E3 ‘07 - Microsoft admits 360 problems, extends warranty to 3 years

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July 5th, 2007 posted by Link in Xbox 360

The recent news of the Xbox 360 hardware’s failure rate being as high as 30% has sparked Microsoft to make a much-welcome announcement that will cost the technology giant at least 1 billion dollars.

Straight from the mouth of Peter Moore in an open letter on Xbox.com:

You’ve spoken, and we’ve heard you. Good service and a good customer experience are areas of the business that we care deeply about. And frankly, we’ve not been doing a good enough job.

We are announcing today a three-year warranty that covers any console that displays a three flashing red lights error message. Microsoft will repair the console free of charge (including shipping) for three years from the console’s purchase date.

If we have let any of you down in the experience you have had with your Xbox 360, we sincerely apologize. We are taking responsibility and are making these changes to ensure that every Xbox 360 owner continues to have a great experience.

I want to thank you, on behalf of all us at Microsoft, for your loyalty.

Microsoft has also announced various hardware changes in Xbox 360 production that should help to fix some of the problems of the past. Perhaps more amazing is that this is a retrospective warranty. That’s right, even if you bought a system at launch, your warranty is 3 years instead of the 90 days that expired long ago. Microsoft has even pledged to reimburse everyone who has paid for a repair on the console since launch. That’s what I call customer service.