Image courtesy of Wikia.
Widely reported as soon as it was announced last night Microsoft detailed an increase of its warranty for the Xbox 360 to 3 years for all general hardware failures, known otherwise by most of the public as The Red Rings of Death. Existing issues outwith the general hardware failure will be covered by the normal warranty of your unit. Basically if you get 3 red rings, you get 3 years (appropriately), otherwise you get 1.
I've seen a lot of blog entries with people applauding Microsoft for their decision to do this, with many saying "Outstanding" or "Awesome". I say "About bloody time". There is no reason why it should have taken this long to investigate the issue, and there is no reason Microsoft should be lauded for doing what they're doing now - they're correcting a problem. There's an obvious design flaw, and Microsoft hasn't yet said sorry regarding the whole situation, which is typical for many big businesses, but instead has deflected that issue away into a good will effort, and a major PR coup ahead of the main E3 events that are upcoming.
An alleged 30% fail rate reported by retailers, terrible customer service, lack of communication to consumers and just not responding beyond "We're looking into it" when problems have been reported in the press is not the way to go. The Ostrich Maneuver doesn't work.
This announcement comes shortly before E3, so I assume that Microsoft is trying to steal some thunder from Sony and Nintendo as well as make a positive PR move. I'm predicting that they'll also announce pricing changes at E3 and the conclusion of the Core 360 unit. There'll also be an announcement soon about a new smaller redesigned version of the units that will be available by the end of the year. They'll need to let current inventory be used up, probably to cover repairs, and then they'll shift those units as refurbs to be sold by third parties with a modified warranty. Just my opinion and predictions.
I'd still recommend to those enthralled by this new development in warranties to consider the Microsoft service contract for $39.90 that I posted about a few days ago to ensure they get full coverage instead of just RRoD failures over a 3 year period.
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Tags: News, Opine by Teh Bagder
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