Microsoft Extends 360 Warranty to One Year 68
Gamasutra reports that Microsoft has extended the warranty on the Xbox 360, giving consumers one year from their date of purchase to receive essentially free repairs. This is being done to put the U.S. and Canada in line with the warranty offered in other parts of the globe, and is retroactive. From the article: "... [C]onsumers who may have already paid for an out-of-warranty Xbox 360 repair within one year of purchase will be eligible for reimbursement of their console repair charges. Microsoft notes that those who have already paid for such repair charges within their first year of ownership can expect reimbursement checks for the amount of their console repair in approximately 10 weeks. The company adds that reimbursements will be automatically distributed, so customers do not need to contact Microsoft directly."
Re:In norway, the warranty is 5 years. (Score:3, Insightful)
Beyond this period, consumer laws say that some items have a 2-year period and others (a bit poorly specified as "items that are expected to last longer") a 5-year period (from date of purchase) in which the manufacturer is responsible for any production defects. Getting manufacturers to accept complaints according to this law can get a bit trickier. At the very least, you often have to actually put down in writing what your complaint is and I am sure some people find this difficult.
These consumer laws will, of course, tend to increase the prices. We seem to be so rich, however, that we don't really care. In fact, retailers are making good profit from selling _even stronger_ insurance together with the gadgets (e.g. 3-year accident insurance etc.) so I doubt the consumer laws are holding us back any. (And price comparisons of my own vs various international webshops seem to indicate that consumer electronics are actually quite cheap in Norway - comparing intl. webshops to retail prices here I don't actually see any incentive to order from them, and that is _before_ considering customs charges.)
My own experiences with this is one time when I sent in my Thinkpad after 2 years (IBM's warranty was 1 year only) and complained that the power socket had become loose. They fixed it without giving me any grief. The other time, my dish washer started acting up (incidentally, 1 day before the law-mandated 5-year period was up). I called the retailer's appointed repairmen, a guy showed up, fixed the thing, noted the date and matter-of-factly informed me that I wouldn't have to pay for it.
But both of these were for products from high-profile, well respected companies. They tend to know the law and its practice well enough to not want to give their customers any grief over an issue that will eventually get ruled in the customer's favour anyway. If you purchase from less experienced/professional retailers, experiences may vary a lot. And if you've stumbled across one of the fly-by-night outfits you're probably better served just writing off your loss and moving on.
Re:In norway, the warranty is 5 years. (Score:3, Insightful)
That said, the way things are going, the US will be the same as Europe in another ten years anyway. Considering that New York recently removed the right to eat certain kinds of foods, Seattle (and other cities) have removed the right to smoke, etc.
Re:extension? (Score:2, Insightful)