UK Xbox 360 Consumers register 250 Complaints with TV Watchdog

[Zeus]

The BBC's 'Watchdog' show which reports on bad practices by range of businesses within the UK featured the Xbox 360 in tonight's slot. Over 250 viewers called in to complain about the Xbox 360, with the main problem of UK customers having to pay £85 to get the machine fixed as it surpasses the warranty period. One featured 'complainer' had a range of Xbox 360's die on him, but due to pressure from the show, MS gave him a free replacement and some new games.


Worse still, you've been telling us that some of the problems with your faulty Xbox 360 consoles occur when the one-year warranty has run out. That means you have to fork out to get it fixed.

Alex Ainsow had no problems for a year. But, just after the warranty ran out, his Xbox 360 wouldn't stop crashing. He had to pay £85 for the repair. His second Xbox 360 lasted three days before it got the 'three red lights' - a hardware failure known in the gaming community as the 'ring of death'. Once you see them, the box can't be fixed.

Craig Jenkins also got the 'ring of death' when his Xbox 360 was just two months out of warranty. He's been told he'll have to pay £80 to get it fixed.


News Source: <A href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/consumer/tv_and_radio/watchdog/reports/consumer_goods/consumer_20070213.shtml" target="_blank">BBC</a>

[The_Eggman_1972]

I live in the UK and saw it reckon the team have been googleing and youtubing seemed funny them calling it the red ring of death.i bought one on Janm 17
th and its been fine(touch wood) I thought these problems were limited to the 1st gen batch of the machine i thought after this long the problem would have been sorted.I think its disgusting M$ can take this kind of stance on what seems
to be quite a common problem (according to M$ only 5% of machines are affected which apparently is in thier acceptable limits for a piece of hardware of this complexity).

[madfatter]

sounds like some fools in the uk should have bought a warrenty

[The_Eggman_1972]

sounds like some fools in the uk should have bought a warrenty
check your facts before posting dude the machine packed up after 14 months they then charged £85 to fix it.

[madfatter]

thats why i said "bought" a warrenty. mayb a two year one. dumb brits.

[JimmyHACK_KH]

man i'm a little worried.... had several friends just lately start getting the red lights, now i have still had no problems, but i'm crossing my fingers..


just rediculous all the problems with the system still

[Isamu_Dyson]

What the hell... and i thought 2 year warranty was standard in all european union. Guess i was wrong. :eek:

[Masamune]

And WTF is:
"sounds like some fools in the uk should have bought a warrenty" &
"thats why i said "bought" a warrenty. mayb a two year one. dumb brits." suppose to mean?

Are you insulting UK residence?
Under wich rock did you crawl out of?

[chubsta]

have to say they coulnt have chosen a more ridiculous looking couple of people - i wasnt even sure if the first one was a bloke or a girl! Way to go about reinforcing most people prejudices about video-games players all being fat, long greasy haired geeks!

and when they were talking about loading up gears of war they were actually showing ghost recon...

usual 'watchdog' bollocks - the machine has a one-year warranty, what that means is that after a year you have to pay to get it fixed. If you dont have to pay after a year then it has what is called a 2-year warranty etc. If they wanted it covered for longer then im sure the place where they bought it would have sold them an extended warranty, they made the choice not to buy it...

[gonepostl]

This was a nice post Zeus

[stormuk]

I can pay to import this type of stuff from Europe which gives a 2 year warranty.

[Havok154]

Extended warranties are definatly a necessity for any new consoles, especially any bought within the first year or so.

[spongey]

Well Mines a launch machine & going well fingers crossed. im sure 250 is a small fraction of the amount of consoles out there, I ordered a Sony Vaio, which failed to charge, so you know, it happens. ;)

[Havok154]

Well Mines a launch machine & going well fingers crossed. im sure 250 is a small fraction of the amount of consoles out there, I ordered a Sony Vaio, which failed to charge, so you know, it happens. ;)

Just be thankful it only had a charging issue and not a "flaming ball of napalm" issue.

[satel]

more pressure on microsh!t is better & hopefully it will force them ''ONE'' day to fix the 3 red lights of death..its been more than a year now & still not fixed & all they worry about is how well PS3 is doing !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[DEDDOA]

They should have been covered anyway, that is if they can prove it was a fault with the 360 and not something they have done to it. Given the fact that the whole circle of death thing is a well documented fault MS should have fixed or replaced them for free or in the very least refunded the postage once the problem had been shown to be a hardware one. The problem is, most people in the Uk at least think the manufacturer guarantee is the be all and end all, when it isn't. The law states that you are covered for 2 years, 6 months replacement, the following 18 repair or replace if repair is not possible. The thing is, the second twelve months requires that you prove the fault is with the manufacturer and not yourself, and is not usually mentioned by manufactureres or retailers. Not only that if the fault is proved to be a flaw in the actual product in general, you should be able to get a replacement even after the 2year period. Also, and this is another thing that most manufaturers and shops don't like to tell you is that as soon as you get a replacement, the whole warranty starts again from scratch. The one thing you need to remember is to not bend over and let them shaft you, keep at them and if need be go to citizens advice to find out what you can do, and if all else fails threaten them with contacting watchdog and/or trading standards.

Edit - One other thing, they also try to make out that if you break the seals on somthing, that you are no longer covered. This is not true, it only applies to the "Manufacturer Gurantee". You are covered by law so long as you can prove the problem is not somthing you have done. Essentially you could take the thing to pieces, but if there is a problem with it at any point that would have occured regardless, than you are still covered.

[RottenFox]

They should have been covered anyway, that is if they can prove it was a fault with the 360 and not something they have done to it. Given the fact that the whole circle of death thing is a well documented fault MS should have fixed or replaced them for free or in the very least refunded the postage once the problem had been shown to be a hardware one. The problem is, most people in the Uk at least think the manufacturer guarantee is the be all and end all, when it isn't. The law states that you are covered for 2 years, 6 months replacement, the following 18 repair or replace if repair is not possible. The thing is, the second twelve months requires that you prove the fault is with the manufacturer and not yourself, and is not usually mentioned by manufactureres or retailers. Not only that if the fault is proved to be a flaw in the actual product in general, you should be able to get a replacement even after the 2year period. Also, and this is another thing that most manufaturers and shops don't like to tell you is that as soon as you get a replacement, the whole warranty starts again from scratch. The one thing you need to remember is to not bend over and let them shaft you, keep at them and if need be go to citizens advice to find out what you can do, and if all else fails threaten them with contacting watchdog and/or trading standards.

Edit - One other thing, they also try to make out that if you break the seals on somthing, that you are no longer covered. This is not true, it only applies to the "Manufacturer Gurantee". You are covered by law so long as you can prove the problem is not somthing you have done. Essentially you could take the thing to pieces, but if there is a problem with it at any point that would have occured regardless, than you are still covered.
thats wrong on so many levels..
1.the initial 12 month warranty is NOT with microsoft,its with the retailer.-microsoft repairing them is beyond what they should do.
2.for the first 6 months,its up to the retailer to prove its faulty.
3.after that,for the remaining 6 months,its up to the purchaser to provide details of the fault,and to prove it was not his doing.
4.after the 12 months,you are STILL covered for up to 6 years(5 years in scotland)-as the appliance,in this case,xbox 360,is expected,to last for a "reasonable period of time".
2.european warranty,it can be contested..and you could get away with using that one,as one europe,one warranty period!.
5.here in the uk,we have far more rights than consumers in any other country(america especially:p 90 days..what a laugh!! ),statutory rights,and the sale of goods act 1979/2002,give us more power,its just retailers and companies would like us to forget it.
anyone in the uk who wants to take a 360 or other item back,should qoute the sale of goods act--http://www.dti.gov.uk/consumers/fact-sheets/page24700.html

[DEDDOA]

thats wrong on so many levels..
1.the initial 12 month warranty is NOT with microsoft,its with the retailer.-microsoft repairing them is beyond what they should do.
2.for the first 6 months,its up to the retailer to prove its faulty.
3.after that,for the remaining 6 months,its up to the purchaser to provide details of the fault,and to prove it was not his doing.
4.after the 12 months,you are STILL covered for up to 6 years(5 years in scotland)-as the appliance,in this case,xbox 360,is expected,to last for a "reasonable period of time".
2.european warranty,it can be contested..and you could get away with using that one,as one europe,one warranty period!.
5.here in the uk,we have far more rights than consumers in any other country(america especially:p 90 days..what a laugh!! ),statutory rights,and the sale of goods act 1979/2002,give us more power,its just retailers and companies would like us to forget it.
anyone in the uk who wants to take a 360 or other item back,should qoute the sale of goods act--http://www.dti.gov.uk/consumers/fact-sheets/page24700.html

That first 12 month thing I was refering to was the manufacturers gurantee that comes with most products these days. Many people assume that is what they are covered for, anything extra they have to take out with store extented warranty. Also with many goods bought off the net, after 28 days they are usually sent back to the manufacturer to deal with if they cannot be sorted by the retailer. Still usually means the retailer replaces it but at the manufacturers expense. Why do you think there were so many complaints about returning stuff to MS even in the first 6 months, most consoles are bought by stores on sale or return, essentially meaning while they are on sale in the a given store , they are as good as still property of MS, the store just takes their cut on sale so to speak. Mine was sent directly from MS upon purchase from an online store, which is why "if" I have to return, I may contact the retailer but it gets sent back to MS.

The rest was generally what I was told by the Citizens advice office when I was trying to get a washing machine replaced 12 months and 4 days after purchase (got a new one and a new cover period, even tho they inititially tried to claim otherwise). I never take out extended warranties, as I am of the opinion that if it breaks due to a design fault then it should be replaced or repaired regardless. Any other damage caused accidentally is covered by my household contents insurance, or if I knacker it then I should pay to repair or replace as it's my fault.

I do agree tho, we in the UK are better covered than most parts of the world, we have the whole UK and EU laws to back us up, unfortunately most don't know that, so get screwed over on a regular basis. Ignorance and the complete lack of most people to kick up a fuss when they are getting screwed over these days, keeps things the way they are. My view is don't worry about being embarassed or looking stupid to other people (most will agree with you but not have the balls to do it themselves), if you thnk you are right put your foot down, you have nothing to loose and alot to gain.

[malsuk]

Lets get the facts right. In the UK the 12 month warranty is down to the manufacturer (it is them that provides the item). The retailer acts as the MIDDLE man. They the retailer are led by the manufacturers instruction on returns or replacement. I myself work for a very large manufacturer in the UK in the electrical domestic trade. Yes consumer law does cover you up to 6 years but you have to prove it (VERY DIFFICULT). With regards to consumers having more rights in the uk ask the people who (like myself) where we stand. Trust me TRADING STANDARDS/CONSUMER DIRECT aint interested been there got the t-shirt.

[Evolution]

thats wrong on so many levels..
1.the initial 12 month warranty is NOT with microsoft,its with the retailer.-microsoft repairing them is beyond what they should do.
2.for the first 6 months,its up to the retailer to prove its faulty.
3.after that,for the remaining 6 months,its up to the purchaser to provide details of the fault,and to prove it was not his doing.
4.after the 12 months,you are STILL covered for up to 6 years(5 years in scotland)-as the appliance,in this case,xbox 360,is expected,to last for a "reasonable period of time".
2.european warranty,it can be contested..and you could get away with using that one,as one europe,one warranty period!.
5.here in the uk,we have far more rights than consumers in any other country(america especially:p 90 days..what a laugh!! ),statutory rights,and the sale of goods act 1979/2002,give us more power,its just retailers and companies would like us to forget it.
anyone in the uk who wants to take a 360 or other item back,should qoute the sale of goods act--http://www.dti.gov.uk/consumers/fact-sheets/page24700.html

Consumer protection in the UK? Dont believe a word of it.

I bought a 32" Panny HDTV and it was DOA when I took it out of the box. The screen was making a horrible buzzing noise. I checked a few forums and found it was a common fault with that particular TV.

I spoke to the company I bought it from and the upshot was that if I wanted my money back I would have to go to Trading Standards because they would send an engineer round to 'repair' it. I told them no way, I wanted a new one. Which they eventually provided but only after the engineer confirmed it was faulty.

Trading Standards told me that the Sale of Goods act was effectively worthless because if you buy a product and its faulty a replacement can legally be refused and a repair offered.

No quibble replacements are offered only as a 'goodwill gesture' by the retailer.

If electrical goods are faulty, you have a 1 week after purchase 'replacement/refund window' to demand a replacement or your money back. After that it becomes a repair issue and you cannot then demand a refund or a replacement.

The retailer is legally allowed to offer to repair the goods and there is nothing you can do about it unless they fail to repair the product to factory standards.

In short, If your product is faulty and you demand a refund within 1 week of purchase you have the law on your side but after that it is up to you to prove that the goods have an inherint fault before you can get a replacement or a refund.

The sale of goods act looks good on paper but in reality its is actually a toothless tiger.

My 360 died on me at the last dashboard update. It was in warranty and MS replaced it no problem and if they had told me to pay £85 I would have told them to fukk themselves and went to trading standards using every bit of evidence that is on the net to prove they are selling faulty goods AND about how they know it as well.