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XBox (Games) Hardware

Xbox Users Too Impatient for Class Action 55

Posted by Zonk from the website-with-a-message dept.
Danilo Campos writes "I got a little irritated when Microsoft wanted me to pony up $80 to repair my out-of-warranty Xbox for a hardware failure that is very, very well-known. Slashdot recently reported a class action aimed at solving this very problem. That will take too long and cost everyone too much. The only ones who'll be better off are the lawyers. I have instead organized a polite, respectful request by Xbox owners that Microsoft repair or replace any afflicted systems at their own expense. Join the call, won't you?"
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Xbox Users Too Impatient for Class Action More

Xbox Users Too Impatient for Class Action

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  • hate to say it... (Score:1, Insightful)

    by 0x20 ( 546659 )
    maybe RTFWarranty next time?

    you know, tough luck and all, but you had every chance to know the extent and coverage of the warranty when you bought the thing. i've owned a lot of electronic stuff that failed not long after the warranties ran out, too. do i expect the manufacturers to pay for all the repairs? no.

    to top it off, $80 is really not an unreasonable amount of money to pay for a repair on a high-tech electronic device, regardless of the simplicity of the repair or how much the device costs new. yo

    • Re:hate to say it... (Score:4, Insightful)

      by GrimSean ( 545405 ) on Sunday November 14, 2004 @03:45PM (#10814462) Homepage
      $80 is really not an unreasonable amount of money to pay for a repair on a high-tech electronic device, regardless of the simplicity of the repair or how much the device costs new. you can expect to pay more than that to have a crappy VHS deck adjusted.

      Yeah, sounds unreasonable, but maybe you should RTFA - it's $80 American plus shipping. Have you ever picked up an XBOX? They're the heaviest console ever made, which means it costs more to ship the damn things. Microsoft needs to do something about this - Nintendo has authorized repair shops across the country (and they give a 1 year warranty on all new systems), and Sony will fix Playstations for $120 CAN, including shipping, which is expensive, but guarantees you a working system even if yours can't be fixed.

      • Uh, I hate to point this out, but Nintendo only offers a 90 day warranty on new systems. That means both the Gamecube and GBA SP (and I assume the DS will be the same way).

        Several years ago, yeah, the big N did one year warranties, but now they're just like Microsoft and Sony (at least in this respect).

        • Re:hate to say it... (Score:2, Informative)

          by GrimSean ( 545405 )
          No, sorry, Nintendo offers a one year warranty on new systems - it's the best in the industry, and their customer service reps are really good. The games only get 90 days, but that's still better than the thirty days given by Sony and Microsoft.

          Want some proof? Go here [nintendo.com]. As I tell the kids that come into where I work, never argue with the guy who sells the stuff for a living.

          • never argue with the guy who sells the stuff for a living

            Hahahaha! Thats the funniest thing I've read in a long time. Take a trip down to Best Buy, have a chat with a salesman there and then say that with a straight face. Bet you can't.
    • Sony repairs theirs for free.

      I'm simply playing devils advocate here, I love my Xbox, but this is rather stupid of Microsoft to refuse to replace defective drives for a well known defect like their compeditors are doing.

      Of course, if you know what you're doing, you can replace the DVD drive yourself.

  • 2 pronged attack (Score:5, Interesting)

    by BortQ ( 468164 ) on Sunday November 14, 2004 @03:48PM (#10814486) Homepage Journal
    Wouldn't it be cool if sony offered a competitive xbox upgrade? "Send us your broken XBOX and we'll send you a PS2 for the same price Microsoft wants to charge you to fix it!"

  • Why pay $80 (Score:1, Insightful)

    by lordtenchi ( 524166 )
    Why pay $80 when you can just return it to WalMart for free. All you have to do is buy a new XBox use a blow drier to remove the seal and put the old XBox in the box and return it.

  • This is different. (Score:5, Informative)

    by Omni Magnus ( 645067 ) on Sunday November 14, 2004 @04:39PM (#10814846)
    The original XBOX DVD drives have a very short lifespan. This is because M$ wanted them to ONLY read DVD-ROMs and CD-ROMs (probably to stop piracy with the system). That just wasnt possible, but they were able to suceed in not getting them to read almost all CD-R's and most DVD-R's. Now, because this laser is so finely tuned to read ONLY those types of media, when it goes through a few months of normal use that wouldn't phase a normal drive, the XBOX drive is no longer able to read data. I think this decision will cost Microsoft dearly. All those XBOX owners with faulty drives arent going to want an XBOX2 as unreliable as the first one.
    • Doubtful, There is no such thing as consumer backlash in the Videogame market. If there was, Nintendo would would hold the top spot, as both Sony and MS have had a very large share of problems with their consoles, whereas Nintendo have only had isolated incidents of hardware failure.
      • You must have forgotten the early nintendo days.

        Blow in the cartridge, not seat the cartridge all the way in the nintendo, blow again, put another cartridge on top of the catridge and leave the lid open. Ring a bell? Of course this was probably due more to the medium itself than the actual system hardware. But on my old nintendo I would have to do that to new games too. Everyone that owned a nintendo in the 80's had this same problem and it was real irritating. It was so common it was almost an expected p
    • Wait... Microsoft manufactures cheapo consoles out of commondity parts, only to tinker each damn dvd drive to only accept certain types of discs?
      Is this a fact? I think it would me more plausible to assume they just cut one too many corner on the way and got a batch of lousy drives.

      • Wait... Microsoft manufactures cheapo consoles out of commondity parts, only to tinker each damn dvd drive to only accept certain types of discs? Is this a fact? I think it would me more plausible to assume they just cut one too many corner on the way and got a batch of lousy drives.

        I don't know if it's fact but I do know an acceptable fix for a broken Xbox DVDROM is to open the case, find the little potentiometer that controls the laser strength, and give it a quarter turn clockwise. Works like a ch

  • I'm pissed that I've hardly even used my xbox and now that Halo 2 is out and I want to play I end up having to reboot my xbox every other game.

    Why don't they put the hard drive to use and copy the maps to disk? This would also have the advantage of faster startup times.

    • It's against the XBox dev agreement to use the HD as an installation location. To be approved by Microsoft an XBox game has to run from the DVD. The HD is used only for downloadable content, save games, and streaming media.
      • Considering Microsoft owns Bungie and Halo 2 is the flagship game for xbox, I think it would be smart to make an exception in this case. It wouldn't have to copy the complete DVD, just the maps. The game itself could and should still load from the DVD.
  • A class-action suit is unreasonable, as Microsoft has quite a history listening to consumer demands.

    Also, the common swine has special, winged appendages to assist in aviation.

    (I'm not saying the polite request isn't a good idea; I'm just not saying it's worth taking the class-action suit off the table as the author advises.)
  • Who's in to start polite, respectful requests for everything Microsoft has done wrong?
    Visit my polite, respectful requests for Microsoft web list:
    http://www.couldyoupleasemakewindowsopenso u rceandu ndergpl.com
    http://www.pleasedontovertakethemusic marketandkill theipodforbulkyshittyplayersthatcrash.com
    http:// www.maywehavesomestabilityonourcomputerskin dsir.com
    http://www.......
    this is like a christmas list.

    Well, get real. There are more chances that Santa Claus is answering this one than Santa Billy.

  • Request Denied (Score:1, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward
    They'll never do it...not until the court case is over. if they volutarily fix your dvd drive without charge before the case is over, it will be used in the case as an admission of guilt and they will loose the case. Keep dreaming.
  • I don't want to knock your plan, but I had a comment regarding your view of class action lawsuits.

    The real function of a class action suit in our society is less to get specific remedies or compensation for the class of people wronged, than it is to increase the cost of harming people for the company.

    In other words, yes, the lawyers will be the biggest winner out of the trial itself. But the overall cost to Microsoft will be very large - that is, legal fees, bad publicity, and the cost of whatever the pun
    • I agree with you to some extent. But to play devil's advocate here, others would suggest that a CA lawsuit of this type will merely raise the price of the next XBox and Nintendo and Sony will also have to figure in this kind of risk when they price the US versions of their products as well. MS might just accept this as the cost of doing business and raise prices.

  • fixed my gamecube (Score:2, Interesting)

    by madygoosey ( 745325 )
    When I bought f-zero, the game kept randomly crashing, so I called nintendo and they said it was a known problem with a certain batch of systems. It was like a year after I bought it too, but they fixed it for free, I don't even know if it was under warranty. They just fixed it, fed-ex shipping and everything, it was awesome.
  • See, people call me crazy, but this is why I *always* pony up for the extended warranty on electronics items like this. My first-generation xbox had this exact problem, and it cost me exactly $0 (well, $40 if you count the cost of the original 2 year extended warranty) to get a brand-spankin new one last year.

    Buyer's lack of foresight is not Microsoft's problem. Heck, EB had a trade-in deal last year where they'd give you $75 or $80 for your old box... that makes the cost of a brand new xbox less than the

  • A consumer action which, in a P2P network fashion, encourages other people not to buy a seller's products, no lawsuit required. Word rhymes with "roykott"...

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