Most who know me, even a little bit, know that I am renown for my laziness. Few can match my abilities to be, er, unable. I'm so lazy that in the summer, when I'm at the pool and I have to pee, I just go. From the diving board.
So, when I first began having problems with my XBox 360, I was really hoping that I wasn't going to have to return it. I mean, there are so many separate bags for every little thing! I'd have to restart my Guitar Hero II, my Splinter Cell, I'd have to put all of the porn back into another machine! Not to mention all of the bullshit of having to redo my Live account (although I actually have no idea how to do it. It might be easy)
Is this bad?
Soon enough though, the random, occasional freeze-up turned into an everyday occurrence. I couldn't even touch GRAW on Live; the percentage of me getting through to a game was about 40%. I knew I had no choice. I decided to search for my warranty.
Several minutes later I gave up and fell asleep near the tub.
Get out of my bed Sir Lancelot!
When I woke up, I found, to my suprise, that it wasn't as simple as boxing my XBox and taking it back. First, I had to go online and file a 'claim' that it wasn't working. A claim? I wasn't in an accident, I don't have leukemia, I don't need to 'claim' anything! It's a piece of goddamned circuitry that I use to pretend to shoot things with, not my child. I could tell this was going to be a hassle.
Ah. You've never let me down, have you, old friend?
My old XBox never broke. Not once. Not ever. Not even after I tripped on a cord, yanking it off the shelf, four feet down to the ground. I beat the shit out of it, too. Thing's built like a brick shithouse. So what's so wrong with the 360? I can't play it for fear of it overheating! My old XBox could run all day on games, at night for a couple of movies, after which I'd fall asleep and leave it on, at which point I'd wake up sometime around noon and pop in a game for an hour. Then it cooked me French toast, balanced my checkbook, prescribed me some medication, and snuck into
Joe's room and sprinkled baby powder on his pillow for me.
Apparently, after I file my claim, they will send me an address sticker to send my packed XBox to somewhere in America (I think). Then they'll give it a once over (probably with a mallet) and decide if the damage done is deserving of a voucher, which they'll send to me, after I sent them the XBox, after they sent me the postage sticker, after I sent them the e-mail. With the voucher, I get to go to the store I bought it at and buy another one! Can't wait for this.
So, the next review I'll have in will be sometime in November.
Over the next few articles, I'll keep you posted. If you have any personal stories to tell about returning the XBox 360 (I'm sure it's somewhere in the 80-90% range), put 'em up. Let's hear it!
Been there before my friend. Just look at my avatar. :P However, instead of sending it to Microsoft, I had a Product Replacement Plan from Best Buy! I thought I was saved! Then I found out that it is not an in-store replacement plan. I'd have to send the 360 out to some place in Texas, then get a giftcard back in the mail for the ammount that I paid for it. Doing that took about a month. God I hate Best Buy's PRP. Really, why can't they do that in-store? God forbid that they actually help a customer. At least I had a core system, so I got to keep my hard drive separate.
just buy a wii instead! :)
I love that all this rigamarole can be called "customer service..." My 360 hasn't broken yet, but from what I hear, it's a matter of when. Not if.