Taiwan: Repairs Take Long Time Because MS Checks if 360s are Modified Options

[Xbox-Scene]

Taiwan: Xbox360 Repairs Take Long Time Because MS Checks of Consoles are Modified Posted by XanTium | November 15 00:46 EST | News Category: Xbox360

From digitimes.com: [QUOTE] Microsoft has been vigorously inspecting Xbox 360 consoles sent in for repairs in Taiwan which has resulted in the usual turnaround time of seven days being extended to as long as one month since October, according to retail channels in Taiwan. The sources commented that the tighter inspection was motivated by a need to see if game consoles have been illegally modified to use pirated games and a need to screen consoles which really need repair. However, consumers are increasingly becoming discontent with the tighter attitude towards after-sales repairs, the sources pointed out. [/QUOTE] News-Source: digitimes.com

[pigbait]

maybe this means no ban hamer in fall update. looks like ms need to look at the console when it is in the shop to see if it is modded cuz they would just wait and abn on live if they could see it right

[ILLusions0fGrander]

how long does it take to dump the firmware and check? no more than a couple minutes a console once opened.

i guess that explains the month wait.

[21cwSpanky]

how long does it take to dump the firmware and check? no more than a couple minutes a console once opened.

i guess that explains the month wait.

yeah but there is a good chance they wanted to just take an xbox in, send a previously refurbed one out instead of fixing each one and sending back the the one you sent in. If they check each one then they can't just make a mailing list and send out refurbs as quickly.

[mironicus]

There is no need to open a modded 360, right?
Just place a backup in it and you'll know. Seems like MS really can't detect stealth firmwares with software.

[Kaphis]

but if we sent it in, it should mean that it wouldn't boot up at all so your "stick a back up in" to test wouldn't work

[detector]

for customers who have run out of their original warranty i have been 'putting' 3 red lights on their consoles so ms would have to swap them . everything was ok until recently when one customer said ms contacted them to say they were investigating the console further. all consoles i did have been replaced by ms apart from this one, could this be the beginning of new checks by ms?.

[xboxmodder4life]

hmmm admitting to fraud how interesting...

This post has been edited by xboxmodder4life: Nov 15 2007, 10:46 AM

[Chancer]

for customers who have run out of their original warranty i have been 'putting' 3 red lights on their consoles so ms would have to swap them . everything was ok until recently when one customer said ms contacted them to say they were investigating the console further. all consoles i did have been replaced by ms apart from this one, could this be the beginning of new checks by ms?.

What a jerk. Do you not realise that this increases turn round time for people who genuinely have this problem and also gives false impressions on figures of normal 3ROD failure.
You won't be here to post a reply. I hope you get reported outside of here as well.
Note:
Do NOT turn this thread into a database about sending in modded consoles and which areas seem not to notice. If you sent in a console you modded and got it repaired we do not wish to know on here.

This post has been edited by Chancer: Nov 15 2007, 11:28 AM

[vanxman]

What a jerk. Do you not realise that this increases turn round time for people who genuinely have this problem and also gives false impressions on figures of normal 3ROD failure.
You won't be here to post a reply. I hope you get reported outside of here as well.

Kinda agree, but...

My original 360 RRODed 10 months after purchase. Was fixed by MS under warranty around Halo 3 Beta time. It's working now, but getting intermittent problems (screen flickers, had 4 or 5 screen-dead on start-up or mid-games, regular-ish freezes in games, etc). I have absolutely no faith that this unit will last me until it is even a full 2 years old.

So, if my 360 dies now without a RROD, what am I to do?

It is out of warranty for EVERYTHING except the RROD. I firmly believe my (all faulty) machine/s should have been REPLACED WITH NON-DEFECTIVE UNITS, or we should get warranties for the whole machine, not just the part that MS could really no longer deny due to bad/excessive media coverage.

When my machine does non-RROD, will I consider giving it a shake or two to see if the RROD may pop up? HELL YES! Maybe not open it up and purposefully break it, but treat it like they would probably claim I treated it anyway. Why would it have broken otherwise if I didn't kick it around the room while high on meth?

Would you?

[DeMoN_DARREN]

Mircosoft warned you, break the seal and you're on your own. Nuff said. Its sad that they have to check for these kind of things. My first 360 broke and i just had to flog it for spares on ebay. I broke the seal, it broke, i paid

[carton132]

While I'm living with the fact that a broken seal means the end of warranty, and I'm not going to try to sneak around it, I feel it's a spiteful policy, and not at all limited to Microsoft. It seems to me that they should have to show that your modifications reasonably could have led to the failures you would seek repair for. Does a flashed firmware lead to the RROD? Clearly not, their design does. This is well established, admitted, and is a problem that has existed long before anyone modified their drive. I recently read a story of a man who bought a laptop which came preinstalled with Windows. He quickly formatted his drive and ran Linux as his OS. When the hinge started to crack on the laptop, a problem noted with this series of laptops, he took it in for repair/replacement, and the store said that installing Linux (an unsupported modification) voided his warranty. After creating a small uproar the store acknowledged that his modification didn't cause the problem, and shouldn't void the warranty.

http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/09/12/0011209

Now, is a software modification the same as one that requires opening of the console? No, but I think we can easily criticize these blanket policies manufacturers put on their warranties. A flashed firmware doesn't have anything to do with causing their design flaw. Maybe it's more accurate to compare this to installing an aftermarket stereo in a car, which requires opening the dash, and that that somehow could void the warranty on a recalled, design-flawed transmission.

Of course, I'm no genius, and I can't think of a smarter system to figure out what was caused and what wasn't caused by our modifications, and then dole out repairs to deserving customers, but I still can't help but feel slighted by these policies in place with just about all manufacturers.

[SigmaXIX]

yeah but there is a good chance they wanted to just take an xbox in, send a previously refurbed one out instead of fixing each one and sending back the the one you sent in. If they check each one then they can't just make a mailing list and send out refurbs as quickly.

Well, being speculative & from personal experience, I think in 1 warehouse they are checking the incoming consoles for a few features.

1) Extended warranty? 2) Is the warranty sticker obviously distorted? 3) Is it getting RROD? 4) Is the DVD firmware intact? 5) Any other obvious signs of internal tampering?

And then they scan the Xbox 360 with their barcode scanner, and then push yes or no on their keyboard, and in some other warehouse they ship you a refurb Xbox 360.

With this new stuff in mind, I'd also say they keep all the incoming Xbox360s in the "Coffin"/box they were sent, until a packing crate is totally full, then ship them to wherever verifies the issue. I'd say that where they diagnose the issue may not necessarily be where they repair it.

Some of these Xbox360 repairs actually take PCB reworking -- that takes skilled, outsourced talent in a sweat-shop in some other country... And I believe they also have to hand-assemble a new set of plastics on the refurb.

Mircosoft warned you, break the seal and you're on your own.

I whole-heartedly agree with that statement. I knew from the moment I bought the 360 that I would be fuct if I voided the warranty seal. I don't see why someone posting here cannot assume responsibility for voiding their warranty.

Now I know who to blame for the turnaround-time problem.

Here's a way that I look at it: A) I stay with Microsoft's warranty and rely on them to keep my Xbox 360 "groovy", or B ) I fix all the problems myself and make my own "Sigma19-360" with my own warranty.

If you're not seeing it as 1-of-the-2 choices above, LSD cessation does wonders...

This post has been edited by SigmaXIX: Nov 15 2007, 03:59 PM

[Havok]

Kinda agree, but...

My original 360 RRODed 10 months after purchase. Was fixed by MS under warranty around Halo 3 Beta time. It's working now, but getting intermittent problems (screen flickers, had 4 or 5 screen-dead on start-up or mid-games, regular-ish freezes in games, etc). I have absolutely no faith that this unit will last me until it is even a full 2 years old.

Why not send it back NOW!?!??!

Did you call them up and ask them.. or just assuming they wont fix it? How long ago did these problems start?

[Chancer]

While I'm living with the fact that a broken seal means the end of warranty, and I'm not going to try to sneak around it, I feel it's a spiteful policy, and not at all limited to Microsoft. It seems to me that they should have to show that your modifications reasonably could have led to the failures you would seek repair for. Does a flashed firmware lead to the RROD? Clearly not, their design does

But yes it can. Unskilled people cracking open consoles to flash firmware, can and do cause damage. Why should MS have to spend valuable technicians time checking if a tampered console has led to the 3ROD?
I fit tamper seals to all the repairs done here and if the seal is broken there is no warranty claim.
I do not have limitless resources to chase up and rectify man made faults on the way down a long road to get to the initial problem. I doubt MS do either.