Microsoft Expands Xbox 360 Warranty
Move to cost company over $1 billion.
by Erik Brudvig

July 5, 2007 - Microsoft announced today that it is expanding its Xbox 360 warranty to three years for any customer who experiences the three flashing red lights error message that indicates hardware failure. All repairs will be made free of charge for three years from the time of purchase, including shipping expenses. Anybody who previously has paid for their consoles to be repaired related to three red light error message will be retroactively reimbursed. Other existing Xbox 360 warranties remain unchanged.

The warranty covers all Xbox 360 consoles. Whether you purchased an Elite, Core or regular Xbox 360 with a hard drive, the new expanded three year warranty holds from the date of purchase. Launch Xbox 360 consoles will now be under warranty from hardware failure until November 2008.

With reports of massive numbers of hardware failures, one can easily anticipate that this retroactive warranty update will not be cheap. In fact, Microsoft is going to take a $1.05 to $1.15 billion pre-tax charge to earnings for the quarter that ended on June 30, 2007 for anticipated costs that it will incur under the current and new enhanced warranty policies.

"We decided to do something pretty drastic to take care of our customers. Doing what we believe is the right thing for our customers is important to us," Microsoft Corporate Vice President Peter Moore told IGN. "If you've had expenditure to fix your Xbox 360, we're going to reimburse you."

For those unsure about purchasing a 360 for fear of the dreaded Three Red Lights of Death, Moore says there is no reason for concern. "We have a great deal of confidence that a lot of the problems we've been seeing are behind us," Moore said. "Consumers should feel no issues about walking into a store and buying a 360 today. And should anything go wrong, we'll take care of them immediately."

Moore could not comment on the return rate of Xbox 360 consoles, which has been recently rumored to be close to 30%. He also seemed unconcerned with any negative reactions to 360 on the eve of E3. "If it's negative connotations heading into E3, so be it... the overriding focus is it's good for consumers and we're taking care of people."

"The majority of Xbox 360 owners are having a great experience with their console and have from day one. But, this problem has caused frustration for some of our customers and for that, we sincerely apologize," said Robbie Bach, president of Microsoft's Entertainment & Devices Division. "We value our community tremendously and look at this as an investment in our customer base. We look forward to great things to come."

The company is making the move as a result of what the company views as "an unacceptable number of repairs to Xbox 360 consoles." Microsoft claims that it has identified a number of factors that cause the three flashing red lights error message and has made improvements to the console.

Whether the improvements result in less hardware failures remains to be seen. In the meantime, those with broken Xbox 360s can begin cheering.


Source


How does this work?
Our existing warranty will last til nov 2008?

This post has been edited by pmsoo: Jul 6 2007, 08:31 AM

woo..good news!! if this covered singapore

this is bad news coz its means 3ROD is still there and microsuck still dunno how to settle it...

Article from the Star :-

SEATTLE (AP) - Microsoft Corp. said Thursday it expects to spend more than $1 billion (euro730 million) to repair widespread hardware problems in its Xbox 360 video game console after a large number of them broke down.

Microsoft said it would extend the warranty on the Xbox 360 to three years after too many of the consoles succumbed to "general hardware failure,'' but the company provided few other details about the extent of the problems.

"We don't think we've been getting the job done,'' said Robbie Bach, president of Microsoft's entertainment and devices division, which also makes the Zune digital music player. "In the past few months, we have been having to make Xbox 360 console repairs at a rate too high for our liking.'' Bach said the company made some manufacturing and production changes that he expects will reduce Xbox 360 hardware lockups, but he declined to identify the problems or say which others might remain.

Microsoft said it will record a charge of up to $1.15 billion (euro840 million) for the fourth quarter to cover the additional costs associated with the warranty extension.

Matt Rosoff, an analyst at the independent research group Directions on Microsoft, estimates that Microsoft's entertainment and devices division has lost more than $6 billion (euro4.4 billion) since 2002.

Microsoft has written down larger amounts in the past - more than $10 billion (euro7.33 billion) in the late 1990s related to investments in telecommunications companies, and more than $5 billion (euro3.67 billion) related to antitrust issues - but a $1 billion (euro730 million) write-down for one division in one quarter is significant.

"It suggests the problem is pretty widespread,'' Rosoff said.

Microsoft will pay for shipping and repairs for three years, worldwide, for consoles that experience hardware failure, which is usually indicated by three flashing red lights on the front of the console, something gamers sometimes refer to as "the red ring of death.'' Previously, the warranty expired after 1 year for U.S. customers and 2 years for Europeans.

Microsoft also will reimburse the "small number'' of Xbox 360 owners who have paid for shipping and repairs on out-of-warranty consoles, Bach said.

In June, bloggers speculated that the Xbox 360 return problem was getting so severe that the company was running out of "coffins,'' or special return-shipping boxes Microsoft provides to gamers with dead consoles. "We'll make sure we have plenty of boxes to go back and forth,'' Bach said in an interview.

Microsoft's entertainment and devices division reported an operating loss of $315 million (euro230 million) on $929 million (euro681 million) in sales for the three-month period that ended in March.-AP

godo goood news to all... yahoo...

Thread Merged.

hurm...
i just broke my ms seal
*%^$%$%*

neway it just stated that only 3ROD
coz my case is dvd-rom failure

The 3 years warranty should cover anything from 3RODs to DVD rom failures ler.

yup it should covers everything... and yes indeed a good news. but the only problem now is we still need to pay that rm250 courier charges to shop for sending our consoe to SG

why cant we send directly?

This is very good news.. so that means I have another 2 years

Not applicable to those sets with broken seals?

Actually, lots of ppl are getting 3ROD on their refurbished/warrantied 360s. So this definitely sucks for us Malaysians. How many times can we pay RM250 shipping charges? Unless MS does some hardware changes to their console, I don't see how this can be a good news for Malaysians without the "official" MS support.

The warranty says that MS will bear all costs including shipping? So why worry about the RM250 anymore?

LOL...you don't get it don't you. Every console bought here in Malaysia (from Sg Wang or wherever)has no official warranty from any manufacturer whether it's from Sony, MS or Nintendo.

Most of the shops here are selling parallel import consoles, so they will have to send back to the place they bought it (Singapore, Korea, HK or wherever) and they don't want to bear the transportation fees. We the consumers have to pay for it.

they will still want u to pay la.. Rm250.. peh mahal sial.... hmmm donno why most tokey kedai sg wang still calling waranty if u must pay shiping cost... WTF....

Not only Sg Wang lar but all tokey kedai kat Mesia do that. I remember red_bull's post, he said if all the tokey kedai don't do that they all will go bankrupt.

This post has been edited by tot31: Jul 6 2007, 11:59 AM

you can actually. All you need to do is head to Singapore, registered your console , wait for your refurbish/new and that is.

Yes. Is true. With all those machine send back and fourth all kedai also will bankcrupt (you really don't want to know the 3 ROD percentage in malaysia )

---

Added on July 6, 2007, 12:15 pmAnd also waiting for MS about their news on this matter. And I hope it does cover for Singapore

This post has been edited by DjiNn: Jul 6 2007, 12:15 PM

I will let you know once MS called back from me about this matter. (Still can't get from them)

The truth ? I can't tell you how many units, just percentage. is as same as the US market. 27%

but again I don't have any sources to confirm is this is a true number. Just by my calculation and etc.

This post has been edited by DjiNn: Jul 6 2007, 12:50 PM

there are 3 option,

1)if I have the stock, no need to wait. 1 to 1 on the spot (terms and condition apply)

2)If I don't have the new stock, but I have refurbish you also can take the refurbish . 1 to 1 (terms and condition apply) no need to wait as well.

3)If I don't have any stock at the moment. need at least 1 week to restock. (7 working days )

Only covered the three flashing red lights error code. and it mentioned these policies are global

http://www.xbox.com/en-US/support/systemus...warrantyfaq.htm



This post has been edited by wcliang: Jul 6 2007, 01:45 PM

True enough that it is not exactly fantastic news but at least it is something.

Since the XBOX is not official here, there is nothing Microsoft can do for Malaysians (other than making it official). If you think RM250 is too expensive, then just send it down yourself lo.

At this moment to me, something is better than nothing. And 3 years is definitely better than 1 (or 2 in some parts of the world).

now still ok lah... imagine we ppl that bought the 1st batch japanese 360 after the launching

Do you still have to pay the 250 even if you have it in stock?

yeah. freaking siong~. I also siong

This post has been edited by DjiNn: Jul 6 2007, 07:41 PM

In short... No shop in Malaysia can give warranty cos no official launch here.

(haha you know this since day 1,dont u ?)

i think should be your supplier giving your only 1 year warranty lah

you are correct

do x-clamp still cheaper than sending back n forth la!
anyway for ppl who get 3ROD.. if u playing original..
u travel to and forth to SG still cheaper than RM250...

so if u have time do it youself..
i went already and its a 5 mins exchange thing without much questioning..
but travelling is of coz.. the pain..
at the bright side.. save some money

so faster belanja me lucas pizza

yup. If you don't want the hassle of going down, coming back. I suggest anybody can go down and do the exchange.

you want pizza izzit ? aiya.. if you got time come to my shop I belanja you lo.. but lucas nice meh?

aww man that sucks. but anywho, does anyone know if xbox will ever officially launch here in M'sia.

darn it, was so happy bout the 3 yr warranty thingy dis mornin(or rather yesterday mornin).

i got my 360 frm djinn like last weekend btw. it's new, but who wouldn't appreciate a 3yr warranty, am i right?

if can get 18months warranty also can..if possible

yes. I understand that 3 years warranty.. But I can't do anything. supplier also told me that me (in malaysia) not officially launch here yet. So hence I only have the 1 year warranty from them.

er who can get? if you purchase your unit from singapore of course is got the 3 warranty correct?

Yo bro prazole, my 360 also need to sent back to Singapore for warranty claim. ANA chipset got problem, cannot solve by xclamp method. Can u brief me whats the steps needed and the exchange unit you get is it new or refurbish one?

I need to send my xbox for warranty as well. My box only 3ROD when running on component... sigh..
And i just got DiRT. sad