Microsoft, in the face of mounting anecdotal evidence about the massive failure rates for Xbox 360s, has extended the warranty for all 360s (since launch) that suffer from the "Red Ring of Death" to 3 years:
"If a customer has an issue indicated by the three flashing red lights, Microsoft will repair the console free of charge—including shipping—for three years from the console’s purchase date. We will also retroactively reimburse any of you who paid for repairs related to problems indicated by this error message in the past."This 180 delivered by Microsoft VP Peter Moore, who's previous stance was, "Y'know, things break."
Moore allegedly told Kotaku.com the warrant "needs to be above and beyond because we haven't done what we need to do to take care of our consumers."
Pretty stand-up stuff, especially since there's a hefty cost associated -- about $1 billion against Microsoft's last quarter.
Three years is a long time for an electronics warranty, and I'm impressed. The warranty does seem limited to the "Red Ring of Death", so it better cover my dead 360. I was wondering why the support agents were working so hard to get me to say the "screen hangs" issue was the primary issue warranting repair, even though I also got the Red Ring of Death. But I've suffered the Ring o' Death myself, and told you about it. Repeatedly.
Hey, at least the 360 didn't catch on fire.
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