Red-ringed Xbox 360 outside warranty, repaired for free

Xbox 360 owners fear it, gamers with units outside warranty period wet their pants when they see it, even Microsoft dares not speak of it – the “red ring of death” is one of this generation’s greatest enemies. This is not always the case, however, since Richard Manley from GWN overcame this hurdle.

Having bought his console during the Australian launch, Manley’s machine was three months past its warranty when the ring of death phenomenon occurred. He instantly called customer support, and found out that he’ll have to spend AU$ 200 to get his unit fixed. Dismayed, all he could reply was “‘I’ll need to have a think about it.”

Alternative methods were useless to avoid the hefty price, so he decided to call in again. Surprising enough, it seemed like it was the same person as before on the other end of the line; but things were different. The rep checked the last call’s info with the reference number, and figured out that Manley’s 360 was on its way to get fixed:

I gave her my call reference number from the previous call, and she then informed me that “it looked like I was getting the console repaired under warranty”. “Is that correct?”, she asked. I was a little stunned. I replied, “Umm, yeh, ok.” The woman said I would receive instruction in my email inbox later that day informing me how to package up the console and where to send it.

The instructional email came in and he sent his 360 out the next day. A week later, the unit came back fixed free of charge. Moral lesson of the story: try to go around customer service – it’ll save you some dough.

Xbox 360 owners fear it, gamers with units outside warranty period wet their pants when they see it, even Microsoft dares not speak of it – the “red ring of death” is one of this generation’s greatest enemies. This is not always the case, however, since Richard Manley from GWN overcame this hurdle.

Having bought his console during the Australian launch, Manley’s machine was three months past its warranty when the ring of death phenomenon occurred. He instantly called customer support, and found out that he’ll have to spend AU$ 200 to get his unit fixed. Dismayed, all he could reply was “‘I’ll need to have a think about it.”

Alternative methods were useless to avoid the hefty price, so he decided to call in again. Surprising enough, it seemed like it was the same person as before on the other end of the line; but things were different. The rep checked the last call’s info with the reference number, and figured out that Manley’s 360 was on its way to get fixed:

I gave her my call reference number from the previous call, and she then informed me that “it looked like I was getting the console repaired under warranty”. “Is that correct?”, she asked. I was a little stunned. I replied, “Umm, yeh, ok.” The woman said I would receive instruction in my email inbox later that day informing me how to package up the console and where to send it.

The instructional email came in and he sent his 360 out the next day. A week later, the unit came back fixed free of charge. Moral lesson of the story: try to go around customer service – it’ll save you some dough.