Xbox 360 Warranty Extended From One Year to Three Years

[Bond]

As announced by the open letter from Peter Moore:

Open Letter From Peter Moore
To our Xbox Community:

You've spoken, and we’ve heard you. Good service and a good customer experience are areas of the business that we care deeply about. And frankly, we've not been doing a good enough job.

Some of you have expressed frustration with the customer experiences you have had with Xbox 360; frustration with having to return your console for service after receiving the general hardware error message on the console.

The majority of customers who own Xbox 360 consoles have had a terrific experience from their first day, and continue to, day in and day out. But when anyone questions the reliability of our product, or our commitment to our customers, it's something I take very seriously.

We have been following this issue closely, and with on-going testing have identified several factors that can cause a general hardware failure indicated by three flashing red lights on the console. To address this issue, and as part of our ongoing work, we have already made certain improvements to the console.

We are also implementing some important policy changes intended to keep you in the game, worry-free.

As of today, all Xbox 360 consoles are covered by an enhanced warranty program to address specifically the general hardware failures indicated by the three flashing red lights on the console. This applies to new and previously-sold consoles. While we will still have a general one year console warranty (two years in some countries), we are announcing today a three-year warranty that covers any console that displays a three flashing red lights error message. If a customer has an issue indicated by the three flashing red lights, Microsoft will repair the console free of charge—including shipping—for three years from the console’s purchase date. We will also retroactively reimburse any of you who paid for repairs related to problems indicated by this error message in the past. In doing so, Microsoft stands behind its products and takes responsibility to ensure that every Xbox 360 console owner continues to have a fantastic gaming experience.

If we have let any of you down in the experience you have had with your Xbox 360, we sincerely apologize. We are taking responsibility and are making these changes to ensure that every Xbox 360 owner continues to have a great experience.

This will take a few days to roll out globally, and I appreciate your continued patience as we launch this program. I've posted an FAQ that should address some additional questions, and we'll update it over the next few days.

I want to thank you, on behalf of all us at Microsoft, for your loyalty.

Source: Xbox.com

From the FAQ:

Q: How does this warranty differ from your existing warranty?
A: Currently, any Xbox 360 is covered by a one year manufacturer’s warranty (two years in some parts of the world). If the console is out of warranty, there is a charge to have it repaired. It then comes with an additional one year repair warranty. With these changes, there is effectively a three year warranty with no charge for repair for general hardware failures indicated by the three flashing red lights error code which displays on the console.

[Angrist]

Finally.

[Dyne]

Hell yeah, that works for me.

[Bond]

Originally Posted by Angrist

Finally.

The Playstation 3 and Wii only have a one year warranty...

[Perfect Stu]

Originally Posted by Bond

The Playstation 3 and Wii only have a one year warranty...

The Playstation 3 and Wii are well made machines, though.

[Bond]

Originally Posted by Perfect Stu

The Playstation 3 and Wii are well made machines, though.

[Dyne]

Man, my Wii has never been hot. I must be missing out here.

[Angrist]

Yeah, but they're not getting bad publicity for breaking down "all the time", whether it's true or not.

In Holland we had a big consumer program on TV ravish about how the 360 breaks down a lot and usually (shortly?) after the 1 year's warranty.

Since it took them months to provide this extended warranty, I said 'Finally'. Nothing personal.

[DeathsHand]

Originally Posted by Angrist

Yeah, but they're not getting bad publicity for breaking down "all the time", whether it's true or not.

Yeah but they're probably on thin ice since just about everybody I've asked has a Wii that runs insanely hot with "Wii Connect 24" on, even when the console is in standby mode...

Oh, and I had to get mine replaced

[GameMaster]

I just got another Wii. After I finished playing, I felt it up and it seems okay.