Redirect: Peter Moore “can’t comment” on Xbox 360 hardware quality/failure rates

There have been enough commentaries on Xbox 360 failure rates, and Microsoft customer service responses, that we would have just passed on this. Still, there’s Peter Moore‘s recent interview with The Mercury News’ Mike Antonucci, and Moore’s response to a reader question regarding hardware failures might be instructive in looking at Corporate HQ’s attitude to the issue.

Q (from reader): IÂ’d like a straight answer on issues with hardware quality (have suffered through 2 defective 360Â’s in a 7 month span and am about to call it quits with this system). MS claims an ‘accceptable’ 3% failure rate but I imagine the actual number to be much higher – perhaps 2x or 3x more?

A: I canÂ’t comment on failure rates, because itÂ’s just not something – itÂ’s a moving target. What this consumer should worry about is the way that weÂ’ve treated him. YÂ’know, things break, and if weÂ’ve treated him well and fixed his problem, thatÂ’s something that weÂ’re focused on right now. IÂ’m not going to comment on individual failure rates because IÂ’m shipping in 36 countries and itÂ’s a complex business.

The best, non-judgmental interpretation we can get from this response is that it is Microsoft‘s policy and attitude to deal with cases of malfunctioning Xbox 360s on an individual basis – and thus cannot give an encompassing answer to the issue – or treat it in such an encompassing manner. Now it is unarguable that Customer Service is/should be dedicated to the full satisfaction of each disgruntled consumer.

Still, we couldn’t blame critics who will – and have – focused on Moore calling the failure rate a “moving target.” Looking to the individual responses to individual issues, and the results from them, might really smack of redirecting in light of that.

Sensationalist? Maybe – but people still keep asking the question.

There have been enough commentaries on Xbox 360 failure rates, and Microsoft customer service responses, that we would have just passed on this. Still, there’s Peter Moore‘s recent interview with The Mercury News’ Mike Antonucci, and Moore’s response to a reader question regarding hardware failures might be instructive in looking at Corporate HQ’s attitude to the issue.

Q (from reader): IÂ’d like a straight answer on issues with hardware quality (have suffered through 2 defective 360Â’s in a 7 month span and am about to call it quits with this system). MS claims an ‘accceptable’ 3% failure rate but I imagine the actual number to be much higher – perhaps 2x or 3x more?

A: I canÂ’t comment on failure rates, because itÂ’s just not something – itÂ’s a moving target. What this consumer should worry about is the way that weÂ’ve treated him. YÂ’know, things break, and if weÂ’ve treated him well and fixed his problem, thatÂ’s something that weÂ’re focused on right now. IÂ’m not going to comment on individual failure rates because IÂ’m shipping in 36 countries and itÂ’s a complex business.

The best, non-judgmental interpretation we can get from this response is that it is Microsoft‘s policy and attitude to deal with cases of malfunctioning Xbox 360s on an individual basis – and thus cannot give an encompassing answer to the issue – or treat it in such an encompassing manner. Now it is unarguable that Customer Service is/should be dedicated to the full satisfaction of each disgruntled consumer.

Still, we couldn’t blame critics who will – and have – focused on Moore calling the failure rate a “moving target.” Looking to the individual responses to individual issues, and the results from them, might really smack of redirecting in light of that.

Sensationalist? Maybe – but people still keep asking the question.