digg

Join DiggAbout

Discover and share the best of the web!
Learn more about Digg by taking the tour.

World's unluckiest XBox owner strikes back

blogs.mercurynews.com — MIGHTY MICRSOFT has been caught on the back foot after one of its most unlucky customers has managed to take his case to court of public opinion and win.

Bury
show profanity settings
expand all
  • TheAttacks, on 10/12/2007, -18/+13haha, this guy has the right idea.
    • Seer, on 10/12/2007, -21/+51No he doesn't - he has an attention-seeking syndrome I like to call the "Supermodel Syndrome"

      Seriously, MS has offered better service than anyone could have expected in the cases of the very few xbox's to go.

      Mine went after 5 months,

      I phone MS, they PAID for a courier to drop off a box to put it in.
      They then PAID for a courier to pick up the box once it was packed
      TWO days later I had a new Xbox 360 delivered at 9am.

      Seriously... is there any other company in the world that would go so far? Ever tried returning a Dell? Or an Ipod? That's a whole new meaning of expensive pain in the ass.

      Guess the MS haters are running out of things to hate
    • duckman, on 10/12/2007, -4/+13I have an old iPod 40G that has been replaced twice - latest one has been rock solid. Both times at the cost of Apple, not mine. Yes, I had to live without my music for a few days while in exchange, but each replacement was after their 90 day warranty period. Simply nothing I could be made about!
    • distrbnce, on 10/12/2007, -7/+18Seer, only someone with military-grade fanboy goggles could be happy with that experience.

      Microsoft if only bending over backwards because the xbox brand isn't in a position to ignore bad PR.

      It's not because they heart you.

      All this guy did was complain in forums, which I'm sure you would've done after the 2nd or 3rd console at least. It's other people who picked up on his story.
    • Odweaver, on 10/12/2007, -2/+16He is mainly drawing attention that Microsoft is replacing dead consoles with "Refurbished" consoles that also have issues. Another company may take longer for a replacement but has probabaly already wasted 5+ hours on the phone with thier support.
    • KamikazeeDriver, on 10/12/2007, -2/+11I agree. I see no problem with the actions this guy took. NO ONE should have to go through 3 xbox 360's (or any other console) before they get one that works. It's good that MS took care of him quickly each time, but also keep in mind, if he had not made such a splash about it, it have been all the more difficult for ANYONE who was/is in the same boat. MS simply should have replaced him with the latest xbox 360 right off the line from the get go, instead of one that had already had issues before. It would've minimalized the chance that his 2nd one would've encountered a problem.
    • chesterjosiah, on 10/12/2007, -9/+11@Seer

      MS wouldn't have to do all that if their product was worth anything. Maybe they should've spent more time/money making the machine work before shipping it.
    • Arnos, on 10/12/2007, -10/+4I wonder if he'll complain as much when he gets his PS3...
    • LoungeActx, on 10/12/2007, -8/+8I wonder what this guy is doing with his xBox's. My reasoning is, is he shoving them into an enclosed space in his entertainment center? Seriously, there is bad luck, and then there is stupidity on his behalf. I'm not blaming him, I'm just pointing out it may not be the console but the dude that bought the console.

      I've had my xBox360 since Nov. I've never had a problem with it except for the occasional lock up here and there. All I do is keep it in a place in my entertainment center that has nice air circulation that allows it to breathe, and it seems to work for me. No ghetto rigging the power supply using string, no added fans, no liquid cooling. Just keeping it out in the open works wonders.
    • otherland, on 10/12/2007, -3/+6Seer@ What are you talking about? Dell and Apple has the same exact service you mentioned for the business and home users. Both use DHL/Airborne to drop off empty boxes within 2 days with free shipping both ways.

      I can't recall all the times I had to send back faulty laptop power adaptors at my work, but no complaints.
      The trick with Dell is to avoid their phone service and use online chat only while telling the script readers exactly what you need and want them to do about it.

      Both companies prefer to keep the customer happy by replacing the parts ASAP.
    • ModernDayDarwin, on 10/12/2007, -3/+6@LoungeActx

      You shouldn't have to rearrange your living room setup to operate one of these things. Seriously. I readily accept that my computer will have heat issues if I put it in an enclosed space, but that's because of things I've done to the machine. If I'd have left it stock, I could put it in an oven and it would work (okay probably not, but you get the point).

    • MrUnderbridge, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4To those who consider this possibly his fault -

      The article claimed that the return rate on XBoxes is 3-5%. Let's assume the low end. Let's also assume that anyone with a dead XBox makes MS repair/replace it. Approximately 1 in about 35000 people would experience 3 dead ones. When one considers that the second two were refurbished, I'd say it's more likely than that.

      So, really, given how many XBoxes have sold, he's probably not the only one. If there are, say, a couple of hundred of these people, I'd say it's reasonable that at least one would make a pretty significant stink.

      Now the question you should ask is, "Why the XBox?" Quite simply, because with most consumer electronics, if you get a dead one, you return it to the store for an identical (and NEW) one. If that one's dead too, you exchange it for another brand.

      That was impossible here. As the guy pointed out, there is no stock of XBoxes to be had, and there's no other brand to exchange it for. So in the end, given basic statistics and MS's extreme (and persistent!) shortages, this was guaranteed to happen.
    • ApplePenguin, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Seer:

      I've had that same quality of experience with Apple. My Powerbook (one of the first AlBooks) had some wireless issues (involving a pinched antenna wire) and another time when the dreaded white spots showed up on my screen (that one was equally as fast). They overnighted a box to me via DHL, and 4 days later my Powerbook was back to me, repaired. I had an iPod battery issue, and they overnighted a box to me via DHL as well, and I had MY ipod back a few days later.

      My ex dropped my Powerbook (no, she's not my ex cuz of that, just turned out she's psycho), and once I had everything figured out with my insurance company (which took a good week or more), they had it back to me in a couple days, with a new case and Superdrive.
    • jessecollins, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4@Seer

      M$ also did things right when my 360 died.

      http://digg.com/gaming/Story_of_a_Broken_Xbox_360

      Much props to M$.

    • snoozzell, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5If you had 3 million people flip a quarter 20 times you would not be suprised if many people got heads 20 times in a row. It doesn't mean that the quarter is a defective coin, it just means that over a large sample size almost all possible outcomes will occur.

      It's a simple math issue. Any electronic product is going to have a faliure rate around 5% it's just inevitable.

      They have sold about 3.5 million xbox 360s. The odds of three breaking are .05*.05*.05 which is .000125 or .0125% It sounds like a very small percent (1/8000) but when you figure that 3 million people have bought one it's virtually impossible for it not to happen to someone.

      This is just probability taking place over a very large sample.

      I had a console break as well and I was very satisfied with the service
    • aaronm67, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1@ duckman

      Note: This is entirely off topic, I just thought his comment was really interesting

      I have a 40g iPod Photo, and I must say, it has turned me off of Apple forever. I have had the thing less then a year and a half, and I have had 5 replacements. It's interesting your 40g has also been replaced twice.

      But, in this sense, Dell's customer service is far better. I have also owned a Dell DJ. When one of those breaks, they next day a refurbished one, and then you ship your old one back in the box the refurbished came in. Apple, they 4-5 day you an empty box, you 4-5 day your iPod, they try to fix it, and then 4-5 day a filled box.

      Anywho. So how 'bout that Microsoft.
    • mpancha, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1@ModernDayDarwin , your oven example proves the opposite point. If one were to read the instruction manual it would tell you what the operating specs are, and one would know not to put it in an enclosed space and instead put it somewhere with proper air flow. But this guy probably didn't read the instruction manual, and places the blame elsewhere.

      Stupid people deserve bad things happening to them.
    • glacious, on 10/12/2007, -2/+0Stop. Just stop.
  • OBSCENE, on 10/12/2007, -32/+17No Digg

    This guy is a LOOK AT ME dumb *****.
    • thenativeraver, on 10/12/2007, -4/+17http://blogs.mercurynews.com/./photos/uncategorized/3rd_dead_360.jpg

      I bet he put that tie on just for that picture.
    • distrbnce, on 10/12/2007, -13/+8What?

      Microsoft is making faulty consoles because he wants attention?
    • cdgore, on 10/12/2007, -11/+2Yeah, although I repsect this guy for standing up to Microsoft, he kind of seems like a douche.
    • Osjpr, on 10/12/2007, -0/+12Why degrade him? He looks perfectly fine and reasonable to me.
    • igjoe, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6I believe this guy. A friend of mine is on his third 360. It's completely ridiculous when you have to replace more than one console.
    • JimV, on 10/12/2007, -4/+2Seriously, this guy is a dick.

      I'll bet he put his xbox in a stuffy entertainment center where there's no air circulation and fried it. And he probably did the same thing with the next one they gave him. The XBOX not just a dvd player...it's a full blown computer...it CAN overheat. It NEEDS air.

      And just the fact that he went to "the press" with his lame ass story is enough to write him off in my book.

      "Szarek has received a new machine and has been given a few gifts by Microsoft. But he feels he has to speak up." Attention whore....they replaced his damn machine 4 times...and gave him free stuff. MS should do some investigation and figure out why his machines keep breaking...probably would turn out to be misuse.
    • djdole, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2I agree, no digg.
      If for nothing else then for the fact that you DO NOT fax, call or email the former head of an industry GIANT (Bill Gates) just because YOU have had two problems with a console so far. This male prima donna doesn't have priority over the industrial server service complaints to MS that would affect more than one person's ability to play a video game.

      That all said, I'm going to be quite patient with MS when it comes to Vista. If they need more time to test, fix and polish it up before releasing it, that's fine with me. I'm going to assume they are learning from their 360 mistake about rushing an unready product to market.
  • Dradis, on 10/12/2007, -5/+15Microsoft? Lose in the court of public opinion? Noooooooo...
    [/sarcasm]
  • Grimdotdotdot, on 10/12/2007, -12/+18-- "I call them the three red lights of death,'' he said. --

    Made that name up all on your own, did you?
    • distrbnce, on 10/12/2007, -10/+12Or maybe he just calls them that.

      Like he said.
  • fallscrape, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5hang on... there's a working xbox picture behind him and yet he's holding another in his hand!

    I don't even have one :- (
  • Trjn, on 10/12/2007, -1/+13The moral of the story seems to be to bitch to the highest up people available.
    • distrbnce, on 10/12/2007, -2/+11Yeah. I wish I had Bill Gates' fax number.

      Windows would rock.
    • zybch, on 10/12/2007, -1/+12The squeaky wheel gets the oil!
    • syberghost, on 10/12/2007, -7/+1You must not wish you had Bill Gates' fax number very hard, or you'd have it by now.
    • marcan, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6seriously, it does work! After numerous complaints to my ISP about my reduced bandwidth (they supposedly duplicated the speed to all customers - mine looked like it got reduced to 1/4), and they arguing that they only guarantee 10%, I fetched the emails of the top executives and mailed off. Soon thereafter I got a call from a networking guy (someone who apparently did know what he was talking about, unlike all the tech-support people), and he got it fixed in a day or two.
    • distrbnce, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4@syberghost

      You figured me out. I don't.
  • t3hX, on 10/12/2007, -10/+4Look out for flying chairs!
  • Magus007, on 10/12/2007, -2/+22Interesting concept for digsters... cut and paste the funnier and better intro from the Inquirer.net story http://theinquirer.net/?article=31408 and then link to one of the original but duller versions of the story. That way you will appear witty and clever without having to do much work yourself.
  • birdwatcher3000, on 10/12/2007, -13/+16"Microsoft has replaced each console at its own cost, but Szarek is annoyed at the hassles he has had to endure."

    So it's less of a hussle to sue Microsoft?

    The article's title should be "37-year-old has no life."
    • distrbnce, on 10/12/2007, -10/+17Or "37-year-old doesn't take ***** from a massive corporation like birdwatcher3000 would"

      And he's not suing anyone. He paid for a product and he deserves it to work.
    • birdwatcher3000, on 10/12/2007, -15/+2@distrbnce

      yeah yeah so I shall rephrase.

      So it's less of a hassle to whine in the fora day and night.

      He shouldn't be the first to buy a new launching product. At 37 years old one would think that he has learned a few basic things about the world around him.

      Microsoft is not a new company. It's been around for a while and we all know the quality of their products when the innitially become available.
    • distrbnce, on 10/12/2007, -2/+11@birdwatcher3000

      Maybe he wasn't looking for less of a hassle. Maybe he was pissed off that he spent $1000 on a product he desired only to have it fail time and again.

      Oh, and I love how it's his fault. How HE shouldn't be buying a product that's on store shelves and advertised. What was HE thinking!?

      If the product is there, if it's sold to him, and if it does not work, he has every right to spend those 360-less nights on the internet, voicing his opinion; sharing his disappointing experience. You people demonizing him or demeaning him for it is absolutely insane to me.

      Microsoft needs no cheerleaders.
    • astroblastro, on 10/12/2007, -8/+6-"37-year-old has no life."

      I think the validity of this title is reinforced by the fact that he wanted to play "Rumble Roses XX".
  • vamsi, on 10/12/2007, -14/+4Unluckiest? Is that a word? I'm not a grammar nazi but the word is just not right. The submitter could have simply used "most unlucky".
    • john570, on 10/12/2007, -2/+19That is a word.

      un·luck·y ( P ) Pronunciation Key (n-lk)
      adj. un·luck·i·er, un·luck·i·est
      Subjected to or marked by misfortune.
      Resulting or likely to result in misfortune; inauspicious. See Synonyms at unfortunate.
      Not producing the desired outcome; disappointing.
    • boycy, on 10/12/2007, -8/+4Sweet, bring on the spelling/grammar police.
    • distrbnce, on 10/12/2007, -3/+12Great, here come the guys that complain about the Spelling/Grammar police...
    • skeet07, on 10/12/2007, -4/+8I hate the guys that hate the guys that hate the Spelling/Grammar police, but I also hate the Spelling/Grammar police. Hey I got it now, I hate everyone equally. =P
    • distrbnce, on 10/12/2007, -5/+7Oh yeah, everyone equally...

      Except you don't hate the guys that hate the Spelling/Grammar police.

      Spelling/Grammar police hater fanboy.
    • kindrobot, on 10/12/2007, -3/+3I liked Spelling/Grammar police's first album, but now all the emo kids like it
      so it's not cool anymore.

      I read the Spelling/Grammar police before they even released their first EP.
      And they gave it to me free.
  • brotherfigure, on 10/12/2007, -4/+8Let this be a lesson - never, ever be an early adopter. I'm holding off on purchasing an X360 until it's transitioned over to 65nm production (sometime early next year). Hopefully, that will solve most of the heat-related issues.
    • GruntboyX, on 10/12/2007, -13/+7OH stop it, while your logic may be sound we know the real reason you dont have a X360 is because your mommy wont spend the money


      Please we all know that if someone had the funds you would have bought on launch day.
    • Karyyk, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5Wrong... Why on earth would you buy a console that doesn't have any games that you particularly want to play at launch (in fact, the "shortage" and the resulting "bundling" almost look like a backwards marketing tactic to move crappy games)? Considering that Microsoft already has a redesign in the works, I'd say that goes a long way in supporting the position of those who wait, as well as those who keep having problems with their 360...
    • MrUnderbridge, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1Seriously. I keep my hardware, and games, about 3 years behind. As such, I generally spend something like a quarter of what early adopters spend, and I get:

      1) More stable systems
      2) More game selection
      3) A better heads-up as to what games are worth playing

      I can't play all the games I want to play fast enough anyway, so I get a console after the price hits $200 or less and they get the bugs worked out.
    • GruntboyX, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Its not a redesign, its a cost reduction. This is a common practice in Engineering. I doubt highly there will be any architectural changes, besides bug fixes. Its pretty standard to design the product so it works, get it out there, then cost reduce it down the line. Hell, i am involved in a cost reduction right now. This is why the PS2 has been slimmed down. And why there are so many differences in revs.
  • datagod, on 10/12/2007, -3/+4Serves him right for spending so much cash on a game machine. ;) Just kidding...

    I love that our voices can now be heard by all the suits in boardrooms across the globe. Just try to keep pushing us around and treating your customers like a bunch of thieves (SONY!). We rock, you suck.
  • gklitt, on 10/12/2007, -6/+5I really don't see why he is so unlucky...his problem isn't that bad it's just that he tried to get attention for it.
    • distrbnce, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8If you purchase a product, you should be able to assume it will function.

      His problem is bad. x4. And that's the only reason he's gotten the attention.
    • JimV, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2I would like to point out that MS replaced it 4x, and since the probability of recieving a bad xbox 4 times is very low, I would say that he's doing something to it that keeps breaking it. I mean, there's nothing special about an xbox....it's a computer. It's got a motherboard, a processor, ram, and a HD...all name brand, too. It's not proprietary MS hardware...there's no reason why it would fail 4x on this dude, unless he was doing something to it.
  • jamelt, on 10/12/2007, -14/+7WHO CARES!, WHO DUGG THIS?
  • nbuet, on 10/12/2007, -9/+2Enough of that jerk!
  • mirunit, on 10/12/2007, -3/+3My question is what is he doing to his xbox, I have 2 Regular Xbox's and a 360 since feb. I have had no problems with it and heat is not an issue either because its kept in a well ventilated area. This could be because 3 of his replacements were refurbished.

    "Szarek has received a new machine and has been given a few gifts by Microsoft. But he feels he has to speak up."
  • patjamas, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6He got better service than I did when I had 3 5g ipods melt, Apple assholes said they wouldn't replace them because they "didn't believe" that it could happen that many times in a row.
    • distrbnce, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4they just melted? where do you live?
    • scooterMX, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2Surface of the sun.
    • patjamas, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Rochester New York, and yes, they just inexplicably melted. Though they still worked afterwards, as long as you never wanted to charge it again. When i calle dthem they asked what OS it has been used with, I said "well, my desktop runs windows, and my laptop runs ubuntu" dumbass's reply "ubuntu?" me "yes, its a distro of linux" dumbass for the 3 pointer "What is linux?"

      So yeah, even though with apple i did speak to peopel who can actually talk in English, they still had no idea what the ***** was happening.
  • Euan, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6I want to know what "a few gifts" mean... If I bought something only to recieve a working version 4 months later, I would be livid! I would expect more than an Xbox mug and a xbox stress ball (although a stress ball would be appropriate).
  • Jacobi, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3I think it's comical that this dude owned up to playing Rumble Roses XX. All the jiggly action of Dead or Alive with all the wrestling goodness of WWE.

    I think he has a valid gripe, but honestly I would feel for him more if he was having problems getting replacement systems or getting in contact with someone who could help. In this case MS seemed to be very good about getting him refurbished systems, and since they didn't work this guy maybe should have tried to get his money back from MS since he couldn't return it to the store.

    Still he is totally within his rights as a consumer.
  • smokester, on 10/12/2007, -3/+1They shouldn't have given him refurbished ones as a replacements, unless they told him (which I expect they did)
    What was he expecting?
  • elnerdo, on 10/12/2007, -7/+5Attention Whore!
  • nadnerb, on 10/12/2007, -5/+6boo hoo...cry my a river little man. it's not like it's a dialysis machine. it's a gaming console! he's getting the replacements at microsoft's expense. early adopters are the ones who get to experience the bugs as they get ironed out. suck it up!
    • distrbnce, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8Obviously none of you guys dugg the PriceRitePhoto story.

      All of a sudden sharing a bad consumer experience on the internet is looked down upon and insulted, when it should be appreciated.
    • Osjpr, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4nadnerb, I hope you have a similar experience. You obviously have no idea how much frustration and disappointment that this guy went through. It's a shame you lack empathy and will have to experience something first hand before you support someone else.
    • Karyyk, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5"early adopters are the ones who get to experience the bugs as they get ironed out. suck it up"

      Wow, Windows really has converted everyone over to Microsoft's way of thinking. Ship a bug-ridden product, then fix the bugs, not as you become aware of them, but as your customers complain about them. Sounds like a consumer utopia to me (note sarcasm).
    • nadnerb, on 10/12/2007, -3/+2@distrbnce - the PriceRitePhoto story was completely different. he verbally assaulted his customer. microsoft is bending over backwards for Szarek...Szarek even got 'an apologetic call last week from its top Xbox executive, Peter Moore.'

      @Osjpr - I have dealt with ***** companies and got defective products before. I totally agree it's frustrating. If it's something I think others should know about (ie. PriceRitePhoto) i'll do my best to spread the word. But if it's a brand new product (like the xbox360) and the quality issues are well known i'll: a) not be such an early adopter and wait until the most of the issues are resolved or b) be an early adopter and accept the issues that may arise. and if they do, i'll work with the co. to report any problems and hope the co. works it's hardest to fix/replace my product (which i believe microsoft has).
  • Noize, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4i had 5 broken ipods in a year and i didn't get anything :(
    • pxabstract, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6Why are you still buying iPods if you had so many problems with them? I'd never buy a product that failed that many times in a row, no matter how trendy it was.
    • syberghost, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4Oh, you got something; but you could have gotten the same thing for $20 downtown in an alley.
    • Davedough, on 10/12/2007, -1/+45 broken Ipods? 5?!? At what point did you say to yourself, "No, I'm not going to spend that kind of money anymore!"? You're a glutton for punishment? You didn't receive anything because Apple is still laughing that you've contributed so much to their retirement efforts that they haven't been able to formulate an intelligent response.

      This guy has every right to complain. Fan boy, attention whore or whatever the fact of the matter is. Microsoft released a product and said it worked. It should have. When a replacement was warranted, replace with new, given the timeframe of the product's demise.

      Why is it normally accepted that just because a product is new, that its going to fail and the consumer should just expect that? How about the manufacturers of everything in this category... new cars, ipods, gaming consoles, electric vibrating love fists... whatever... how about THEY own up to the responsibility of treating the people who keep them alive properly. Is it so hard to raise your service level to deliver a product as promised? Sure, R&D costs money, but release some of the greed and realize that if you put out a product that works, you'll sell more units with no bad PR. Dont mock this guy for being fed up with not getting what he paid for, mock the corporations who allow their quality of service to plummet through the floor. This applies to ALL of them.
    • syberghost, on 10/12/2007, -4/+2Yes, be sure to blog it if your electric vibrating love fist is defective.
    • Noize, on 10/12/2007, -3/+13 of em where actually under warrenty so :S
  • aegis9975, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7This guy got 4 defective machines, that's actually not suprising. I had a defective Xbox360 back in Feb, the real problem with this is that they are taking defective 360s back from customers and then giving them to other customers as refurbished models; maybe he got one of mine.
    • demonicume, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8my 360 died a horrible death within 10 hours of buying it. the support people ordered me to buy a fan/stand. the damn thing still choked to death. i returned both and got my money back. i'll be waiting on the Wii. thanks.
    • Zwierdo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5See, that's exactly the problem here. MS probably doesn't yet have a team that is proficient at diagnosing problems, and actually repairing them. I'm guessing that the people that do these "Refurbs" are not fixing the root cause of the problem, but replacing a component or two until the machine turns on.

      This guy got refurbed machines, and they likely failed with the same problem that they had always had.
    • syberghost, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6I bought an ebook in Microsoft Reader format a month and a half ago. Every time I'd try to load it, Microsoft Reader would instantly crash. After three hours on the phone with Microsoft trying to fix the problem, the guy told me he'd have to do research and call me back.

      Two days later, I emailed Amazon.com (where I bought the ebook) and asked if I could switch my purchase to the PDF version. Fifteen minutes later, I was reading my brand-new PDF happily. That is customer service.

      Microsoft hasn't called back yet.
  • kyoung989, on 10/12/2007, -6/+5Looks like this story is a testament to Microsoft's customer service support of the 360. The law of large numbers dictates that there would be a person out there that has this type of failures. Hence, he's the unluckiest.

    However, that this guy was able to get 3 replacement units during a supply crunch PLUS gifts AND top level executive attention shows how much Microsoft wants a) this console to succeed, or b) this guy to just shut up. My guess is that it's the former.
    • distrbnce, on 10/12/2007, -3/+5Some logic.

      If they just wanted the console to succeed they'd stop sending units to this guy and start sending them out to customers who haven't paid yet and might not complain so much.

      Peter Moore called this guy personally.

      They desperately want this man quiet.
    • scooterMX, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2or they want this guy happy.
      I used to work on televisions. This guy bought a huge console (back when tv's looked like furniture) and it didn't work to his liking. I was there the first time the guy came in and complained. Tje owner ON THE SPOT offered him his money back - it was a standard 30 day money back guarantee, no questions asked. The customer said he didn't want his money back, wanted the tv to work. So the boss delivered a new console. when hooking it up and testing, they discovered that half of his aerial was missing from a STORM. Boss still offered the money back, but the guy loaded the tv on the back of a flatbed truck, covered it with lemons, and parked outside the front of the store for a week.

      Not saying that this guy is the same, but some people spend their lives looking for a reason to bitch.
  • daza, on 10/12/2007, -5/+3I think Microsoft's response was pretty good over all. We've all had recurring issues with companies at one stage I'm sure. I bought a Leadtek GeForce 4 Ti4200 and had to return it over three times, everytime it coming back with an issue. By the fourth time I was just told bad luck and the dealers I was with didn't want to know me anymore. I know a $200 graphics card isn't on the same level as an Xbox, but I'd say good work to Microsoft.
  • GruntboyX, on 10/12/2007, -5/+5This guy is just wanting antention. While i dont discredit his problems with the console, And having to repeatably talk to customer service. Microsoft has gone incredibly out of there way to address there quality issues. This is evident from the article. If he was given the finger from microsoft then i would feel his complaints are warrented. But this guy is just whining. Hell he got letters from executive staff. I wish i got that kind of antention when i saw the blue screen of death.

    Geez what a whiner
    • demonicume, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2a whiner. maybe you dont work for a living. but $1000 equates to man hours. M$ wouldnt accept someone blowing off $1000 worth of man hours - and M$ is no better than i am. after my second died, i just got my money back. its not worth it.

      which of you fools would drop $500 of your hard earned cash for something that doesnt work? well f%ck all that: give your money to me and i 'll send you my broken 360.
  • Osjpr, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4This guy has a lot of patience. I'm glad Microsoft got really bad PR out of this. That was terrible treatment. He literally had to bust down Microsoft's doors to get something working. Microsoft deserves all the bad press this has generated.
    • daza, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1What bad press might I ask? A front-page story on digg? And the article claims it's a "PR nightmare". Do they just throw in catch phrases to make the headline more appealing? I'm not from America, so can someone tell me - is this a *really* big issue or is it below the radar for most of the population?
    • JimV, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1@ daza

      It's really below the radar. It's some article on an obscure blog that no one reads. No one will hear about it except those who log onto Digg in time to see it. It won't make any major news sites or television news stations.
  • Aniphx, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2Honestly, I do think he has the right to complain about his system not working. I mean, you put that much money into a system like that, you expect good results. And yeah, he may have sounded whiny, but it did get his point across. It would seem that everyone is wining out here. Microsoft's PR is looking better and that man finally got a working console (we think.) The one thing that worries me is that this might lead to a flood of false claims.
    • scooterMX, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4How much money is enough to expect a product to work? If I buy a $30k car? okay, what if I buy a $30 toaster? What about a $3 battery? It doesn't matter the price of something. If you buy something, particularly new, you expect it to work.
    • JimV, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1@scooter

      It did work when he bought it, and all the replacements he received worked as well. I think the dude is just breaking them...probably by overheating them.
  • r00tus3r, on 10/12/2007, -9/+5My God you americans are a whiny bunch.
  • jdavid, on 10/12/2007, -4/+1So, here is the problem, If MS developed 1,000 test systems, and 30-50 of them had problems. Someone at MS needs to decide if they ship for christmass or they wait, any bonehead would choose shipping, except maybe nintendo.

    Sony has had countless problems with console launches, I had a bum PS2 after launch, and a bum xbox, I however had 4 xboxes and only 1 was a dud out of the box. I have never had a problem with a Nintendo product, but then agian, they are not pushing the technology envelop like Sony and MS.

    I think this guy is over reacting, and after the first reconditioned box, I would have asked for one off of the line. I know how these complaints get funneled, and when I want something I don't start complaining, I make a resonable case and ask to speak to someone that can actually make a desicion. If my request is resonable, I get what I want, or I don't spend any more money there. I might point out that the only time this has not work, is with Best Buy and thier protection plan and a digital camera of mine, however Canon stepped it up a notch and repaired the camera for free. I will stick with a company that sticks with its customers too.
    • timmarhy, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3can you flog that kiddy nintendo crap any harder?

      that aside, the whole point is yes, you have accept that sometimes stuff does break, but there is no way in hell would i accept 4 broken systems. i'd be going off my ***** crocker a lot harder then this guy.
      if my brand new xbox broke i'd want a new one to replace it, thats what warranty is about. none of this refurbished junk that has other problems.
  • soulpunisher, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2This is funny. I have a Playstation,Playstation 2 and PSOne and I have had to return none. Why is the X-Box being treated like it is in a different class in it's own? If you bought a car and it kept breaking down I don't think you would still say nice things about it. It should be the same for the X-Box it keeps going out and you have to return it. It sucks end of story. I will say this the graphics on it are amazing and they are getting better games on it too. But I will keep my Playstation...I know it works :)
    • Karyyk, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4I remember the original Playstation having its share of issues (some customers were even told my customer support to place their console on its side or upside down). Most consoles have had issues at launch, but its easier now for one person to make a huge fuss about it as blogging has caught on with more than your average geek.
    • JimV, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2No, I wouldn't be happy if my car broke down. But if the dealership gave me a rental car for free, and fixed my car for free, repeatedly, then I would pretty happy about the dealer at least. It's good service. Which is what this guy has received.
    • MrBester, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1It wasn't just anti-Sony fanboys that called the Playstation "GreyStation" and the successor "GreyStation Poo" (and presumably "GreyStation Pee" follows that but that's a bit British), as they both had problems in the beginning.
      I'm still waiting for the Monty Python joke: "That... is an eX-Box"
  • Cytranic, on 10/12/2007, -3/+1World's unluckiest ? This guy has got 4 xbox from Microsoft.

    My xbox failed 1 day after the 90 warrenty expired. I had to pay an assload to get mine fixed, and they didnt even ship me my box to pack it in. Whats this make me? The entire universe unluckiest?
    • MrBester, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2That would be your fault for living in a country that considers 90 days to be an adequate time period before an expensive piece of electronic equipment fails on you. In UK you get a year during which you are entitled to a complete refund, not a replacement (unless you want it). After that, it's up to you how close to the wind you want to sail.
  • whiteguysamurai, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1In 3 months there will not be an issue.
    Production is ramping up bigtime and there will be a surplus in 2007.

    Also, i recieved my xbox360 the week in launched, and it's still running great.

    I know it happens, but it's very rare.
  • Jaymoon, on 10/12/2007, -3/+1Well seeing as how his Xbox and VCR are sitting in an ENCLOSED shelf.... No wonder his 360's aren't working...

    ...I wonder if he's complaining that they are "overheating".... :rollseyes:
  • timmarhy, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2@seer

    i returned a dell axim and i got a personal support staff dedicated to my ticket, with a direct line to them and a personal email address for them.
    they let me travel around europe for a month with the unit then replaced it with a brand new unit, with the old one being picked up and the new on delievered to my door.
    they were nothing but helpful and curtious.

    in contrast this guy got fobbed off with REFURBISHED rubbish 4 times. thats just not good enough, not even close.
  • uptown, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3....virtually EVERY company send you back a refurbished unit when replacing your damaged model.
    • jgreene777, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3that's the problem. MS's refurb dept isn't doing its job properly in testing the machines. apple's refurb products have never failed me. i even by refurb the first time...
  • dreslimmul, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2If a company replaces your broken electronic with a "refurbished" electronic of the same kind, they should definetly make sure it is going to last, not break after 2 weeks of use each time. It would be a pretty big deal to me if I had to keep sending packages back and forth to and from Microsoft... and he is only getting this "wonderful" treatment because he is within the 90 day warranty period every time his system breaks. If he was on day 91 this guy would be paying even more money (on top of his thousands of dollars of 360 games and accessories) to fix his "refurbished" Xbox 360. If my XBox 360 breaks within the first 90 days, I WANT A BRAND NEW XBOX360! It wasn't cheap and if a company's product craps out on me while I am on a LIMITED WARRANTY, i want them to replace it with the best that they have, and not make me a second rate customer because they already have my money.
  • kindrobot, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I sent my creative zen to creative with a note that said "thanks for nothing,
    and hey if you want a free mp3 player just put a working drive in this one.
    I bet it works!"

    Piece of crap.

    After your third replacement, all of you would be doing the same thing
    or similar to what this guy did. Expecting something to work the first
    time isn't unreasonable. Early adopters are a result of an industry being able
    to predict that a certain percentage of their products will be faulty and
    instead of testing they rush to market and we become their
    free beta testers.. screw that. In a world where that doesn't happen,
    there's no such thing as an early adopter, we'd just call them loyal customers
    instead. Then treat them accordingly by fully testing our products before
    releasing them to the public.

    He just wants attention? You mean like Ralph Nader, or like Paris
    Hilton? I'm leaning toward you thinking the latter, and that makes
    you an awful human being and horrible judge of character.
    • daza, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I cannot believe it - you too?!

      I bought a Creative Zen, returned it 3 times and finally swapped it for an iPod at my electronics store. Never been happier since :)
    • kindrobot, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I don't blame you. I'm going with ipod, too. Dislike the DRM crap and itunes, but
      it's a lovely player and sounds great. In the meantime, I just use a psp and in the car, I use sirius. But that psp is huge, so ipod soon.

      Sorry you had to go through the very UNzen zen experience.
  • dr-steve, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0Four dead XBoxes? Wow. Is he unlucky? Yes. Is this a sign of a systemic problem? No.

    Do the math.

    The article claims 1.75M have shipped, with an "industry-expected" return rate of 3 to 5 percent. I will not dispute those figures, there is no reason to.

    Three percent of 1.75M is 52,500. So if MS is at the LOWER end of the "normal 3 percent to 5 percent average [return rate] for consumer electronics", we can work with the "50,000 consumers have had problems" figure.

    The 50,000 consumers receive a second console, of which 3% will again have problems. This gives us 1,500 with two dead consoles. Repeat the process, we get 45 with three dead consoles, and slightly over one who will end up with four dead consoles. Sadly, Mr. Szarek is that unlucky person. Unlucky, but the large base of consumers indicate that someone will get hit with four of them.

    If we repeat the exercise with a 5% rate, we get 87,500 with one dead unit, 4375 with two dead units, 219 with three dead units, and 11 who get to the level of four. In this case, Mr. Szarek has quite a bit of company!

    -Steve
  • Reddog_x2000, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1Personally, I wouldn't buy anything from Microsoft until it's been out for a year and appears to have the bugs worked out.
  • ejeckert, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0Surge Protector/Power Conditioner anyone...5 units...same place...hmmmm. You think he might have a problem in his house with his electrical. I lost a unit...check the outlet it was in and the voltage was all over the place. So scared about it...I bought a Monster Power 3500MKII for $100 after rebate and hooked all my Home Theater and AV equipment up to it...been great since...I even hooked a ProtectNet for the NIC...just to be sure...It has been great!!! The feedback has gone away and the picture has gotten better...I wouldn't have believed it but I do now. You need to remember some electronics are far more sensitive then others and electricity is not consistent when it comes to voltage. Most products are designed to run within certain fluctuation but that doesn't mean the fluctuation isn't going to exceed that. Just my opinion and experience.
    • ahhell, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Yeah whatever.

      Sounds like someone got sucked in by BestBuy.
  • otherland, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2He's a grown man acting like a baby. The Xbox has a 2.5% failure rate. That's more than acceptable for any product line, especially a new one.
    Microsoft even replaced it for him 4 times, without questioning if he was using the system correctly.

    I once had a customer repeatedly bring in their computer for nearly complete overhauls. It turns out she kept the computer inside a closed hutch with no circulation except for some holes for the cords because she didn't like how it looked in her living room. System would overheat and melt within weeks of taking it home. But then the system would only get replaced with the standard, warrenty PSU and fans so the problem would repeat itself.

    The majority of problems with any related to consumer technology is mistakes made by the user. That's a fact.
  • chris_allen, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I had to have my 360 replace after it completely crashed on me with the "3 red lights" indicator on the console itself. Phoned Microsoft once and they said they would send out a box for the system to be shipped for repair. It took 4 days to get the box, which I thought was a bit longer than it should have been, but none the less I received it and sent it overnight via UPS. I had a new 360 in hand 4 days later. This was very impressive in my opinion and kudos to Microsoft for getting me a working system in such a short period of time and with as little inconvenience as possible on my part. Honestly, I thought I would have had a much harder time with this than what I did and was pleasantly surprised. And I can't say that I would not have done the same thing after receiving so many faulty 360's...
  • dadfist, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1maybe his xbox failed because he keeps it next to his ceramic unicorn collection.
  • u16085, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0Don't buy a first year car....
    Don't buy the first release of a console...
    Don't Marry your first girlfriend...
    Never eat the first batch of cookies...

    List goes on... Every product has its faults.. I broke the rules... I bought a 360 last month... its still "Alive"
    If they would of replaced the his console with a "new" vs refurbished he wouldn't have this issue..
    Power On tests vs "real life" tests are 2 different things...
  • erics287, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Well, I have been a pretty decent fan of MS for a little while, I know a lot of people don't like them and what-not, but I would pick Xbox over PS 1-2-3-4-5-6 anyday. I got my xbox on the original US release date and it was great. It worked fine. I can recall a couple of mishaps like when i would be playing Madden '06 with my brother and it froze maybe once or twice since i owned it. But last week i got the Szarek "Red lights of death" So i called MS customer service and they sent me the shipping box, e-mailed me with a repair order number, and sent me another e-mail when they received it on May 2. So I hope my expereince is not like Szarek's and more like Seer's.
  • Joey67, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1I am no Microsoft fanboy and it almost pains me to say this... but MS really seems to have done right by this guy. The issue of product failure and customer service are two different things. Regardless of why the 360 may have failed, Microsoft did the right thing. It doesn't seem that Microsoft faltered in a way that would have warranted this type of escalation and publicity. Yes, it sucks when you have a new toy fail repeatedly... but a company doing the right thing to fix it is equally, if not more important. Everyone is always looking for a reason to bash MS (I find myself in that group from time to time as well)... but in all fairness, I think their handling of this situation has been exemplary.
  • mpancha, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1I love the comments from people who have no idea behind how a production line/assembly line (one of the best inventions thanks Mr. Ford) works. Too many soccer moms, and too many guys becoming soccer moms.

    If you want a system (from any company, be it phone, gaming device, computer, tv, etc) that will work flawlessly, or near flawlessness, you don't choose to be an early adopter. This guy did, and then complained about going through the pains that every early adopter goes through.

    Somehow a bit of an education, and knowledge of how a procedure works, makes you an (insert company name here) fanboy.
    • Osjpr, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1It should work right off the bat. You pay money. You receive product that works. No wonder consumers in America are being butt-f***ed agaisnt the wall with 90 day guarantees and other crap like that. You get a faulty product and it's the consumer's fault. I don't understand this mentality. Only when it happens to YOU will you understand. I think it's plain stupidity on the part of the average American consumer. And selfish buttheads who can't abide seeing anyone else get special treatment, especially when they deserve it. It's a vindictive and selfish attitude.
  • ahhell, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2I agree with most of the above posts.

    The guy is a whiney bitch.
  • Fetching more discussions...
    Show 51 - 53 of 53 discussions
  •  

    Login or register to add a comment

    Create a new account or login to join in the conversation on Digg. You'll also be able to Digg stories to help promote things you like.


© Digg Inc. 2008 — Content posted by Digg users is dedicated to the public domain.
DIGG, DIGG IT, DUGG, DIGG THIS, Digg graphics, logos, designs, page headers, button icons, scripts, and other service names are the trademarks of Digg Inc.