Microsoft extends Xbox 360 warranty

Original 90-day coverage policy extended to one year; software giant to automatically send out reimbursement checks for repairs.

After continued reports of Xbox 360 owners experiencing hardware problems, Microsoft in September acknowledged that its original batch of systems was experiencing a higher than normal rate of failure. It also committed to repairing for free any system made before January 1, 2006, and to providing refunds for "the small group of customers who have already paid for repairs."

That small group of people who have had their repair costs refunded is about to get larger, as Microsoft has now extended its standard Xbox 360 warranty in the US and Canada from the previous 90-day period to a full year from the date of purchase. While systems purchased at the Xbox 360's November 22, 2005, launch are now out of even the extended one-year warranty period, Microsoft has said those who have paid for an out-of-warranty repair that would have been covered by the extended policy will be eligible for an automatic reimbursement.

The reimbursement checks should arrive in about 10 weeks, according to Microsoft. Customers can find more-detailed customer support and warranty information at Xbox.com.

570 Comments

  • darkride66

    Posted Feb 15, 2008 11:48 am PT

    _Sam_ asked "I bought a warranty at ebgames for a year. does this mean the ebgames warranty is worthless?"
    You should be fine. I understand EB isn't offering this anymore due to the loses their taking, but I'm sure they're honoring existing warranties.

  • darkride66

    Posted Feb 15, 2008 11:45 am PT

    DonutTrooper. You forgot the 100% foolproof method of avoiding RROD. Don't buy a 360. Hope this helps, kids!

  • DonutTrooper

    Posted Jul 5, 2007 9:10 pm PT

    3 easy ways to prevent the ring of death:

    1: Don't stand it vertical

    2: Never turn it on without TV plugged in (screws it up on rare occasions)

    3: NEVER EVER let any cord be unplugged unless the 360 is completely off.

    Hope it helps. I've done this, and bypassed all my friends by never seeing the ring on MY console.

  • StarFoxCOM

    Posted Feb 14, 2007 4:18 pm PT

    Okay i'm getting a 360 in october and i'll get the extened warrinty

  • antwaan812

    Posted Feb 13, 2007 1:45 pm PT

    i tried calling about mine because it just died 2 days ago and it was made in 2005 but the operator kept saying the warranty is up on mine when i asked about the free fixes of consoles made before jan 1st 2006

  • shinboo

    Posted Feb 6, 2007 6:20 am PT

    I purchased my system at the november midnight launch. the system has sat horizontally on its own well ventilated shelf since that night. born 11-22-05 died 1-20-07(red ring of death) I assure you, as a responsible adult, my system was treated with great care! so, it is insulting to insinuate that these hardware failures are a result of user error exclusively. Only microsoft truly knows the reason our systems are suddenly failing. thank the gaming gods they are willing to admit to a problem and offer free repairs. FYI They also offered me the free repairs, even though Im techically outside of the new 1 year warranty. so, take heart launch system owners, if you suddenly find yourself looking at the dreaded flashing red lights. call support right away, there may still be hope.

  • jmartin1016

    Posted Jan 25, 2007 6:56 am PT

    I got my 360 in June of 2006. Being a new father I rarely get much time to play it. about 120 hours total and never more than 2 hours at a time. On January 20th after puting my baby to bed I got ready to play some GoW. Live promted me to update so I did and the 360 froze. Turned it back on and it had 3 red lights on the front starring at me like a demon trying to devour my soul. I will get it fixed for free thanks to the extended warrenty, but after looking at some of the horror stories I have seen on forums in the last few days it looks like I could be waiting for my 360 for anywhere from 14 to 60 days. It looks like they will fix my system or send me another refurbished system, but as far as I'm concernd refurbished means previously broken. I thought this kind of stuff only happened to people who abused thier systems. I got so mad that I have signed petitions for a recall, joined a class action suit, filed a complaint with the BBB. Until they fix my box I am using all of the time that I would spend playing my 360 to complain about it.

  • georgefman

    Posted Jan 9, 2007 10:28 pm PT

    After one year of service, my 360 had the red ring of death. I claimed my warranty and they happily told me it would take one to two months to fix by mail. Not happy with the delay.
    GF

  • _Sam_

    Posted Jan 6, 2007 11:25 am PT

    I bought a warranty at ebgames for a year. does this mean the ebgames warranty is worthless?

  • Gamepro2421

    Posted Jan 3, 2007 4:49 pm PT

    its about time!

  • gametester1424

    Posted Jan 3, 2007 2:21 pm PT

    Thanks for this good news. I bought my 360 back in 3/06 and it broke by 10/06. I was forced to pay $139 because it was out of warranty. BTW, who puts a 90-day warranty on a $400 dollar product. Looking forward to getting reimbursed! Maybe now I will actually recommend a 360 to my friends.

  • trystkl1826

    Posted Jan 3, 2007 7:07 am PT

    Why are there still hardware problem's in the XBOX-360's? I spoke to someone, while playing NEED for SPEED:CARBON on line, whom said he has replaced his 360 4 or 5 separate times. These consoles are all ridiculously expensive. Parents bust there tails for money that they use to buy their kid's these consoles that cost a chunk of change. It's disappointing. There is a quality that is expected with such an expensive product. The price isn't only in the console,of course, but in the gaming Cd's purchased, which, if I'm understanding correctly, need patches to work properly specifically in on line gaming. What is happening to the level of quality in these areas. The demand is not just for more but also for better. For a product that is almost a thousand dollars after games, upgrades ect.. it should not malfunction as it has been. The console companies will eventually lose the trust of the consumers(especially parents) and eventually lose revenue.

  • Dreski83

    Posted Jan 3, 2007 2:49 am PT

    sounds kind of overly complex to get just right... lucky me I never had any major problems.
    I wonder if the Sony kids will be spoiled as much if their machine goes buggy...?

  • malmeid2

    Posted Jan 2, 2007 11:57 pm PT

    nyko sells a $20 fan that keeps the system 10-15 degrees cooler and pelican has one for $15. Problem solved. I know $15 is steep, but it's not as steep as a truly next gen hd system that costs $600 and doesn't even bring an hdmi cable or headset. Would have easily been $700 with those thrown in the package yipes!

  • Cunder

    Posted Jan 2, 2007 6:20 pm PT

    Think what you want bud. I don't tell ppl to buy a PS3 and forget about 360, it's best to think ahead before doing anything some ppl may regret. Specially buying out on a system with problems, wait out for the redesign system is a best bet then buying out the systems that have already bad failure rate.

  • johndoe1893

    Posted Jan 2, 2007 6:12 pm PT

    Cunder
    As I said, For those that didn't have problems with GoW are lucky enough even with a design flaw 360 has. But later on in the years the numbers will grow when games start pushing the system way to much for it to handle.

    ladies and gents we have a fanboy

  • Cunder

    Posted Jan 2, 2007 6:09 pm PT

    As I said, For those that didn't have problems with GoW are lucky enough even with a design flaw 360 has. But later on in the years the numbers will grow when games start pushing the system way to much for it to handle.

  • johndoe1893

    Posted Jan 2, 2007 6:05 pm PT

    there are millions of Gears of War players on xbox live and they dont seem to be having trouble with there consoles and the ps2 had issues with its hardware for years and games on the ps2 that came out this year have pushed the ps2 beyond its limits and it still doesnt mess up the ps2 I know cause i own one, i actually owned 2 one had the infamous disc read error and the second one was fine explain this.

  • Cunder

    Posted Jan 2, 2007 5:56 pm PT

    I'm not baise person though I don't own a 360, And have PS3, and will be getting Wii as the money rolls in. And I believe Gamespot covered the fact and as well as some of the ppl in MS forums have talk about a redesign cpu to cause less heat which of course equals less heat. I'll have to look for that article for you.

    As for the games that can cause hardware problems is much true. I have already expected it to happen specially with the HD-DVD that came out. That uses alot of power off the 360. I had a friend come over to my house one day. I talk to him about his 360 as soon as he mention it broke. I took a wild guess but educated and ask him " You were playing Gears of War right?". I was correct because as many articles says it took alot of power to run a game like that. When you use more power on a console the more heat it creates and with a system with a design flaw will most likely show up during then. And for some ppl that were lucky to pass thru the whole experiance without any problems it may not be GoW that messes up your games but a game later on years as they try to push the system.

  • johndoe1893

    Posted Jan 2, 2007 5:48 pm PT

    read the article more carefuly cunder microsoft says that its "original" batch of consoles were the ones experiencing a higher than normal rate of failure thats to be expected with a sysyem that uses that much power, And your argument about redesigning the cpu is unfounded and unresearched and more over you sound like a sony fanboy when you state that more 360's will have problems once games come out that push the system, thats just not true the reason that the 360's have been dying on people is because they either dont take care of it or there 360 is one of the consoles that were bought on launch that has an overheating issue which microsoft stated was a higher than normal amount, it has nothing to do with the games that push the console. and how can you say the 360 design was a flaw you must actually not know anything about technology or electronics because the 360 is being praised by dev teams as the best console on the market to program for unlike some other consoles on the market.

  • wild_world_girl

    Posted Jan 2, 2007 5:23 pm PT

    I have had no problems at all with my launch 360. I have even left it on for days at a time. Please everyone understand, that when people have problems they get VERY vocal about it, and it can seem more common than it really is.

    Especially with MS, which for some reason unknown to me, people love to hate.

  • Cunder

    Posted Jan 2, 2007 5:02 pm PT

    The 360 Design was a flaw, and is a huge problem for any electronic that if they built the system in one side of the system that conducts alot of heat nothing can help fix the flaw unless they redesign the whole thing. And They supposed to be redesigning the CPU for that system. So it's Really a huge problem 360 and as to why it has a high Failure Rate (which I might add it SAYS!! in the article) which MS even admitted on there. As a person who work with electronics, and seen stuff like this working for MSD iginitions. It's only matter of time for some of the ppl who haven't had problems yet will see them in the time when games push the system to much and causes hardware problems and end up fried.

    And not only that they made it even worse for themselves to brick the systems that haven't even been modded what so ever only added numbers to the failure rate.

  • johndoe1893

    Posted Jan 2, 2007 3:04 pm PT

    Cunder
    1 yr, and 1 month past and they finally admit they were High failure rate. Took them long enough to actully get that out even though everyone knew about the high failure rate.

    first of all there wasent a "high failure rate" it was a small percent of people whos console failed on them, not counting the idiots who didint read the instruction manuals and dont take care of there consoles properly but typical system failures are to be expected when any new hardware comes out on the market. At least microsoft is doing something for the coustemers which is not to say makes up for it but it does show that microsoft cares about there consumers. I remember not so long ago when sony had its Disc Read Error problem and sony didnt even acknowlege the problem existed, and how many ps2 models did sony go through before they fixed the problem? All consoles have a failure rate in the begening of its life the xbox 360 is no diffrent its all ways typical nothing weird it happens all the time.

  • seth24

    Posted Jan 2, 2007 2:55 pm PT

    They had to seeing how everybody started to get the three rings of death and the early november update was bricking systems.I even got the ol error 74 on mine.

  • Erebus

    Posted Jan 2, 2007 2:48 pm PT

    I'm...starting....to...respect....Microsoft.

    Please, make it quick and painless.

  • Cunder

    Posted Jan 2, 2007 2:44 pm PT

    1 yr, and 1 month past and they finally admit they were High failure rate. Took them long enough to actully get that out even though everyone knew about the high failure rate.

  • Spartan_175

    Posted Jan 2, 2007 1:53 pm PT

    My 360 is doing just fine. Mabe it's because i'm one of those fat 30 yr olds with no life playing 24 hrs a day "DEE DEE"!

  • Chief_Kuuni

    Posted Jan 2, 2007 1:51 pm PT

    too bad I got mine on launch but it's working great and hasn't messed up on me(knocking on wood)

  • johndoe1893

    Posted Jan 2, 2007 10:13 am PT

    your 360's dont work because maybe you guys have been hitting it when your being pwned at Gears of War.

  • nappan

    Posted Jan 2, 2007 9:54 am PT

    I'm annoyed that this needs to be enacted... I would have prefered a working product from the get-go. That said, I know that I'll rest easier knowing that if my 360 bursts into flames anytime soon, I don't have to fight tooth and nail to get it fixed.

  • bossjimbob

    Posted Jan 2, 2007 9:54 am PT

    Quote: caseyrugby "I'd go with the in store warranty from any reseller you'll get your system back MUCH faster as opposed to the 10 week wait time for yours to get sent back from Microsoft"

    I got a two-year warranty through Best Buy for 50 bucks in November of 2005, but when my 360 broke back in April of last year it (during the hardware drought) it was actually faster to go through Microsoft. Took them about two weeks to send me a new Xbox 360 free of charge, not 10 weeks. I believe that 10-week time period is for reimbursement checks.

  • arawk

    Posted Jan 2, 2007 9:53 am PT

    I'm just glad that now I can get my 360 fixed for free, instead of 140 bucks. I'm not blaming anyone, you have to realize that there is some margin of error with new technology. wow i really sounds like a fanboy haha

  • megaunit

    Posted Jan 2, 2007 9:49 am PT

    I thought they fixed these problems, atleast they are doing something about.

  • caseyrugby

    Posted Jan 2, 2007 9:38 am PT

    I'd go with the in store warranty from any reseller you'll get your system back MUCH faster as opposed to the 10 week wait time for yours to get sent back from Microsoft

  • crippla87

    Posted Jan 2, 2007 9:38 am PT

    Good job Microsoft, but if you had done this sooner, you would have saved yourselves a lot of trouble. Better late than never.

  • Arley569

    Posted Jan 2, 2007 9:17 am PT

    You know everyone is gonna blame microsoft

  • jordanbijl

    Posted Jan 2, 2007 9:08 am PT

    I think if these problems are in fact faulty hardware... mabye microsoft should just fix all 360's for free, either that or figure out what the problems are...

    Still, I havn't had a problem with mine, and I play it quite a bit... so who knows who is really to blame? is it microsoft... who has been know to have faulty software/hardware... or the people who are using it, who don't wish to admit its there faults... keep the 360 well ventilated, and place it horizontally if your really scared of losing it.

  • Vahid_gear2

    Posted Jan 2, 2007 12:51 am PT

    As for comments blaming owners for the problems experienced with their consoles due to so-called "over-playing", perhaps if that is truely the problem, Microsoft ought to begin to include a free PS3 in every x-box 360's packaging with instructions that owners take care to cease gameplay every few hours and use the PS3 instead. Alternatively, maybe once Microsoft begins to issue press releases informing the industry's media and potential buyers that problems persist to this day with the X-box and admitting that their $400 piece of "cutting technology" cannot be used for extended periods of time without risk of failure. Last I checked no such usage disclaimers were being included on the X-box's packaging--allowing the consumer to be fully informed before investing in the product. As for these problems still plaguing the x-box fully one year post-release, shame on Microsoft. My household received an x-box 360 for Christmas this year (2006) and immediately upon connecting the power source & turning it on we were faced with the "red ring of death". It ever booted up--much less suffered the "abuse" of "over-use"
    There is perhaps a link between illiteracy and fanboyism of any brand, probably because fanboys tend to be spoilt children and know not what they do. Adults just buy whatever they want and can apreciate them all, without the childish need to ridicule the "enemy". Most older gamers like myself probably have had evey console since the Atari 2600.

  • ZeroGTX2008

    Posted Jan 1, 2007 10:11 pm PT

    Sounds nice...but I got a 1 year warrently w/ EB games along w/ GRAW for free when I picked up my 360 last week.This does 2 things though.It looks like MS cares about the fans..(looks like it anyways lol) and it appears they got money up the ass lol

  • xchannelsx

    Posted Jan 1, 2007 9:28 pm PT

    get your thing fixed by yourself....fuking lazy ppl, go eat mcdonalds and grow fat, then demand a company and get rich.....USA style lol

  • pfunkmusik

    Posted Jan 1, 2007 8:57 pm PT

    WooHoo! I got this email the other day. I've had mine since April and I got the two-year in-store warranty from Circuit City, but this is good news.

  • TheGamer4Life

    Posted Jan 1, 2007 7:18 pm PT

    So wait - are they saying its not a good idea to position the 360 vertically now?

  • Kholdstare_fire

    Posted Jan 1, 2007 6:41 pm PT

    Wow this is really nice. Unfortunatly my box is broken but fortunatly it'll be repaired for free. M$ just has SO much money WOW.

  • Bathyj

    Posted Jan 1, 2007 5:14 pm PT

    Dryker

    Dude, I enjoyed you first post so much. Then I read your second. Anyway, at least you excused yourself and reconised this shortcoming.

    There is perhaps a link between illiteracy and fanboyism of any brand, probably because fanboys tend to be spoilt children and know not what they do. Adults just buy whatever they want and can apreciate them all, without the childish need to ridicule the "enemy". Most older gamers like myself probably have had evey console since the Atari 2600.

  • Dryker

    Posted Jan 1, 2007 4:12 pm PT

    Is it just me or is there a direct correlation between Playstation advocates and illiteracy? Damn... I swore I wouldn't reduce myself to such petty rebuttles. Excuse me.

  • Dryker

    Posted Jan 1, 2007 3:48 pm PT

    To Bathyj: Being one who works in instillation and service of complex and potentially fatal devices can assure you that a serviced and ultimately repaired product is a more reliable piece of machinery than a brand new one. It is checked and tested for troubleshooting the problem and fixing it, where as new products are not as extensively tested (though perhaps they should be). Concerning the "Hex Box" that appears to have many faulty units, I don't know what to say. I feel for those who have to deal with this. I would be livid if it happened to me and would be saying the same things about the product, but I'm not. Mine is a day one 360 that has been continuously played for 10 plus hour sessions for months on end, is placed among five other heat-producing electronic devices simultaneously running under a marble coffee table in a closet, and has never had a single problem. I'm blessed. I love my 360 second only to family and friends. It is the epicenter of my quaking world of entertainment (especially now with HD DVD and Downloadable Movies, TV, and Music Videos in HD). All of this, a testament to quality and soundness of design. The problems experienced are products of those hired to build the 360's. Good help is hard to find and especially at the scale Microsoft needs them. These problems are tragic, but they're being faced and dealt with, not ignored.

    Good luck to all those who have problem consoles, I wish them all a speedy recovery.

  • mlesak

    Posted Jan 1, 2007 12:12 pm PT

    As for comments blaming owners for the problems experienced with their consoles due to so-called "over-playing", perhaps if that is truely the problem, Microsoft ought to begin to include a free PS3 in every x-box 360's packaging with instructions that owners take care to cease gameplay every few hours and use the PS3 instead. Alternatively, maybe once Microsoft begins to issue press releases informing the industry's media and potential buyers that problems persist to this day with the X-box and admitting that their $400 piece of "cutting technology" cannot be used for extended periods of time without risk of failure. Last I checked no such usage disclaimers were being included on the X-box's packaging--allowing the consumer to be fully informed before investing in the product. As for these problems still plaguing the x-box fully one year post-release, shame on Microsoft. My household received an x-box 360 for Christmas this year (2006) and immediately upon connecting the power source & turning it on we were faced with the "red ring of death". It ever booted up--much less suffered the "abuse" of "over-use". Yet, the troubleshooting section of the manual clearly contemplated the problem, stating that the symptoms experienced meant the box was defective and needed to be sent back for refurbishment or replacement. Of course, the fact that we had purchased it for a Christmas present and paid for expedited shipping to ensure it's timely arrival meant nothing once we were looking at the 2-week-plus turn around time for repair and or replacement. One year after it's buggy release, the item should either be working straight out of the box or it should be pulled from the shelves--not packaged with a manual tacitly acknowledging continued reliability issues. Such practices would bankrupt an automobile manufacturer. Maybe before Bill & Melinda Gates take all of their massive wealth and give it away to the UN in an effort to solve the world's bigger problems, they should re-invest some of those profits into fixing the product they continue to distribute. Or they can just blame the sources of those profits for "over-using" or miss-using the product rather than being cynical enough to expect flawed engineerign and design and read all of the gripes contained in on-line reviews and employing third-party work arounds to keep the investment limping along (don't stand it up vertically (even though it's freqently displayed in such a position in print ads and no warning accompanies the product to ONLY position it horizontally) (dont play for more than 2 hrs at a stretch, aim a household fan at the unit to avoid overheating)

  • pandaramaster

    Posted Jan 1, 2007 8:57 am PT

    Is anything mentioned of the UK? I have problems with my 360, like games not loading first time round and I was wondering if the year's warranty has the UK included.

  • StumpyTrash

    Posted Jan 1, 2007 12:02 am PT

    GANGSTA287
    Maybe if u guys would stop playing for 10 hrs straight, it wouldn't die on you...

    -------------

    I had only been playing mine for about 2 hours when it died. And since when should it be the norm for a console to burn up after a long gaming session? This is not the user's fault; it's a faulty product!

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