360 diehards lose hope in console?

broken x360 - Image 1A lot of gamers have really warmed over to the Xbox 360 and why not- it’s a technological masterpiece, it has a wonderful collection of games, it’s affordable, and it has unparallelled online gaming from Xbox Live. The gaming scene in the Microsoft backyard seems really idyllic on the surface but deep down, trouble is brewing.

Utah couple Sam and Mindy Cassingham are self-professed Xbox diehards. They own a game center in their hometown of Moab dedicated exclusively to the platform. They were there at Zero Hour- the 360’s launch party. They pre-ordered two units and bought four at the event. They even drove all the way to the Mojave Desert ball in a car with a license plate that read “Xbox”. They were living the Xbox fanboy dream. 

But roughly half a year later, the first of a series of tragic fanboy moments came to pass. There it was – an Xbox 360 which wouldn’t start up, diabolic red lights flashing and not a hope in the world of resurrection. The couple shrugged their shoulders, weaved past trees of voice mailboxes and talked to a gang of technical support people who, after almost half an hour of explaining, told them the steps to getting their broken machine replaced.

It might have been fine, if that were the only woe,  but it didn’t take long for the rest to crash..

Of course, Microsoft always found it in its soft heart for gamers to do something about the issue. It can’t let its fans down. Not the loyalists. Their solution? Send Rob and Mindy refurbished machines.

Rob finally had it. He loved the console. He was always happy with the games and Xbox Live was amazing, but in an email, he finally raised the white flag and declared that he’s had enough. The latest unit was getting sent back to him but he said:

When it comes, I’m going to sell it. I have 12,000 achievement points. That’s a hard thing to give up. I’ve had game systems since the Coleco machine. I have never had to send any of them back. The gaming experience has been wonderful. And Xbox Live is great. But the reliability of this thing…

He couldn’t finish the sentence. He later lamented “why spend money for rims on a car that spends 90 percent of its time in the shop?”

He then said that they’ve closed the game center for good and he and his wife have new jobs now. He said he hasn’t bought another console competing with the 360 but will shift his focus to PC gaming instead, declaring that Microsoft will still hold a space in his spending list “but not as much of it.”

For its part, Microsoft has stated this through spokesperson Tina Conley:

At Xbox, we strive to deliver an amazing customer experience every step of the way. We are disappointed when we hear about any customer dissatisfaction and are committed to constant improvement. The majority of Xbox 360 owners are having an outstanding experience with their systems and the overall return rate for Xbox 360 is within the consumer electronics industry average.

…That said, we strive to make every customer happy and continue to work on resolving any issues as they arise. Regarding this situation, Microsoft is investigating this customerÂ’s complaint to determine how to have better resolved this matter. We are committed to getting every customer with repair issues back to playing games on their Xbox 360 as quickly as possible.

Let’s hope as gamers that Microsoft resolves the hardware issues involving its flagship system soon.

broken x360 - Image 1A lot of gamers have really warmed over to the Xbox 360 and why not- it’s a technological masterpiece, it has a wonderful collection of games, it’s affordable, and it has unparallelled online gaming from Xbox Live. The gaming scene in the Microsoft backyard seems really idyllic on the surface but deep down, trouble is brewing.

Utah couple Sam and Mindy Cassingham are self-professed Xbox diehards. They own a game center in their hometown of Moab dedicated exclusively to the platform. They were there at Zero Hour- the 360’s launch party. They pre-ordered two units and bought four at the event. They even drove all the way to the Mojave Desert ball in a car with a license plate that read “Xbox”. They were living the Xbox fanboy dream. 

But roughly half a year later, the first of a series of tragic fanboy moments came to pass. There it was – an Xbox 360 which wouldn’t start up, diabolic red lights flashing and not a hope in the world of resurrection. The couple shrugged their shoulders, weaved past trees of voice mailboxes and talked to a gang of technical support people who, after almost half an hour of explaining, told them the steps to getting their broken machine replaced.

It might have been fine, if that were the only woe,  but it didn’t take long for the rest to crash..

Of course, Microsoft always found it in its soft heart for gamers to do something about the issue. It can’t let its fans down. Not the loyalists. Their solution? Send Rob and Mindy refurbished machines.

Rob finally had it. He loved the console. He was always happy with the games and Xbox Live was amazing, but in an email, he finally raised the white flag and declared that he’s had enough. The latest unit was getting sent back to him but he said:

When it comes, I’m going to sell it. I have 12,000 achievement points. That’s a hard thing to give up. I’ve had game systems since the Coleco machine. I have never had to send any of them back. The gaming experience has been wonderful. And Xbox Live is great. But the reliability of this thing…

He couldn’t finish the sentence. He later lamented “why spend money for rims on a car that spends 90 percent of its time in the shop?”

He then said that they’ve closed the game center for good and he and his wife have new jobs now. He said he hasn’t bought another console competing with the 360 but will shift his focus to PC gaming instead, declaring that Microsoft will still hold a space in his spending list “but not as much of it.”

For its part, Microsoft has stated this through spokesperson Tina Conley:

At Xbox, we strive to deliver an amazing customer experience every step of the way. We are disappointed when we hear about any customer dissatisfaction and are committed to constant improvement. The majority of Xbox 360 owners are having an outstanding experience with their systems and the overall return rate for Xbox 360 is within the consumer electronics industry average.

…That said, we strive to make every customer happy and continue to work on resolving any issues as they arise. Regarding this situation, Microsoft is investigating this customerÂ’s complaint to determine how to have better resolved this matter. We are committed to getting every customer with repair issues back to playing games on their Xbox 360 as quickly as possible.

Let’s hope as gamers that Microsoft resolves the hardware issues involving its flagship system soon.

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