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."
Hopefully this will curb extended warranty sales (Score:4, Interesting)
Thank goodness. 90 days just isn't long enough to find all design flaws in a product, especially if you consider that there are probably a bunch of Xbox 360s sitting around in closets or under trees for a month or so before they actually get used. I wonder how many people didn't buy an Xbox 360 because of the really short warranty. I also wonder how many people are going to kick themselves now for buying one of those ripoff extended warranties.
I got mine at Micro Center a couple of weeks ago, which is currently offering a $100 rebate [microcenter.com] on both the core nad pro systems. If I were Microsoft, though, I'd be really pissed off at Micro Center. I had one sales person on the floor ask several times if I wanted to upgrade the 90-day warranty. "Are you sure? It's a great deal! And look at what you get!..." Of course being intelligent, I turned it down, over and over, ad nauseum.
When I got to the cash register, the checkout person asked yet again. When I declined, she actually said, "You really should get it. A lot of people have been bringing them back."
If I were even the least bit paranoid, I would have simply left my $600 or so of merchandise (the system, plus a couple of games, a controller, and a battery charger) sitting right there on the counter and walked out. Why the hell would I buy a product that the store clerks keep telling me, and seem convinced to the core, is defective? If I were Microsoft, I'd be tempted to stop selling any Xbox 360s to Micro Center at all. Stores telling customers repeatedly that your product is broken is most heinously not cool.
Fortunately, I'm not as gullible as a lot of people, and I'm not so willing to part with my sixty-something dollars for something that is statistically highly unlikely to happen.
Maybe this will help to take some of the wind out of their "sales" and get them to stop trying to scare the hell out of their customers.
Still, a hundred bucks back sure does take a little bit of the sting out of having to listen to their stupidity. If I were just a tiny bit more spiteful, I would drive up there today and tell them, "Hah hah!"
Oh, and P.S., a couple of weeks later, everything's working fine. ;-) My gamertag is Skippus. Look me up and maybe we'll throw down with some Texas Hold'em.
Re:Hopefully this will curb extended warranty sale (Score:3, Interesting)
I particularly liked when I bought an $8 universal remote from best buy and they asked me if I wanted the service plan for it for $6.
1) Its an $8 remote. I kind of expect it to break.
2) Why would I pay %75 of the purchase price for a potential replacement in one year? If it breaks, I'll just buy a new one.
Re:Hopefully this will curb extended warranty sale (Score:3, Interesting)
The headphones cost $15 and the extended warranty was $10 (IIRC) which seems expensive except that the warranty covered everything and was 3 years long; the beauty of it was that I owned a Sony Sports Walkman at the time and ran everyday, took the bus to and from school, and so on so any headphones would last 2 weeks to a month. I must have replaced those headphones 20 times in those three years so the $10 extended warranty was certainly worth it.
On a side note, even though I believe it is a rip-off, if I were buying a PS3/XBox 360 which only had a 90 day warranty I would splurge and get the extra coverage. From what I have seen too many systems which have CD/DVD/Blu-Ray drives or Hard-Drives have some sort of failure 3-12 months into the systems life to not have coverage in that time frame. (Note: I excluded the Wii because it has a 12 month warranty).
Re:In norway, the warranty is 5 years. (Score:3, Interesting)
I have always wondered why people vote against their own interests to help companies, parties and people who's only interest is to screw them as hard and fast as possible. All your argument really proves is that you, and implicitly us Americans, are just not smart consumers or voters.
Regards,