Xbox 360 Extended Warranty Too Late?

Recently, Microsoft announced it was extending the warranty on the Xbox 360 from 90 days to a full year from the date of purchase.

However, some critics argue that the one-year warranty should have been standard on the Xbox 360 from the start and others say that it should never have taken a public outcry and the filing of a lawsuit for Microsoft to extend its warranty.

The extended warranty applies retroactively to people who are still within their first year of ownership of the Xbox 360. Furthermore, customers who paid for out-of-warranty repairs within one year of their purchase will automatically receive reimbursement checks.

Problems for many people with Xbox 360s hit a boiling point after an October 31 update to the system. After the Fall Update was made available, reports circulated that many Xbox 360 users were having serious troubles with their consoles. A major problem was that the Xbox 360 would immediately reboot after downloading the update and show an error message followed by the Xbox 360 being permanently non-functional (this is commonly known as "bricking" meaning that the console is now useful only as a "brick"). Further complaints included freezing of the system and inconsistent performance of the Xbox 360.

Unfortunately for consumers, problems with the Xbox 360 caused by the Fall Update cannot be fixed without the Xbox being sent in to Microsoft, who charged customers up to $140 to ship their Xbox 360s in for repair.

Microsoft faces a class action lawsuit, filed by Kevin Ray November 29, 2006 in Seattle, Washington after Ray downloaded the Fall Update which resulted in his console failing to work. Ray notified Xbox Support but was told that Microsoft would not pay for the cost to repair or replace the Xbox 360. The suit was filed on behalf of the plaintiff and all other customers who "experienced hardware problems with their Microsoft Xbox 360 gaming consoles following installation of Microsoft's Fall 2006 Update for the Xbox 360." According to court papers, the plaintiff believes that the number of people potentially represented by the class action suit could be in the thousands.

In addition to problems with the Fall Update, other consumers have reported problems with their Xbox 360, including the "red ring of death" that appears when the console is rendered useless. One consumer noted that he got the "red ring of death" only one month after purchasing his Xbox 360. Microsoft sent a replacement unit which worked fine until the Fall Update was released.

Xbox 360 competitors such as the Playstation 3 and the Wii have standard one-year warranties.

Xbox 360 Extended Warranty Too Late?

Xbox 360 Legal Help

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