Microsoft comes under fire from BBC's Watchdog programme


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Microsoft comes under fire from BBC's Watchdog programme

Ellie Gibson 15:54 (BST) 13/02/2007

Campbell and co. to investigate Xbox 360 problems

Microsoft is set to come under pressure in tonight's edition of consumer affairs show Watchdog as the investigative team looks into potential faults with the Xbox 360.

GamesIndustry.biz has learned that the programme will focus on the 'ring of death' problem, as it's been nicknamed by gamers, where three red lights appear around the console's power button and the machine stops working.

The problem appears to occur much more frequently in the first batch of Xbox 360 units produced, as Microsoft US conceded in an official statement issued last September.

"As part of our standard and ongoing process of analysing repair data, we recently noticed a higher than usual number of units coming in for repair," the statement read.

"Upon further investigation, it was further discovered that the bulk of the units were isolated to a group that was part of the initial manufacturing run of the console."

As a result, Microsoft agreed to offer complimentary repairs to owners of faulty consoles manufactured before January 1, 2006 - even if their warranties had expired. The company also said it would refund customers who had already paid for repairs.

However, it would seem the deal only applies to US Xbox 360 owners. Here in the UK, as Watchdog is set to report, gamers are being asked to pay between GBP 80 and GBP 90 to have their console fixed - regardless of when it was manufactured.

The show will feature interviews with consumers who have experienced problems with their Xbox 360s, but GamesIndustry.biz understands that Microsoft has declined to send a representative to appear on the programme. The company has yet to offer comment on the Watchdog investigation.

Watchdog will be broadcast tonight on BBC1 at 7pm GMT.

Source: http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid=22725

uh-oh :( Wonder why people in the US dont have to pay and the people in the UK do? :blink: I dont live in the UK so I wont be able to see the show but if someone from forums here watches it could you post here about it? :blink:

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Not if you use a UK proxy it won't :)

I think it is about time someone investigated this because it is disgusting, luckly when my launch 360 broke i was just in warranty, I would've been disgusted if i had to pay for having it repaired.

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30 minutes away, this should be interesting. But they are a bit late on this issue, and a lot of these problems were down to the first batch of consoles. :\

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So yeah, it was a problem with the first batch of consoles, which we already knew about.

The guy who said he could go out and buy an ?20 DVD player and it would last him years was a stupid comparison. The Xbox360 isn't a DVD player (as such..) it has a lot more hardware under the hood.

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So yeah, it was a problem with the first batch of consoles, which we already knew about.

The guy who said he could go out and buy an ?20 DVD player and it would last him years was a stupid comparison. The Xbox360 isn't a DVD player (as such..) it has a lot more hardware under the hood.

What is it with these BBC clowns. First they did a stupid comparsion with the XBOX360 and the PS3 on the Click show a few months ago which was totally biased with nearly no facts and the only negitive PS3 got was "delays". This on the otherhand was abit of a joke as it was a very short case and only mentioned about the first batch of consoles going wrong which people already knew about for over a year now. Why havent they done a watchdog case with the PS3? that has had too much stuff go wrong more than i can count on my two hands! Get it together BBC!

Edited by PiracyX
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What is it with these BBC clowns. First they did a stupid comparsion with the XBOX360 and the PS3 on the Click show a few months ago which was totally biased with nearly no facts and the only negitive PS3 got was "delays". This on the otherhand was abit of a joke as it was a very short case and only mentioned about the first batch of consoles going wrong which people already knew about for over a year now. Why havent they done a watchdog case with the PS3? that has had too much stuff go more than i can count on my two hands! Get it together BBC!

I don't think 240 reports out of what? Around a million consoles at least in England counts as a problem? See, the problem is, people are quick to buy the first batch of consoles, a lot of consoles go through this phase unfortunately.

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What is it with these BBC clowns. First they did a stupid comparsion with the XBOX360 and the PS3 on the Click show a few months ago which was totally biased with nearly no facts and the only negitive PS3 got was "delays". This on the otherhand was abit of a joke as it was a very short case and only mentioned about the first batch of consoles going wrong which people already knew about for over a year now. Why havent they done a watchdog case with the PS3? that has had too much stuff go more than i can count on my two hands! Get it together BBC!

because the ps3 isnt out yet here?

care to give me examples of 11 (unless you have less than 10 fingers) things that watchdog should cover on the ps3's problems in the uk?

Edited by dev
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because the ps3 isnt out yet here?

If you say that then why did Click hype up the PS3 like its all that and isnt out yet here in the UK so abit hard to compare consoles if it isnt out yet.

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If you say that then why did Click hype up the PS3 like its all that and isnt out yet here in the UK so abit hard to compare consoles if it isnt out yet.

because they have used it? same way people can say vista was x/y/z before it was released. shows dont use retail products bought after the release, they get it prior to release.

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I want to see numbers, even though my first 360 was showing ROD but I still love the beast. It was the first next gen console and that's bound to happen, even after Sony released ps3 there was some problem with the system.

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I want to see numbers, even though my first 360 was showing ROD but I still love the beast. It was the first next gen console and that's bound to happen, even after Sony released ps3 there was some problem with the system.

240 people complained to the BBC watchdog (over what period though?), all the people in this episode was complaining because their consoles died after the warranty expired (after the 12 months), they make it sound like Microsoft did this on purpose.

It was a known problem, and Microsoft have actually gone out of their way to provide these people with a new Xbox360 even though the consoles are out of the warranty period.

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They have a vaild point about the UK user's having to pay if thats true. That is a bit unfair tbh - ?80-90 is quite a bit for a repair.

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Just saw the ring-o-death for the first time last Thursday (1 month shy of a year according to the mfg date). Still waiting for the shipping box MS is sending to me. My xbox 360 ran fine up until last thursday with only the occasional can't read a scratched disc problem occurring.

I'm skeptical that the one they send back to me will even last a year... hopefully it will be good. People expect these things to last at least 5 years if not more.

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240 people complained to the BBC watchdog (over what period though?), all the people in this episode was complaining because their consoles died after the warranty expired (after the 12 months), they make it sound like Microsoft did this on purpose.

It was a known problem, and Microsoft have actually gone out of their way to provide these people with a new Xbox360 even though the consoles are out of the warranty period.

I'm not sure if 240 people is enough of a figure either.

However, even though the warranty period is only a year I'm sure people expect much more then a years worth of life. If enough people have the same type of system failure just after a year then they have a case against Microsoft. In the US it would be a class-action lawsuit against the manufacturer. In the end they should at the very least make enough bad publicity that people lose confidence in the product.

We will see how my replaced XBox 360 holds up. If it lasts less then 2 years, i'm never buying another xbox again. And will tell those around me to do the same.

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