even know existed, the service representative cheerfully greeted me with the news that not only was I out of the standard warranty but also the so-called “extended” Red Ring warranty. I was then quickly told that in order to continue the call I would have to pay $130 (a new Xbox 360 from Best Buy is currently $128, just for some perspective). Thanks Jen!
Apparently, though it is a well known design-flaw on Microsoft’s part, the Xbox’s ability to Red Ring ceases to exist after three years from purchase. For those who don’t know what the Red Ring’s of Death are, it’s basically a combination of low quality solder and a shoddy heat distribution system which causes solder on the GPU to liquefy; this renders the console essentially useless. Newer revisions of the Xbox 360 have all but eliminated this flaw but among the older consoles it is still a fairly common problem.
Though I have not yet decided on how to proceed, it is safe to say that I am thoroughly taken aback by Microsoft’s lack of sympathy or helpfulness on the issue. Maybe my outlook on this matter is completely wrong but, at least from my perspective, logic dictates that if a company makes a product of shoddy quality that product should either (a) be recalled and replaced (b) be given an much longer warranty period or (c) have a system implemented which allows users to take preventive action by sending the product in before the problem occurs. Microsoft had apparently attempted to take Option B, but they fell short. Is it really the user’s fault Xbox fails five years later versus six months after the date of purchase if it is the same fundamental design flaw which causes the failure?
How does Microsoft justify this illogical method of customer service? The answer to that still eludes me, maybe one day I will find that. Hopefully, for the rest of us with older consoles, Microsoft will eventually attempt improve their flawed customer support model.
Possible? Yes.
Probable? No.
