Microsoft's Bach and the RROD Options

[Xbox-Scene]

Microsoft's Bach and the RROD Posted by XanTium | June 14 00:08 EST | News Category: Xbox360

From next-gen.biz: [QUOTE] The "Red Ring of Death" proved to be a billion-dollar mistake for Microsoft, but Microsoft's Entertainment & Devices Group boss Robbie Bach says defects have had little impact on Xbox 360's image with consumers. "The amazing part of that whole situation is that when we look at brand preference, customer satisfaction, willingness to recommend, none of that data has moved through that whole process," Bach said. "The number-one complaint I get from people is that it is taking you too long to fix the console." Bach said that fans who have gone through two or three defective Xbox 360 consoles only to remain loyal to the brand are representative of the "power of the product offering and service we provide." Bach continued, "In the ordinary course of something like this, you would expect it to show up in the customer reaction data. We just haven't seen that. [/QUOTE] Full Story: next-gen.biz

[cory1492]

Well.. not quite how I'd say it, but...

I say that fans who have gone through two or three defective Xbox 360 consoles only to remain loyal to the brand are representative of the "power of investing too much into a game library to recoup the cost when jumping ship, effectively twisting their arm once the shoddy quality of the hardware became apparent."

[Slag Bag]

Well.. not quite how I'd say it, but...

I agree with you I would more likely say that they aren't willing to give up on an already $800+ investment. But leave it to MS to try and put a positive spin on stepping in a pile of crap.

[Heet]

We put out the crappiest peice of hardware and they still love us for it!

[opiate81]

I agree with you I would more likely say that they aren't willing to give up on an already $800+ investment. But leave it to MS to try and put a positive spin on stepping in a pile of crap.

Agreed!
What options do you have? trade it in for a third of the purchase price, throw it in the bin or deal with it and keep getting it repaired.
I havent got one yet because of all the horror stories! I dont care if it has an extended warranty I dont want to have to send my console away ONCE!

[Metsada]

Agreed!
What options do you have? trade it in for a third of the purchase price, throw it in the bin or deal with it and keep getting it repaired.
I havent got one yet because of all the horror stories! I dont care if it has an extended warranty I dont want to have to send my console away ONCE!

Then you should buy a new one, the falcon is much more reliable. I agree with the whole MS thing, as much as it sucks and all, its still the best console. Mainly because of the great games, but also the live service is just great.

[openxdkman]

Most analysts predict MS will lose this console generation war as well.
Probably because of RROD.

What Bach says is probably true in United States. But only there.

If you know the device will die and you will have to send it back, you feel more confident to endure this process if you live in the same country as the vendor.

I can tell you that in Europe and Asia, people think ten times before purchasing a 360.

All they need to do is to rename the console (as 720) once they have a redesigned board with 45nm chipsets manufactured by true pros. I'm not worrying about MS performance when they will release a renamed model.

But let's be clear, 360 is a success only in USA (and eventually UK).

This post has been edited by openxdkman: Jun 14 2008, 11:16 AM

[fxkenshi]

Most analysts predict MS will lose this console generation war as well.
Probably because of RROD.

What Bach says is probably true in United States. But only there.

If you know the device will die and you will have to send it back, you feel more confident to endure this process if you live in the same country as the vendor.

I can tell you that in Europe and Asia, people think ten times before purchasing a 360.

All they need to do is to rename the console (as 720) once they have a redesigned board with 45nm chipsets manufactured by true pros. I'm not worrying about MS performance when they will release a renamed model.

But let's be clear, 360 is a success only in USA (and eventually UK).

I couldn't have say it better. But I'll add some points.
You say Europe and Asia. I'll include Latin America to the mix since I live in South America and let me tell you that if your Xbox 360 dies, you are done. Not only because most countries don't have official representation but because of the cost of the console: I'd say that the average price is $500 for a PRO bundle. So, unless you have a lot of money to spend, you'll quickly change to the "no-risk-of-failure" competition which are Sony's PS3 and Nintendo's Wii. Here, you not only lose a customer, you gain someone who will reject your products for a long term and this guy will tell his close friends, co-workers, forum sites, personal blog, etc. that this console sucks. OK, so MS don't give a damn if you are a guy who lives in a country without official representation and your Xbox dies... I'd think it better since, as I said before, this guy's opinion will affect ALL the people within his reach and so on (like word to mouth marketing).

I'm not an expert but I would suggest MS to invest lots of money in advertising for its next console. The campaign should say something like "this time our product will last more than 3 months"... you get the point right? So, what I want to say is that MS has to do a great effort to regain people's trust, especially those who had a bad 360 and went for a PS3. If I were MS I would give a 2 year warranty for the next Xbox. It's a way to say "my product doesn't fail".

If MS hadn't failed so bad with the Xbox design, now we would be talking about the king of consoles in the US and Europe... and maybe doing slightly better in Japan.

Sorry if I made some spelling or gramar mistakes, English is not my first language.

[eduardor2k]

I'm still waiting to buy mine.

The price is already below 200€, but the GPU is still > 65nm & reliability is very low

This post has been edited by eduardor2k: Jun 14 2008, 03:18 PM

[usename]

My xbox just died on me 2 nights ago, but I had another one, and that one died on me too before. My 3 cousins xboxs died on them too and one of them had a broken disc tray that wouldn't open. and I had another one that broke too, but I couldn't send it for repair because the warranty sticker was broke. but is ok I fixed that one my self with help of youtube and a bunch of blogs. and the first one that i sent to repair took like 3 months to get back to me, I waited the four weeks that they told me to wait, and when I call the automatic message said it was sent to me, but then i found out that UPS had lost it and I told them to put a trace on the package because it was missing and they did, and I waited, but then they canceled it because only the shipper can do a trace. then I got with microsoft and got them to put a trace on it, and then they had to wait for UPS to get their act togheter, so I waited, and then they said they would send me a replacement, and I waited, and finally after like 3 months of waiting I got it back, and to add insult to injury they game a one month xbox live card, like that would make up for all the pain of waiting, all the phone calls and the hold time I had to do when calling the M$, UPS. It was very traumatic experience. and the xbox they sent me was used, not even a new one for the one they lost. Hey I think everyone who sends in their broken xboxes get a 1 month xbox live card, if that is so, then i feel even more insulted.

[xmod4u]

I'm sorry I have to jump in here.

Did he just say something like,
"our product is defective as hell, and people still stay with us, proves the loyalty"

thats a little arrogant.


Once in a while, I find myself making the same comment,
M$, you don't belong in gaming.

[Giga_Death]

Bach said that fans who have gone through two or three defective Xbox 360 consoles only to remain loyal to the brand are representative of the "power of the product offering and service we provide."

I would love to see the actual quote on that "fans who have gone through two or three defective Xbox 360 consoles". . . sounds like someone is putting words into his mouth and following with something he did say.

Nevertheless, what they need to do is fix the gimped hardware, release 65nm and maybe other modifications and for the same price point.

as much as it sucks and all, its still the best console. Mainly because of the great games, but also the live service is just great.

I bet you sell your xbox when the "fixed" model is released.

[kowrip]

"The amazing part of that whole situation is that when we look at brand preference, customer satisfaction, willingness to recommend, none of that data has moved through that whole process," Bach said. "The number-one complaint I get from people is that it is taking you too long to fix the console."

Does anybody else find these sentences contradictory ? First, he's saying that the RROD hasn't affected customers' attitudes. Then he goes on to say that the number one complaint is that it is taking too long to fix. Well, guess what ? When they say "taking too long to fix", they are referring to the RROD and general non-reliability of the console !!!! People want a console that won't die after a few months.

[Flagg3]

I would love to see the actual quote on that "fans who have gone through two or three defective Xbox 360 consoles". . . sounds like someone is putting words into his mouth and following with something he did say.

You could actually 'click' the article and read it yourself...

http://venturebeat.com/2008/06/13/intervie...-2-on-xbox-360/

Yes, it is paraphrased.

Q: With the Xbox 360, did you have a way to measure the damage to the brand from the billion-dollar write-off and the defective machines?
A: It’s something we have absolutely tracked. The amazing part of that whole situation is that when we look at brand preference, customer satisfaction, willingness to recommend, none of that data has moved through that whole process. The No. 1 complaint I get from people is that it is taking you too long to fix the console.

Q: Doesn’t it surprise you that fans are saying I want my third or I want my fourth replacement console?
A: It speaks to the power of the product offering and service we provide. That’s my point. In the ordinary course of something like this, you would expect it to show up in the customer reaction data. We just haven’t seen that. It speaks to the fact that they love their games and Xbox Live. Does it frustrate them? Yes. On the other hand, they know we’re taking care of them. People have a certain amount of respect for that. If it had happened on a product that had less baseline customer satisfaction, it would have had a bigger impact. We really haven’t seen that.

Q: Have you had a rebellion on the gamer sites?
A: Not really. Certainly, people will go up there and talk about things. They have this problem or that problem. There is conversation about it. But then you look at the data. People continue to buy. Throughout the whole thing, we didn’t see a drop off in the purchase rate or the attach rate for games. People compartmentalize. They see we had something wrong. We’re dealing with it. But they still love the product and keep using it. That’s the best analysis I have based on the data.

[AngelBallz69]

I had the rrod , went to home depot, did the x-clamp fix , and 2 months later still running strong!!! , just do the fix yourself, very easy and no waiting for the xbox to come back in the mail,