A new XBox 360, three red lights, and a disgruntled friend.

[babcat]

The following is an absolutely true story. I'm reporting it because I'm astonished that this happened to someone I actually know.

A friend of mine who has been a very avid gamer for years decided to sell all of his movie DVDs, games (Playstation 2 and XBox 1), controllers, and other stuff to get the money to purchase an XBox 360.

He was a big fan of both the Playstation 2 and Microsoft's XBox. Recently, he played God of War and loved it. Also, he is a BIG fan of Halo.

He purchased his new 360 and took it home. Because he sold almost everything he had to purchase a 360 he was eager to play his ONE XBox 360 game he had purchased that day. (I think it was Burnout.)

He plugged it in, turned it on, and got the three red lights of death.

He called customer support and after talking to them he was told his unit was defective.

Then he took it back to where he purchased it and got his money back.

They offered him a replacement at the store, but he said he didn't want to even bother with it.

This has him tremendously ticked off at next-gen gaming all together.

He managed to buy back his PS2 from a friend.

He has told me he is just going to keep playing it until they stop making games for it and then never purchase another console again.

 

[Skrying]

I'm sorry, but your friend sounds.... well I don't want to sound rude. Defects happen people, I am still amazed that people do not know this yet. There's a reason for your warranty. And the replacement was as simple as getting a replacement at the store of purchase?

 

[rusty]

Right....


So he got one defective product for which an immediate replacement was offered and now he not only does not want that replacement but is never going to buy another console ever again. It's a bit strange... I can't imagine why anyone would be so angry with the situation. If he had taken that replacement console and had the same thing happen again then I could see why it'd be getting very irritating but even then swearing off all new gen consoles forever seems a little strange for someone who was willing to "sell almost everything he had" and as such is clearly quite into gaming!

 

[Mordecaii]

I have to agree with Skyring, no matter which console you get, there is a chance that it will be defective. If it's as trouble-free as simply taking it back to the store and getting a new one, I don't see the problem.

 

[DeathKnight]

I find it hard to believe a "brand new" 360 is defective out of the box. Is he sure it was entirely new and not a system someone did a switcheroo with (like what people did/do at Walmart) or that it wasn't just placed back on the shelf by the store because they're inept?

Out-of-the-box defectiveness is fairly rare. Either your friend got screwed by someone cheating the system or has really bad luck. Refusing a replacement and/or refusing to buy any new console because of one unfortunate incident (which is easily remedied) is rather lame.

 

[Bigus Dickus]

Either your friend got screwed by someone cheating the system or has really bad luck.

Either way, it comes down to bad luck. But bad things happen, and they have to happen to someone.

His response was, well... I'm not going there, neither am I going to touch the intent behind starting a thread about it.

 

[Sankari]

I find it hard to believe a "brand new" 360 is defective out of the box. Is he sure it was entirely new and not a system someone did a switcheroo with (like what people did/do at Walmart) or that it wasn't just placed back on the shelf by the store because they're inept?

Out-of-the-box defectiveness is fairly rare. Either your friend got screwed by someone cheating the system or has really bad luck. Refusing a replacement and/or refusing to buy any new console because of one unfortunate incident (which is easily remedied) is rather lame.

Well it doesn't sound as strange as one of the xbox guys at PS3forums(It actually has a Xbox section) who got 3 red lights, send it to microsoft for replacement and you guessed it - 3 lights of death!

http://www.ps3forums.com/showthread.php?t=58784&highlight=Service

But I don't think he should have refused the replacement unit, if the next unit would do this, then I'd understand his frustration.

 

[22psi]

That sucks for your friend! However this doesn't need a thread.

 

[taucias]

Hey buddy, I just spoke to the waitress and your icecream order has been cancelled; apparently they've run out.


"That's the final straw... I'm never going to eat icecream again!"

 

[Bad_Boy]

That sucks for your friend! However this doesn't need a thread.

What he said. I'm not sure the point of the story.

 

[kyleb]

He should spend the money on a shrink.

 

[fastasleep]

You know, just because a story is true doesn't make it interesting.

 

[digitalwanderer]

Defects happen, and it sounds like he was offered very fair compensation pretty quickly...I don't see the problem either.

 

[Carl B]

Plenty of threads on the red ring that specific stories probably needn't warrant new ones.